Good Strat bridge pickup to match CS69 neck/middle

chris_john

I have the Fender CS69s in my Strat, and I love the neck pup, but I am very disappointed with the bridge. Weak, think, scratchy etc. I don't want to put a regular sized humbucker in the bridge, just because of the way it looks. Any opinions on a good bridge SC size humbucker, or decent single coil for the bridge? 

cbakay

I’d be interested in this too as it’s the same with me. Bridge is great with fuzz and heavy OD but as I mostly play clean, it’s no good.

scroll down on this link for “Fender CS 69 and S Duncan SSL-5 combo”

http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=4227

daveyh

Do you have the bridge tone mod? I had those and that made a world of difference to me 

Gassage

Go to www.stratcat.biz and buy a SSL1C-CS-DG. You’ll thank me.

paulnb57

Bare Knuckle Sinner, dont let the output put you off as its relatively massive........its everything a standard Strat bridge pickup isn't....warm, hotter and mixes well with the middle.....

guitars4you

chris_john said:

I have the Fender CS69s in my Strat, and I love the neck pup, but I am very disappointed with the bridge. Weak, think, scratchy etc. I don't want to put a regular sized humbucker in the bridge, just because of the way it looks. Any opinions on a good bridge SC size humbucker, or decent single coil for the bridge? 

it is a common issue with a 69 in the bridge - The more gain you use the worse they are IMO - Obviously a host of options available be it UK built like BK or Oil City or the usual USA options

Fender themselves often choose a Texas Special in the bridge to use with the 69's

Not sure how your Strat is wired but I would certainly suggest you wire the bottom tone pot to work the bridge pick-up as well - You can then roll off any fizzy highs as required

OilCityPickups

Stick a baseplate on your bridge pickup and do a tone pot to bridge pickup mod ... sub £20 fix ... and it works for a lot of people. 

CasperCaster

I really struggle with Strat bridge pickups, but love a good Tele bridge pickup - so much more authority and power in the low mids with a Tele. Anyway, recently @CountryDave and I tried a selection of Strat bridge pickups which we had accumulated between us - I rigged up a 'test' pickguard with chok-blok connectors so we could quickly swap pickups around. We tried a lot of pickups at a variety of prices, including some with baseplates (Duncan Twangbanger and Dimarzio Red Velvet). Whilst they took a step in the right direction I would concur with @paulnb57 that you might need to think further out of the box - both mine and Dave's ears picked up when I put a Dimarzio FS1 in the test guitar and we were even happier when I put a Dimarzio SDS1 in it - definitely the pick of the bunch for us (but physically a very deep pickup - might not fit all guitars without routing). I think I'd also like the BK Sinner and Trilogy based on our tests.

paulnb57

Interestng poimts @CasperCaster I forgot to mention that my Sinners also have baseplates and they are wired with tone on bridge and tone on the neck, no middle tone (Jimmy Vaughan style?)but  I never use the bridge tone control now.....

geordie01

try dropping the pickup hieght

mudslide73

+1 on the SSL5 idea. Very usable and covers some decent ground with the gain up.