Fender Stratocaster With Humbuckers - Yes Or No?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 เม.ย. 2022
- In this video, I take delivery of a new Fender Custom Shop. This guitar is different from most Fender Stratocasters and especially Fender custom Shop Stratocasters as it has a humbucker in the bridge position.
The Studio Rats are core band members Paul Drew on guitar/production/mixing, drummer James Ivey and Dan Hawkins on bass. They collaborate with singers and musicians to produce radio-ready songs. - เพลง
A Strat with a humbucker is a yes, yes. It gives a player the utmost versatility. Great video as always.
Can Split the coils on the humbucker so u don’t lose anything of the strat sound if u like also.
That's so basic.@@James-C-Callan
@@thesauc3710 no its more versatile. its more basic without coil split. ya wierdo
I picked up an HSS Fender Player series strat the other day. I’m loving it so far.
Love the colours of both, absolutely stunning.
I love SSS, HSS and HSH ! They’re all wonderful in different ways
And HH... SD JB on bridge and SD Jazz on neck 👍
My favorite guitar is a Strat. I love them in all pickup configurations. Great tones and great playing! Thank you!
Very good and informative demonstration!
Yes! I love Strats, but the single coil bridge tone is always so harsh to me I never use it. Ever since I got my first HSS Strat, that all changed. Now I use the bridge pick up all the time. I also installed a blender knob and treble bleed circuit, with a Tele bridge pickup in the middle position with a vintage PAF humbucker in the bridge with coil tap, and vintage Strat pickup in the neck (thank you Lindy Fralin for the setup!) and that lets me blend the neck and bridge together, or all three pickups at once, with various amounts from each. Now I can get Strat, Tele, or Les Paul tones, or any combination of the 3. So much more flexible than a standard Strat!
A big yes yes from me. A humbucker in the bridge is exactly what a Strat needs. Beautiful tones from these Custom Shop Strats!
Man, this guitar is beautiful. I used to have one HSS Fender, and I really miss it now. :) A Strat with a Humbucker is a yes yes.
Couldn't agree more
@@TheStudioRats the guitar in your video it's a "HSS FENDER"?
I bought an HSS player series, to me thats the perfect setup, best of both worlds.
I have a 1977 Strat which I've had since @ 1982. I no longer play it but I had a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail installed in it shortly after I had it. It was the same size as the single pick up hole. It made the guitar much more versatile!
Heck yeah, Yes! I can’t imagine not liking this setup. It’s the best of multiple worlds.
Man, that Strat sounds awesome! Great balance; love its versatility
Great video. I think a strat with HSS or SSS is great... depends on what one is looking for. They both have their place in an arsenal. I used to have a Tyler Variax JTV-69 with HSS configuration. It was great. Today, I have a Silver Sky and I find the bridge pickup very usable. I roll the bridge tone back to 6/7.
Love it... I've been using humbucker in the bridge on starts since the original usa lone star strat. Even putting single coil size humbucker in my tele bridge makes it so versatile
Gorgeous looking and sounding guitar. That is a keeper!!!❤
The guitar looks beautiful and sounds amazing
i used that combination of single coils and a JB in a 94 strat for about 12 years, it's a very versatile combo. one my current strats has a kinman "kick arse" in the bridge, this satifies my need for more guts in the bridge and still look aesthetically like a trad strat.
What tone and volume pots do you use? This is exactly the set up I want in my Am Strat. JB in the bridge I already have the fat 50’s installed just trying to figure out the bridge pot.
for me yes-yes. I love all configurations!! Same with Teles ;)
Also the looks of both of your strats as hands down absolutely stellar.
Paul, you should consider putting a Freeway 10 position Strat switch in there. You get everything you already have, plus five more split coil, series and parallel options.
No visible alteration from the front. It’s my secret weapon on my HSS that I made.
My fav combo is HSS. However that red strat bridge single coil sounds great, not as bad as I thought for a single coil under heavy distorted sounds. It has a very useable crunch sound that is very open, which is typical from a single coil.
However for me a Humbucker in the bridge is more versatile
Btw the fat 50s single coils vs 60s sounded close to me with the fat 50s edging it.
Wow! 35K. Congrats guys
Great video. Best one I've seen about HSS strats. I've often debated converting my USA strat to HSS, it's a 97 with a swimming pool route, so helpful there. Now isn't the way get the best balance like A500k volume pot, super 5 way switch 470k resistor on the single coils so they think they are seeing 250k (ish). Then with the super switch in position 2 it splits the humbucker to use one coil so you still get that strat quack. I'd probably put a PAF in the bridge to try and balance with the single coils. One day I might be brave to try it. Great video thanks for sharing.
