How to beef up a Strat?

[Electricblue]

Hey. Before the flames begin, I'm a guitarist too. It happens however, if this belongs in Misc due to the guitar content, please move it

Anyway, how would I go about adding some guts to my Strat's sound? Preferably without replacing pickups, but that would probably be the best way...

Also, do pickup positions 2 and 4 simulate a humbucker pickup?

Thanks

[lowendgenerator]

If you don;t want to replace pickups, try heavier strings.

[amroach]

Buy a Tele.

[lowendgenerator]

Originally Posted by amroach

Buy a Tele.

WIN.

[Electricblue]

Originally Posted by lowendgenerator

If you don;t want to replace pickups, try heavier strings.

Seems simple enough, I have 9's at the minute. Would 10's do the trick? I would be dubious about 11's, but playing is more accurate with heavier strings too.

[line6man]

What you have to do is get rid of that awful thin bridge pickup and put a nice fat humbucker there. SSH Strats are my favorite.

Positions 2 and 4 are parallel combinations of the neck and middle or middle and bridge pickups. Those are the classic "phasey" Strat tones. The spacing of the pickups causes a greater degree of phase separation between the signals outputting each pickup than with a humbucker. Combine that with the fact that the coils are in parallel and not series, and you get a completely different tone than that of a traditional humbucker.

[R. Laevinus]

Option 1: Heavier strings. Try nickel if you're currently using steel. Also, you can try flatwounds. (Yes, they make them for guitar!)

Option 2: Swap out the tone cap(s) for a bigger one, like a .033 or .047. This will give you slightly less high-end.

Option 3: Swap out the pickups (I assume they're stock?) for something like Seymour Duncan Hot Rails or Quarter Pounders (yes, they make them for strats!)

Option 4: (this is the option I went with, btw) Swap out the dinky single-coils for FULL-SIZE HUMBUCKERS!

Option 5: Raise your pickup height/lower your strings.


And yes, positions 2 and 4 do make a humbucker, they don't simulate it. However, it tends to not sound quite like a 'normal' humbucker, because they pups aren't built the same way, and because they're spread out along the string length. EDIT: And what Line6Man said.

[sqadan]

Originally Posted by Electricblue

Hey. Before the flames begin, I'm a guitarist too. It happens however, if this belongs in Misc due to the guitar content, please move it

Anyway, how would I go about adding some guts to my Strat's sound? Preferably without replacing pickups, but that would probably be the best way...

Also, do pickup positions 2 and 4 simulate a humbucker pickup?

Thanks

If the middle pickup is reverse wound / reverse polarity then yes - the middle / bridge and middle / neck positions will "buck hum".

To "beef up" your strat - a couple of things come to mind. Putting a base plate under the bridge pickup like on a tele (actually under the pickup itself) will help give the typically thin bridge pickup some "balls" if you will.

Also - there are a fair number of makers like lollar and fralin that make great "hot" strat pickups.

A good clean boost like the zvex Super Hard-On works wonders as well for adding some meat to the classic strat tone. YMMV obviously.

[SGD Lutherie]

I'm also a guitarist, and I don't like the tone of heavier strings. They tend to sound "plonky". A lot of the guitarist that use heavy strings, like SRV, also tuned down a step. Hendrix used 9s.

I stick humbuckers in the bridge position on my Strat type guitars. On my Tele type guitar I have a dual blade bridge pickup.

That gives me all the heavier fatter tones and the bright ones to.

Positions 2 & 4 are hum canceling, but they are in parallel. You can rewire the guitar to get the bridge and middle in series, and that would give you a fatter more humbucker tone.

[lowendgenerator]

Originally Posted by Electricblue

Seems simple enough, I have 9's at the minute. Would 10's do the trick? I would be dubious about 11's, but playing is more accurate with heavier strings too.

I like my electrics to play like acoustics, so I'll sometimes opt for 11s. If your guitar is up to snuff, it shouldn't take much adjusting to get the action right. I'm a hamfisted, hyperactive rhythm player, so I need all the help I can get.

The difference with 10s will be more evident in the "feel" side more than the "hear" side.

[phatbass]

Remove/bypass the tone control circuitry - it's a free mod and REALLY opens up a Strat's sound. Every Strat I've had this done on has sparkled.

Also easily reversed if you don't like it (some folks don't).

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by Electricblue

Also, do pickup positions 2 and 4 simulate a humbucker pickup?

Thanks

Positions 2 & 4 will cancel hum, but I assume that's not what you're talking about. Those settings take two single coil pickups which are spaced widely apart and combine them in parallel. Humbucker pickups are two coils right next to each other, usually combined in series (which gives a fuller sound with higher output).

