# Strat pickups for a Hendrix/Frusciante sound?



## canuck (Jan 31, 2008)

Could anyone suggest some good quality (but not crazily expensive) single coils to achieve a nice Hendrix/John Frusciante sound? I am thinking possibly the Fender Vintage noiseless as they are within my price range.

Thanks!


----------



## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

Pretty much any single coil should get you there. The SCN pickups are a stacked humbucker.....and neither Jimi or John use(d) stacked humbuckers.


Your amp, effects and playing will make you sound similar to those guys.


----------



## peter benn (Mar 29, 2007)

Doesn't the Custom Shop make a '69 Strat pickup? One or another of the boutique makers probably can get you there, too.


----------



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

canuck said:


> Could anyone suggest some good quality (but not crazily expensive) single coils to achieve a nice Hendrix/John Frusciante sound? I am thinking possibly the Fender Vintage noiseless as they are within my price range.
> 
> Thanks!


Noisy noisy is what you want not noiseless. I prefer Seymour Duncan Antiquity IIs surfers.


----------



## CocoTone (Jan 22, 2006)

Why don't you use the same pickups they use. I think they're made by a co. called....FENDER!!:wave: Seriously. There is no magic pickup. Stock Am RI , or if you need something a littel more "special", custom shop 69's will get you as close as anything else.

CT.


----------



## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

I agree with the CS 69's, they sound good and they are not reverse wound for the middle, true to the era...


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

There are other ways to reduce noise without doing anything to a naturally noisy single coil. Suhr has it s back plate system BPSSC ( http://www.suhrguitars.com/pickups.aspx#bpssc ). You can the line the pickup and control cavities with copper or aluminum foil. You can get an ISP Decimator ( http://www.isptechnologies.com/decimatorproducts.htm )


----------



## canuck (Jan 31, 2008)

So the Fender Vintage Noiseless are a stacked pickup? Like the Dimarzio hum canceling pickups? I didn't know that...

I kind of am after a noiseless pickup (60 cycle hum druives me nuts!!), so maybe that will help in your recommendations. I just thought the FVN since they seem to be really popular and people rave about the sound. Unless you guy can think of other noiseless single coils that you think sound closer to the sound I want. I really don't know if Jimi and John use a bit hotter singles than the FVN. Like maybe the DiMarzio Area '61...


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i used the dimarzio hs2 and hs3 for some years- i dunno how the fvn compare tonally to those, but i found with the dimarzio and the lace sensor types that noiseless also = toneless. my workaround was to use the dimarzios wired as single coil- they sounded better, and although they hummed, it was about 50% quieter than normal singles. when i stopped using big amps i went back to normal single coils.
the fvn get good reviews, they might be good, in any case youll get a reasonable hendrix enough tone- stock squier affinity pickups do a good hendrix impression, as do expensive boutique pups- hendrix i dont think gave much thought to his pickups, just using whatever was hanging on the guitar store wall. id think with frusciantes collection hes using real vintage pickups (though i dunno anything about his stuff), and again most types of strat pickups will do this.
theres a certain thinness that only 6 polepieces on a strat creates, i believe any strat single coil gets you most of the way there- a good part of the equation is still in the noisy hum, but you can get the sounds you want without it- itll just be lacking a bit, only you will notice likely


----------



## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

You could check out a set of Kinmans...their vintage strat pups are $260 US+$45 shipping ...order direct from the website. True noiseless single coils.


----------



## Apostrophe (') (Dec 30, 2007)

When I was looking for replacement pickups for my Strat, I came across this page:
http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Strat_Pickup_Sound_Clips_W1.cfm

I agree with others - the 69s would be my choice for a Hendrix sound, regardless of the noise.

In my case, I ended up grabbing the Fender 57/62's, as they were the best combo of low price/high ratings. I wasn't looking for a Hendrix sound though, just something better than the stock MIM pups - they sound great, but they sound more SRVish than Jimish. I did look at those Noiseless ones you mentioned, but their rating was underwhelming:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Guitar+Pickup/brand/Fender


----------



## I_cant_play (Jun 26, 2006)

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZS-mothersmilk.html

If you want more info on the brand check out their forum. For reviews, as always, look at harmony central.


----------



## Edutainment (Jan 29, 2008)

I wish you could delete posts. Saying this is as close as I can get, sorry for wasting space.


----------



## peter benn (Mar 29, 2007)

Apparently the MIM Classic Player '60s Strat has those '69 pickups:

http://toronto.craigslist.ca/yrk/msg/561142290.html


----------



## canuck (Jan 31, 2008)

Thanks for all the recommendations guys! I was checking out the Kinmans.... anyone here actually have them? How's the tone?

I am not necessarily looking to NAIL Jimi or John's tone, I just really like theirs, and anything that sounds pretty close would be great! I haven't had a strat in a while (I'm just in the process of finding one), so maybe they don't buzz as much as I think they do.

What besides fluorescent lights make them buzz? They don't aaaalways buzz do they??


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

canuck said:


> What besides fluorescent lights make them buzz? They don't aaaalways buzz do they??


Computer Monitors. I don't know if the the newer LCD do that, but my guess is no, or not near as much.


----------



## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

I have the Kinman vintage pickups on my Tele...it had Duncan Vintage 57s when I bought it, and they loved to hum...the Kinman's sound better (more like an old Tele) and don't hum. Nuff said.


----------



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

I've never tried Kinmans myself, but someone on theGearPage posted this Youtube link of a guy playing a Tyler Strat with Kinmans. Some really nice tone on this one. Of course, theres no guarantee that you or I could get the same tone with this setup, but I think the Kinmans would be a step in the right direction:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y01uCV6Wifw


----------

