Best strat pickups for jazz

[mateo2006]

For jazz, Stratocaster pickups don't do it. Boutique Strat pickups don't do it either. For a jazz sound you need to make more drastic changes... Little '59 in all three positions works best for me. They are Seymour Duncan mini-humbuckers that drop fit right in and sound sort of like P90 pickups.

It is certainly nice to have fatter sounding pickups and these Lollar Charlie Christian Pickups were a good sized investment that I really love.

FWIW, it's not really about the guitar/pickups. It's about the amplifier.

OTOH, if you play through a more mid-emphasized tweed amp, e.g., the Fender Deluxe, or if you play through just about any Ampeg or Polytone amp, the Stratocaster on the neck pickup will sound much, much more jazzy.

I think you can really sculpt the sound a lot by focusing on the amp.

I also think that even changing a speaker in an amp can create as big a change in the sound as changing your pickups.

It is not like any of the elements don't matter but I think that amp plays a pretty huge role.

[rmpmcdermott]

I know this thread is kinda old, but my number 1 and 2 are both Strat. I have Bobby Tyson at Tyson Tone wind me up pickups and they're phenomenal. Tell him your rig and the kind of sound you want he'll get it for you. He only has humbuckers on his website, but if you email him he'll do single coils.

Other than that, I agree that Lindy Fralin is always a great go-to choice.

[life_with_a_song]

I've got two Strat-style guitars with vastly different pickups between them.

The older one is a cheap A.X.L. with the stock ceramic "EMG for AXL" pickups (at least in the neck and the middle--the bridge humbucker is a Washburn cheapie I switched in years ago). This guitar does exactly what I want it to do, and I wouldn't change these pickups for anything (although I did change out the capacitor, but it sounded great to me before that--I just love this one capacitor that I put in all of my guitars). I will say that this particular guitar rings like a bell acoustically, and that this helps it get a long way toward its overall great sound.

On the other side of the spectrum, my other "Strat" is a luthier-made deal with Don Mare pickups which I ordered for this guitar (can't recall which model), and these are also just excellent, and I wouldn't change a thing about them. But this guitar does not ring like a bell the way that the A.X.L. does. . .and I think that if it did, it would just be all the better for it.

That said, I'm sure there are dozens and dozens of great Strat pickups that do a very similar thing very well.

My suggestion is this: Try various capacitors, and--by all means--experiment with pickup heights. This is where I believe the real magic resides in finding great sounds from pickups in any Strat-style guitar.

[pauln]

I found the tone for the first time about 20 years ago. I had a 90s Fender tube amp with an effects loop I never used and tried plugging my Strat directly into the power amp "in" jack (the return jack for the effects loop)... so bypassing the preamp stage completely.

I was in love with the tone and used it for practicing at home since without the gain of the preamp, the signal was so low it made the 60 watt amp sound like a 3 watt amp.

A few years ago on this forum I was reading a thread where the topic was basically discussing whether certain guitarists were "really jazz guitarists, or not" and saw names with whom I was unfamiliar, so went to youtube to hear them. I heard one of them playing an L5 and recalled the tone I loved back then and spent a weekend fooling with my amps to see if I could get that tone with my Strat.

That is where the 1-10-1 tone setting on my amps to flatten the response originated for me. The first time I tried it in performance it was hard to hear myself because the familiar high frequencies were not crispy and sharp, so after a couple of songs I reverted back. With subsequent shows I got better at it but it took about a month to get used to hearing the more "blended into the band" tone.

Since then it has been my only setting and I continue to like its qualities... it seems to promote a number of subtle changes in picking technique that support jazz playing very nicely and naturally.

[Frank67]

A strat is an incredibly versatile guitar. It can do all these chimy, crisp tones but then with a few pedals and/or the right amp, it can also sound fat and bold. After doing the humbucker/les Paul thing for years, I really came to appreciate Strats and Teles as a platform for sculpting tones.

Pickups I have tried and can recommend:

Fender Eric Johnson set: low output, very crisp tone. Nice Pickups, quintessential Strat tones.