Man that Masterbuilt is a killer strat! Love it
Always love an HSS .... but you can always throw a JB Jr in there or a Little 59 instead of a humbucker and it's awesome as well with a bit more than a single coil sound. Great video and sounded great!
I used a Hot Rails bridge pickup in my Strat for gigging, very versatile when you're playing a lot of covers.
Absolutely love this Strat. Please look into the Suhr wiring diagram for HSS. This insures that the HB sees a 500K load and the singles a 250K load. Just curious, what were you playing through while doing this demo?
I love HSS, but actually didn’t like that SD tone much, I actually preferred the master built single coil. Probably because of the clarity. I had a set of Radioshop pickups (the Chris buck ones) together with a custom low wind humbucker to balance the output. That works great. I know hand wound is more expensive but in this case I got to specify exactly what I wanted. Sweet sweet colour choices on both your strats man! Wow. Love it 😍
I believe Chris’s bridge pickup in his Radio Shop set is fitted with a “base plate”!
Fitting one to my Tex Mex bridge pickup made a noticeable improvement!
I like the idea if a strat with a bright and open sounding hbucker. I am also a huge fan of a P90 so that could be a wonderful option as well
Great video. I would love to see you play a Lincoln Brewster Stratocaster.
I have a little 59 at the bridge and it’s a pretty good balance with the single coils, and not too dark. I wonder if a filtertron would be a good match? Never tried one, but it seems like logical choice.
Very nice video as always!! I think with an eq pedal you can make a single coil sound like a humbucker.
I was never a huge fan fo the HSS until I started building my own pickups. I have been able to try out different combos. I make a one wire humbucker around 7 ohms I use with two single coils. It sounds absolutely amazing
do u know which one to get to sound like a les paul? like oasis
@@p10rambo Les Paul? Dual humbuckers, PFE
@@JoeKyser whats pfe? dual so hsh? i have an hss strat
@@p10rambo oh oh so you have a strat and want to make sound like a les paul? Its PAF. Im sorry i didn't check what I was typing. You can put PAF Humbuckers in a strat. I have one with one at the bridge. Two is certainly an option. They are one if the few I do make. Actually my comment about the one wire humbucker, thats it. Its a PAF Duplicate. Ita just a vintage spec Gibson humbucker. Thats what it is. They sound beautiful with a PIO cap.
@@JoeKyser thats some useful info, thanks. great channel btw
Have you tried wiring the bridge single pickups to a tone control? Works well to tame the bright bridge pickup. It wont make it sounds like a humbucker but it is more usable.
Your Strat tone on both guitars are simply awesome - full, rich and beautiful. And of course you get a fuller and fatter tone with more sustain and ear pleasing dirt with the humbucker - and that is OK 🎸👍😉
That's mint, I love it! I've had a strat with a humbucker since I got one in 2002, I didn't know how to get the best from it then but I've learnt how to use it now.
I think JB humbuckers are on the bright side, or I might be wrong? Maybe you could also consider changing the value of the pots if you wanted to brighten it up a little?
I have a Highway 1 and an American Performer both HSS. The AP also has a coil split. Absolutely the most versatile.
Been playing an HSS for twenty years. Its still my go to.
Have you tried HsH? Is there a difference of tone on the neck pickup if you change it into humbucker?
I'm with you: I LOVE my SSS Strat, and it sounds amazing for some things (yes, even the bridge pickup), but for the project I'm currently on, only a humbucker at the bridge will do. So a HSS Strat it is.
And also, on the Marshall Studio Vintage (which is my main map as well), switching from the humbucker to a single coil IS my clean/crunch channel switch. It actually is a pretty powerful combination with a single channel amp set for mild crunch (which is where the mini Plexi lives).
I bought a Fender Player HSS strat a couple of years ago and am still trying to figure out how to use it. I'm an intermediate player but have played mostly acoustic until I got the strat. I'm not sure what amp settings I should dial in for using the single coils as opposed to the humbucker. I also bought a Katana 50 MK2 amp and can download patches but it seems most people that provide these patches don't stipulate what kind of pickups they are intended for. In this video he switches from single coil to humbucker and it sounds great. Unless he is using a footswitch I don't know what settings will make both pickups sound so good on my own setup...
I love the HULK Paul, and Yes Yes on the humbucker. I have a wonderful set of hand made trip singles in mine but I still say yes yes. Enjoy that Beautiful collection you have you are a heck of a guitarist.
