What do YOU think is the best hendrix pickups?

[theactor19]

Now that its 2012, there are tons of options available to capture late 60s strat pickups. I think ideally, finding pickups closest to either jimi's '68 white or black strats.

So what do YOU think is the best available hendrix pickups today? and why.


thanks!

[JimiJames]

Jimi tones, I'd still stick with Fender's CS 69's. for righties.
(Not to go off topic, to get it right, you would need the "lefty" setup. factoring in pole pieces, mid pup, rev headstock etc.)

[stef]

yep cs 69

[theactor19]

Jimi tones, I'd still stick with Fender's CS 69's. for righties.
(Not to go off topic, to get it right, you would need the "lefty" setup. factoring in pole pieces, mid pup, rev headstock etc.)

I actually had the CS69s in my Fender Classic Players Strat and found them to actually be kind of modern sounding. Though it was a MIM guitar, so that may have affected them.

Also, I currently have a lefty MIJ '68 strat strung righty.

[JimiJames]

O.K. so do you still have them...? They don't work in just any guitar.
Yep, part of (the etc. as mentioned) that equation is an alder bod w/steel block & steel springs...NO pot metal shit...

I know that MIJ very well. Personally, it's an awesome guitar and like it better than the U.S. '67 model. The necks on those were off to spec but consistent. (too) Skinny of a neck. Anyway The Texas Specials fit the bill for that guitar, making up for whatever was lost the overall tone.

Can't wait 'til technology is incorporated. Like a spectrum scan to get single coil freq in a hum-cancelling single. THAT would be the shit !

Speaking of singles... The P-90's gotta' be the meanest sounding single. - Jr. through a Marshall... NO MATCH Face contortions happen immediately & uncontrollably, lol

[yngwie308]

Fralin Woodstocks for the umpteenth time, I think they sound better than the CS '69's.
Also a custom Bare Knuckles wind to Hendrix era specs might be even better!
yngwie308

[yladrd61]

Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered

[big_teee]

Hendrix played a Post CBS Strat.
The Post CBS Pickups were Gray bottom pickups with 42 Gauge PE Wire.
The CS 69s are supposed to be near accurate replicas, all 3 wound Clockwise, Magnets are South up.
CS 69s have a DCR of 5.8k Ohms, for all 3 pickups.
Every Custom Winder makes Their version of a 69 Strat set with PE Wire.
I make mine 5.8k, 6.0k and 6.5k, with middle pickup RWRP, unless requested otherwise.
Another main Varible is bobbin Height, and type of Stagger.
CS 69s have a bobbin height of 11mm or .43" between flatwork.
69s have a stagger of magnet length in inches, of E.688, A.688, D.719, G.719,B.630, E.656" Dia .187"
So Jimi's would be reverse of that.
I had all this info available, so I thought I would pass it on!
Good Luck,
Terry

[Xplorer]

slider's 69 pickups are a better reproduction of the fender 69 than the fender themselves. much better.
the Shur V60lp are very good too, also for some hendrix tones, and some jeff beck tones;

[AustinTx]

After 53 Strats and 30 years of tinkering with pickups and wiring,
I still find Fender pickups to have best all around Strat sound.
It might not be the "best" sound, but it is the classic Strat tone.

Lots of boutique pickups sound great, but they seem to act a little
differently, part of the Strat sound gets sterilized when the quality
of pickups gets too high, flaws are part of the magic.

Fender CS 69 pickups would be a good choice for a basic JH tone.

Jimi's pickup angle, pots, tone cap, hardware, and tremolo block,
also contributed to the sound you are after, get those right
( get rid of the zinc and pot metal ) and pickup changes will really
make a difference.

[Lefty Lou]

I agree with "theactor 19" only with a slight change. Fender CS 69's with a "lefty stagger" for right handed musicians or "righty stagger" for left handed musicians. After all that's what the man used, Fender's version of their present 69 pups custom wound by Abigail Yabarra. Being that the 69's have notably scooped mids, Jimi being the intelligent guy that he was compensated for those lack of mids with: Marshall JTM45/100 midrange control; Celestion Heritage G12H 55Hz low resonance (bass) speakers ; KT-66 tubes and his choice of preamp tubes ; coiled cables ; & lastly effects to make up for a lack of mids. With the Fender 69 pup set you get the ultimate great clean tones, I would describe the wound strings as having that cool "ping" tone like a piano hammer on a piano string sound.

[Xplorer]

i'm still saying : slider's 69. Because i think that the real fender pickups from 69, aren't the same as the modern CS 69, and the slider's are just perfect reproductions of the originals, nothing more, nothing less.

[Xplorer]

btw, please, what did you mean when you said : "get rid of the zinc and pot metal" ?

[Lefty Lou]

Xplorer, he's referring to the cheap potted metals that Fender uses for the tremolo blocks of their cheaper line of strat guitars which would be the ones from: Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, and China Fenders. If you want to get a solid steel or brass tremolo block for one of Fender's cheaper line of strat guitars, and at reasonable prices to boot go here: http://www.guitarfetish.com/Upgrade-Ste ... c_219.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lefty Lou]

i'm still saying : slider's 69. Because i think that the real fender pickups from 69, aren't the same as the modern CS 69, and the slider's are just perfect reproductions of the originals, nothing more, nothing less.

Normally I would be the first one to tout Slider's pickups because I was aware of the quality of Rod McQueen's pups years ago and highly recommended his pups on Lick Library BUT, Rod doesn't have the exclusivity of being the only one who makes fairly precise reproductions. Before Rod stopped listing his specs on eBay, I had a well established pup winder in Ontario Canada to build me a Rod Slider '69 set to Rod's specs, and guess what? They had more mids than a '69 Fender set and were more balanced overall from positions 1 through 5 of my strat switch. The regular Fender 69's are wound on a machine to a specific wind count, but the CS 69's were supposedly hand wound to Jimi's specs by Abigail Yabbara at Fender. FWIW, years ago the great Cesar Diaz who was SRV's amp tech discovered that Fender's pickup winding machine was off by approximately 200 winds. Cesar addressed Abigail Yabarra on this topic of interest, and she was astonished at his correctness. Cesar was re-winding pups years ago when there were little or no pup winders around, so he had vast experience with the subject.