The David Gilmour combo: Custom Shop Fat 50 (neck), custom shop 69 (middle), Seymour Duncan SSL5 Bridge. Nice, fat warm clean from the neck, bold fat tone on the bridge, nice airy in between sounds

DiMarzio Area pickups ... noiseless but very authentic sounding. As the corresponding Tele pickups, these are great pickups and very affordable.

DiMarzio blade pickups. They are humbuckers and have slightly higher output. Also noiseless. They sound really good. I have a Strat with the fast track (neck), cruiser middle and chopper bridge. Great for rock music. Their names are a bit silly and sometimes misleading, but the pickups sound great.

EMG SA single coils together with a SPC boost. These are active and require a battery. They sound different from regulär Strat pickups. People love or hate them. To me, a very interesting, useful, pleasant alternative. The SPC is a midboost in order to get a fatter, warmer tone. It can be continuously controlled. That helps with jazzy tones. The SA pickups a very clear and crisp but can get fat and bold with the SPC. There also is a low/high boost that I did not care for. The Gilmour 1980s/90s tone is from these pickups and is considered by many the best he ever had. Knopfler also had them in his Pensa Suhr.

I am sure there are many many others including Fralin or Lollar offerings that will get the job done perfectly.

[FwLineberry]

Gotta shout out for Kinman Vintage Noiseless. They turned the sound of my '80s strat from a rubber rhino grunt into angels singing on high. Everybody who plays it, now, wants to buy it from me.

[Dhango]

Lace Sensor Holy Grail 3-pack(3xHG1000): $260.-

You can change the HG1000 on the bridge for a HG1500 which is a little bit hotter. And all three as silent as a ninja...

[krusty]

Most versatile Strat pickups I've tried are the Fishman Fluence set. They have by far the best string to string balance. Noiseless to boot, and you can make the signal hotter with the pull of a tone knob. I've tried Kinmans (not bad), Lace (also not bad), DiMarzio Area (OK), and various traditional single coils, which I can't stand due to the noise and hum.

[Peter C]

I may have missed it, but I didn't read any comment about the wound 3rd string volume (lack thereof) issue with flat pole type pups, like the ones on my 80s MIJ Squier Strat. I've been playing this guitar again a lot recently and had to put a plain (19) 3rd on there to even things out. If I changed out the pickups, I'd be looking at either staggered or adjustable pole heights, methinks.

[Robertkoa]

A 1960 Strat has no essential tone that its pickups alone are facilitating for the player. It can be clean, dirty, or anything in between. Same goes for a '92 MIM or anything before or since made anywhere. A Strat is a very blank canvas for your creativity.

Of course, there are a gazillion Strat pickup options. I'm a fan of Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots for clean Strat tones. But that's just 'cause I have a set and they sound great. I'm sure I'd like plenty of other pickups, too.

I agree with this very astute observation re Strats.

Their may be some exceptions like the Anderson Strat with the superior neck Joint etc.

BUT until we see Semi Hollow and set neck Strats or 25.5" scale solidbodies that are built to resonate - even a major step beyond Teles - Strats are kind of an input device more dependent upon the pickups than most Guitars for their Tones.

However - for the OP - listen to Andy Timmons play his Ibanez Sig - essentially an H-S-S Strat.

IF you get Cruiser pickups the Bridge Version in Neck and the Bridge Version in Middle (like Timmons does ) and a bridge Humbucker. .
You can get nice warm fat Strat -ish Tones like his...no noise/hum.

BUT then have a tech install a mini switch that changes the Cruiser's dual coils in parallel with itself - THEN it will still be hum cancelling and go more in the thinner Mark Knophler direction in that mode - still hum cancelling - want more twang ...use the Neck Cruiser for neck and for middle ....lower output and thinner in both modes.

Listen to Timmons clean tones and see if you like them - especially because you will be very versatile this way[ Timmons does not use the Cruiser in parallel with itself trick - ] ...even more versatile is H-S-H Strat or Tele.

I once heard [ online ] neck position was mostly what I listened to - Strats from about 5 different Eras - 50s 60s 80s etc with stock and then newer with 'ZZX-37b more vintage than vintage -make you feel 17 years old again pickups ' and there were really small differences .

So if you want to get great tones - there are a lot of noise free options- unless you are really on the Vintage period correct sound quest.. ..

