greiswig
Power User
One of my projects recently was fitting a strat build I had made from surplus parts from...well, who knows where... fitting it with a Fralin P-92 bridge pickup that I found in my stash. I'd never been enamored of the strat bridge, but I really didn't want a full-on humbucker in there because I've already got HB guitars.
It works really well, IMO! Tele-ish, but it's got it's own thing going. And it doesn't seem to sacrifice the quack too much, although I had to fiddle a lot with the middle pickup height to get the balance right for the 2 and 4 positions.
Anyway, since I've mostly been playing my HB guitars, I set out to make a new preset for the strat. My tonal preferences are along the lines of Robben Ford, Mike Landau, Jon Herington...not high gain, but expressive.
Wow! I end up with a totally different set of amps preferred. Ones that I never liked for humbuckers work great with this. I know, no surprise.
Some examples:
It works really well, IMO! Tele-ish, but it's got it's own thing going. And it doesn't seem to sacrifice the quack too much, although I had to fiddle a lot with the middle pickup height to get the balance right for the 2 and 4 positions.
Anyway, since I've mostly been playing my HB guitars, I set out to make a new preset for the strat. My tonal preferences are along the lines of Robben Ford, Mike Landau, Jon Herington...not high gain, but expressive.
Wow! I end up with a totally different set of amps preferred. Ones that I never liked for humbuckers work great with this. I know, no surprise.
Some examples:
- The Carol Ann ODS - this one never gelled for me with humbuckers the way either the Ford ODS or the Bludo did. But here, there's something that just works. The Fuchs ODS, too, seems to work better here than it ever did for HB guitars, but still has just sooo much gain.
- Hot Cat 30 - The amp that I had that made me originally want a Telecaster works much better for me with SC guitars, including this Strat.
- A "Steel String Singer" made using the SV Bass 2 rig with a Skyliner tone stack and a FET boost front end into the free Harry Joyce cab that we were given awhile back, along with a Rumble cab. Man, that thing really does sing! Makes you want to keep turning up. Neck pickup on the Strat or Tele in particular. Blues heaven.
- The Shiver Lead - nice, thick, chewy. I never bonded with this for humbuckers, but here again it seems to work for singles and for this P-92.
- Maz 38 - obvious choice. I did have to turn the grid clipping on the cathode follower waaay down to get to where it didn't have so much fizz. Cliff has said that the fizz is part of the sound, but I kinda hate it. Punchy, great for a Tele bridge, too.
- The Two Rock J35 also needs a mention here, since it seems to have a midrange punch that other D-style amps lack. That isn't needed for humbuckers, but it helps my SC guitars punch through.
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