Non-traditional strat pickup suggestions

[SkiffleHanded]

I have a partscaster I'm building and I'm wondering what kind of pickups to throw in it. I already have a strat I'm putting traditional single coils in and I'm trying to avoid being redundant. The body is routed for HSS. The pickguard i have is SSS but I'm willing to buy another if need be. I was leaning towards lipstick pickups, lace sensors, maybe a P90 in the bridge. Anything else I should consider? My preferred music leans toward grunge and alternative rock if that helps. Looking for something that will sound good clean or with a little distortion, but I have a Cobain jag for anything that's gonna be real distorted already. What would you guys recommend?

[sookwinder]

Gretsch / TV Jones
I put some in a JM body and they sound magnificent

[SkiffleHanded]

Gretsch / TV Jones
I put some in a JM body and they sound magnificent

Hadn't even considered this, now off to YouTube to see how they sound.

[marqueemoon]

One of the best sounding Strats I’ve played was a Burns.

I would do some flavor of Tri-Sonics like The Creamery’s Sonic 60’s.

[Professor Bill]

Gemini pickups makes a few flavors of Goldfoil in a Strat sized pickup. He also makes a version of a Dearmond “Hershey bar” in a Strat shape. The clips on his site sound really good.

I'm also a big fan of lipstick style pickups, like I've got in a couple of Jerry Jones guitars. While I've not loved the Duncan Strat-sized lipsticks, it might have had more to do with lipsticks in a solid body, as opposed to the Dano-style masonite hollow body that they are usually in. But I've heard that Curtis Novak's lipsticks (available in Strat size) are really great.

[sessylU]

Lace Sensor Red Silver Blue.

So good. Blue in the neck is big and chimey and leans P-90ish, red in the bridge leans humbuckerish and does everything you'd want a bridge pickup to do, silver does it's job in the middle.

Those, plus a super-7 switch and a kill switch is most of what I need in a guitar.

[fuzzking]

Gemini pickups makes a few flavors of Goldfoil in a Strat sized pickup. He also makes a version of a Dearmond “Hershey bar” in a Strat shape. The clips on his site sound really good.

Oh Goldfoils... love them. I have a Goldfoil in one of my JMs ('cause of Ry Cooder), and it's one of my favorites of all time. Mojo from UK made one for me. Here's a Strat with a Goldfoil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2tBukJpjBo

oh, edit: goldfoil in neck position only! and... goldfoils and lipsticks (love them, too!) might not sound too great with ultra high gain preamp/pedal distortion - these pups work great in a 'traditional' context: guitar > cable > power amp gain. maybe a pedal for extra kick, but it's really a matter of gain staging and frequency response of all parts of the chain (esoteric ramblings....)

hmmm... how to put this into words... they'll have more of a Mudhoney flavor (guitar > cable > amp with overdriven power stage, maybe a fuzz in between - more midrangey, less 'ballsy'), and might not be the right ones for the 'Nirvana' flavor (all clean - then Distortion Pedal on/off - more metallish/ballsy) - in the 'Grunge' (whatever that is, haha) context. depends of what kind of 'grunge' flavour you're after

[SkiffleHanded]

Gemini pickups makes a few flavors of Goldfoil in a Strat sized pickup. He also makes a version of a Dearmond “Hershey bar” in a Strat shape. The clips on his site sound really good.

Oh Goldfoils... love them. I have a Goldfoil in one of my JMs ('cause of Ry Cooder), and it's one of my favorites of all time. Mojo from UK made one for me. Here's a Strat with a Goldfoil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2tBukJpjBo

oh, edit: goldfoil in neck position only! and... goldfoils and lipsticks (love them, too!) might not sound too great with ultra high gain preamp/pedal distortion - these pups work great in a 'traditional' context: guitar > cable > power amp gain. maybe a pedal for extra kick, but it's really a matter of gain staging and frequency response of all parts of the chain (esoteric ramblings....)

hmmm... how to put this into words... they'll have more of a Mudhoney flavor (guitar > cable > amp with overdriven power stage, maybe a fuzz in between - more midrangey, less 'ballsy'), and might not be the right ones for the 'Nirvana' flavor (all clean - then Distortion Pedal on/off - more metallish/ballsy) - in the 'Grunge' (whatever that is, haha) context. depends of what kind of 'grunge' flavour you're after

Was waiting for someone to call me out on the grunge thing haha. I guess I'm using it in this sense to mean not jazz or metal. I know lots of grunge bands had very different guitar tones. Maybe a better way to say it is I'm not looking for pristine cleans or really distorted tones. Something that can handle a light/medium distortion and has character.

