Fralin strat pickup follow-up (was "Steel poled")
RichL
other people in his shop earlier in the day and came away more confused
than ever as to what I wanted to do.
I had considered also getting a set of his "Real54" pickups instead of
the steel-poled set, was mulling over the advantages and disadvantages
of each. By the time I talked with the man himself, I was about 50-50
on each set.
Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs. traditional
Strat pickups. I was still on the fence after a long conversation, and
so he said, essentially, "Tell you what. I'll extend the normal 30-day
return period indefinitely. You pick a set you think you like, I'll
send them to you, you put 'em in, try 'em out, and as long as you don't
cut the leads short, you can return them any time you want."
Anyways, to make a long story short, I'm getting the 42-gauge
steel-poled set.
Twibil
>
>
> Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
> piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs. traditional
> Strat pickups. I was still on the fence after a long conversation, and
> so he said, essentially, "Tell you what. I'll extend the normal 30-day
> return period indefinitely. You pick a set you think you like, I'll
> send them to you, you put 'em in, try 'em out, and as long as you don't
> cut the leads short, you can return them any time you want."
If his quality is as good as his business sense they should be *very*
good pickups, and I hope they work out well for you.
I had to play with different PU combinations for a couple of years
before I finally found out what suited both me and my Quasi-Strat: A
Fender Texas Special in the bridge position, a Duncan Hot Rails (lead)
in the middle, and a primitive old single-coil PU from a late 1940's
Kay F-Hole in the neck position.
Works great, but if/when that old Kay PU decides to go belly-up I'm
going to be in deep trouble.
~Pete
RichL
> On Dec 15, 3:06 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
>> piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs.
>> traditional Strat pickups. I was still on the fence after a long
>> conversation, and so he said, essentially, "Tell you what. I'll
>> extend the normal 30-day return period indefinitely. You pick a set
>> you think you like, I'll send them to you, you put 'em in, try 'em
>> out, and as long as you don't cut the leads short, you can return
>> them any time you want."
>
> If his quality is as good as his business sense they should be *very*
> good pickups, and I hope they work out well for you.
I bought a set of his P92 pickups to put in a custom guitar I had made.
I'm *extremely* pleased with them.
> I had to play with different PU combinations for a couple of years
> before I finally found out what suited both me and my Quasi-Strat: A
> Fender Texas Special in the bridge position, a Duncan Hot Rails (lead)
> in the middle, and a primitive old single-coil PU from a late 1940's
> Kay F-Hole in the neck position.
>
> Works great, but if/when that old Kay PU decides to go belly-up I'm
> going to be in deep trouble.
I'm a Strat newbie (had this one a little over a year), although I've
been playing for 46 years (holy shit, I'm getting old). I suspect this
won't be my last pickup swap, or my last Strat, for that matter.
Mark Bedingfield
Sounds like you are making headway, Rich. Strat owners are well and
truly spoilt for choice when it comes to pups. Did you see the GFS
Brighton Rock pups I emailed a while back?
Mark
RS
<atar...@nomorespamplease.optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>Sounds like you are making headway, Rich. Strat owners are well and
>truly spoilt for choice when it comes to pups. Did you see the GFS
>Brighton Rock pups I emailed a while back?
>
>Mark
Interesting looking pickups. Very large magnet diameter, so I presume
that they're using thin gauge wire to get enough turns on the coil.
Have you tried them?
Mark Bedingfield
No, but for some odd reason I found myself looking for short scale 3 pup
guitars on ebay..... weird huh? ;-)
Mark
Twibil
>
>
> I'm a Strat newbie (had this one a little over a year), although I've
> been playing for 46 years (holy shit, I'm getting old). I suspect this
> won't be my last pickup swap, or my last Strat, for that matter.
I've owned several (~10?) over the decades, but I was never perfectly
happy with any of 'em for one reason or another, so I eventually
assembled a "Strat" (I.E, a Strat-shaped guitar that featured *no*
Fender parts whatsoever in it's first iteration) that was jig-sawed
together from components all suited to fit *ME*. Once I got the PU
question solved I've been so happy with it that it's now the only
electric guitar I own; and it has been for almost 10 years now.
Specs:
Warmoth 7/8 sized "Strat" body and matching neck.
The body is of western or "Big Leaf" pillowed maple: a wood slightly
denser than the stock Fender woods, but nowhere *near* as hard/heavy
as eastern/sugar maple, and is nicely figured. There is no pickguard,
and the control cavity is cut in from the rear like a Les Paul. The
body is finished with circa 7 coats of clear Dupont nitrocellulose
automotive laquer over an old prewar Gibson style hand-applied (not
sprayed) stained sunburst in a golden/red-brown color that I mixed up
myself.
The trem (which I almost never use any more) is an old Schaller-made
Fender-style model, black chrome, that's an ounce or two heavier than
the Fender version, better built, and delivers somewhat more sustain.
(Were I to build it again today I'd leave off the trem entirely.)
The neck is curly/birdseye rock maple with a rosewood compound-radius
fingerboard and Jim Dunlop #6000 fretwire. I'm not choosy about neck
profiles, but wearing my repairman's hat I see lots more problems with
the thin ones, so mine's the thickest profile Warmoth made available
at that time and is still absolutely perfect. The neck is finished
with the same Dupont laquer I used on the body, and the wood is
stained the same golden color I used at the center of the body's
sunburst: just dark enough to bring out the grain.
