In praise of Strat neck pickups

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SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1276
edited May 2022 in Guitar
… in a Les Paul.

I just installed a customs set of pickups from Q Pickups into a 2005 Les Paul Standard belonging to a friend of mine replacing the stock Burstbuckers (1&2).

The neck pickup is a heavy formvar 50s style Strat pickup in a humbucker footprint and the bridge is an unpotted A4 PAF. Very different sounding pickups obviously.

The bridge pickup is more on the flatter/full-range end of PAF style pickups, I prefer the Monty’s in my own LP, which seems to have a bit more poke but the Q certainly sounds good too.

The neck is the real star of the - bright, full, twangy, not particularly Stratty in one way but still a great sound.
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Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Interesting. Is the Strat pickup in the 'correct' position - where the neck side coil of the humbucker would be, ie at the 2nd harmonic node position - or centred in the humbucker ring? Their website just comes up as blank pages at the moment.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1276
    ICBM said:
    Interesting. Is the Strat pickup in the 'correct' position - where the neck side coil of the humbucker would be, ie at the 2nd harmonic node position - or centred in the humbucker ring? Their website just comes up as blank pages at the moment.
    It’s not in the correct position, the poles are centred like on a Humbucker-size P90.

    Q’s website isn’t really active as they seem to do most of their selling through Reverb.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    Seziertisch said:

    It’s not in the correct position, the poles are centred like on a Humbucker-size P90.
    Still interesting! As it happens, I have a Strat-type guitar with a full 22-fret (not fingerboard overhang) neck and the pickup roughly in the same position slightly closer to the bridge, like a Jaguar neck pickup is... admittedly I have a mini-humbucker in there now, but when it was a standard Strat pickup I never felt it didn't sound 'Stratty'.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • SeziertischSeziertisch Frets: 1276
    https://fb.watch/dXV8iXE3Ef/

    Not sure if this video is viewable for non-FB users, but this is that Strat neck pickup from Q Pickups in action. The amp is a Katana (I think)
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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2326
    That sounds very nice. I've got a set of his tapped Strat single coils and they're very nice.
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  • So I treated myself to a humbucker-sized Strat pickup from Mojo Pickups for my own Les Paul, A5 wound with NOS heavy formvar. One of the most touch sensitive, dynamic pickups I’ve ever played.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Interesting. I may go for that when I make an LP.
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  • axisus said:
    Interesting. I may go for that when I make an LP.

    Les Paul or Long Player?
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