Sil Spec Single Coil Recommendations

[fsmith]

I'm going to swap out the bridge HB on my SS and wanted to get some input on what single coil pickup I should use.

Stay with the stock p'up or is there something else I should be looking at?

Jon, I'm assuming I can just rewire everything into another pickguard and it won't matter about being routed for the HB originally?

thanks,
fred

 

[Dodgeball]

I know that the SS has the silent circuit so hum cancelling pickups wont be much of a consideration but I would definately recommend the Dimarzio Virtual2's. I have the full set in an old strat and they sound great for what I want (classic/contemporary rock). They handle gain really well too.

Depends what ur gonna land in the bridge spot.

Good luck

 

[Mick]

I have kinman pickups in every single coil guitar I own
(I don´t own a EBMM w/ SC by the way)
My Tele and my Strat have them. Very 3 dimensional sound.
Recomend the SCn for bridge www.kinman.com

 

[AxSport4me]

Check out Lindy Fralin pickups! Their single coils are outstanding!!!!

 

[c_mac]

I used a set of Lace Holy Grails in an old Strat that I used to have. They were wonderful. However they are hum-cancelling, since you have a silent circuit already, you may want to look at some Lollars or Rio Grande.

Chad

 

[beej]

You can put anything you'd like into another pickguard- will work no problem. However if you're worried about resale in the future you might want to save the old assembly (with the silent circuit) in tact. (That's what I've done it past.)

Personally I like Bill Lawrence 280s for the single coils. Very similar to the BL pickups they're now using in the F***** American Deluxes and pretty inexpensive. Also noise-free.

That said, I'm actually pretty fond of the sil spec's single coils as-is. You could just buy the bridge couterpart of the series (they're really OEM versions of the "Blue Velvet") and be done with it.

 

[jimmyp]

IMHO the best noiseless single coil on the market is the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues - it sings in the neck position- mix it with the V V '54 in the middle and you get some sweet tones

 

[fsmith]

Thanks for the responses.

beej, thanks for clearing up the fit aspect. I wanted to make sure that the route of the HB would allow for the single coil in that crooked position.

I really liked the sound of bridge single in the BA Silo that I had for about 2 weeks. Since I have the Petrucci and the Morse on the way I have enough bridge HB's to play with. I'd like to get this one back to it's purpose in life, the "strat killer".

As far as keeping it original for future resale, I don't think that will be an issue. This is one of those magical guitars. It's a definite keeper. I just plan on getting another pickguard and rewiring the 3 singles back to the original specs and then replacing all the pickguard screws with stainless steel. Not sure if I'll keep the black covers or change to white. Decisions, decisions...

TommyinDelaware called me yesterday to BS and was raving about the Lindy Fralins as well. So far that's two vote for the Lindys. He said he swears by the Lindy Fralin Blues Special. I might have to check it out.

Anyhow, thanks again...

fred

 

[tommyindelaware]

Check out Lindy Fralin pickups! Their single coils are outstanding!!!!

+1

there are an incredible # of excellent options.......so many that it's really impossible to say which ONE is the best choice......
besides...it's too much fun trying everything out !!!!!!!!

 

[edcat]

I've got Fralins in my Tele, the clean sounds are great but what sets these apart from other tele pups is the great overdrive sound you get from them, not the easiest thing to get from a Tele.

 

[tommyindelaware]

I've got Fralins in my Tele, the clean sounds are great but what sets these apart from other tele pups is the great overdrive sound you get from them, not the easiest thing to get from a Tele.

+1
lindy is the man......especially in teleland........

 

[ebb soul]

Bill Lawrence L-500 or 450, you can use the money you save not buying Kinmans to buy six months of strings.

He was the original replacement pickup maker, and still the best.
12 years working for Gibson is another claim the others can't make.

 

[tvanveen]

I thought Jason Lollar was the original replacement pickup guy, he actually wrote a book about it -

http://www.lollarguitars.com/Article_GuitarWorld.htm

Anyway, I have a set of blackface lollars, they're the shiznit.

A good place to research this stuff is over on the P'up Tent board on the Fender Discussion Page.

tv

 

[beej]

(Hate to sound like an evangelist, but I'm a big fan, so ...)

Bill Lawrence has been making pickups longer than just about everyone else- a lot of current designers have worked with him at some point in time. (Do a search at the US patent office and see.)

He did work for G***** for years and is now under contract to F*****. The upscale Strat/Tele lines now feature his "Samarium Cobalt" pickups- they're noise-free and have an awesome vintage tone. F*****'s now also using his desing for their pickup wiring machines, etc.

That said, there are a lot of great boutique pickups out there, each with their own merits. Try 'em all and see. FWIW, Bill's pickups are also inexepensive- I think the single coils are around $40 a pop.

 

[tvanveen]

It really just comes down to what you're looking for, I find it almost pointless to make pickup recommendations. Everyone has their own tastes and different ears.

Having said that I wouldn't personally use Lawrence pickups because they're hum cancelling.

If you want real single coils, Fralin, Lollar, Fender, Rio Grande all make good vintage and higher output models.

If you want hum cancelling then Lawrence, Kinman and Lace have good reps.

So, you need to decide if you want hum cancelling, which would seem odd to me since I doubt the other 2 single coils are noiseless. Then you need to decide what output you want. It might be smart to get a coil thats maybe 10% more output than what you have in the neck.

 

[beej]

Yeah ... sorry ... just realized I sounded real preachy there ...

Agree with tvanveen, it's tough to make recommendations; everyone's different.

But lots of good single coils are hum cancelling- they don't need to be noisy to sound great.

 

[jimmyp]

Yeah ... sorry ... just realized I sounded real preachy there ...

Agree with tvanveen, it's tough to make recommendations; everyone's different.

But lots of good single coils are hum cancelling- they don't need to be noisy to sound great.

I used to get hung up on the hum cancelling thing - currently, I use all hum cancelling because the essential sound is as good now with the cancelling as a true single coil - my preference as stated is Dimarzio Virt Vintage, but there are a lot of good sounding pickups out there, depending on what style you play and what you hear in your head

 

[tvanveen]

I used to get hung up on the hum cancelling thing - currently, I use all hum cancelling because the essential sound is as good now with the cancelling as a true single coil

I flirted with noiseless for a while and came to a different conclusion. Like I said, different strokes...

 

[tommyindelaware]

I flirted with noiseless for a while and came to a different conclusion. Like I said, different strokes...

+1 so far.....still looking though.......

 

[beej]

> I flirted with noiseless for a while and came to a different conclusion

Fair enough! Everyone has their own likes.

Noise free single coils really have a second coil to eliminate noise. But like anything else, there are good and bad designs. (I do think there are some great ones out there.)

The silent circuit really does the same thing- it's a dummy coil wired in to eliminate noise. So if you're a purist then you might want to unwire it for the same reasons.