DrKev
Moderator
With Long COVID destroying my ability to do much of anything during 2022 (and still on going), any little low-energy project I can do to keep myself amused is vital to my metal health. At the end of the summer I decided I would dive into both my Silhouette Special and Cutlass (both HSS) and completely rewire them both. Why?
First, I was tired of the DiMarzio Area noiseless single coils I had in the Silhouette Special. They are very good pickups, don't get me wrong, they sound great and are dead quiet, but I've had them in there for 5 years and I was ready for something different.
Second, I always found my Cutlass to be a much darker sounding guitar than my Silhouette Special. That's to do with the voicing of the buffer circuit, which sounds great of course, but is fixed and makes the tone independent of the cable I use. On purely passive guitars I can change cables to get a brighter or darker sound and I wanted that ability with the Cutlass too. So, I decided to remove the circuit board and pots go for a simpler build with new CTS pots and the older style silent circuit. I've kept both stock humbuckers, which I love, and tried a few different single coils to go with them.
I also ordered some "vintage-correct" single coils pickups from Tone Hatch pickups in Nebraska. These are beautifully made pickups. Hand wound 42 gauge heavy formvar wire, fibre bobbins, AlNiCo magnets, and push-back cloth leads, just like the pre-CBS Fender strat pickups from 1954 to 1964. And they sound beautiful! I cannot say if these are truly historically accurate to vintage pickups (which themselves varied widely), nor can I say that vintage specifications are some sort of magic recipe, but they are some of the best sounding pickups I have ever heard, and the prices are happy making!
I ordered the Tone Hatch "Vintage Class" pickups, which have AlNiCo 5 magnets and wound to 5.9 kΩ, which puts them in the middle of the range of pre-CBS pickups. I also ordered the "Fullerton Premier" set which are wound the same but have AlNiCo 3 magnets, like the 1954 strat pickups (first year of production). As I said these are amazing sounding pickups - I was truly blown away! The AlNiCo 5 set is the vintage single coil sound I have always had in my head, healthy output and great bite and snarl in the upper mids without being harsh in the highs. All those vintage strat demos you see on YouTube from Emerald City Guitars and Carter vintage Guitars? THIS IS THE TONE! The AlNiCo 3 set has a little less output and is a little warmer sounding. You really need a side-by-side comparison to hear it fully but the AlNiCo 3 set feels somehow richer and deeper with less bite in the upper mids, while still being a very classic strat-style tone.
The big surprise for me was this - the stock Cutlass pickups are more AMAZING than I ever knew. Without the buffer circuit, they were now directly comparable to whatever pickups and cable I use in the other guitar, and the result was astounding. They measure around 6.2 - 6.3 kΩ and are also AlNiCo 5 magnets so they sound a little louder than the Vintage Class, a little more power in the midrange, but still with loads of bite and brightness. Honestly, I'd wager that if somebody handed Joe Bonamassa or John Mayer a vintage strat with these pickups in there and didn't say anything, they would absolutely love it. I think Music Man missed a big marketing point by not pushing harder on how great these pickups are.
So, while I'm still tinkering and finalizing the circuits (as much as my health allows me) I have tried all three versions of these single coil pickups in the two guitars and I have decided on the following: I want the Silhouette Special to be the brighter sounding guitar (the stock humbucker is already quite bright) so she gets the Tone Hatch AlNiCo5 Vintage Class with her original silent circuit back in service. The Cutlass retains her stock pickups and now is 100% passive with its own silent circuit. (The AlNiCo 3 Fullerton Premier have moved on to a new owner).
And I have also now fallen in love all over again with the middle single coil, especially on the Cutlass. For most of the last ten years I have wired my guitars to have neck-bridge instead of middle pickup, and the Silhouette Special will still keep that (with a toggle switch for options) but the Cutlass right now is back to the stock configuration and I surprised at how much I love it. In fact, the stock Cutlass middle pickup sound is the best middle I have ever head, better than the either of the Tone Hatch singles in the same position.
