Some help please

[Clive Hugh]

I am contemplating relacing the neck pu on my strat with a humbucker.
I have done it before in about 1978 and put in a DiMarzio super distortion and was very happy, however time dims the memory somewhat , the alternative is a Gibson P90.
I play 60's -80's rock plus blues and a little country, I find the strat too jangly and will go HB but is there anyone out there with current info on these two?
Clive

 

[Hard2Hear]

well....

Depends on how much messing around you want to do. You'll definately have to route out some extra wood for a p-90 whether you have a spot for a regular single coil or a humbucker. they are wider and won't fit in a normal space. Your guitar may or may not be routed for a humbucker already, depending on what model it is.

I had one of those Deluxe Teles with a neck humbucker and I really liked that guitar. I'd suggest getting a 4 conducter humbucker so you can split the coils and have even more tone options. I'd actually opt for a paf style, lower output, humbucker over a super distortion type or a P-90. the PAF clones fall in between those two. In fact, I find P-90's and PAF clones to be fairly close sounding, except that humbuckers are quieter, not as noisy, and a little more sontrolled sounding. Something like the SD '59 would probably fit the tone youre wanting.

H2H

 

[Clive Hugh]

well....

Depends on how much messing around you want to do. You'll definately have to route out some extra wood for a p-90 whether you have a spot for a regular single coil or a humbucker. they are wider and won't fit in a normal space. Your guitar may or may not be routed for a humbucker already, depending on what model it is.

I had one of those Deluxe Teles with a neck humbucker and I really liked that guitar. I'd suggest getting a 4 conducter humbucker so you can split the coils and have even more tone options. I'd actually opt for a paf style, lower output, humbucker over a super distortion type or a P-90. the PAF clones fall in between those two. In fact, I find P-90's and PAF clones to be fairly close sounding, except that humbuckers are quieter, not as noisy, and a little more sontrolled sounding. Something like the SD '59 would probably fit the tone youre wanting.

H2H

Thanks,
You have pretty much confirmed what I was thinking with the Super Distortion as against a lower output pu. I have a guitar that is equipped with Bill Lawrence L450's that are very high output and they have to be well away from the strings otherwise you get overloaded amp, I was leery about the super distortions doing the same, but I want that warm sound of the humbucker. What attracted me to the Gibsons was the price on www.tubesandmore.com. But my local retailer has offered me a very good deal on the Super Distortions so I'll go back and ask if they'll give me a similar deal on a PAF type.
Clive

 

[Clive Hugh]

H2H, I got on to the Seymour Duncan site and listened to several pu's and you were right, I have ordered the '59 from Sam Ash, $79 all up, much cheaper than in Australia.
Clive

 

[ez_willis]

H2H, I got on to the Seymour Duncan site and listened to several pu's and you were right, I have ordered the '59 from Sam Ash, $79 all up, much cheaper than in Australia.
Clive

I put a '59 in squire, and shielded it while it was apart. What an amazing difference it made!

 

[Clive Hugh]

I put a '59 in squire, and shielded it while it was apart. What an amazing difference it made!

Shielding is something I have often contemplated but lazyness has so far won out, but with the thing aspart for a pu change it would be a good time.
Did you use copper foil or aluminium?

 

[Hard2Hear]

I think you'll be happy with your choice. People just love those pickups, they cant be beat for the price. You have to get into botique handwound, and several humdred dollars more, to really get a better pickup.

I have shielded a couple of guitars. I did a total copper shielding on a Schecter C-1 Elite. It looked fantastic when I finished with it. I couldn't tell a huge difference, though, cause the guitar was quiet to begin with. But it looked great. I have a Strat now that is shielded with copper lining and shielding paint both. I didn't actually do this job, but it looks very thorough. I still don't notice much difference. The Texas Specials in it are still noisy like Texas Specials are. I more than likely won't bother doing it to another guitar of mine.

H2H

 

[ez_willis]

Shielding is something I have often contemplated but lazyness has so far won out, but with the thing aspart for a pu change it would be a good time.
Did you use copper foil or aluminium?

Heavy duty aluminum foil. I can't stress enough the improvement sheilding made. You will be so glad you did it, and it didn't take that much time. Go for it.