Player Plus Strat Dilemma

[Byrdman]

Okay, so I had some older inexpensive starter guitars I picked up real cheap and fixed them up and traded in + some money for a used Player Plus Strat. Once I picked the thing up, I know it was going home with me. I could feel it vibrate in my hands, the neck had a perfect feel for me, and it just felt better overall than the new ones on the hooks. Next string change, I am going to do a proper setup on it, but wanted to just play the thing for the first few weeks.

Here is the issue, I really do not like the noiseless pickups in it. It's not that they sound bad, just that they dont have any balls to them. It's like the guitar has training wheels on it or something, like subdued sound if that makes any sense. So it looks like a new set up pickups are in order, so I am looking for any and all suggestions. BTW, I am good with the technical aspect of it. I have a Custom Shop Epiphone ES-335 Pro I rewired 50's style and put Gibson Classis 57's in it and it sounds/feels great. It wasn't bad before with the stock pickups, but much better now.

I'm not the traditional strat sound guy either. I play a little bit of everything. 80's rock like Def Leppard, 80's-90's Alternative, 60's-70's rock(Led Zep, AC/DC, Skynyrd, Jimi, etc). I'm just looking for some pickups that can cover a lot of ground and since there are so many options, I really dont know where to start. I was looking at an EMG Gilmore setup because it seems like with the different sound options, it would do a lot of what I play better than what I have but not sure if there is something else I should be looking at. Plus, not sure if I really want to go the active pickup route, but open to other's +/- experience.

Anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks for any help here!!

 

[jellodog]

Seems to be a common complaint concerning the Fender noiseless pickups. I've not heard any I like either, but I had read that the latest generation was much better

If you don't mind trying noiseless again (they're not all bad!), then the various DiMarzio "Area" pickups sound pretty good to me. Pick your era and flavour:

Stacked Hum Canceling Strat | DiMarzio

www.dimarzio.com

Otherwise Lollar Strat pickups are really excellent; I have Lollars in my EBMM Cutlass. Beautiful rich tone.

I would have bought the DiMarzio pickups for the Cutlass, if I didn't already have a dummy coil "silent circuit" in the Cutlass. I'd definitely consider them in future for other guitars, though. I also like the DiMarzio Cruiser rails.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’m a HUGE fan of the Gilmour EMGs!

The SPC/EXG boosters really give a lot of variation; rolled off they can do the vintage-sounding single coil thing, but playing with both those boosts can get you into 300lb Strat neck pickup territory and the mid boost can get into humbucker territory where you loose that single coil spank. These play really well with fuzzes/dirt pedals, too. Gilmour’s ‘88/‘94 tones display plenty of that.

What’s funny is that I put this Strat together just to play Floyd/Gilmour stuff, but because the amount of tones I got out of it I barely even got into recreating Gilmour tones.

 

[-BOOGIEMAN-]

I’d consider one of the single coil sized humbuckers and/or a fat boost…

 

[Byrdman]

I’d consider one of the single coil sized humbuckers and/or a fat boost…

I will check into it. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[FuzzyAce]

My first suggestion would be to change the pots to 500K, they are more than likely 250K now. Cheap to do and will open up the top end and give a little more 'push' to the signal. That might be all you need? Worst case scenario is you can reuse the pots for a new set of pickups you install.

Singles I like a lot:
Dimarzio Area '58, Cruiser, Chopper, Super Distortion S
Mojotone quiet coil '67
EMGs - S, SA (Gilmour Set), SAV

I don't use the actives as much anymore but they definitely can cover a lot of territory. All the others above can too. Go through Dimarzio's website and read their descriptions and specs, I've found them to be accurate. Good luck!

 

[Byrdman]

I’m a HUGE fan of the Gilmour EMGs!

View attachment 5671

The SPC/EXG boosters really give a lot of variation; rolled off they can do the vintage-sounding single coil thing, but playing with both those boosts can get you into 300lb Strat neck pickup territory and the mid boost can get into humbucker territory where you loose that single coil spank. These play really well with fuzzes/dirt pedals, too. Gilmour’s ‘88/‘94 tones display plenty of that.

What’s funny is that I put this Strat together just to play Floyd/Gilmour stuff, but because the amount of tones I got out of it I barely even got into recreating Gilmour tones.

That is exactly the info I was looking for, I didnt want to be pigeonholed into just Gilmore sounds with it and I'm looking for a wider variety. Did you go with the loaded pickguard setup or did you redo the wiring and pickups from the ground up? I assume those are the active pickups? If so, how is the battery life with it?

Thanks!!

 

[metropolis_4]

EMGs with an SPC on the bridge are fantastic! My favorites are the SAX and SAVX.

I’ve also heard really good things about the DiMarzio Injectors for the kind of stuff you’re doing.