[SkiffleHanded]

Gemini pickups makes a few flavors of Goldfoil in a Strat sized pickup. He also makes a version of a Dearmond “Hershey bar” in a Strat shape. The clips on his site sound really good.

I'm also a big fan of lipstick style pickups, like I've got in a couple of Jerry Jones guitars. While I've not loved the Duncan Strat-sized lipsticks, it might have had more to do with lipsticks in a solid body, as opposed to the Dano-style masonite hollow body that they are usually in. But I've heard that Curtis Novak's lipsticks (available in Strat size) are really great.

I've had my eye on a Jerry Jones for a bit but haven't quite rationalized the purchase just yet. I will own a Danelectro-style guitar one day. This is off topic but I don't love guitars that do not have body contours so I'm a little wary of the Jerry Jones because I may love the sounds but hate the playing experience.

[SkiffleHanded]

Lace Sensor Red Silver Blue.

So good. Blue in the neck is big and chimey and leans P-90ish, red in the bridge leans humbuckerish and does everything you'd want a bridge pickup to do, silver does it's job in the middle.

Those, plus a super-7 switch and a kill switch is most of what I need in a guitar.

It seems like everyone has a lace sensor phase at some point so maybe i should just enter mine now. I like the idea of building a few loaded pickguards to swap as my mood/need changes and this setup would be a good one to have around even if it's not in the guitar all the time.

[sessylU]

I very much planned for the lace thing and the strat thing to be just phases.

But, then I finished it, and plugged it in, and it played and heard it it and thought "oh...,, that's what guitars are supposed to sound and feel like..."

So I'm a strat and lace sensor guy. Just like Eric Clapton. Hurray.

[fuzzking]

Was waiting for someone to call me out on the grunge thing haha. I guess I'm using it in this sense to mean not jazz or metal. I know lots of grunge bands had very different guitar tones. Maybe a better way to say it is I'm not looking for pristine cleans or really distorted tones. Something that can handle a light/medium distortion and has character.

Oh, I didn't mean to 'call you out'
about light/medium distortion with character: I think all aforementioned suggestions are great (I have not the slightest knowledge of Lace sensors, though). from what I'm imagining to have gathered, you might want real low output pups and a low powered cranked amp.

[SkiffleHanded]

Was waiting for someone to call me out on the grunge thing haha. I guess I'm using it in this sense to mean not jazz or metal. I know lots of grunge bands had very different guitar tones. Maybe a better way to say it is I'm not looking for pristine cleans or really distorted tones. Something that can handle a light/medium distortion and has character.

Oh, I didn't mean to 'call you out'
about light/medium distortion with character: I think all aforementioned suggestions are great (I have not the slightest knowledge of Lace sensors, though). from what I'm imagining to have gathered, you might want real low output pups and a low powered cranked amp.

That's probably not too far from the truth. I just got a Tone Master Twin Reverb and I'm looking for something that'll sound good through that alone for now. I don't own any pedals (yet) and am still very much in the exploratory phase of finding my "sound". I know what bands and players I like but that doesn't mean I want to sound just like 'em.

[SkiffleHanded]

I very much planned for the lace thing and the strat thing to be just phases.

But, then I finished it, and plugged it in, and it played and heard it it and thought "oh...,, that's what guitars are supposed to sound and feel like..."

So I'm a strat and lace sensor guy. Just like Eric Clapton. Hurray.

I forgot he was a lace sensor guy! Maybe it's my age but I immediately think of Billy Corgan when I think of lace sensors.

[sessylU]

Yeah, I started being a Billy Corgan fan, then I realised it was Eric Clapton's thing too. Now I'm waiting for the transphobia and racism.

Joking aside, Siamese Dream is one of my favourite albums and one of my favourite guitar tones. I built that particular guitar around the same time as I bought a MBM Dream Box and I had a great time playing them together.

But the red-silver-blue set also does so much more. It's really is a very good, very versatile set of pickups. They maybe get pigeon-holed a bit but they're a very good take on what a guitar should sound like.