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sizzlingbadger wrote:never ceases to amaze me what you can find on YouTube.

My brother-in-law's partner plays bass for him these days. Just sayin'.

jeremyb wrote:So John Mayer has some interesting wiring going on in the silver sky and the pickups are voiced with scooped mids, like his earlier pickups, the big dippers, fascinating! Must be something to do with the combination of amps he uses that makes it all sounds so good...

I'm increasingly of the opinion that we're allowing the tone quest to stifle creativity and just the simple business of becoming better players.

The longer I sit next to my amp the more critical of my tone I become. But the first five minutes sounds fantastic.

Molly wrote:

sizzlingbadger wrote:never ceases to amaze me what you can find on YouTube.

My brother-in-law's partner plays bass for him these days. Just sayin'.

As vicarious claims to fame go, thats not really a good one...

Molly wrote:

jeremyb wrote:So John Mayer has some interesting wiring going on in the silver sky and the pickups are voiced with scooped mids, like his earlier pickups, the big dippers, fascinating! Must be something to do with the combination of amps he uses that makes it all sounds so good...

I'm increasingly of the opinion that we're allowing the tone quest to stifle creativity and just the simple business of becoming better players.

The longer I sit next to my amp the more critical of my tone I become. But the first five minutes sounds fantastic.

Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

Bg wrote:

Molly wrote:

sizzlingbadger wrote:never ceases to amaze me what you can find on YouTube.

My brother-in-law's partner plays bass for him these days. Just sayin'.

As vicarious claims to fame go, thats not really a good one...

It is a bit lame, eh?

Molly wrote:

Bg wrote:

Molly wrote:
My brother-in-law's partner plays bass for him these days. Just sayin'.

As vicarious claims to fame go, thats not really a good one...

It is a bit lame, eh?

Not even a blood relation... so you're lucky there

jeremyb wrote:="Molly"]

Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I have 3 Strats each with different pups and while there is quite a sound difference, in the end they all sound the same ‘cos it’s just me playing them...

Rog wrote:

jeremyb wrote:="Molly"]

Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I have 3 Strats each with different pups and while there is quite a sound difference, in the end they all sound the same ‘cos it’s just me playing them...

After years of tweaking, I have come to the conclusion that this is the truth.
Our needs are directly related to the application. I rarely play electric at home except to practice licks or fiddle with pedals and amps. In the band, I love where a good Telecaster places me in the mix. It’s a comfort zone. But I have to show off with ‘Sultans of Swing ‘ for example and that only feels right on a Strat.
As for pickups , the Lollars in my Korinacaster are darker than th Baja Tele and take up too much space in the mix. So Baja wins in this band format.
Was talking to Oleg on the weekend about my Duesenberg; by a long margin the finest electric I have ever owned. But I don’t play it much. The reason is quite simple: The Doozy offers amazing tonal and dynamic depths. Sitting quietly at home, plugged into a fine small amp, this guitar will allow you to explore touch dynamics and subtlety of expression to an amazing degree.
None of which applies hugely to a sweat and leather covers band.
When I do play like that, and I do, my tool of choice is a Lowden acoustic.

Rog wrote:

jeremyb wrote:
Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I have 3 Strats each with different pups and while there is quite a sound difference, in the end they all sound the same ‘cos they’re just strats...

Fixed.

jeremyb wrote:

Molly wrote:

jeremyb wrote:So John Mayer has some interesting wiring going on in the silver sky and the pickups are voiced with scooped mids, like his earlier pickups, the big dippers, fascinating! Must be something to do with the combination of amps he uses that makes it all sounds so good...

I'm increasingly of the opinion that we're allowing the tone quest to stifle creativity and just the simple business of becoming better players.

The longer I sit next to my amp the more critical of my tone I become. But the first five minutes sounds fantastic.

Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I think pickups are one of the only components on an electric guitar that have measurable and audible differences. How they work in your particular guitar with your particular style and rig is of course another thing.

Starfire wrote:

Rog wrote:

jeremyb wrote:
Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I have 3 Strats each with different pups and while there is quite a sound difference, in the end they all sound the same ‘cos they’re just strats...

