Strats and reverse bridge pup angle...your thoughts?

[Freedom]

I've read somewhere that Leo choose the angled bridge position (thinner string pup poles closer to the bridge, thicker string pup poles away from the bridge) because at that time the amps were pretty dark sounding so by doing that he gave the chance to the strat users to have a more sparkling sound when choosing the bridge pick up...

Anyway, i was wondering if anyone has experienced how the same bridge pickup (signle coil that is) sounds on the same guitar (strat i guess) when it's been installed with the classic way and the reverse bridge angle...

I guess its a shot in the dark cause it requires a SSH routing body (or at least thats the easy way) and a new pickguard with the correct bridge pup angle, but what the heck you never know...

Thanks in advance guys.

Nick

PS: lets leave out of the discussion the reversed poles pups, i am only intrested in the reverse angle of the bridge pick up

[flieger67]

That's probably very do-able on any strat-style guitar with a swimming-pool type of route, too.

Also, Fender did offer a right-handed strat with the bridge pickup in the reversed position in which you are interested. The guitar was supposed to give right-handed players a bit of taste of what it was like for Jimi to play a right-handed instrument left-handed. The Voodoo Strat was apparently available in '98-99. Here's a link: http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/0 ... tml#voodoo

As for the tone effect, my guess (and it's just a guess, so take it for what it's worth) is that the high E would get a little less bright and the low E might be just a bit brighter. That's assuming that all else is basically the same in the signal chain. I'm not certain if the tonal changes would be all that noticeable and I'd suspect that the sound difference for the middle strings would be the least noticeable as their polepieces wouldn't be moving nearly as much as the ones for the E strings.

Hopefully someone else has tried the experiment and can give more concrete feedback.

[dazzlindino]

Did not know that concrete can feedback....

[flieger67]

Did not know that concrete can feedback....

Sure, just check out "Mythbusters".

[Roe]

strats, teles, and esquires just had the wrong bridge pup angle IMHO. the advantage of reversing the angle is brighter bass strings and mellower treble strings

[Freedom]

Thanks for the replies guys...

So i did a little search on the net for right handed, reverse bridge angle, 11-hole, 3 ply strat pickguards and i found this site: http://www.terrapinguitars.com/pg2009/strat/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could you recommend any other sites for a pickguard like this?

Thanks in advance.

Nick

[Roe]

warmoth

[flieger67]

Thanks for the replies guys...

So i did a little search on the net for right handed, reverse bridge angle, 11-hole, 3 ply strat pickguards and i found this site: http://www.terrapinguitars.com/pg2009/strat/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Could you recommend any other sites for a pickguard like this?

Thanks in advance.

Nick

I don't know if they still do them, but Allparts did a somewhat custom pickguard for a guitar of mine several years ago based off of a tracing that was sent to them.

Another option might be WD Products: http://www.pickguards.com/ and they do stock Voodoo Strat pickguards: http://www.wdmusic.com/pickguard_stvd_200.html. The Voodoo guards appear to be 11-hole guards.

I hope that helps.

[Freedom]

Thank you!!!!

[flieger67]

Thank you!!!!

You're welcome.

Please let us know what you think of the tonal differences with the reverse-angled bridge pickup.

[Freedom]

Tell you what, i think i'm gonna try it first on my el-cheapo Harley Benton strat, its SSS but the routing is SSH so its an easy case with 0 losses...i'll keep you posted...

[basile865]

I dont think itll make much of a difference. Not to mention it wont make any difference when you're on the neck pickup or middle pickup (position 5,4 and 3) which is what most would spend their time on anyway.

[Freedom]

I dont think itll make much of a difference. Not to mention it wont make any difference when you're on the neck pickup or middle pickup (position 5,4 and 3) which is what most would spend their time on anyway.

We'll see...

Oh, and i use the bridge as often as the rest of the pups/positions so it does matters to me...

[AJW]

I have the Fender 60s reverse (Mexican) strat. It not only has a reverse headstock, but the bridge pickup has the reverse angle. I replaced the original parchment pickguard with a 3ply white pearloid one from Warmoth. Make sure you get the correct screw hole number/spacing when you order it. I kept the reverse pickup angle since I'm a big Hendrix fan, and it just seems more logical as well. I like the tone of that strat (now with Callaham H/SRV pickups), but I can't compare the stock pickup angle since it's been this way all along.