Just converted my SSS American Standard to HSS with a JB in the bridge and boy, I couldn't be happier, it's exactly the versatility I needed.
Have you tried HsH? Is there a difference of tone on the neck pickup if you change it into humbucker?
This strat looks and sounds fantastic.
I saw the video where you changed this jb sh4 for a thornbucker, which sounds great too. I understand why you did the change. I tried a lower output pickup recently, a duncan 59 recently and its quite good, I am used to the jb and found it lacks a bit of mid in comparison, but I loce the bass and top end the 59 has. I need to try an unpotted low output paf style someday, just by curiosity.
On the jb you could have raised the screws on the screw coils, maybe one, or maybe two turns, to brighten the pickup a bit, and adjust the overall height of the whole humbucker down of the same amount. This brghten the pickup and you can balance it a bit more with the single coils. This will not turn the jb into a low output humbucker but sometimes this is just what it takes to balance or get the sound you want.
I think the right HSS strat just makes sense. One thing I have noticed on many strats is the bridge humbucker is further from the bridge saddles center than a Les Paul, this makes a huge difference.
Personally I don't like SD HB humbucker, I would suggest The Creamery Hollow Body Humbucker if the spacing is close to a Les Paul and their Double Track 57 spec if it is further. DiMarzio Air Classic Bridge could work well too. If you want bright but lots of output DiMarzio Super 2 or SD Invader neck in the bridge.
You might try throwing an Alnico 2 magnet in your JB. I found it to be quite helpful balancing out my HSS.
I'm torn the same way. I have 3 Fender Strats and Two of them have SD Hotrails in the Bridge. They. Have been in them since the 80s. Just gives that extra Saturation when ya need it. And I also love the position between the Bridge and middle being a little hotter than usual. I do have tone hooked to all my Bridge pup's. But I also enjoy playing my other Strat with the 97 American stock pup's in it.
Love the sound of both guitars, but a humbucker is a YES YES from me. Love an HSS strat for sure. :)
I love a humbucker on a strat,also I think the difference in sound between a strat and Les Paul is more to do with scale length rather than the woods used in construction.
Yes, both the scale length and the positioning of the pickups, makes the difference in sound between a Strat and a Les Paul.
also the fact that a strat is a tremolo system, and a les paul is a hard tailed bridge
And bridges....
The only SSS strat I've owned is the Clapton with TBX and mid-boost controls. With the mid-boost half way up it actually sounds very close to a Les Paul and also the shrillness of the bridge pickup is no longer a problem. Try the Clapton! You may be surprised 👍
My Clapton Strat is orders of magnitude mo better than my others.... Love it
Yes!!!! Great sounding strat!
An HSS configured Strat is the most versatile electric guitar out there. Players have been installing humbuckers in the bridge of Strats since at least the early 70's. Alan Holdsworth was one of the early users of the HSS configuration. I started playing guitar in around 1970 as a teen and I still play professionally, but I'm not stuck in the past when it comes to guitars.
You know it's wrong visually, however the sound for the stuff you want it for is very good.
Can you explain the signal path for your signature clean tone in this episode please? As much as I think it a travesty, that tone is bloomin lovely!!
What value pots did this guitar come with? Curious to know. Thanks.
I have an HSS strat and love it. It does everything you want. I also have a Les Paul and hardly use it as the Strat is so versatile.
Have you tried HsH? Is there a difference of tone on the neck pickup if you change it into humbucker?
I was thinking about switching out the fender humbucker for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, but this Duncan Jeff Beck bucker sounds awesome as well I have to check one out for myself! Humbucker on a Stratocaster is must for that great versatility I think.
I have a HSS strat with the H wired directly to the output and is a very bright tone, via the tone pot it of course it would have more tonal choices but not the bite.
What make of pickup could I get to improve my yamaha pacific. I can't afford a fender with those beautiful tones like yours.
I did a vid on the suhr Thornbuckers. I think you’ll like them.
Good video I love all the SSS HSH or HSS depend on how do you set it up. Or how do you use it, guitar only a instrument depend on us how to use it.
If you want something extra in the bridge position try a p94 shaped p90 and wire for the 7 way Strat switch/blend. IMO this is the best and most versatile option. The bridge and neck together resemble an LP in the neck position. You can get slash tone
Probably the dark humbucker sound is the 250k volume pot. Suhr does a combination that when you switch to the bridge/humbucker the impedance changes to 500k by adding a resistor. The highs come back on. Also more low end
I've also been trying to find an affordable HSS strat, one that is sorta jack of all for my bedroom studio. I'm thinking of selling my Squier 50's CV strat and getting a Sire S7 HSS
That one riff sounds like a mix between message or n a bottle and every breath you take!
