Metropoulos Forum

I am looking at a set of blues special , i have owned texas specials fat 50 and 57 /62's and noiseless does anybody have an opinion on the fralins I am looking at I would like to get the base plate on the bridge.

man there used to be this website that compared the exact same riffs with the exact same setup, just changing the pickups. It had fender CS stuff, Fralins, and Lolars. If somebody knows what site Im referring to please post it up!

I spent a few hours on there comparing everything and my fav's tended to be the Lolars. But then again Im trying to stay away from the stevie ray thing. I've heard a lot of great stuff about fralins though. If you can find that website it is a nice comparison tool.

Check out George's soundclips of his 59 bassman and Nash strat.

I have '54 Custom Shops in mine and I really like them... I tried the Vintage Noiseless, OK at best, lacked alot of character.... George's PUP's sound great as well... I am looking forward to A/B mine vs. his next time we get together....

http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat_Pi ... ips_W1.cfm

Voila

Yes! Thanks man

No worries! Personally, I have a set of Vintage Hots from Fralin that I adore. I have them way low in the pickguard, and they are the Stratiest, strat pickups I've ever heard. I think that they'd sound even better had I gone with a more vintage correct neck. (I went with a quarter sawn neck with dual acting rod, instead of flatsawn with a single acting rod)

Nonetheless, their very good and I would go Fralin again. If I build another Strat (I certainly want to), I want to try a set of Smits, since I talked to him and he said he could wind me really low output pickups with a reverse stagger. (Jimi anyone )

Travis

Ya know its funny because I've heard so much about low output pickups being where you want to be for Jimi Tone. But I played the classic player Jazzmaster at GC the other day and I loved it. My dad has an original 66 and this one really still felt great, even being made in mexico and stuff. It got horrible reviews on musiciansfriend but maybe I had one that came off the line just right.

ANYWAY the point is that it has extremely warm pickups. Theyre close to a P-90. I'm wondering if I should just get higher output pickups and use that plugged directly in to have the warm overdrive instead of having to use a pedal. If you get the chance give one of those new jazzmasters a shot. I love them.

I will definately try one if any local shops bring one in. Typically the only fenders you see here are Tele's and Strats, since there isn't a market for much else.

What I have found from using Underwound Pickups (I ordered my Vintage Hots %5 underwound) is that you get that huge clarity that Jimi had. I'm not saying that I'm even close to getting a perfect Jimi sound, because I now (I went through the phase that everyone goes through at one time or another than all I had to do was get the right gear and bam) truly believe that it was in his hands, but this brought me closer than any other strat I've tried.

The Underwound pickups also let you get the amp working way harder, so you get a thicker overall tone, thanks to the fact that you are taxing the output section. Since I typically run my Volume at about 8, the bright cap isn't as bright (if I'm not mistaken, the higher the volume is set, the less effect the cap has) as with the volume lower, but It gives the response a distinct tight roundness that the normal lacks. The overdrive is less fuzzy and the rolled back cleans feel tighter on the bright channel. I also really like the way that low output pickups react with pedals, especially wah, it gives the sweep more definition, and you get lots of dynamic control with a fuzz (as Jimi did). I usually run my mid, treb, and presence knobs pretty high too, but my $7 curly cables keep the brightness in check.

I think the key to using an underwound pickup is to really jack up the volume, which of course isn't doable for everyone. This is where you get both thickness and clarity.

All of this is just my opinion based on what I have found of course. This all being said, if I'm not plugged into a decent amp, I have to mess around and toss a lot of bass on the eq to cut down the brightness.

Travis

P.S Sorry if I hijacked this thread. I just love my Fralins and thought I'd explain why.

No problem , great info.

The Callaham H/SRV set is awesome, and they are wound by Fralin with the metal baseplate on the bridge pickup. They are not noiseless though.

z900 wrote:I am looking at a set of blues special , i have owned texas specials fat 50 and 57 /62's and noiseless does anybody have an opinion on the fralins I am looking at I would like to get the base plate on the bridge.

yes get the baseplate on the bridge, the Blues Specials are hotter then the Vintage Hots and Real 54's but all sound really great!! The Blues Specials were designed for Don Grosh Custom guitars back in 93 and Lindy liked them so much that he made them available as a model.