If you want to stick with more traditional single coil Strat but want more “oomph” a DiMarzio FS-1 or Duncan SSL-5 work well. For noiseless the Area 61 is a good option for the bridge.

This clip is an Area 61 in the bridge of a MIM Strat if it helps as a reference:

Thread 'Strat Prog Metal'
https://thegearforum.com/threads/strat-prog-metal.472/

 

[DrewJD82]

That is exactly the info I was looking for, I didnt want to be pigeonholed into just Gilmore sounds with it and I'm looking for a wider variety. Did you go with the loaded pickguard setup or did you redo the wiring and pickups from the ground up? I assume those are the active pickups? If so, how is the battery life with it?

Thanks!!

I went with the loaded guard, I just swapped it out for a white one instead of the pearloid after I bought it. It’s all solderless, it took like 5 minutes to install that thing. They’re active indeed. I have the battery under the pickguard, it’s been a year since I put it together and I’ve played the hell out of it since then, battery is still good. Eventually I’m going to route a little compartment in the spring cavity in the back just to make it that much easier. It looks like this, just without that little strip of wood between both cavities-

 

[metropolis_4]

Batteries for EMGs last forever.

 

[Byrdman]

My first suggestion would be to change the pots to 500K, they are more than likely 250K now. Cheap to do and will open up the top end and give a little more 'push' to the signal. That might be all you need? Worst case scenario is you can reuse the pots for a new set of pickups you install.

Singles I like a lot:
Dimarzio Area '58, Cruiser, Chopper, Super Distortion S
Mojotone quiet coil '67
EMGs - S, SA (Gilmour Set), SAV

I don't use the actives as much anymore but they definitely can cover a lot of territory. All the others above can too. Go through Dimarzio's website and read their descriptions and specs, I've found them to be accurate. Good luck!

That is a great idea changing to 500K pots. I'll do that first and see where it takes me. What you said about opening it up on the top end is definitely one thing these pickups need. No matter how much treble I try to send to them, they sound muffled for lack of a better term.

If that doesn't work, I'll be looking at more changes. Also, the pull on the tone pot that adds neck pu to switch positions 1 & 2 is ridiculous. I dont know how anyone would be able to make that work playing in a live scenario so maybe a push button pot would be better anyway.

 

[FuzzyAce]

That is a great idea changing to 500K pots. I'll do that first and see where it takes me. What you said about opening it up on the top end is definitely one thing these pickups need. No matter how much treble I try to send to them, they sound muffled for lack of a better term.

If that doesn't work, I'll be looking at more changes. Also, the pull on the tone pot that adds neck pu to switch positions 1 & 2 is ridiculous. I dont know how anyone would be able to make that work playing in a live scenario so maybe a push button pot would be better anyway.

Hopefully that works for you. I forgot to mention I own a set of fender hot noiseless, I use 500K pots and it definitely helps.
I'm not a fan of push-pull pots either, I prefer the little switches.

 

[Jwdubois]

After trying lots of different SD and DiMarzio noiseless singles, I've ended up with DiMarzio in my Strats. All have various combinations of VV 54 Pro, Virtual Solo, and Injector.

I get more power and balls than vintage while still getting enough brightness.

 

[Stone]

Dimarzio Area is the ones I will be going for, for the neck and middle and fast track2 for the bridge or super distortion

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I have SPC and EXG controls in all of my guitars (and will continue to have them in all of my guitars). Even guitars with only two controls. The EMG SA single coils are awesome, though I do use passive EMGs, EMG SLVs, and active humbuckers as well. All of them give a great tone. Go for it. Just keep the pickup between 3-4/32". That seems to be the sweet spot for me. Maybe 7/64". I run them at 18v.

EDIT: I don't play Floyd/Gilmour stuff. I mainly play hard rock and metal as well as some bluesy type stuff.

 

[State of Epicicity]

1M pots might also help if you still don’t get the highs you need with 500k.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I went with the loaded guard, I just swapped it out for a white one instead of the pearloid after I bought it. It’s all solderless, it took like 5 minutes to install that thing. They’re active indeed. I have the battery under the pickguard, it’s been a year since I put it together and I’ve played the hell out of it since then, battery is still good. Eventually I’m going to route a little compartment in the spring cavity in the back just to make it that much easier. It looks like this, just without that little strip of wood between both cavities-

I have an EMG ES-918, so I just plug a stereo cable into that and call it good. I did have to buy some extra shorting clips from EMG, because they only give you two, but I got them for like $2.50 a piece, I think?

 

[DrewJD82]

I have an EMG ES-918, so I just plug a stereo cable into that and call it good. I did have to buy some extra shorting clips from EMG, because they only give you two, but I got them for like $2.50 a piece, I think?

I go between my studio and living room way too much to want to deal with that, I’ll take swapping a battery out every 6-9 months!