I am looking for your exact loaded pickguard but I swear the custom shop makes two a year. Anyway, my CS body is not routed for one, so I am curious, how do you feel about single coil humbuckers? I will probably go the route of routing the body for a full size but I was curious. Killer looking guitar! I am building mine with CS parts so I have choices to make now that I have secured the body and matching 63 neck.
I really like the Seymour Duncan little 59. It’s a killer little pickup
sounds great! is the humbucker a little further away from the bridge than usual?
i literally just bought a strat and ordered a dimarzio super distortion for it and a pickguard from warmoth. you got my vote for the strat with the humbucker, it looks like a Seymour Duncan, you know what model it is?
Love it!
Good job .is the guitars demo direct or to an amp or ? Thanks
Is it ok to instal with any fender singl neck an midle magnet... br
Hey Drew. You forgot a really important point Fender & Gibson string length is different !
Love your show !
Vic.
Canada
Not sure that makes much of a difference.
Always great tone! Do you generally use the Matchless when creating content?
cheers Boss, yeah the matchless and a boss gx-100 was used at different times on this video.
I have a standard single coil sized P90 in the bridge of my Strat, combined with the tone control wired to the bridge. Stops any of that harsh Strat bridge tone whilst still sounding like a single coil and it looks pretty much like a normal Strat
I had an HSS Strat but it didn't seem to work for me, neither one thing or the other. I bought a Custom shop Fiesta Red SSS and swapped them out for a set of YJM's, but I don't do Malmsteen Stuff. Couldn't be happier very versatile, they do both really well. I can play Shadows instrumentals and then at the press of a button any rock stuff.
Yes! I just did this to an '89 I threw a PAF in the bridge and I love it.
I just got an 2017 Fender American Elite hss (ebony) and love it. I also have a 2006 Fender deluxe that I put an Obsidian wire HSS with 7 way a Tone Zone in the bridge. HSS is the way to go.
Have you tried a musicman cutlass RS HSS?
fender had that run of custom shops with floyd rose and humbucker bridge. loved that, wished. Enjoy watching your picking hand lol
Definitely hss, the finish and colour on that strat is the nuts!!! 👍
love it!
That’s the best sounding guitar I’ve heard you play. All my strats are hss.
Hi Paul. I am sorry but you pulled out the Master Built Strat again in the comparison towards the end of this video and I had to go back to last weeks video… With your guitar skills and style of play, you easily get a significant value added texture and emotion from the Master Build. If I were you I would focus on trying as many MB’s as you can because they are made for accomplished players like you. The MB appears to give you “more” from the playing experience and I can clearly hear/see it over TH-cam for goodness sake🤷♂️ It must be fantastic live in the room. Two good Strats vs one that takes your level of emotion and tactile response to the next level. I am not saying the MB label or price tag guarantees something special, but some of them really are special and you have now recorded two videos demonstrating that in my opinion. It’s like bonding with a PRS Private Stock vs the PRS core models. Not all, but sometimes the top of the top shelf just gives you that “Je ne sais quoi”. I know you watch James on Guitar sometimes. Maybe you should hook up with James to try his new MB hard tail Strat with fully bespoke Josefina HSS config. What a cracking shopping experience he’s had over the past week 😊
Hi, if your bridge pickup is too dark, you should avoid to have the tone wired to it (wired direct), if it doesnt help try the pearly gates plus. Good luck
That red guitar is it for me. Personally. Now that the pink tele has become an orphan🥺
I loved the pink tele more than all the guitars you’ve played.
Yes even the old burst.
Ive chimed in on one of your live shows that I have put a Dimarzio Injector in the bridge of my strat. Its a stacked humbucker, and is about 11k ohms on the meter... so a little less than a Duncan SSL 5. It has a Tele kind of attack and with the ability (with a blend knob) to blend in the tele sound (bridge and neck) or go for the full on 'all three pickups at once', I believe I have found 'my solution' to the strat bridge PU debacle.
I always worry when putting in full HB's that you always have to compromise... Do you go for 250k pots and make the HB sound weird... or 500's, and make the single coils problematic.
Love the guitar btw, but a little sad that the Xotic had to go back.... that thing looked amazing!...
