How to beef up a Strat?

[Webtroll]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f139/strat-parts-776104/

 

[Johnny F]

See Fat Eddy's site and talk to Pete Biltoft.

 

[Bulltrout]

Try a Bad Bob boost. I find it adds length and girth to a Strat.

 

[Mr.Hat]

Hot Rails™ for Strat SHR-1 - Seymour Duncan Cutting Edge

Try this

 

[pasta4lnch]

Hot Rails™ for Strat SHR-1 - Seymour Duncan Cutting Edge

Try this

there's this as well. I was seriously considering this pup when I was looking for a tele, but then found another hard tail strat instead

I think these mini buckers are awesome!!

 

[Testing_123]

My Strat has a way fat tone. It's a stock MIA.

My secret?

I use the neck pickup.

When I want a little more clarity and definition, I'll switch to the middle pickup.

I rarely use the bridge pickup unless I want thin, crispy twang.

(I also play .011 - .048 strings. I played .010's for a long time, but honestly didn't notice much feel/playability difference when I went up to .011s.)

 

[Johnny F]

Nothing sounds better than a good strat neck pickup. I've tried P90s, buckers, and some strange stuff for fun, but the strat pups go right back in.

 

[NKBassman]

I have an old Squier strat with SD Hotrails pickups in the neck and bridge position. I LOVE that pickup in the neck! The bridge one is good too for chunky/heavy rhythm playing, but the neck pickup is it for solo tone. Creamy, rich and full. mmmmmm

 

[dpbass613]

You could also just add a compressor, they make a huge difference on strats.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

The Hot Rails is a fantstic bridge pickup replacement, and I think you'll love it. Also, you might find a wired Carvin pickguard with their singles for 60 bucks or so on eBay. I think they're 110 or so new. Carvin's singles have more mids than the typical Fender singles, but still give you that nice Fender single coil sound. You gain more depth to the sounds without giving up the sparkle. That's a cheap and very nice upgrade. If you get a wired pickguard (I did, no regrets at ALL) it's a very easy install too. Master Vol, Master Tone, and on/off for the bridge pickup which is kind of cool too.
Looks like this (it may come with white pickups now as well, I'm not certain):

That's exactly what my strat will look like when I'm done with it, unless I decide to get the bridge humucker. Also, stacked humbuckers for all of the singles.

Props on a good color combo.

 

[Double Agent]

Haven't read this whole thread, so this may have been suggested...I saw that someone mentioned upping you string gauge. I would recommend a heavy-bottom/light-top gauge if you want to get thicker strings, but worry about doing bends on 11s. The set I currently use is 10-50, but 10-52 is also available.

Positions 2 and 4 do not, and are not meant to, emulate a humbucker in any way. But, with Strats that have a RWRP middle pickup, those positions are hum-cancelling (most vintage and vintage reissue Strats do NOT have a RWRP middle pickup).

The other trick is not to worry about using your bridge pickup if it's too bright. A lot of Strat players use only 1-2 positions on the pickup selector and leave it there. When I played a Strat, I never soloed the bridge pickup, I would go to position 2 for distorted rhythm, position 3 for a clean funk tone, position 4 for clean rhythm, and position 4 or 5 for solos. But, I've seen guys who only use position 2, or only use position 4.

However, I have to whole-hearted agree that with one of the first posts that said "get a Tele". You can have your LPs and Strats, I prefer semi-hollows and Teles.

 

[Webtroll]

You can have your LPs and Strats, I prefer semi-hollows and Teles.

I want a semi hollow so bad, but I played one that has ruined all of the rest of them for me big time. I went to a jam session out in the woods and in the open garage, hanging on the wall, was an old Guild hollowbody about the size of a Les Paul with a P90 in the neck position. Through a Twin Reverb the thing sounded astounding. Are there any not overly expensive Les Paul sized hollow bodies that are worth a flying pewp?

Sorry for the derail

 

[bunnykeeper]

I had three Lace Sensor silvers in my Strat, and wanted to beef it up. I picked up a LS red and wired it as a humbucker with one of the silvers in the bridge position, and am quite pleased with the results.

 

[mr79redbird]

My brother has a squier affinity strat.He replaced the stock pickups with a Carvin pre-wired pickguard.He chose the traditional Single,single,single config but with 7 way switching and that Strat now easily hangs with any strat ive heard or seen in person.It cost $120.00.They also offer H-S-H &H-S-S &H-H with lots of switching options.

 

[fullrangebass]

If you rarely ever use the tone pot, you can replace it with a Villex PRTB

Villex passive rotary booster

or if you use the tone control, you can replace the output jack with the Villex Stratocaster Jack Replacement Booster

Villex passive rotary booster

My brother has both on his Strats and while retaining the original tone, they make a huge difference when it comes to thickening up a Strat

 

[Double Agent]

Are there any not overly expensive Les Paul sized hollow bodies that are worth a flying pewp?

Sorry for the derail

I don't know what overly expensive is to you, but a Gibson ES339 is a tick over $2K new and can be had used for $1300-1600 pretty easily. Body shape of a ES335, but they are around the size of an LP, much smaller than a 335. If that is too much, then I would check out the Ibanez Artcore line...I see a lot of good reviews for those and they are all under $1000.

[/derail]

 

[BassLife77]

I always put mine through a tube preamp between the guitar and amp. even a starved tube design will make it sound fuller.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

If that is too much, then I would check out the Ibanez Artcore line...I see a lot of good reviews for those and they are all under $1000.

+1

Plus they are made and setup better than the over priced Gibsons.

They look nicer as well. (Not a fan of the ES-335 shape.)

 

[s_mcsleazy]

mate. send it to me in glasgow. i mod strats all the bloody time. its so rediculas i can now do it in my sleep. ill show you some examples of some ive done

theres some more but i dont have pics of them. however strats are easy to mod. if you wanna give it beef i recomend heavyer strings (11 or 12's) and change the pickup hight