Fixed.

lol. The truth is that there are Strats and everything else. Of course the ‘everything else’ are just pretenders to the throne.

MikeC wrote:

jeremyb wrote:

Molly wrote:
I'm increasingly of the opinion that we're allowing the tone quest to stifle creativity and just the simple business of becoming better players.

The longer I sit next to my amp the more critical of my tone I become. But the first five minutes sounds fantastic.

Mmmmm going down the pickup hole at the moment and when I listen to fancy ones beside my tex-mexs there's not much in it... I'm sure it's mostly psychological!!

I think pickups are one of the only components on an electric guitar that have measurable and audible differences. How they work in your particular guitar with your particular style and rig is of course another thing.

I would disagree with that now, after owning a guitar made from hard ash that does affect the electric tone, way more treble but also sustain, anything that alters how the string vibrates will change its tone,but before that I would have 100% agreed it was all just pickups with an electric!!

The more I listen to various strat pickups, the more I reckon that pickups have less of an effect than people believe, and given theres no consistent way of testing them blind, as well as human error in the playing coming into the equation too what can we believe?!??!?!

jeremyb wrote:
I would disagree with that now, after owning a guitar made from hard ash that does affect the electric tone, way more treble but also sustain, anything that alters how the string vibrates will change its tone,but before that I would have 100% agreed it was all just pickups with an electric!!

The more I listen to various strat pickups, the more I reckon that pickups have less of an effect than people believe, and given theres no consistent way of testing them blind, as well as human error in the playing coming into the equation too what can we believe?!??!?!

Watched this series as Rabea went from one spendy set to another and, I think, ended up back where he started.



My Strats are chalk and cheese. One has a big maple, quarter-sawn neck and one-piece ash body with 50s' pickups, and the other is Alder, skinnier rosewood neck, CS69 pickups. The latter is pure Knopfler though the 69 set might be a bit too bright. Contemplating a change. The maple/ash/50s is not what I think I'm looking for in a Strat. Might not be the keeper I pronounced it to be (surprise, surpise...). Very cool to look at, beautifully put together but not exactly what I want from a Strat.

Christ, it never ends...

Molly wrote:

jeremyb wrote:
I would disagree with that now, after owning a guitar made from hard ash that does affect the electric tone, way more treble but also sustain, anything that alters how the string vibrates will change its tone,but before that I would have 100% agreed it was all just pickups with an electric!!

The more I listen to various strat pickups, the more I reckon that pickups have less of an effect than people believe, and given theres no consistent way of testing them blind, as well as human error in the playing coming into the equation too what can we believe?!??!?!

Watched this series as Rabea went from one spendy set to another and, I think, ended up back where he started.



My Strats are chalk and cheese. One has a big maple, quarter-sawn neck and one-piece ash body with 50s' pickups, and the other is Alder, skinnier rosewood neck, CS69 pickups. The latter is pure Knopfler though the 69 set might be a bit too bright. Contemplating a change. The maple/ash/50s is not what I think I'm looking for in a Strat. Might not be the keeper I pronounced it to be (surprise, surpise...). Very cool to look at, beautifully put together but not exactly what I want from a Strat.

Christ, it never ends...

Yeah been following Rabea's "journey" too, I really like the sound of the Ron Ellis 50/60 set that Mick put in his blue strat until I found a price online...

I was dead keen on some Klein S-5s (cause I'm getting gayer for mayer right now) until I heard this comparison with my tex-mexs and theres bugger all in it...



Quite like the idea of the fender fat 60s set or radioshop ID 63 GTs, with the equal length pole pieces you can get order in the same radius as your fretboard... but I think I should just play more... who knows... got a bunch of parts lying around I might flick to pay for some pickups, trying not to constantly dip into my savings...

I am interest to know what you think a perfect strat is Brian, my road worn is my first strat (not counting the hondo strat I had when I first picked up guitar in the 80s...) and I absolutely love it, the 7.25" radius isn't a challenge like I had expected, and the worn finish just feels so great... the tone of the pickups is great once you roll the tone back on the bridge, still doesn't mean I don't want to try something else... but its the first guitar I've really played around with the controls on, or played anything but the bridge pickup on so its made me grow a lot!