[KirkP]

I have a 1992 mexican strat that I would like to improve in order to attain a clean tone like a 1960 stratocaster. ...

Note that 1960’s Strat pickups had the pole heights set for a wound G string. A plain G string is way out of balance with those pickups. It drove me nuts on my 1970 Strat, so I had the G pole pushed down level with the D pole. That might have been a risky operation but the result was good. String to string balance is one of the most important qualities of a pickup for me, and this fixed it. I think most modern Strat pickups are balanced for plain G’s, but since you are looking for a 60’s type pickup I thought I should mention it.

[Namelyguitar]

Rio Grande - Vintage Tallboys (model).
Clean, and worth every penny. Sound sample(s) are on their website.

[rintincop]

Little '59 mini-humbuckers by Seymour Duncan, jazz meets p90 meets Les Paul, cleaN.

[lammie200]

Lace Sensor Holy Grail 3-pack(3xHG1000): $260.-

You can change the HG1000 on the bridge for a HG1500 which is a little bit hotter. And all three as silent as a ninja...

I have those, but mine came without logos. I would say that they are very quiet and somewhat vintage sounding.

[DRS]

My strat has Seymour Duncan SSL2 (flat pole version of SSL1) in neck and middle with an SSL6 (flat pole version of the SSL5) in the bridge. Gives me great tone and reasonably priced. paying $300+ for a set of strat pups is silly.

[felicia]

Thank you to everyone who contributed their knowledge of strat improvements. I finally got my 1992 mexican strat back last week with new Bare Knuckles 63 pickups PAT Pend '63 Veneer Board strat | Bare Knuckle Pickups and a new bridge from Callahan.
The guitar is considerably improved.
1. The new bridge, which was rather expensive at $150 or so, is responsible for a large part of the new clarity of the instrument. When I play not plugged in, I can tell the difference in tone. I would never have guessed this change would’ve made such an impact. My luthier suggested I change the bridge so I did. He also put in a new bone nut and set it up.
2. The Bare Knuckes 63 pickups are a lot meatier than the stock ones. I see a big improvement in the positions closer to the bridge. The stock pickups sounded pretty dreadful in positions 1-4. I am happy with the neck position 5. It is clear and substantial. In any position i hear a fuller sound in the midrange.
I was not looking for a jazz tone, but more of a clear, beefy strat sound which can be used in different contexts. I play mostly Brazilian. Now i am trying to find a worthy amp for home use. Maybe Princeton reverb or a cheaper Vox ac10.

[Bach5G]

When you say bridge, do you mean bridge and trem or just the bridge?

[felicia]

Bridge has tremolo bar. Does that answer your question?
Stock bridge had 3 springs in back. The new callahan bridge and trem bar has 5 springs.

[consumerduck]

Going back to the MFD G&L pickup, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending an hour or so with Dale Hyatt. He started working for Leo Fender after he got out of the Army/Air Force in 1946. He worked for fender until CBS bought them and then co-founded and was eventually president of G&L.
Anyway Dale told me the Leo thought the MFD pickup was his best pickup invention ever.
i love them in their teles. I don’t own one but they are awesome pickups.

[FwLineberry]

Hmmm. I have a set of pickups out of a mid '80s G&L. Some guy bought the guitar at a shop I worked at and immediately traded out the pickups. At the time I thought they were the best single coil pickups I had ever heard, so I asked and he gave them to me.

I never put them in my strat because they wouldn't fit without doing some routing. It might be worth assembling a partscaster and putting those pickups in it.

[orri]

I really like the stock pickups in my MIM classic series 50s strat.
They're called "Vintage-Stype Single-Coil Strat" on the website, supposedly representative of the period (never played a vintage strat, just liked this one and bought it).
I have another strat (MIA) with lace sensor neck pickups. They are great too but somehow more of a "general" guitar sound. It's very clear and good for jazz.

I have archtops with humbuckers that give me a classic jazz guitar sound, so when I choose to play a strat I often do it because I want the character of a strat, rather than wanting a strat to try to be a jazz guitar.

Strats are though really ergonomically convenient, so I'd understand someone wanting to play one for only that reason, and then mod it to have it sound like something different.