How to thicken up EJ Strat tone?

[James]

A GREAT box for thickening up single-coil pick-ups is the Demeter Fat Control pedal. It's a mid-boost. It also adds a bit of volume and gain, depending on where you set the one knob on the pedal. I love it. To me, it's the definitive "magic box". It can be subtle or quite drastic. Sounds great, has a buffer in it and it doesn't mess with your tone.

Good luck!

James

 

[clothwiring]

I'm still going with a pickup and saddle change. I played both of my EJ strats through many OD pedals, boosters, amps etc etc. What made THE difference is CS Fat 50 pickups and the Raw Vintage saddles I put in my 2nd EJ. THEN the guitar worked great through all my setups.

 

[bandofthieves™]

I play an EJ Sig. Strat through my Ghia 1x12 combo.

It sounds kind of thin to me. I am probably used to my Historic Les Paul.

So...what do you guys recommend to thicken it up some? I dont want to go all out into distortion or heavy overdrive.

I want the tone to be thicker, more milkshake and BBQ grease than skim milk and granola if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

I had to learn how to use the tone controls on that guitar. A Zvex BOR stopped me from selling the EJ.. JMOAPE

 

[justonwo]

I'm still going with a pickup and saddle change. I played both of my EJ strats through many OD pedals, boosters, amps etc etc. What made THE difference is CS Fat 50 pickups and the Raw Vintage saddles I put in my 2nd EJ. THEN the guitar worked great through all my setups.

Sounds interesting. I have the same complaint with my Strat. I want a bigger bottom end on the neck pickup.

Where do the CS Fat 50s fit in the grand spectrum of Fender pickups? Low output? High output? How do they compare to the CS 69 pickups?

 

[52ftbuddha]

For me it is the Zvex super duper 2 in one. I really only use the one gain stage and keep it on with very little bump in gain. It just seems to make things bigger.
rob

 

[clothwiring]

Sounds interesting. I have the same complaint with my Strat. I want a bigger bottom end on the neck pickup.

Where do the CS Fat 50s fit in the grand spectrum of Fender pickups? Low output? High output? How do they compare to the CS 69 pickups?

I can't personally compare Fat 50s to CS 69s. But the Fat 50s are 50s style with a bit more low end in 'em. Think 50s with a subtle rounder tone. Compared to the EJs pups I found they have a warmer lower end and don't have the ping the EJ pups do.

 

[brattmoore]

With Suhr V60LP pickups, your EJ Guitar should sound much fuller.

 

[Axekisser]

I think my EJ is clear but full with the single coils. What I did was to really lower the PUs. I find my neck to be perfect for that bluesy growl through a custom dirt pedal using Germanium diodes.

Tha EJ can get strident on the bridge but I think most Strats can. I just roll the tone down or reset my rig's eq to tame the highs when using the EJ.

 

[Lolaviola]

90% of the time I can fatten a strat by turning down the treble control ON THE AMP, and turning up the mid if available or bass control.

 

[jcshirke]

My EJ Strat sounds great with the Fulldrive II Mosfet--not thin sounding at all. Then again, I'm also playing it through a Germino Lead 55--so that surely has something to do with it. Still, you might consider that pedal as well.

 

[Sid]

I've not played the EJ strat so i dont know much about it...hmm new pickups? there are some pretty FAT sounding pups out there..suhrs come to mind....

throw a nice boost like the RC booster/sex drive/launch pad at the end of your chain.....

get a decent comp that doesnt squish much(barber launch pad?) at the beginning of your chain....

a fuzz pedal might solve a lot of your issues....for an od with fuzzish thickness...i use the screwdriver(great with strats)...

 

[SunnyRollins]

the new lovepedal 200 lbs of tone may suit your needs
take a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozdPxao-AjQ

 

[Serious Poo]

Are you rolling off the tone on the bridge?

Exactly... :AOK

 

[Amplite]

Jetter GSR will do just that!

 

[JZG]

Any good boost - clean to slightly driven - will do the job for you.

 

[teetopkram]

The Seymour Duncan SFX-01 Pickup Booster is what I use for this purpose.

Can be used for a clean boost, and it has a resonance switch that offers two additional settings - one to allow a single coil to mimic a vintage humbucker and the other to allow a single coil to sound like a modern (i.e., more gain) humbucker. Essentially it just mucks with the EQ response. True bypass too. I love it...it will never leave my pedal board.

Needs to be used first in the signal chain in order to put the modded sound through the wah, pedals, and amp. Used at the end or in an EFX loop would just leave it as a regular boost.

Got mine off ebay for around $50 IIRC.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/effects-pedals/sfx01_pickup_bo/

Mark

 

[alivegy]

It sounds to me like you just need some pick up adjustment and maybe a compressor. You don't want something too transparent as you want it to bring down the highs a bit and boost the mids. The closer to the strings you get the pickup the more gain you get in the mids at the same time you loose some highend. You might try raising the pickups a bit and remember that they don't have to be level.

 

[Mike R.]

What about something like the Lovepedal Super 6?

http://www.lovepedal.com/45.htm

 

[gtrshow]

I use a Keeley Java Boost on the full boost setting to fatten single coils. It's much more than a "treble" booster. My secret weapon.

 

[Zero Point]

I dropped a set of kinman woodstock plus' into my EJ.

Pretty nice and woody now The stock EJ's just had the mids too scooped and the highs a touch bright.

-ZP