[R. Laevinus]

I use 12's, and tune to D-straight, and use a quasi HSH setup (it's actually HHH, as the middle pup is a stacked blad humbucker). It's pretty thick sounding.

[Actium]

Buy something with (or mod for) emg81/85 and use thicker strings and tune to d standard.

[TripleDouble]

Heavier strings are a good first step, I use 11's and find no problem with the tension, but have worked my way up from 10's. You can also try some overwound "texas" type pickups, from budget choices like the Dragonfire ones on ebay, Fender Texas or Tex-Mex specials, all the way up to Fralin's or Lollars. Raising your action a touch will help in producing a fuller tone too, but I've found fatter strings enable the best compromise of low action/good tone. I like to shred a little.

I have the Dragonfire ones in a pre-loaded pickguard that I drop into my strat when I need that loud, raw tone for a gig or session, and they sound pretty ok with more bass and mids, but not astounding. Definitely fuller than the average strat, with less glass on top. I use lace sensors for a very pristine, atmospheric project I play in. I prefer the hotter pickups set to a lower height to still get enough of strat-y-ness. Swapping the loaded pickguards takes about 15 minutes if you set the guts of the guitar up with some of those acorn shaped twist connectors from Radio Shack...good luck!

[TripleDouble]

and a random note about string gauge...Pat Martino plays 15's, tunes to concert. Yes. 15's. Yikes.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

I'm also a guitarist, and I don't like the tone of heavier strings. They tend to sound "plonky". A lot of the guitarist that use heavy strings, like SRV, also tuned down a step. Hendrix used 9s.

Heavy gauge strings are also harder to bend.

[Electricblue]

Thanks for all the fast responses. The heavier strings thing will definitely happen. But 2 things here really took my fancy. The bridge humbucker (possibly a Hotrails) and the series middle/bridge pickup mod. Could I have it so position M/B is Middle and bridge in series? Or could I just have a push/pull to "add" the bridge pickup in series to the middle pickup? I was thinking about a DPDT at the jack to put the bridge pickup in series with whatever combination is going to the jack.

[JTE]

I'm a lot more dogmatic here... It ain't a Strat with a 'bucker in it. It's a different guitar but it ain't a Strat.

Nines are really light strings. Nice slinky sound and easy to bend, but tens' aren't that much heavier and give you more body to the sound. 11's do sound different than 9's, and being used to acoustic guitars I've used 11's on my Fender-scale electrics. Right now however, my Strat (MIM Classic with Duncan Alnico Pro II PUPs, and replaced trem block) sounds best with 10's. My Jazzmaster (same scale) just sounded so much more alive with 11's though, and they weren't that much heavier.

Note that while Pat Martino uses 15's but he also doesn't bend like Buddy Guy. It's a trade-off like most things. If the way you play guitar requires a lot of bending like Buddy Guy, Albert Lee, etc. 10's are probably the heaviest you might want to go. If you're playing more straight chords and lines without bends, 11's or heavier would be fine. Because the strings deflect less, you can generally get lower action with heavier strings, but don't hurt your hands with bends. Again, I used 11's on my Jazzmaster, and never had any problems, but I know that's not a universal endorsement.

Adjusting the pickup height is critical to get the best sound out of a Strat. Too close and you get "strat-itis" where the lower strings warble. It's caused by the magnets pulling the string and affecting the string vibrations. Most noticeable on the lower strings especially if they're lighter ones (another reason bigger strings generally work better on Strats). Too far away from the strings and you get weak output.

The best way then to "beef up" a Strat in my opinion is a combination of these things...

A. Find the RIGHT Strat. It all starts with the wood. Play them acoustically and find one that's alive, full, and rich sounding.
B. Accept that it's a Strat, not a Les Paul.
C. 10's or 11's for strings.
D. Good pickups to translate the inherent sound of the guitar,.
E. Get a good set-up, replacing the trem block if necessary, dress the frets well, make sure the nut is cut correctly (vital if you're going to use the trem), neck angle, action, and pickup levels
F. The right amp- find an amp the plays well with Strats, that'll make a huge difference. I believe that guitar amps are even more important than bass amps for being full partners in the equation of your sound.

John

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by phatbass

Remove/bypass the tone control circuitry - it's a free mod and REALLY opens up a Strat's sound. Every Strat I've had this done on has sparkled.

Also easily reversed if you don't like it (some folks don't).

The bridge pickup on a Strat has no tone control ad they are often too bright because of that. I usually rewire them to have the middle tone control work on the bridge pickup.

He wanted a beefier tone, not a brighter tone.