Off Topic: Need New Single Coils

[BenG]

Hey guys,
I have a 2005 american standard strat and I'm really bored of the stock pickups and even the hot rail (which I hate) in the bridge. with a $230 budget, what is the best pickup set out there? So far, I am intrigued by the D. Allen Hiland Blades. I don't want to specify output or style because I want to hear a wide range of options. However, I will mention that as this is my only single coil guitar, I don't want any single coil sized humbuckers.
Thanks,
Ben G.

[DrKev]

I'd look to DiMarzio (like my silhouette special) or Bill Lawrence Wilde pickups (because I've heard great things about them, he is a pickup design legend, and the price is right).

[HTSMetal]

I love the tone of the Fender Custom Shop '69 Pickup set. Pure awesome. They're only $120 on Amazon right now, if I'm not mistaken. A friend of mine has a set of D.Allen StratCats in a Squier Classic Vibe Strat that sound excellent, and I recently tossed a handwound set of $60 Rose Pickups Mariposas in my MIM Fender Strat. Those Rose Mariposas absolutely slayed the stock ceramic single coils in the Strat. All worth checking out, YouTube is chock full of demos of all of these.

Good luck on your pickup hunt!

[Jack FFR1846]

On a budget, you could find some Silhouette spec neck and mid. I've done a mim with them and a hot rail in the bridge.

[BenG]

Does anyone have experience with Suhr pickups?

[luv]

I have Dimarzio Area 58 and 61 in my Strat. They are pretty tonally rich with no noise at all, though I'm still toying with the pots to see what I like best with them. I currently am using 500k because I have a full bucker in the bridge...thinking of going back to 250k to warm it up just a bit.

I saw that Fender has their vintage noiseless set on sale today at Musicians Friend for $110 and they have a $20 dollar coupon that they will apply if you call them. $90 for the set....pretty solid if you are looking for vintage output.

[ScoobySteve]

Lollar Blondes. vintage mid scooped vibe. a big dipper on roids

[beej]

There isn't really a "best" ... there is a lot of great stuff.

For traditional singles, you can't go wrong with Fralin, Lollar, Suhr, etc. Different shades of great. Nothing sounds like a great single- even the best noiseless stuff is close, but won't edge out really great pickups.

Noiseless is a little more complicated. My own two cents, having tried all the noiseless stuff I can get my hands on, is that the Bill Lawrence L200s do vintage (50s) strat better than anything else. They replaced the Areas I had a while back. My favourite set right now, they're in my main AL. (At $44 each, they're also about the least expensive set out there.)

I haven't tried the David Allen rails, but I have several sets of the Lawrence L45 rails, and they're excellent. But much more hi-fi (even sounding) than your typical strat, so you need to EQ your amp differently. Very versatile if you want to cover a lot of ground.

Lawrence also makes a low-noise real single called the "microcoil". It's relatively new so you won't hear much in the way of sound clips, but they're pretty wild. Tiny coil, very very noise resistant (almost noiseless, while still being a real single). I've got a set of these and they're great. But again, you need to EQ your amp differently for them. They cover a lot of ground, you can get a ton of different sounds out of them.

Anyhow ... so much great stuff on the market right now it's hard to go wrong. Ask 100 guys and you'll get 100 different answers.

[mtrejo]

I have the Fender Custom Shop '69 in mine and it made a huge difference. The original vintage noiseless that mine came with were pretty disappointing. These '69's brought out the classic tone I was after.

I guess it depends on what type of output you are looking for. Traditional tone, chimey or something a little hotter. I'd keep it chimey but that's just me.

Good luck with your quest and let us know what you get and how you like 'em!

[smd24fan]

Does anyone have experience with Suhr pickups?

I've had a few Suhr guitars, the pickups are excellent. A little hotter than a traditional Strat pickup, but still have that classic Strat "quack" when called upon. I highly recommend Lollars as well, amazing tone and clarity.

[BenG]

Thanks so much everyone! I've decided that what I'm looking for in the neck is something really ballsy (SRVish) but capable of john mayer sounding cleans and a twangy, punchy pickup in the bridge.

Based on everyones suggestions I think I like the dimarzio area pickups but I don't know how much of a difference they will make. I love how the Suhr pups sound and think the FL (or ML?) ones are my top choice. Fender wise, based on youtube it seems that you can't go wrong with their custom shop. And lastly, while I like how the lollers sound, they are too mellow for my taste.

So of the pickups everyone listed, which set (or individual pickups) would best fit this criteria:
John Mayer cleans
EJ violin tone
SRV pride and joy
Countryish tones

[mtrejo]

Great doing your homework BenG. I like the way you've whittled down your list. Easier to grasp. I'm totally interested in the outcome. I used to replace my pickups all the time but since switching to EBMM I totally stopped modding because they really do come set up to perfection for me.

[ScoobySteve]

90% of people who buy the Lollar Blonde set are after the Mayer clean tone. Vintage and FAT. they take dirt well too. They're going into my silo spec. Only problem is they're pricey. But they are outstanding.

[luv]

There isn't really a "best" ... there is a lot of great stuff.

Noiseless is a little more complicated. My own two cents, having tried all the noiseless stuff I can get my hands on, is that the Bill Lawrence L200s do vintage (50s) strat better than anything else. They replaced the Areas I had a while back. My favourite set right now, they're in my main AL. (At $44 each, they're also about the least expensive set out there.)

Jason....do you have any experience with the L280 or L298?

[beej]

Jason....do you have any experience with the L280 or L298?

Yes, they're both excellent. The 280 is a very even pickup and very even across the frequencies. (The L45 blades are sort of an evolution of this approach).

The 298 is similar to the 200s, but hotter. It's actually in the bridge of my AL, along with 200s in the neck & middle. Killer pickup. Very chimey/stratty, but up the gain and roll off a bit of tone and it rocks.