In addition to that, in 2021 I bought a Mesa Express 5:25 amp and this year my pedal board also changed quite a lot. Right now, I am happier than I've ever been with my tones.
First, I was tired of the DiMarzio Area noiseless single coils I had in the Silhouette Special. They are very good pickups, don't get me wrong, they sound great and are dead quiet, but I've had them in there for 5 years and I was ready for something different.
Second, I always found my Cutlass to be a much darker sounding guitar than my Silhouette Special. That's to do with the voicing of the buffer circuit, which sounds great of course, but is fixed and makes the tone independent of the cable I use. On purely passive guitars I can change cables to get a brighter or darker sound and I wanted that ability with the Cutlass too. So, I decided to remove the circuit board and pots go for a simpler build with new CTS pots and the older style silent circuit. I've kept both stock humbuckers, which I love, and tried a few different single coils to go with them.
I also ordered some "vintage-correct" single coils pickups from Tone Hatch pickups in Nebraska. These are beautifully made pickups. Hand wound 42 gauge heavy formvar wire, fibre bobbins, AlNiCo magnets, and push-back cloth leads, just like the pre-CBS Fender strat pickups from 1954 to 1964. And they sound beautiful! I cannot say if these are truly historically accurate to vintage pickups (which themselves varied widely), nor can I say that vintage specifications are some sort of magic recipe, but they are some of the best sounding pickups I have ever heard, and the prices are happy making!
I ordered the Tone Hatch "Vintage Class" pickups, which have AlNiCo 5 magnets and wound to 5.9 kΩ, which puts them in the middle of the range of pre-CBS pickups. I also ordered the "Fullerton Premier" set which are wound the same but have AlNiCo 3 magnets, like the 1954 strat pickups (first year of production). As I said these are amazing sounding pickups - I was truly blown away! The AlNiCo 5 set is the vintage single coil sound I have always had in my head, healthy output and great bite and snarl in the upper mids without being harsh in the highs. All those vintage strat demos you see on YouTube from Emerald City Guitars and Carter vintage Guitars? THIS IS THE TONE! The AlNiCo 3 set has a little less output and is a little warmer sounding. You really need a side-by-side comparison to hear it fully but the AlNiCo 3 set feels somehow richer and deeper with less bite in the upper mids, while still being a very classic strat-style tone.
The big surprise for me was this - the stock Cutlass pickups are more AMAZING than I ever knew. Without the buffer circuit, they were now directly comparable to whatever pickups and cable I use in the other guitar, and the result was astounding. They measure around 6.2 - 6.3 kΩ and are also AlNiCo 5 magnets so they sound a little louder than the Vintage Class, a little more power in the midrange, but still with loads of bite and brightness. Honestly, I'd wager that if somebody handed Joe Bonamassa or John Mayer a vintage strat with these pickups in there and didn't say anything, they would absolutely love it. I think Music Man missed a big marketing point by not pushing harder on how great these pickups are.
So, while I'm still tinkering and finalizing the circuits (as much as my health allows me) I have tried all three versions of these single coil pickups in the two guitars and I have decided on the following: I want the Silhouette Special to be the brighter sounding guitar (the stock humbucker is already quite bright) so she gets the Tone Hatch AlNiCo5 Vintage Class with her original silent circuit back in service. The Cutlass retains her stock pickups and now is 100% passive with its own silent circuit. (The AlNiCo 3 Fullerton Premier have moved on to a new owner).
And I have also now fallen in love all over again with the middle single coil, especially on the Cutlass. For most of the last ten years I have wired my guitars to have neck-bridge instead of middle pickup, and the Silhouette Special will still keep that (with a toggle switch for options) but the Cutlass right now is back to the stock configuration and I surprised at how much I love it. In fact, the stock Cutlass middle pickup sound is the best middle I have ever head, better than the either of the Tone Hatch singles in the same position.
In addition to that, in 2021 I bought a Mesa Express 5:25 amp and this year my pedal board also changed quite a lot. Right now, I am happier than I've ever been with my tones.
