Strat Anniv. concert on TV

[hector]

I saw a show on TV last night "The 50 anniv. of the stratocaster" ....something or other. Live concert with Joe Walsh, Gilmore, etc. Obviously, mostly strat guys. Anyhow, I loved Joes strat tone, but was surprised to see that his PU selector switch appeared to be on the bridge only. Same for most of the other players. I love my strats, but always found the bridge by itself to be bright and a bit harsh. I usually replaced it with a humbucker. Is it me? Do a lot of players really use the bridge single on it's own?

 

[gulliver]

Unless some wire the 5-way switch backwards so they don't bump it? I struggle with that myself, PRS = always bridge, strats = always neck or neck/middle.

 

[padavis]

I saw that last night too, I guess that concert happened in 2005? How did I miss it until then? oh well... I did not really notice the switch placement. I bet they had a humbucker pickup in that single coil slot haha! I dont know maybe not....

 

[ducatisteve]

The show is called the Strat Pack, and if you have Palladia, it's on there every couple weeks or so. It got a little cheesy towards the end, with the whole group playing together, but all around it was a nice concert.

 

[hector]

So it was a "repeat" of a live concert. Not surprising. Joe's bridge PU surely looked like a regular single coil PU. No rails or anything. Quite of mix of amps in the background too. Fender, Hywatt, Marshall, Mesa, Matchless. I think, one of every flavor. No idea which one J. Walsh was using, but his tone was awesome, and I only saw two pedals on the floor in front of him. Maybe his first position on the strat switch is wired for bridge-middle PU combo. He definately had that quack that you get when strat PUs are combined.

 

[claudel]

It was interesting to me that Sir David uses Grolshies on the #0001 Strat...

 

[goodhonk]

So it was a "repeat" of a live concert. Not surprising. Joe's bridge PU surely looked like a regular single coil PU. No rails or anything. Quite of mix of amps in the background too. Fender, Hywatt, Marshall, Mesa, Matchless. I think, one of every flavor. No idea which one J. Walsh was using, but his tone was awesome, and I only saw two pedals on the floor in front of him. Maybe his first position on the strat switch is wired for bridge-middle PU combo. He definately had that quack that you get when strat PUs are combined.

those pedals were on the floor the whole show, i don't know who was using them; maybe boss payed to put them there.

it was a cool concert for sure; i was surprised that Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton weren't there; and who knew that Amy Winehouse could play?

 

[Jahn]

They really should put the Jazzmaster Anniversary Concert on DVD too - that concert rocked in a strange weird way.

 

[james russell]

It's on again tonight...right now. Checking out the guitars....

 

[conorb]

It seemed to be mostly British guitar stars including some 'pop' guy that was out playing the piano. Jamie Cullum or somebody.

As far as guitar playing goes I thought that Gary Moore totally owned his spot with his rendition of Red House. Shred meets blues or something.

Really cool.

It's also amazing what four or five years of drugs has done to Amy Winehouse. Tragic really.

conorb

 

[leonard d rock]

guitarists with sig models should have been there: clapton, beck, JV, EJ, YJM, blackmore
-even Richie sambora. ron wood was not playing a strat. brian may switched to his red one to solo, not a strat.yeah, gary moore was killer.


ldr

 

[David Garner]

The bridge pickup is more useable if you wire the tone control to the bridge instead of the middle. I prefer the in-between tones wired that way too, but some do not.

Middle pickup is also, IMHO, more useable without the tone control. Much more of a wide open, woody tone. I flip to the middle for solos and get an instant volume boost and a more cutting tone with one flip of the switch.

 

[Droptop]

I set my controls as Master Volume, Master Tone, Bridge pickup blender (so I can bring in the bridge pickup with the neck).

 

[Slackerprince]

I've always thought that, if Amy Winehouse can make it to 30, she'll outlive us all, just like Keith Richards.
About the concert, really killer.
So great to see such a tribute to the Strat which has made such a contribution to Rock and Blues music. What a show for gear-heads, too.

Slackerprince

 

[dougb415]

guitarists with sig models should have been there: clapton, beck, JV, EJ, YJM, blackmore

Does Blackmore even play a Strat anymore? Perhaps the others had other commitments, wanted money or just said "No."

 

[dumbell78]

Gary Moore killed in that concert, I agree with the idea of bringing in some more of those big gun Strat players.

 

[supergenius365]

The bridge pickup is more useable if you wire the tone control to the bridge instead of the middle. I prefer the in-between tones wired that way too, but some do not.

Middle pickup is also, IMHO, more useable without the tone control. Much more of a wide open, woody tone. I flip to the middle for solos and get an instant volume boost and a more cutting tone with one flip of the switch.

The VHR '62 Strat is wired so the first tone controls the neck and the second controls the middle and the bridge. I have never really heard about people doing that setup, but I think it works fantastic. It lets you control the position 4 sound easier than if the tone pot was just on one pickup.

In response to the OP: I didn't see the show. This wiring set up, however, has allowed me to use the bridge much more than ever before.

On a related note - I believe I read David Gilmour said any solo he has done has been on the bridge pickup. Not sure where I saw that, but it has stuck in my mind.

 

[SwedeRacer]

On a related note - I believe I read David Gilmour said any solo he has done has been on the bridge pickup. Not sure where I saw that, but it has stuck in my mind.

Yeah, its pretty easy to hear the bridge pickup at work in his solos. I would think certain solos would be that second position at least, if not further towards the neck.

Of course ridiculous hands and a whole lot of delay certainly help with the harshness

 

[Zexcoil]

You can get some really nice smooth, non-icepicky sounds out of a Strat bridge if you EQ it in and/or roll the volume off just a tad...

 

[Zeon45]

I also noticed alot of players using Lace Sensor pups. They always remind me of the great Strat Plus model from the late eighties/early 90's. My first electric was an '86 Elite Strat with active pups but I don't think they were Lace which came later. Great Strat BTW.