No noise, balanced, no harshness, articulate, and so full and round sounding. Getting a good looking, durable finish is almost a no-brainer, these dayze. If you're looking for clean, edgy Strat tone that cuts through to the front of the band, then you need the Custom '54 Strat pickups. The Bakersfield is a clean twangy bridge pickup, the Lion King is a vintage style covered neck pickup. Gear: Nash Tele with Nocaster Lion bridge and Lion King neck. But, of course, they don't sound nearly as good as the Fender Original Vintage '52 RI pickups I … 7.8k DC resistance. You can always fairly easily strip off the finish if yer not happy! Initially, I go as low as I can with a minimum of buzz - depending on the angle between your git's neck and body (hopefully, dead level! "The Texas Flood pickups really brought my Strat to life. If you’ve delved into our primer on the ins and outs of Stratocaster pickups, now is the time to mix and match your new single coil set with our handy guide on the ten best Stratocaster neck pickups.Best start practicing your SRV shuffle. * If you wish to color the wood, ALWAYS apply the stain/dye to the raw wood first. As always, YMMV - and will. About us. But single-coils have one significant disadvantage. $75.00 Add To Cart : Alnico II Pro Flat Strat (APS-2) by Seymour Duncan 11204-08. Awesome demos of the cav pickups, thanks for posting these! Get yerself some scrap wood - a pair 1/4" thick small patch of plywood sheet about 1" x 2" is fine. * NEVER USE OLD POLYU THAT'S GOTTEN A BIT THICK FROM LOSING IT'S THINNERS! I've seen (and used) "hard rock maple" that was way softer than "Brazilian rosewood" - AND vice versa. Loaded into a Heartland Tone Daytona and played through a Bluesbreaker combo loaded with a WGS Reaper. 20th June 2020 by Roz. When you want that quintessential, glassy, bell-like chime—nothing does it like a classic Strat single coil. I clean with water, and for worst cases I use a dab of naphtha (lighter fluid). For the neck, I use a 1/4" x 1-1/2" x 6" slat of plywood for a handle and drill through it into the neck heel (off center - don't wanna hit the truss rod!) Caveat - lots depends on how you pluck, strike or beat a string, in terms of force. Boostrap Pickups is on a mission to wind the best American-made pickups out there. For recording and jamming I use a Li'l Dawg Prince 5 watt combo tube amp (based on the Fender 5F2A), with a 12" AlNiCo speaker. Nitrocelulose lacquer will age, discolor, shrink, check, orange peel, be least resistant to liquids and chemicals - and beer and blood. Quick Synopsis - I give each wiped coat a good three hours to "cure", then VERY LIGHTLY buff with 0000 steel wool, wipe off the wood, run a magnet over the wood's nooks 'n' crannies (body rout cavities, neck tuner holes, etc.) I'm using … The N3 Noiseless Strat Pickups are manufactured in Corona, California, in the Fender Custom shop. However, at bedroom/living room volumes into a relatively clean amp, you will hear some amount of the amalgam of the guitar's parts, not just the pickups. I've been through 4 different sets of pickups for that guitar and finally found the … But sometimes we want more, more power, more output, more authority, more aggression out of our Strat. Virgil Arlo Strat Pickups inspire many Session & Touring Guitarists. Get the tuners on the neck, the pickups in place, and the bridge on the body. Been there, done that, and it's SO much easier/cheaper to buy pre-shaped bodies and necks. 3:41. Take your time and check'em all out at yer local geetar store. Fender Custom Shop '54 Strat Pickup Set "center"> Surf's up! Real tube amps have a warm and harmonic tone that has yet to be replicated by solid state technology. Just plunge right in! There should be between .002" and .012" (maybe more, but you'll have a higher overall action when you use lotsa relief). Anyone can give you advice, but the rubber meets the road when you've paid yer bucks and have to live with your decision. Cavalier Pickups Build - Cavalier Strat® pickups are all built to respective vintage footprint specifications and all will properly fit into Fender® guitars or any guitars built to Fender® pickup footprint specifications. Assembling yer own does require understanding some assembly processes (attaching the neck, cutting the nut, soldering electronics, final setup) and some specific tooling (nut files). There's no need for that crap on a fine wood finish, IMO. ", Mike Nix: "Just installed the Cavalier Fat Lion (bridge) and Fat Lion King (neck) pickups. IF you can NOT get the neck dead level and ANY fret is too high or low, in relation to the other frets (you'll know that right away!) The Seymour Duncan STK-S4 includes a brand new patent applied for design to eliminate hum and sustain conventional single coil tone. Mike: "The 51/52 Tele bridge has a bold Alnico3 early 50s sound. Pure Vintage '65 Strat® Pickup Set, Vintage White (3) Pure Vintage Pickup Power From vintage bobbin construction to genuine original-era cloth wiring, all Fender Pure Vintage pickups are wound to precise specifications for authentic, traditional Fender tone and performance. the frets (and/or fretboard!) Since the invention of the electric guitar, the most common type of pickup is a single coil. This can be the toughest nut to crack. Amp: Muleskinner 17 watt with Weber Legacy Series 30 watt speaker, 12AX7 in v1 of amp for a bit more gain/volume. [1] With no string tension, I adjust the truss rod so that the neck is dead level: that is, a steel straight edge laid along the frets will touch all frets (you can also use a guitar's string, held taught between the 1st and last frets). I use a small piece of popsicle stick as dummy nut (or, if you have real nut, use that) and cut both "E" string slots (not to depth, just to hold the strings. If too high, a bolt-on neck has the advantage of being shimmed at the back of the neck pocket to increase -or make- the neck "fall away" from the body. Whether you need a single custom handwound pickup for your next rig or a reliable supplier for your next production run, we have the expertise and dedication to make your vision for the perfect tone a reality. Your Mileage May Vary, and probably will. As I don't like solid opaque finishes that require lots of grain and surface filling to level prep, and subsequent thick built up layers of medium required for that "mirror gloss finish". They're proven designs, point-to-point wired (which is found only on custom boutique amps these dayze), will cost lots less than a new amp that uses printed circuit boards, and will only increase in value. A Barber Gain Changer SR used for some light overdrive. It takes a TINY, THIN shim to make a BIG difference. I'd just mic that amp, as almost all venues require going through a sound board anyway (there is NO need for large wattage amps these dayze). All should be nicely lined up - that's all we're looking to do. After decades of spraying lacquer I quit in favor of wipe on finishes, Min Wax Wipe On Gloss polyU. Remedy - raise the string action or change the neck to much larger radius. In essence, this hardens the wood "threads", makes them very strong, and allows taking the neck on/off a hundred times without concern of compromising the wood threads. Don't take our word for it, just listen to what they are saying and how they are saying it. It really is the ultimate Strat pickup. * your strings are way too light for the guitar scale and tuning - .009-.042 strings on a 24-3/4" scale neck at Eb or D tuning will almost guarantee string rattling and buzzing. The 51/52 Tele bridge has a bold Alnico3 early 50s sound. If there is no nut relief (i.e. and use very small pan head screws to attach - again, you NEED a good handle. Let yer ears and wallet do the selecting. Wiped on polyU goes on really thin, and with ultra fine steel wool light buffing between coats, it can build up a nice sheen that will not age, discolor, shrink or check, and be pretty really easy to touch up. The guitar is plugged straight in, the amps are CRANKED!!!!". For travel or quiet plugged in practice, I use a small headphone FX box. Killer Tele pickups from Cavalier. Using quality, water thin CYA (cyanoacrylate) super glue, wick in a few drops into each neck heel screw hole. Bengal Tiger coil wire turn count = 12500/bridge. If you use lots of modulation, forget "pickup tone" as the signal is bent and twisted by the FX boxes. There are many other pickup styles in addition to the common Strat and Les Paul sizes, including Telecaster, mini, and … I prefer a medium low action, as that gives me the best clear tone I prefer - too low an action will almost always give you some kinda string buzzing, specially if you go banging the strings (as I do, at times). Yes, wood density and porosity play some defining role, but how do you know for sure what those parameters are in the wood you've chosen? Info:Fat Lion King tele neck pickup. I don't know how the pickups are in a Standard strat, but I put a set of alnico pickups from a Standard tele in a Thinline I have to replace its ceramics and really like the sound of them in that guitar. Get a nice larger "C" clamp. IMO, the final solid electric guitar tone will always be heavily influenced in this prioritized order: your brain and fingers, the pickups, the pickup support electronics, and the amalgam of the guitar's parts. That funky tasty Texas guitarist extraordinaire Fletch Redwine and his custom Tele that's powered by four Cavalier pickups. Set the string height by adjusting the bridge/saddles. my shop is regulated at no more than 50% humidity (typically it's 45%) - more than 60% humidity and you may get any kinda finish to "blush", * when closing up the polyU can, first put a square of regular plastic baggie (I just cut up old ones into 3" squares) over the can mouth, then screw on the cap tight - this will seal it very effectively and keep the polyU's thinners from evaporating. What is your preferred style of music and playing? I guess it's a matter of semantics, but most of us assemble a partscaster, not build one - "build" (to me) means rout out the body and neck from raw wood blanks. I slack the strings and adjust the truss rod to get the right neck relief at the 9th fret. If all is level, I *might* initially tighten the truss to allow for .001" to .006" of relief (bow) at the 9th fret. Most of my daily playing - practice and composition - is done without any amplification, using a Tele. This is exactly what you will get with the Seymour Duncan SSL-1. Funny - today those revered "expensive" guitars are just so much hit or miss crap, too. this can be mighty low to higher than you'd like! Line up the strings with the sides of the neck and the pickup pole pieces. Cavalier Fat Lion, Lion King, Tiger Strat. These pickups were made as replacements to the stock Fender pickups. - but maybe not!) - a string touches the first fret when fretted at the second fret), you need a new nut. Before beginning the setup, I make sure that the nut relief is acceptable. pickup repro maker to create the best vintage Stratocaster replacement pickups possible. House Of Tone House Special S Type 1960. I use a bit of beeswax on the tips of the neck screws for lubrication (hard rock maple is HARD) but candle wax or soap works as well. At this point, with the neck heel holes drilled, here is an option to consider - hardening the neck heel screw holes. Nut relief is the distance between the bottom of each string and the top of the first fret as measure when you fret a string at the second fret. Virtual Paypal/Venmo tip jar: roknfnrol@yahoo.com Just installed the Cavalier Fat Lion (bridge) and Fat Lion King (neck) pickups. Selling as a set only. When all looks right, tighten the "C" clamp. Expert guitarslinger Mike Nix crafts liquid country licks, rockin' riffs and bluesy tones with a set of Cavaliers (Nashville Lion and Lion King) in his Nash 50's Tele, pumped into a Muleskinner amp via a Barber Gain Changer. Sometimes the quest itself (for tone and playability and aethetics) is actually the subconscious real goal ... and sometimes the answer, the g'tar that's the best tool for you, is already in yer hands and is patiently awaiting your re-discovery ... :-). Gibson-style humbuckers tend to be twice as wide as Strat-sized single-coil electric guitar pickups, but there are stacked humbuckers designed for all kinds of single-coil routings. I am using Muleskinner amps. Posted in Gear | Last Updated on June 10, 2019. The Pacific Rim ate the USA's guitar lunch ... in a world economic way, this is a good thing, IMO ... no question, this is the Golden Age of Guitars that won't last forever as world economics merge. Still don't know just what amp to get? The bridge has more power than a traditional tele bridge PU - still twangs but has balls for classic rock and blues.". 13 Best Noiseless Strat Pickups for Hum-free Sound. BTW, those gizmos will usually make you sound *awesome* through headphones. Middle is … to pull out any missed steel wool hairs, re-buff with a stiff paper towel (or any ol' paper towel) - last coat is left clean, or use the 0000 wooling for a satin finish (nice for the back of a neck). Outboard of the guitar there'll be audio cables and modulation FX (if any), and of course the amp(s)/speaker(s). A clean soft cloth is all that's needed to buff up a wood finish. Remove all screws and remove the neck out of the body neck pocket. Always begin a setup with fresh, good strings. ;), * buff the finish (after the steel wool between coat buffing) by hand rubbing with a cheap, coarse paper towel, * after each body or neck wipe, hold the swatch in yer gloved hand and peel off the glove and capture the smelly pad - tie a knot in the glove end and toss it away, * watch the humidity!