Strat bridge pickup that sounds more like a Tele bridge pickup

[jpervin]

I'm embarking on a Strat partscaster build, and would like to know if there are any pickup winders out there who make a Strat bridge pickup that sounds more like a Tele bridge pickup. The middle and neck pickups would be regular Strat pickups.
I might not get the exact Tele bridge pickup sound out of this since there's no Tele bridge to mount it to, but would like to come as close as possible as far as the sound.
If anyone has any suggestions, please post them. Thanks!

 

[whaiyun]

Harmonic Design STP
http://www.harmonicdesign.net/allpages/strats.html
Seymour Duncan also has one.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/twang_banger_ap/

Hope that helps.
I thought the above might be cool but I opted for the Fralin SP43 which is more P90-ish. fwiw =)

 

[A-Bone]

Maybe install a tele bridge pick up in the bridge position?

 

[Sweetfinger]

Maybe install a tele bridge pick up in the bridge position?

You would be surprised how much this doesn't sound like you thought it would.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

Maybe install a tele bridge pick up in the bridge position?

If it has a hb rout this is not hard to do.
You will have to drill (pickguard) holes and maybe widen the slot a little.
Guaranteed to get you close to Tele tone.

 

[SMark]

I've tried a few of them and to me the best one was the Rio Grande Stelly. But putting a real Tele bridge pup in your Strat will still be more convincing. One of the things that becomes difficult to overcome is the fact the Strat and Tele each mount their bridge pickups in very different ways. And these become important parts of the tone signature of each guitar.

 

[VaughnC]

IMO, a lot of why a Tele bridge pickup sounds the way it does is due to the bridge plate its mounted on. So, unless you intend on adding the entire plate, I wouldn't bother trying to make a Strat sound like a Tele. The easiest and least expensive thing to do would be to add a bottom base plate to a regular Strat pickup ($10 at Fralin)...it will probably get you as close to a Tele sound without adding the entire bridge plate.

 

[musicofanatic5]

You would be surprised how much this doesn't sound like you thought it would.

It sounds like Lowell George.

 

[A-Bone]

You would be surprised how much this doesn't sound like you thought it would.

No. I actually owned a Suhr Classic that had a Broadcaster bridge in that position, and in addition to being a great, high output pickup, it sounded remarkable tele like. Of course, my Classic had a hardtail, rather than a trem.

 

[rongtr1]

No. I actually owned a Suhr Classic that had a Broadcaster bridge in that position, and in addition to being a great, high output pickup, it sounded remarkable tele like. Of course, my Classic had a hardtail, rather than a trem.

I think that's another part of the equation- either a hardtail strat or having the trem blocked off is important

 

[tjmicsak]

I have a parts build and found a real nice pickup to use is a full humbucker Duncan JB. It works well as a single when split, great tones as a humbucker.
The whole humbucker (both coils) as thought of as a single unit is wired with a phase reverse switch. When split, the center tap gets grounded, so the phase switch acts as a coil selector.
IOW with the pickup split and phase reversed it uses the inner bobbin and sounds alot closer to a Tele than you might otherwise get with a single coil. The Tele sound has alot to do with pickup location and the inner bobbin gets pretty close.
With a phase reverse switch on the middle pickup as well you'll find a second quack tone too, slightly different than the usual as you will be again using the inner bobbin a bit farther from the bridge.

 

[LReese]

I've got the Duncan Twangbanger - it leans in the Tele direction and combines well with Strat Pickups. Only downside is its wound in opposite direction to my Antiquity Surfers (they are opposite in phase, so One of the other needs to have leads flipped) , but doesnt hurt the sound 1 iota.

 

[LsL_Rich]

seymour duncan jerry donahue model

 

[buddastrat]

I do have a Suhr strat pickup rewound to sort've do this. It has a base plate on it and a low-mid wind to give it more punch. It sounds strong and full for the bridge position. I'm not using it, if you're or anyone's interested.

I too think a lot of it has to do with the bridge and saddles. I remember on a friend's guitar he had chrome saddles, and we changed to brass, and man did the tele tone come out.

 

[Sweetfinger]

The longer answer is that the more you do to make the guitar more tele-like, the more it will sound like a Tele. The pickup should have a ferrous baseplate. It helps to install a ferrous "fake bridge" plate too, which is also a good part of the "clang" that a Tele bridge pickup has. Changing the saddles to something with a lot more mass and having a hardtail bridge helps. The Duncan Twangbanger which has been mentioned does a decent job of evoking a bit of Tele flavor in a Strat.

 

[spangler41]

This may surprise many, but the best Tele-toned Strat pickup I have found is the Guitar Fetish GFS "Lil Killer" Lead 15K H67 [+$24.95]. The pickup sounds remarkably like a Tele single-coil bridge pickup when tapped. I use a push-pull DPDT 250KA pot/switch and wire it so that in the down position, it is single-coil, in the up position it is series/humbucking. The bonus here is that both modes sound "Killer". They also make a Tele version, "Lil Puncher". Don't believe me? I've installed these in 2 Strats and 2 Teles with great results. And, they are cheap!

 

[Mystix]

The Fralin SP43 - can do a really good Tele impersonation - depending on how you work the tone knob.
It has a baseplate on the bottom that also gives you a Teleish flavor.

 

[Amplite]

SP-43

 

[walterw]

The Fralin SP43 - can do a really good Tele impersonation - depending on how you work the tone knob.
It has a baseplate on the bottom that also gives you a Teleish flavor.

never seen a steel-pole with a baseplate, they typically don't work that way.

SPs are more P-90 fat than tele twang.

anyway, a beefier strat pickup with a baseplate will give up a bit of that tele vibe, but the hollowed-out body, trem block and spring chamber will still make things more strat-sounding, especially since strat bridge pickups aren't even mounted in the same place! they're closer to the saddles and less angled than tele bridge pickups, that matters too.

this is the eternal trade-off between strat and tele; the strat's steel trem bridge and more hollow construction means that the neck pickup will have that wonderfully airy, almost "acoustic" quality but the bridge pickup will tend towards thin and bite-y.

the solid wood, string-through mounting and brass saddles of the tele bridge means the bridge pickup will have a strong warm push behind the twang, but the neck will always be smoother and mellower, more "solid" sounding than the neck of a strat, even with a strat pickup mounted up there (this is what i have).

 

[ToneGrail]

This may surprise many, but the best Tele-toned Strat pickup I have found is the Guitar Fetish GFS "Lil Killer" Lead 15K H67 [+$24.95]. The pickup sounds remarkably like a Tele single-coil bridge pickup when tapped. I use a push-pull DPDT 250KA pot/switch and wire it so that in the down position, it is single-coil, in the up position it is series/humbucking. The bonus here is that both modes sound "Killer". They also make a Tele version, "Lil Puncher". Don't believe me? I've installed these in 2 Strats and 2 Teles with great results. And, they are cheap!

I have one of these in my Strat. To me it sounds a lot darker than a typical Tele bridge pickup when split, more akin to a P90 or a darker-voiced single coil.