250 k volume pot vs 500 k volume pot also makes a difference in the 'darkness' of the humbucker.
250 k on single coils and 500 k on humbuckers usually.
I install 500 k pots on my hss strat(s) with resistance between the single-coil positions on my switch so that these positions are read as 250 k when selected...
It's a bit extra work on soldering but def worth it!
Thank you!!! Amazing playing and sound!! What the name of you seimour dunkan humbacker?
It’s a JB
@@TheStudioRats Thank you!! )
I like the HSS configuration on my Ibanez slim. That with a 5 way is extremely flexible. I call it my Swiss Army knife guitar.
I have a strat with Floyd rose.. I did install a jb in bridge- waiting on a few parts to fit the overall need. I just received the red kill button-stock neck n middle -it’s a mim- my next upgrade is a real Floyd rose the special is terrible. But from jazz to screaming blues to drop tuning - maple neck - tu2, boss Oct, phase 90, standard Dunlop wah, muff pi 5 knob keeley compressor east river, soul food, super phat mod, dl4, oceans 13
Marshall super lead
I just started playing last week. I watched a bunch of videos to find gear.
Nice!!!!
Sounds awsome . I have hss pro 2 and that's good for strat work, and will get into the ball park of a les paul . Very versatile for a cover band with varying genres of music. It will blues, funk , rock , metal, surf etc
Dont even get me started on how it gilmours lol . .
Perfect guitar! Big yes
How about a hotrail pickup in the bridge instead of the humbucker? What is the difference I wonder?
Cracking vid. I would dispute that most strats have a single coil. I seem to see many many more "modded" ones. Personally, not for me.. I prefer a strat top stay a strat.. having said that, have heard a P90 in the bridge and that was blissful.. but it's a P90..
Yes Yes. I like the way the green one sounds better and I know that the red is a master build. Wow what great axe's.
Great. Is the green strat tremolo set flush with body? How did you set the spring tension. If you bend a string, does the bridge plate lift up or not?
It’s not flush and there is movement when I bend.
@@TheStudioRats aha, how much angle is it set to? What interval you get on G string when you pull tremolo arm max towards to the body?
@@nevenlisica Most people usually set at about 1 tone on the G string!
Love that green beauty. Yes to the Bridge, sorry i'm biased ,I have a JB in my les paul.
7:55 The specs shows 250k pots, this is the reason why the humbucker sounds dark. Suhr solves this problem with 500k pots and 500k resistors, this way you get 250k load on the singles and 500k on the humbucker at the expense of taper change.
True. If you want to stick with a traditional 250k wiring, you need to choose the right humbucker. My choice would be the Lollar Imperial Low Wind - tonal heaven!
Or just turn up the treble on your amp a little more than what it usually be 🤔
@@srfrodoxd It is not the same
American Professional HSS Strats also manage to solve that problem, which is a true issue with regular HSS Strats.
This is the issue with an HSS, and why I never buy them. 500k resistor solution helps, but the 500k volume pot then has a bad taper for the the single coils, so if you use your volume to clean up your single coils you will be very disappointed. There is no perfect solution, I just use a push pull and have the bridge and middle in series, it increases the output and fattens up the bridge for about $10 in parts. It still suffers from the 250k pot, but you have all the normal Strat sounds when disengaged. Also the custom shop Texas special pickups are a nice compromise, higher output and more midrange.
Couldn't agree more...the sound is mainly in the TONEwoods....of course pickups make a difference as well.
I have a Charvel Danhage that has a JB in the bridge. It’s too hot, sounds compressed. Looking for something to replace.
I love a Humbucker in a Strat, but I also love the bridge single coil in most Strats.
People saying it’s shrill - roll back the tone to 6 or 7! Sounds amazing that way.
first you have to wire the bridge pickup to the tone control which is not stock but yes, I agree- don't slap me please!
@@riniones Mine’s wired that way, its better, but sometimes that’s not enough.
@@ces69 it depends on what one expects from each configuration- I have a few strat copies with different wiring options and I came to realize that I prefer the original stock 5 position switch with the two tones and the bridge without tone- I haven't tried the 3/pos switch yet but I suspect I might like it even better
I have a heavily modified strat... And it has gone through many configurations, HSS, SSS, S, H, HSH, anything you can think off... I ended up with an HSS configuration, with one of those CuNiFe Humbuckers in the bridge and Texas Special in both the middle and neck positions... I love the humbucker and the middle, but I'm not 100% sure I want to keep the Texas Special in the neck... I've been drawn towards those Fat 50s... we'll see...