Strat pickups: experience matching overwound bridge to low output neck/middle?

PonchoGreg

Hey guys,

just wondering if anyone had input to offer on that potential configuration: overwound bridge single (maybe 7.2k or so) paired with vintage output neck and middle (5.6-5.8k, that sort of thing). All standard design.

If you've done it, did you have balancing issues between the bridge and the other pickups (without completely decking the bridge pickup)?

I've never had a big differential, maybe 6.1k to 6.8k, so I'm wondering if moving further in both directions will have unsavoury consequences.

Thanks in advance!

guitars4you

I don't see any issues

In essence if you had 3 identical p/ups - all say 6k - The neck pick up will appear to be louder - Greater string vibration near the neck pick-up, that creates a stronger single than near the bridge

therefore a 7K bridge pick-up should be capable of matching a neck pick-up around 5.6k ish

Remember you can adjust p/up height a touch, as required

But should present no issue at all

PonchoGreg

Cool - good to know! Thank you very much

Funkfingers

I have had excellent results with bridge/Treble position single coils of approximately 10k. (Seymour Duncan Antiquity and Oil City Diamond Geezer.)
That way, it is not necessary to adjust the pickup quite so close to the strings.

Another consideration is that I often play fingerstyle or hybrid pick and fingers. The dynamics are different to plectrum style.

guitars4you

sorry should have added

Many still like a traditional vintage 6kish pick-up in the bridge, then use a pedal as and when for more bite/output etc

Some players want that hotter bridge pick-up - With that in mind, then 7ish is subtle, as many will go over 9-10K maybe ceramic magnet

Some will add, or select a bridge pick-up with a base plate to get something extra

Depends on playing style, tonal character required, hi-gain or less gain, how rock orientated you are as a player

PonchoGreg

Yeah that's all very useful. I tend to play at the smoother end of things on the strat (I now have a Charvel for bolt-on face-melting brutality!) so actually seldom use the bridge. But it would be nice to have the option of a slightly beefier tone in there. Nothing outlandish.

And yes my bridge pickup is and always will be wired to its own tone control.

guitarmangler

Just to add another perspective, I’d rather have my normal bridge pickup to be the loudest , and then wind down the neck and middle to be the same/slightly quieter. I then compensate by either turning up the amp or gain or leaving some type of boost pedal always on. This gives the same type of effect but hopefully keeps the sound similar. 

noisepolluter

In my Strat I have 6-ish output neck and middle, and a tapped bridge singlecoil which switches between 7-ish and 8.4. 

Even on full 8.4 output I wouldn’t say the bridge is substantially louder - it’s just fatter, which does give a bit more drive with crunchy sounds. I also have a base plate on the bridge pickup.

However I also really like the bite from the tapped bridge output, especially for cleaner sounds, which is why I have a push-pull coil tap on the tone control.

On bridge+middle setting, switching between tapped and full bridge output makes surprisingly little difference to the jangly out-of-phase sound.

paulnb57

All my Strat have Bare Knuckle Sinners at the bridge with approx 6k in the middle and neck, IMHO superb ...... BK Bridge Sinners are backplated and 21.5k one of my Strats has a neck Sinner at the bridge which is 15k......I love em and adjust height for a slight volume jump on the bridge, certainly not as hot as the k would suggest....certainly possible to have no volume jump without decking it, much more girth and body though than a standard weedy Strat bridge pickup......

richardhomer

It depends how important the bridge/middle combination is to you. A hotter bridge pickup definitely alters how this position sounds. Personally I’d rather have broadly similar output pickups and use a pedal to boost/fatten the bridge position.

OilCityPickups

Remember guys ... resistance is not a measure of loudness ... if I wind a vintage strat pickup with vintage correct 42awg wire ... say 7900-8000 turns it will end up with a DC resistance of about 5.8k ... if I swap down a wire gauge to 43awg and do exactly the same number of turns, the resistance will be about 7k. Because there are the same number of turns, the output will be exactly the same! The sound will be more compressed and mid focused, bit the output won't have changed one bit. If I wind that same pickup with 44awg wire ... thinner still ... and use that same 8000 turns, I will have a pickup that reads over 10k ... but it's output will still be the same as a vintage one. 

HAL9000

The bridge pickup in my Strat is hotter than the other two, plus it has a baseplate fitted. No issues at all. The normal Strat bridge pickup can often sound a bit 'thin' as the strings vibrate less  at the ends. A hotter bridge pickup will help.

PonchoGreg

OilCityPickups said:

Remember guys ... resistance is not a measure of loudness ... if I wind a vintage strat pickup with vintage correct 42awg wire ... say 7900-8000 turns it will end up with a DC resistance of about 5.8k ... if I swap down a wire gauge to 43awg and do exactly the same number of turns, the resistance will be about 7k. Because there are the same number of turns, the output will be exactly the same! The sound will be more compressed and mid focused, bit the output won't have changed one bit. If I wind that same pickup with 44awg wire ... thinner still ... and use that same 8000 turns, I will have a pickup that reads over 10k ... but it's output will still be the same as a vintage one. 

Yes sorry - I should have said same specs for all pickups (as far as magnets/wire goes)

ICBM

richardhomer said:

It depends how important the bridge/middle combination is to you. A hotter bridge pickup definitely alters how this position sounds. Personally I’d rather have broadly similar output pickups and use a pedal to boost/fatten the bridge position.

I'm not a fan of that ultra-quacky sound, so I actually prefer a slightly hotter pickup for that reason too, but if it is what you like then you do need to keep the pickups as similar as possible - you always get the best harmonic addition and cancellation (which is what creates that sound) when the pickups are closely matched in windings/output as well as set to the same volume by height.

rossi

I use the Maida vale set .The bridge is an over wound a2 the neck a A3 and the middle an A4 .I play finger style classic  electric blues rock and everything in between .sounds goood  through  a Black Star

Danielsguitars

i used a seperate volume knob for a hss set up

An option would be to wire it up separately and have a master tone

guitarmangler

Danielsguitars said:

i used a seperate volume knob for a hss set up

That idea is genius! 

Greatape

For me, the issue with strats is the EQ on the neck versus the rest. I have Suhr v60lp's in a strat, and have played a couple of Suhr's with that setup. My conclusion was the same - the set balances beautifully in terms of volume, but the neck pickup is too dark. (I have bridge on a tone control and neck/middle on the other.) The bridge pickup is a thing of beauty, though.

ICBM

Greatape said:

For me, the issue with strats is the EQ on the neck versus the rest. I have Suhr v60lp's in a strat, and have played a couple of Suhr's with that setup. My conclusion was the same - the set balances beautifully in terms of volume, but the neck pickup is too dark. (I have bridge on a tone control and neck/middle on the other.) The bridge pickup is a thing of beauty, though.

Swap the tone controls so neck is on one and bridge/middle on the other. (Normal modern Fender wiring.)