Strat bridge pick up

Hootsmon

Pros and cons guys of havin' the bridge PUP wired, or not, to a tone pot

thanks 

guitars4you

100% wired to the tone pot for me - Many like tone for neck/middle + tone bridge - Eric Johnson mod as it is now known is tone neck + tone bridge so no pot adjustment on the middle

Getting more popular is master vol + tone and the bottom pot now blend for neck + bridge together, or combination of

But on hi-gain I find the tone pot allows you to slightly roll off 'fizzy highs'

Easy mod to do - longest part of the job is removing the scratchplate

Adam_MD

I don't know of any reason why you wouldn't do it.

guitars4you

Adam_MD said:

I don't know of any reason why you wouldn't do it.

I think it is fair to say that if today, 2018, was the launch date for a new guitar called a Strat, then the 5 way switch would have been standard and the tone pot wired to bridge as well - No reason it should not be

Adam_MD

guitars4you said:

Adam_MD said:

I don't know of any reason why you wouldn't do it.

I think it is fair to say that if today, 2018, was the launch date for a new guitar called a Strat, then the 5 way switch would have been standard and the tone pot wired to bridge as well - No reason it should not be

The weird thing is fender still make a few models which don't have the bridge pickup wired to a tone pot don't they or have they finally sorted that out?  Even on the cheaper models of strat there's no reason not to.

Hootsmon

but some guys say it rolls of some "ooomph" and small volume drop

Adam_MD

hootsmon said:

but some guys say it rolls of some "ooomph" and small volume drop

I get that with a tele/esquire but not sure I'd want that with a strat bridge pickup.

OilCityPickups

I simply can't use a Strat without that mod.

HAL9000

Adam_MD said:

I don't know of any reason why you wouldn't do it.

I tend to have the tone rolled right back on the neck pickup, but not on the middle. I wouldn’t want them both connected to the same tone pot. I rarely use the bridge pickup on a Strat so am quite happy with it not connected to a tone control. 

guitars4you

Adam_MD said:

guitars4you said:

Adam_MD said:

I don't know of any reason why you wouldn't do it.

I think it is fair to say that if today, 2018, was the launch date for a new guitar called a Strat, then the 5 way switch would have been standard and the tone pot wired to bridge as well - No reason it should not be

The weird thing is fender still make a few models which don't have the bridge pickup wired to a tone pot don't they or have they finally sorted that out?  Even on the cheaper models of strat there's no reason not to.

more so on vintage replica models - less so on 'modern' creations

noisepolluter

hootsmon said:

Pros and cons guys of havin' the bridge PUP wired, or not, to a tone pot

thanks 

Just fit a no-load tone pot. Drops out of the circuit when you don’t need it.

thegummy

I was actually planning on making a thread to ask about Strat bridge pickup.

I'd always read people saying they hate it and that the tele bridge is infinitely better so, even though I've always quite liked the Strat bridge pickup (always connected to a tone pot but often play it on 10), I always thought that I should get a tele and the tone will be so much better.

I borrowed a tele recently and find that while I do like the tele well enough, I definitely don't prefer it to the Strat one. It sounds very different, has more attack and is a lot darker sounding. It is obviously hotter too.

I wonder if the specific Strat pickups I have - fat 50s - sound different to most? Or are there plenty of other people who also like the Strat bridge pickup?

If I wanted to play styles that I'd personally use a humbucker for, but was forced to use a "caster" I'd take the tele over the Strat but obviously that isn't the case.

Any thoughts on that?

richardhomer

thegummy said:

I'd always read people saying they hate it and that the tele bridge is infinitely better so, even though I've always quite liked the Strat bridge pickup (always connected to a tone pot but often play it on 10), I always thought that I should get a tele and the tone will be so much better.

I borrowed a tele recently and find that while I do like the tele well enough, I definitely don't prefer it to the Strat one. It sounds very different, has more attack and is a lot darker sounding. It is obviously hotter too.

I wonder if the specific Strat pickups I have - fat 50s - sound different to most? Or are there plenty of other people who also like the Strat bridge pickup?

If I wanted to play styles that I'd personally use a humbucker for, but was forced to use a "caster" I'd take the tele over the Strat but obviously that isn't the case.

Any thoughts on that?

The bridge pick-up on the Strat in my profile pick sounds great. It is connected to a tone control - which although I never use it - does roll off the ‘really’ high, high end. I too prefer a good Strat bridge pick-up to a Tele.

The guitar has a lot of low-end played acoustically - which translates to the plugged-in sound - plenty of ‘woody’ depth.

The pick-ups are CS 50s - which aren’t available separately - normal vintage-style output

rossi

I bought a cheapie Squier SE  which sounded terrble but after a drop in pickup height was much better.Not saying the  ceramic gut blaster pickups were top notch but good enough and very stratty .

Henrytwang

I like my Stratocaster bridge pickup wired to a no-load tone control. I generally have it in the no load or off position but it’s good to be able to take off a bit of high end if needed.

RMJ

You're doing it wrong. Neck pickup is where it's at on a strat

mistercharlie

One nice thing about the middle and bridge sharing the same tone pot is that you don’t get double tone roll off when using both together. So, it’s brighter than the mid+neck position. 

I have a master volume/master tone, with a bass-cut on the third knob. 

Treewig1

Strats have tone pots?

OilCityPickups

RMJ said:

You're doing it wrong. Neck pickup is where it's at on a strat

I used to think that way ... never used the bridge pickup .... and seldom used the middle. Nowadays a combination of a baseplate on the bridge pickup and wiring it into the tone control means I use the bridge a hell of a lot.

Anderz

I got a noload pot on and I can turn the high end down. Before it was standard. The difference is cool to have and it is od that stays on my partscaster.

Fez

I did the mod on one of my strats but didn't like it so I reversed it.