Guitar pickup recs. High end. Not high end.

j.m.(jim) rolph

he's an older gentleman & his website is outdated. his pickups are as close to original vintage as anything you'll find.
call him and tell him what you're looking for. he may talk you're ear off, but you're guaranteed to learn something and get a first rate product.

859-448-9463

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High end. Lace, EMG, Fender Noiseless, Dimarzio?

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I have SCN noiseless (stock Fender, it is an American Deluxe ) on my strat. My buddy who is actually a good guitar player (semiprofessional) swears by Lace. Dimarzio is popular for a fatter, crunchier sound, but I've never cared for them as a player. I had Dims on an Ibanez Dinky, but I'm just more of a single coil player than humbucker.

As far as the Lace - they have a bunch of configurations - if you decide to go that way, I'd call/email them and see what they recommend.

The new generation of Dimarzio stuff, their collective "Area" series, is really good, particularly if you seek noiseless operation; thicker, creamier strat sounds; the classic strat quacks in position "2" and "4" on the blade; and the ability to push and/or distort without thinning out and icing/brittling. I have their Injector neck, Area 67 and Injector bridge in my personal daily player SSS guitar. I highly recommend this setup as a do-everything SSS platform. FYI, Dimarzio has really upped their game on strat and tele replacements in recent years. Don't write them off as high-gain rock replacements. Sonny Landreth is using their Areas. Think about that.



To keep this tight, I'm going to quick hit some of my favorites for what you described (bluesy overall) from a variety of brands. None are noiseless BTW.

Seymour Duncan - Antiquity Series Texas Hot set; they also make a hot-wind strat series, I think it's the SSL-6, that are sweet firebreathers.

Rio Grande - Vintage Tallboy (N), Halfbreed (M), Muy Grande (B). Here's that exact set of Rios riding in an '87 Jackson Soloist - note the slightly larger pole pieces on the bridge pickup.



Fender - That recent Eric Johnson signature set is very impressive, my favorite Fender-branded pickups to date.

I had a set of Bare Knuckles' "Slowhands" pass through recently that were pretty impressive. This is a PRS Brent Mason sig model converted from MH-S-MH to SSS via a set of "Slowhands."



Another "can't go wrong" strat-set manufacturer to explore IMHO is Lindy Fralin.

I'm not a huge fan of EMG, Lace or Fender's noiseless series compared to the stuff I've listed above. All three do super clean and distorted pretty well, but in that gritty/pushed just-breaking-up realm (aka, the bluesy stuff you described), they can be kinda bleh, not bad but somewhat characterless and vanilla for my tastes, particularly if you don't have a great amp on the back end. But that's one guy's opinion and tastes and their stuff is popular with many for good reason. Take my observation with a grain of salt.

I'll pipe in later today on possible humbuckers to pursue in that HSS platform you want to overhaul.

My favorite H for an HSS setup is a tried and true bridge position-wound Duncan '59. Custom order it, however, for the four-conductor wiring option so it can be coil tapped. Duncan '59s are typically two-conductor. The 4C option is an extra $10 or $15 and the '59 taps very nicely for a solid single coil sound without a massive volume drop off/spike. Think of it as buying two unique bridge pickups for a few bucks more.

There are a few wiring options that can take advantage of that increased versatility via hard wiring schemes and/or mini toggle(s) or push-pull knob(s). SSS to HSS back to SSS on the fly.