Question Replacing Stock pups in MM guitars

[parker1963]

Have there been any on here that have taken the original pups from say an Albert Lee or a Silloutte and replaced them with with Fender or Seymore Duncan pup's?. For experimentation or just becasue they didnt like the stock pups.Just wondering what the ratio of people are that have done this and if so were the results better or worse than stock.

Parker

 

[beej]

Lotsa guys have, I'd say.

Me, I've done it on most of my guitars at some point. Currently I've got a Morse with Axis pickups, another Morse with a noiseless Bill Lawrence and an Albert Lee with noiseless Bill Lawrences.

I find most of the stock pickups sound great, they're well matched. But it's always fun to go in another direction if need be.

 

[marantz1300]

What are the stock pups in a silo?My 6 bolt had sss EMG's in it when I bought it.They are good. I've also tried it with seymours sl1's,USA standard strat pups and hsh seymours. At the moment I have some strat pups that used to be in an old Japanese strat that I owned.They have a warmer/richer tone. I like them a lot. They just seem to suit the silo best.

 

[parker1963]

What are the stock pups in a silo?My 6 bolt had sss EMG's in it when I bought it.They are good. I've also tried it with seymours sl1's,USA standard strat pups and hsh seymours. At the moment I have some strat pups that used to be in an old Japanese strat that I owned.They have a warmer/richer tone. I like them a lot. They just seem to suit the silo best.

Thanks for the replys.I was wondering because i have an AL comming in and love the Fender noisless series of pups but will give the stock pups a chance first.Old habbits and tones are hard to break.The noisless circut in the Sils and AL are hard to find info about but most guys seem to like them Stock.

Parker

 

[Spudmurphy]

Thanks for the replys.I was wondering because i have an AL comming in and love the Fender noisless series of pups but will give the stock pups a chance first.Old habbits and tones are hard to break.The noisless circut in the Sils and AL are hard to find info about but most guys seem to like them Stock.

Parker

The stock pickups on the AL are the biz!!

On the SSS you try experiment by removing the plate underneath the bridge p/u or even try replacing it with a stouter one.

I think I heard someone put Fralins in an AL and was happy with it - but I'd say you'd prolly lose some of the quack as they are a lot hotter.

Give the stock ones a fair chance first though.

 

[candid_x]

I put Fralin Blues Specials in a Silo Special. I wouldn't say they're hotter than stock single coils, more bell-like vintage sounding, lots of Strat quack in 2 and 4, but very different sounding than the originals. Frankly, it doesn't sound like the same guitar. Not that the originals were bad, just very different.

Also have a DM Bridge Breed in a HSS Silo Special, which is significantly more potent, on the bottom end especially, than the original HB.

Can't speak for all MM models, but Silo Specials make great platforms, as well as being sweet right out of the box.

 

[beej]

Best I've found so far for noiseless is the Bill Lawrence L200s. He's got a very interesting new design ("Micro Coil") that will be available very shortly. Quite different than anything else on the market- will try 'em and report back as soon as I can.

Parker- one problem swapping p'ups on the AL. The bobbins for the stock p'ups are smaller than most. That means you might need to widen the pickguard routes, depending on what you put in there. (I do this with sandpaper, you can be pretty precise.)

 

[Oldtoe]

I've got a DiMarzio Tone Zone waiting to go in the bridge of my Silo HSH as soon as I get the urge to do it.

I was pretty happy with a JB Jr. in the bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL-6s in the middle and neck positions of an Albert Lee. I still have the stock pickups from that guitar.

 

[parker1963]

Best I've found so far for noiseless is the Bill Lawrence L200s. He's got a very interesting new design ("Micro Coil") that will be available very shortly. Quite different than anything else on the market- will try 'em and report back as soon as I can.

Parker- one problem swapping p'ups on the AL. The bobbins for the stock p'ups are smaller than most. That means you might need to widen the pickguard routes, depending on what you put in there. (I do this with sandpaper, you can be pretty precise.)

Cool Beej
Thanks for the tip about the pickguard.But i will give the stock pups a fair runthrough before i do anything.Are spare pickguards and parts hard to get for MM products?.

Parker

 

[beej]

Are spare pickguards and parts hard to get for MM products?

Pretty easy! Customer service will sell you pickguards, pots, switches, etc. You can also get pickguards on ebay (couple of AL guards right now) and from an external vendor.

 

[D.K.]

I'm not changing the brand, but I will put a Humbucker from Hell (Neck) and a Steve's Special (Bridge) in my tremolo 20-th. She also gets a push-pull pot. I'm pretty excited how this beautiful thing is going to sound after the mods.