I had a prejudice for many years--hot pickups would be so hot that it would take over the work of the amp. I suppose can be true.
But over time, I've heard Strats and Teles with hot pups. The best "amateur" Strat sound I ever heard came from a Hot Rails in the bridge.
Do you have a Fender with hot pickups in it? What do you think about them?
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
The only guitar I play regularly that has a hot pickup is my Guild Blues 90. It came with a Duncan Hot 90 neck p/u and a Duncan Custom 90 bridge p/u. I changed the neck pickup to a Duncan antiquity and am using that pickup as kind of channel switching. It works great with my Dr. Z Cure.
The Carvin DC135 that I just bought has a hot Carvin M22 in the bridge. It has kind of a "glossy" '90s tone. I'd like to change that to a Carvin C22B. I really liked that pickup a lot in my Carvin DC150- it had a fat Albert King "sting". It didn't pair well with the neck humbucker so I swapped it to a milder wind.
Both my strats have Custom Shop Fat 50s on them.
I myself don't like hotter pickups on strats, but it's a personal thing.
Two of my custom (ie: home-built) Strats have "hot" pickups installed, in both cases DiMarzio's. These are my "go-to" guitars. The other seven Strats in my collection have a variety of standard Fender sets -- 57/62's, Fat 50's, SCN's, '69s, Robert Cray's, and CS 60's wound by someone whose initials are "AY". I prefer the DiMarzio's for their superior honk and squawk but the Fender-equipped guitars fill a specific sonic need. Of them, I like the Fat 50's best followed by the AY's. Should I ever build another (visions of a '54 clone in Desert Sand w/gold-anodized pickguard dancing around in my head) it will likely feature Fender's Vintage 54's or the Fat 50's.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I'd like to build up another loaded pickguard (or 2 or 3) that use a quick connector for the grounding wire and the output jack wires. I like the Gold Lace Sensors but there are times when I want the real deal strat sound.
"Live and learn and flip the burns"
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote