Upgrading my PICKUPS!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- This is my Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe. I love it, but I don't like the sound anymore. We're exploring if chaning the pickups in my will help me save this guitar!
0:00 What's wrong with the guitar
2:06 Trying to swap the pickups
5:30 Placing the pickups back
6:45 First notes
7:20 Comparison!
9:11 Conclusion
▶MY NEW COURSE◀
nextlevelplaying.com
▶FOLLOW ME◀
Instagram: / pauldavidsguitar
▶SUPPORT ME◀
Patreon: / pauldavids
▶PICKUPS◀
Lollar Dirty Blondes
▶GUITAR◀
Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe 2005
▶MY TONE◀
Kemper Profiling Amp
Hi, my name is Paul Davids! I am a guitar player, teacher, producer, and overall music enthusiast from the Netherlands! I try to inspire people from all over the world with my videos, here on TH-cam.
If you want to know more about me, check out PaulDavidsGuitar.com or check out my guitar courses at: learnpracticeplay.com
Thank you for watching!
Paul
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Over the years I've learned I prefer my pickups as low as I can set them. Drop them to the pickguard if necessary. When they start to sound too thin, raise them back up just a bit... this allows the notes to bloom with a more vintage clarity that's impossible to achieve when they're set high. Use the amp to get your volume back. - I think I learned that from Dan Petlanski IIRC....but it was truly a "light bulb" moment for me.
So true, have a lone star strat that has very strong magnets in the pickups. Literally had to take the pickups down to the pickguard before the mags didn't effect the sound.
Well you really made my day bro, now the sound its just bright and perfect just like I ever wished! Cheers!
Can you explained a little better? :(
Going that low is crazy talk. I'm going to try it out.
@@ronnysuarez3257 Just seting the pickups low to the pickguard (far from the strings) and in my case sound gets bright, and if u set pickups high, sound gets more fuzzier and muddier (not that shining bright). :)
And I thought swapping my laptop hard drive was intimidating. It's like he's diffusing a bomb. 🤯
Try completely replacing all of the wiring on the whole guitar. That’s my task tomorrow 😰
@@franticfrancis9710 Hope it went well 😅
@@franticfrancis9710 depends on the guitar. Strat’s are easy.
I wonder why they can’t advance this technology so it’s not this difficult
Lol
I would recommend one thing if you solder something again: Always add some fresh solder to the joints, to avoid cold connections. Fresh solder contains "flux" (colophony/rosin) which makes the solder flow better. Second: Heat your connections more. Good connections have both parts heated up a bit. So just stay there for 2-3 seconds and then remove heat.
But nevertheless: Great work!
Schinken1 wanted to say excactly the same... just finished soldering 30 patchcables for my pedalboard, and within the first 5 plugs I learned a LOT to my soldering skills haha
AMEN! Those connections will one day become loose and maybe cause a short. Not good.
I'd probably say to get some solder braid/wick to remove old solder if one is reusing soldered components. More solder on top of solder may or may not make good long term connections and I'd rather not take the chance. Plus, it'll be neater!
Or just get a guitar tech to go it. They have the tools and will do a better job than most.
@@planespeaking Are you the type of person that calls an electrician to change your lightbulbs?
The old ones really weren't that bad, imo. I liked the natural fuzz they had, but I enjoy that type of tone.
Same here! It sounded like a strat to me, a good one. Anyways!
Got to be honest, I don't hear a ton of difference between the two. But that can have a lot to do with the recording, and the computer and headphones delivering the sound.
Personally, I hear a noticeable difference, but I suspect the real difference can only be heard and felt if you're actually in the room with the guitar. Guitar tones lives and dies in nuances and details, and those rarely come across through videos on TH-cam, unless the recording is top notch and you're listening through studio-quality headsets/speakers.
The difference is not huge but unmistakable at the same time. It's clearly flat before, and comes alive after. Brings up the twang as well.
Watched the Video on my Sony Smartphone with shure in Ears in High quality and I was able to really hear a difference, the old ones sounded more muffled whereas the New ones sounded more brighter and clear
I think it's how you wrote, you may don't hear it in the recording. But even if you hear it while playing, it can affect your playing in a positive way. I don't know it's hard to describe
@@mescaliiiiine That's exactly what I noticed. It was a bit flat, kind of transitor-ish before. The new pickups made it way brighter and twangy. Big improvement, IMO. I'm having a similar problem with my guitar and I'm inclined to change out the pickups on it now.
yes, the new ones sound better. But it seems there's more energy / excitement in your playing after the switch too. Spirit impacts tone! Worthy project.
Tone also inspires
yeah i agree hes more excited about it so the performance changes. sorry, ur comment was three years ago. I keep doing that. responding to old comments
What I have found when swapping pickups and soldering wires to tiny components is that it's easier and cleaner to cut and strip the old wires instead of trying to solder to the tiny junctions. As long as there is still wire on the old pickups, you can reuse them. By doing it this way, you avoid grounding issues. Like when your solder bleeds over and touches another junction point.
Interesting! I actually really loved the way the old ones sounded, but then heard the new ones and I'm blown away because I didn't think it'd be THAT much better. Definitely an improvement. Lollar doesn't disappoint in my experience
That lollar neck pickup sound is almost all the guitar sound I could ever need, really does sound lovely.
5:12 - "There will probably be guys in the comments saying that I do everything wrong. ... Probably. Gotta learn it. Gotta do it."
I've seen too many people who seem only capable of replying "hire a professional" when you ask how to do something, as if "professionals" are somehow different beings than the rest of us. I still remember a quote from the movie The Edge that I watched when I was a kid: "What one man can do, another can do."
If someone else learned it, you can learn it too. It might be harder for you, or take more time for you to learn it, but you can learn it.
Deserves top comment
I fully agree! I've started getting into doing my own truss rod adjustments and other maintenance. There's definitely a learning curve and it probably won't be perfect on try 1 2 3 or 4 but anything can be learned with a help of TH-cam and some trial and error!
Definitely agree on this. However, it takes a learning curve to do something well enough, and you don't want your learning mistakes to be made in your prized instrument... that's why I always suggest, get a chance to try and practice what you intend to do on a friend's guitar first!
It might be inspiring but it's actually far from truth. Take for example this voice actor: th-cam.com/video/6N5l0sgPP5k/w-d-xo.html . You just can't make your voice that deep if you are not born with it, no matter how much practice you put into it.
@@olehsmirnov2472 That's certainly true in some cases, but it's true in far fewer cases than some people make it out to be.
Just wanted to say thanks for another great video, really appreciate what you do. Don’t get discourage, keep making content you like and we’ll keep watching.
Next Strat upgrade: I don’t normally go for relic guitars because those battle scars weren’t earned. In this case though, I’d peel off the chipped portion, and sand the edges between pain and wood, and live with a guitar you’ve owned for so long. (Edited to correct spelling)
As an electronics engineer super fun to watch. Compliments for the can do mentality! Great job 👍🏻
(Yes there are things but why be nitpicky about it?)
Hey since you're an engineer can you help me with a guitar wiring/switch question?
@@rodwilliams68 that really depends on what. Lol
@@p_mouse8676 I have a cabronita style tele. I want to use a 3 position rotart style selector instead of the toggle switch that it came with but I'm not exactly sure which rotary switch to buy.
Evil Earl you need a three position and 2 pole rotary switch, you can get a switch with more poles but some with be unused, and switch with more than 3 positions will also work, but you will have extra positions(some switches let you lock out the extra positions)
@@pranavkamath4329 I just ordered one. Thank you.
Wow, what timing! I have a 2018 Fender elite strat with the 4th generation noiseless pickups. And I recently bought the same lollar pickups you have, but also the Emerson Custom 5-way Blender Prewired Kit. I will install them soon. Thanks for the video!
UPDATE: yeah, much better sound - no muddiness, strings and notes ring out clearly and separately. Great tones, and very responsive to changes in picking technique. The blender feature is great too. I play on the neck pick up mostly and blend in the bridge pickup to nearly 40-50 percent for that extra glassy tone.
When rewiring a guitar, especially when you get into sophisticated wiring like the S-1, I like to use an ohmmeter to check the resistance of the pickups in the various switch positions. It's not 100% conclusive but can give you a decent idea if things are as they should be. It's a little easier than semi reassembling the guitar. If you haven't done it before it's probably not as informative but it can still be useful.
Props for getting into it without being sure of what you are doing.
I remember watching this video when it came out and I couldn’t hear a difference, glad to say I really do hear a big difference now. It absolutely does that ‘strat thing’ with the new pickups
Ok, I'm listening on my phone whilst researching some replacement pickups and, truthfully, they sound the same to me. You've a great channel and I appreciate you sharing your skills and knowledge.
You need to listen through headphones, it may be subtle to some but I've been playing fenders for long enough to really tell that there's a Huge difference in the clarity. The old pickups sound dull and spongey whereas the new ones you can hear the sprinkley brightness
The old ones sounded a bit muffled and compressed.
Great to hear you’re going on a strat mod journey! A really interesting test is to listen to how much sustain, clarity and high end exists when you play both strats acoustically - the sign of a great strat is clear high frequencies in the bass strings in particular, and it’s not something that is fixed by just changing strings. Everything the string touches affects the guitars natural acoustic resonance, particularly the high end clarity and response. The things that made biggest difference to my Am. std strat were (in order), solid steel (now a KGC solid brass which I prefer even more) bridge block, solid steel saddles (with a solid brass on E1 to tame the thinner sounding E), and lastly bigger frets - all made the Guitar way clearer acoustically, which definitely translates through any pickup, but especially through pickups that can actually hear that high end like your new ones 😁
Sounds good! I just put a set of Fender Yosemite pickups in my MIM Strat, and now it sounds like a late 50s beast!
taking off the poly will be a chore and fairly expensive if you have someone else do it, but from what I've read and heard it will make a massive difference in the guitar. Great Video Paul as always. Great job on your 1st pickup swap.
Paul, you're a great guitarist and a novice electronics guy. I'm a great electronics guy (so I'm told :) ) and a novice guitarist... who takes lessons from you! Allow me to return the favor and eliminate the 'string buzz', as it were, from your playing of my instrument... the soldering iron. You'll need a wet sponge, a spool of no-clean rosin core solder, some solder wick, and a decent soldering iron (the one you have will do). Others have mentioned flux here in the comments, that's in the aforementioned solder & is the rosin. Flux cleans oxides off the metals being soldered and 'no-clean' means leaving the flux won't corrode the metals if left on once soldered. 'Tin the iron', this means wipe the tip on the wet sponge (with a twist to clean it all the way around) apply some solder to the tip, and if clean, it should melt quickly & flow evenly around the tip. If not, repeat the wipe/apply. Being careful with the 450-550F drop of molten solder, tap or shake off the excess (don't leave a glob on the tip is the point here). Apply heat with the tip to the joint (heat rises, so under or on the side of the joint is best) and apply a little solder to the opposite side of the joint. The solder will flow toward the heat of the iron. Add only enough solder to fill the gaps of the joint, don't make globs. Cleanliness is key. With a decent iron, good solder and a little practice a solder joint should only take 5-8 seconds. Look for shiny solder throughout the joint, if dull, it's dirty or wasn't made hot enough and will fail eventually. If, like in your case, there is old solder on the joints, use the wick (it's a copper braid impregnated with flux). Push the braid against the joint with the tip of the iron to 'sop' up the old or excess solder. And as you always seem to tell me... "Good Luck!" :) Oh, you ever like to ask about anything electronics wise, shoot me a line.
Wow!! I learned a lot here. Thanks
Excellent explanation! Have you ever thought of making a TH-cam video on the topic?
That's some TH-cam content right there 👍
@@Grant_Ferstat I should! Perhaps title it 'Soldering for noobs'... :)LOL(:
Paul, Great job on all your videos. Content, playing, production.....Outstanding!
I just finished building a guitar (sg) myself. I first tried spraying paint, but wasnt quite happy with how the paint job turned out. After some searching on the web i came across the "stunning stains" paints/oils from Crimson guitars witch worked really well for me! Maybe someting for you to check out when you dicide to refinish?
I was interested in this video as I have a 2011 Deluxe and don't love it. I was expecting more of a difference, but can hear the Lollars are more sparkly or brighter. Your playing is so good that nothing ever sounds bad though (unlike me). I think if I was going to change pickups I would just get a fully loaded pickguard and swap the whole thing over.
Changing those saddles would also make a lot of difference. I've had a couple of guitars with those bridges & saddles I really feel they inhibit the guitars a bit. I swapped the saddles for more vintage style replacements.
The Emerson Blender wiring harness is a great addition to a Strat. Allows you to blend the neck and bridge pickups together in various combinations, giving you some Tele-like tones. Love it on mine. A light vintage finish would be great on that!
Great Job!!! I love working on my own guitars and you made it way more simple then I would have. thanks for the simple tips..
The old pickups sound like the Lollars if you were using a 50 foot cable and capacitance was robbing your tone.
... or just slightly older strings.
To me it sounded like he had a noisegate squashing the tone
Yes they definitely sound better and they "breath" more, however, I was also expecting a larger difference. You should put a nitro finish on it in a color you don't already have! Personally, white strats have always been my favorite
White with a brown tortoise pickguard would look awesome
*breathe
EelkeC ah yes ofc course. My bad
Enjoyed this video! Always speculated about doing something like this myself but it seems too difficult. Thanks for showing the process, including your confusion and DYI optimism :) a bit different than other recent videos (saw your Instagram story) but I enjoyed this variety
I had an opportunity to play a Nash S-63 over the weekend,. and was blown away with how glassy and toneful the Lollar pickups were ( primary guitar includes a Suhr, and an early EJ Strat). So now I'm down the rabbit hole looking into Lollar pickups to replace my Texas Specials in my '62 RI Strat. Maybe how its recorded, but I didn't hear a huge difference. The big difference was your impression- you're impressed with them, and now you've breathed new life into and old friend.
I just put lollars in my jazzmaster. Got a gold foil and a p90. Lollars are the bomb! Good choice!
Ooh I bet that sounds incredible
Their gold foil is crazy expensive but I've always wanted to try it. How do you like it?
6:00 you can test the pickups by tapping anything metallic (e.g. screwdriver) against the pickup :)
It has to be iron. stainless or not, copper and aluminum won't do.
Wanted to say exactly this!
But I don't recommend hitting the pole piece with a magnetic screwdriver. I don't think there will be any effect unless it is a very high magnetic force, but it it's not mentally good.
or even a plectrum 😊
@@hankcohen3419it works with basically anything, even a finger
It's very helpful for me because I wanna change my pickups recently. Thank you for your video!
great job - I love when people jump head first into tasks they aren't that comfortable with and seeing everything work out just fine. It helps me to get over that initial barrier of doing it myself. Have a set of Tele pickups I'd like to install but have been putting it off for quite a while out of fear of the soldering iron ;). As for the refinish - that strat has my least favourite colour and the pickguard doesn't do it for me either. It would look great in black nitro with a mint green guard - you may need to change the dots too though as they look like they were chosen to match the existing pickguard.
Paul, I hope you know how much you inspire some of us. Today, i didnt even want to play, but after watching three of your videos, im picking up my music man axis and getting down with some tunes.
Sincerely, thank you for all you do for your channel and guitar nuts everywhere.
Much love from Tennessee!
Jason sprinkles some magic dust into his pickups. The difference isn't huge but totally worth it. My fav pickups. I'd replace the pots etc too. As they will affect the sound too.
My American deluxe is in the shop right now getting its pickups upgraded from SCN to Lambertones so this video is right on point.
👏 It is much better Paul, great job on the soldering too. I had Lollar drop ship mine directly to 920D where the installed them in a new pick guard because I didn’t want to mod my original CS Ancho Poblano stock pick gaurd.
Damn I’ve swapped out so many pickups in my strats!! It took so many years to find the sound in my head. The noiseless stuff is a nightmare. I no longer use em’!
Basically I’m using a combination of ceramic bar and alnico V. And I lower the height way lower than Fender specs. Almost every pickup I’ve tried sounds better lower than spec height!
Came here to mention pickup height. Glad someone already did. It's something I still struggle with on my Les Paul... I get to a point of "happy enough" but have ear fatigue too early to be productive after that.
What's ur opinion on the Fender Am Special Texas pickups? I tried one a couple of weeks ago & it's in a clearance sale, after trying loadsa Fender strats that day - that's the one that totally got me. I'm really, really trying NOT to buy it! Hahahaha...
jackillin I think they missed the mark a little. I actually like the Tex-mex pickups better ...and they are cheaper. BUT if I found a set ofTexas Specials on clearance I would definitely pick em up
Paul Speed oh the joys of chasing tone! Lol!
@@PaulSpeed42 follow these directions and try these pickup height settings and let me know if they work for you. instagram.com/p/BvInggQHsbN/?igshid=1y22jykjnenb6
Prefer the old ones. I think they're mellower. Just got one of these actually, and I absolutely love it just the way it is!
I just wanted to thank you... not for the demo or anything. But for being so open with what you don't know! So many TH-cam guys seem to know everything... and your honesty and willingness to just try meant more to me than the actual content of the video (though the new pickups sound great... good to have a backup strat tuned flat for the those days when you need a SRV/Hendrix fix!). Thanks again... inspiring... going to try some things myself.
I loved this! I have a Squier Strat (super cheap but it was my first guitar) that I've been contemplating slowly upgrading the components just to make it more enjoyable to play. Seeing you just kind of wing it gives me the confidence to try it. As far as the finish for your Strat, I'm a John Mayer fan so that Cypress Mica or something close would look amazing.
0:28
Hahah
Lmao
Great vid.... those p/ups that were replaced were pretty ‘high end’ anyway and it was still a noticeable difference in a really good way... I have to get these in my strat!.
I myself used always pre-wired Pickups in the past, because I hate soldering.
But, well done! You did a great Job! Thank you for posting your video, Paul!
I have a set of Dirty Blondes and they are terrific. Quite a difference from Noiseless. I would recommend replacing pots with high quality volume and tone pot. I also use a blender pot for second tone to blend in neck. Sounds great with dirty Blondes. Just my two cents. The S1 volume pot was not the best so I replaced all three with good pots.
I love how the diagram is so simple but then when you open it up it's just a mess of cables
When you change the finish: it may look really cool with the natural wood with some clear code on it but a darker sunburst woul look great too.. u shoul ask the community
Julian Murr agreed. I’m a big fan of natural finish.
I love listening to pickup demo’s. So many great choices!
Great video Paul I really liked your style of comparing and choices of things to play sounded great with those new pickups.... cherry sunburst sounds awesome
It's sounds like you could have fixed the original pickups with some brighter pots (changing 250k to 500k or 350k etc.)
Higher value pots will let more of the true pickup sound to come thru.
But well done. I hope you will now pickup this guitar more often. 👍
Interesting point, but with these pickups, I doubt it. They are terrible if you’re looking for Strat tones. I have them in mine and just like Paul, I loved the guitar years ago when I bought it. It’s simply a beautiful Strat and built great, but those pickups were a mistake. Lol
9:16 floating spider?? Besides that, lollar blondes are amazing. Have them in my nash s63 strat. Also have a strat with the blackface pickups which are also great. The blondes would be my say all end all though.
I purchased a used MIM Fender 50's reissue Strat for $400 with hardcase. The neck pick up was not quite flat so I took off the pick guard to see what was up and discovered that someone had replaced the pickups with Lollar Blondes! Love 'em.
I love the Lollar product. Fantastic pickups! I have the F-spaced Imperials in my Am. Pro Tele Deluxe.
1:00
Yikes! I wish I could make my Strat sound that good ... and it's not my pickups either 😆😆
Paul I'd let that finish rat out. Thinking of Rory Gallagher's and SRV's Strat's, the Peter Green / Gary Moore Les Paul, Roy Buchanan's Tele to mention just a few. We love 'em just as they are and all the miles, bars, shows, joys and tears that made them that way.
Any one of us here would see that Strat of yours and recognize it immediately "Hey that's Paul David's Lollar swap Strat!"
Riverdeepnwide A ploy finish is never going to look like that.
Neil, true poly dies age differently than nitro. It will however age just as itself and for me that's good enough to tell it's story. For sure there are times too when a refinish becomes part of a guitars life. I love 'em all.
Woops at 9:02 I think it should say 'New' pickups, I loved the little project though!
Ah, yes! The last one is mislabeled by accident. but I think it's pretty clear due to the 2 angles right?! :) Cheers!
The guitar sounds so clean now.Good job man!!!!
Anything you accomplish for yourself is always better. Good for the soul !! Congratulations !!
The new ones are a lot brighter, i do like the dirtier sound on the old ones, but everything pops more and has a better resonance with the new pickups!
John Mayer would love the sound of the older custom pickups
I felt the same way about my American Deluxe strat. I recently swapped the whole pickguard for one with a $25 set of Guitar Madness pickups and that guitar totally came alive in every way. Similar to you, it was my first strat and I was a little skeptical about going without some kind of hum cancellation, but the whole 60 cycle thing is a bit overblown. It’s definitely there, but it’s also not prohibitive. I can’t imagine how a set of Lollars would have changed things 😱.
Yes! more videos about guitar inner anatomy! Maybe a video about the virtues of shielding, or star point grounding?
So, just some general advice for anyone looking to up upgrade their pickups. A lot of small pickup makers will tell you what pots, caps and resistors they recommend to use with their products. Lollar doesn't include this info but, they will help you out if you ask! Whenever a builder is making a new pickup, they limit the variables as they try out different combinations. In other words, they keep all the other components the same. So, if you think about it, each custom pickup model is built to sound good with a particular combination of other components (pots, caps, resistors...) If you are disappointed with your new drop in set and you haven't changed the other components, do so before you decide the pickups aren't any good.
Crazy dutch guitarist uses inches instead of the metric system😂❤️
Very nice video! Please do more videos with this kind where you do something by yourself. Love it!
Awesome video man, I really enjoyed it
How 'bout making a relic style finish. Your Strat has already started with it for you :D
00:26
We see what you did there Paul!
I hope that it can recover from that. :(
That took me a second. I didn't catch it until I saw this, then looked twice & went ahhhh, now I see it. He got the Fender-19 :D
I don't get it haha what do you guys see?
@@nickhalewijn5668 on the guitar it says ''Corona California ''
@@nickhalewijn5668 "Corona" California was on the name plate. A subtle reference to the Novel Coronavirus, which is in the news.
@@sparky6086 Damn... should have picked that up , thanks tho!
I've done this to my guitars before, and it is quite fun. Though I have a couple of squires and standard American, so I usually spend the extra money and replace the pick guard, switch and pots. Then I just put connectors on the hot and ground, just in case I want to switch back to the previous setup. It is nice that Statocasters were kind of made to be modded.
I've got a 2004 american deluxe and the pickup swap definitely helps. There were two things about it that prevented it from ever sounding like a traditional strat, though... the body wood (swamp ash) and the bridge (modern 2-hole mount). I ended up building an alder strat partscaster with a vintage 6-screw bridge (+ lollars and a thin nitro finish) and it nails that early 60's strat tone (re: RHCP). Pickups might get ya ~65% of the way there but there's other stuff to tweak, too.
Hey Paul, might help to have a multimeter with continuity testing when modding guitars so you can check to see if all your connections are good!
The new pick ups sound more strat to me! The old ones still sounds fine, but compared, they sound a bit muffled
Paul, love your channel love your videos. Wouldnt be the player i am today without you! I watched this whole video and gave it a like to help your numbers. I saw your instagram about TH-cam's "suggestions" lol im with you bro!
Seeing this inspires me to take a new look at my own guitar (which is still just the only real electric I have in my collection of real and fake instruments) and play with it, whether it's just new tones from my pedals or selector switches on the guitar itself.
As a luthier, i recommend you to pick some new pots and capacitor like Emerson custom. That is definitely needy if you want a more open sound.
Great suggestion!
Definitely a personal preference thing, but I preferred the warmer tones of the old pickups to the brighter tones on the new ones. But only one person's opinion on that really matters, and what's important is that it was a successful swap and that you're pleased with the results.
I bought a LH Japanese 50s reissue back in 96 and the first thing I did was start shopping for pickups. I settled on a tapped Duncan Quarter Pound for the bridge, and a Vintage Stack for the neck. I later added a Quarter Pound RWRP Strat pickup as a centre option, then tossed the blade switch and incorporated mini toggles and pan pots to get the damn thing to do almost anything I want it to. New pickups make all the difference in the world. Hot fun.
Congrats Paul and welcome to the dark side of gear modders!! You are one of us now. It starts innocently enough with pickup swaps, a new bridge, tuners etc.... then one dark day you look in the back of your tube amp and get mesmerized by those glowing glass bottles. Uh oh....the hard stuff they warn u about that can literally kill u. Hey have fun Paul, been modding for 35 years, started with with my first strat (which i butchered the frets on back in 85) now i can basically mod or repair all my gear but it took time. You did a fine job for your first swap, its just part of the long fun road of being a guitarist. Love your channel and your style.
Those Lollar Blondes sound rather bright compared to the ones that came out. I have the Lollar Blackface set in my 2008 standard Strat which are a tad fuller sounding (to me), but that's what I was looking for in my case. Long as you like what you got, that's all that matters. It's all good!
I just ordered that set as well! I'm still torn between sets. If these don't work, I'm going to trade for some blondes
@@Bairov I have Bare knuckle 63' slab boards in my strat now lol. I'm at the end of the road, done. No more changes. Hope all is well with your hook up whatever you have.
@Big G Nice! Wanted those at one point, but a friend has a set, and they are lower output than his 64's. If the 64's are too much its blondes, then maybe the veneer board set.
@Big G What is the biggest difference between the Veneer set and the 64's that you find? My strat is alder btw
@@bigg4454 ooh and those Mark Foley 59'S look really nice too!
definitely wasn't as drastic as a difference as I would expect but like you said going in the right direction for sure. Maybe it has to do with the processing you're using?
as far as the chip lacquer KEEP IT! you earned it on tour! it's character, just sand it down with some 320 400/600/800/0000steel wool or wet sand and compound etc. to as shiny as you like.
I noticed more of a difference on the #4 position than I could on the Neck or the Bridge, but I am glad to hear that you are happy with the upgrade, because after all, it's all in the ear of the guy holding the guitar.
I have a virtually the same guitar. The SCN's are not vintage tone but great live where high output and low noise compensate for the extra nuance of more traditional pick ups mostly lost in the mix.
to me it sounds like the new Lollar pickups have more high end (it sounds better), i usually don't hear any difference in videos like these. does anybody else hear more high-end presence or clarity or is it just in my head (you know just checking)?
Yes definitely if using earbuds or headphones on a mobile. They're brighter and more crisp. I also was watching some videos on the Mojo Tone pickguard recently and they seemed a bit overwhelming in several videos. But as someone suggested above, you can lower the pups so it isn't as extreme. I have a more difficult search and that is a prewired HSS Strat configuration I want to stay with but upgrade seems it's old and needs new electronics
I am actually curious, would it be more beneficial to modify an old guitar to sound new and fresh, or just all around buy a new guitar? It sounds awesome I'd say, which is why I pose the question.
Unless the guitar neck is warped to bits, then theres no point in buying new
@@fernank017 Ahh I see
The guitar body matters most when it comes to how it feels to play.
Is it sitting right with your body?
And very importantly, how does the neck feel?
When it comes to the sound the electronics will be by far the most important. In this case, changing the pickups and perhaps other electronics will be enough.
Most people do it cause if you already like the feel of the guitar why try and find something totally new when you can have something your already comfortable with, that has a new sound
I like buying my guitar because i can make them old and beat up 😋
Great video!! listening closely it does add more air and cleans up some of the muddy sound.. this is exactly what the Xotic EP boost pedal seems to do in my signal chain. I just picked up the Blackface Lollars, can’t wait to put them in!!
I put the Lollar dirty blondes in one of my strats as well. Lollar makes great pickups.
Paul Davids is perhaps the coolest musician on TH-cam!
(btw please don't shout at me! So is Adam Neely)
Jay Suryavanshi couldn’t agree more
Nah mate, Davie504
yes bro
@@mileseyre1636 nope
when are we getting a sequel???
Nice ! Really impatient to see how you will manage to change body of this beauty !
Great video Paul. I just changed the pickups on my Elite Strat and faced the same S1 wiring. I ended up getting a fully loaded pick guard from Lindy Fralin. It made things easier. I think the contrast between my Noisless 4 pickups and the Fralin's was a bit more dramatic than your swap. But, it definitely sounds like a veil was lifted off the tone; everything a single coil is supposed to be. Give a no-load pot a try for the neck/middle tone control. Really opens up the sound even more.
3:51 there is so much that can go wrong in this picture.
Actually, not really.
Alright your rte, there is oooone thing that can go terribly wrong in the this picture. The soldering iron is not secure.
@@PaulDavids
Paul, after soldering the pickups, did the switch on the volume knob stop working on your guitar? When you press it, the gain of the pickups is turned on. This is a feature Deluxe schemes.
Noiseless pickups are more compressed and restrictive of attack and dynamics as well as having less of the punch, spank, and sparkle that a really good vintage sounding single coil has. The Lollars are a big improvement.
Paul, enjoy your videos. I could tell the difference between the two pick-up listening on my phone yesterday. Just listen to it again using open-back headphone & desktop speaker through a cheapish S.M.S.L. DAC. As Paul said, difference isn't a HUGE, but there's clearly a noticeable difference. The difference even more noticeable in person than through TH-cam.
I personally wouldn't spend that much money at this point in my guitar learning journey. I could see myself spending that much money if I get good enough.
Thank you as always for your solid content, high level production quality, and just awesomeness. Cheers.
Wow, thank you for the vid! This opened up new possibilities for me
Remove those fancy potentiometers! Go full vintage, simple wiring and old fender style schematics. No capacitors for noise bleed either. Just let this thing rough as it can be. As for the painting, just superglue that stuff. Never try to hide the damages of years.
I like the Old pickups better !
Standard test that you have all the pickups working and correct relative to switch position before restringing is to just tap the pole pieces with a screw driver.
Great improvement in sound to my ear.
Just been down the same road with my "S" type guitar, taking out 30 yr old EMG's and putting in a Fender custom shop "custom 69" pickup set.
So much more dynamic and lively sound, so many more tonal differences to be found within pick attack alone.
I like the ‘new’ noiseless pickups that fender just released in the 2019 (I bought one), but you’re so right.. The ‘old’ ones are relatively dead. Way to go!