Like all nitro finishes, it's gone slowly more and more pumpkin-
colored as time has gone on, and an unfortunate evening when the
guitar was exposed to sub-zero temperatures for several hours caused
the finish on the front of the body to develop some crazing like an
old Gibson, but I'm not averse to a used guitar looking as if it's
been used, so that's okay.
The fingerboard is a full two octaves (24 frets) long with a 24 3/4"
scale, and is 1 3/4" across at the nut to accommodate my big hands and
fat fingertips. The fingerboard is also inlayed with a "Sun-Stars-and-
Saturn" MOP/abalone/gold pearl pattern because I *like* doing inlay
work and it makes the guitar unique and easy to identify. The
headstock is equipped with a set of old "Made In Germany" Schaller 6-
on-a-side black chrome mini-tuners, and a pair of high-quality roller
string trees of uncertain origin.
The entire guitar is only 38" long and weighs just less than 8 pounds,
but when I hold it in playing position it fits into my hands as if it
were an extension of myself; and plays the same way.
~ Pete
RS
wrote:
>Twibil <noway...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Dec 15, 3:06 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
>>> piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs.
>>> traditional Strat pickups.
What did he say about the differences?
>>>I was still on the fence after a long
>>> conversation, and so he said, essentially, "Tell you what. I'll
>>> extend the normal 30-day return period indefinitely. You pick a set
>>> you think you like, I'll send them to you, you put 'em in, try 'em
>>> out, and as long as you don't cut the leads short, you can return
>>> them any time you want."
Very nice of him. Lindy is still the man.
>> If his quality is as good as his business sense they should be *very*
>> good pickups, and I hope they work out well for you.
I've only used his regular strat pickups, but I found them to be -the-
closest thing to real 60's strat pickups (I do own a couple 60's
strats).
>I'm a Strat newbie (had this one a little over a year), although I've
>been playing for 46 years (holy shit, I'm getting old).
When the groupies still throw their bras and panties on stage, but now
they look like burlap sacks...
RichL
> On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:03:56 -0500, "RichL" <rple...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Twibil <noway...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Dec 15, 3:06 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
>>>> piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs.
>>>> traditional Strat pickups.
>
> What did he say about the differences?
Essentially that you retain a lot of the "strattish" sound, especially
with the lower resistance (42 gauge wire) set, because of the *shape* of
the pickup -- tall and thin. But the initial attack is different. If
you go to the 43 gauge set, they're a lot closer to P90s. The
resistance is 7K (bridge pickup) for the 42 gauge set, 10K for the 43
gauge set.
He also said if I wanted more mids, I could send 'em back and he'd
re-wind 'em with more turns -- for free! Or replace 'em (free) with a
Real54 set, as I mentioned before.
>>>> I was still on the fence after a long
>>>> conversation, and so he said, essentially, "Tell you what. I'll
>>>> extend the normal 30-day return period indefinitely. You pick a set
>>>> you think you like, I'll send them to you, you put 'em in, try 'em
>>>> out, and as long as you don't cut the leads short, you can return
>>>> them any time you want."
>
> Very nice of him. Lindy is still the man.
He's a pleasure to do business with. My previous experience with him
led me to check out his strat stuff before anyone else's.
>>> If his quality is as good as his business sense they should be
>>> *very* good pickups, and I hope they work out well for you.
>
> I've only used his regular strat pickups, but I found them to be -the-
> closest thing to real 60's strat pickups (I do own a couple 60's
> strats).
>
>> I'm a Strat newbie (had this one a little over a year), although I've
>> been playing for 46 years (holy shit, I'm getting old).
>
> When the groupies still throw their bras and panties on stage, but now
> they look like burlap sacks...
Hah!
RichL
Yeah, I remember those. I got that Red Special, tho...don't want
another guitar that sounds just like it.
Mark Bedingfield
Figured that might be the case, I just thought they were interesting.
Mark
RichL
Yeah, they were!
RS
wrote:
>RS <R...@saynotospam.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:03:56 -0500, "RichL" <rple...@yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Twibil <noway...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Dec 15, 3:06 pm, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway Fralin clarified what the steel-poled (adjustable pole
>>>>> piece)pickups sound like and how close they come to P90s vs.
>>>>> traditional Strat pickups.
>>
>> What did he say about the differences?
>
>Essentially that you retain a lot of the "strattish" sound, especially
>with the lower resistance (42 gauge wire) set, because of the *shape* of
>the pickup -- tall and thin. But the initial attack is different. If
>you go to the 43 gauge set, they're a lot closer to P90s. The
>resistance is 7K (bridge pickup) for the 42 gauge set, 10K for the 43
>gauge set.
OK, that makes sense. I've been curious about those pickups, and I
talk with Lindy once in a while, but I keep forgetting to ask him.
I guess there's also the question of hum, especially if you have a lot
of wire on the coil. The first comment about old Dimarzio pickups that
were built like that was almost always "Hum" but they apparently
sounded good. Lindy's are probably a lot more usable.