mate i wouldnt give up my strat for any of the guitars youve mentioned. i dont see why a strat couldnt sound like the other guitars with the right effect added.

Why not put a double-coil at the bridge and keep the single-coil at the neck? That would cover a lot of bases, so long as they remain switchable.

That aside, I don't see any reason why you couldn't use a single-coil guitar for metal, provided your pickups don't buzz a lot. Make your amp and pedals do the work for you.

thanks for replying miks

I don't really think I could ever sell it, besides, I couldn't afford a new guitar if I did :)

Just wanted it to be a bit more powerful - been listening to Vinnie Moore's Time Odyssey and thought damn, how can I get those sounds? (without borrowing his fingers!)

regards

chrispick - your reply just beat mine by seconds...

That's what I was thinking - a mini-humbuker at the bridge position

Just wondered if anyone had any recommendations - I might go for a "fast track" blade type pickup

Can a Strat do metal? Ask Iron Maiden.

The single coil-sized humbuckers are pretty good, I had a Seymour Duncan model in the bridge of my Tele back in the day.

Personally I think DiMarzio pickups sound a bit on the dirty side. If that's what you want, then they're great.

It's also possible to get a drop-in setup from EMG that is loaded with dual humbuckers. The Kirk Hammet setup is pretty nice. Check the different models out HERE

I use to own a strat years ago myself and I had the same proublem. Not enough balls. I went to my friend who is the owner of the store in which I bought my strat and told him what I wanted. He took my guitar into the back and came back out about thirty min. later and said "try this".
Fender makes a red, white and blue aftermarket pickup for their guitars and I'll tell you, the red pickup is one nasty noise maker.VERY hot. If you want crunch this is the one you want. I was running through a Hot Rod Deville and a Rocktron Pro Q and a Rocktron Effects unit and It had the best sound of anything you ever heard. Look into Fenders aftermarket pickups. Will set you back about 100.00 USD. Well worth the money.

I've aslo Yngwie uses HB-3s but I don't think these are that powerful, according to the dimarzio catalogue.

You've obviously have never been to a Malmsteen show!!!!! :shock:

Actually its an HS-3, yes they arent that powerfull, but thats what a DOD pedal does to the Marshall. :roll:

Judas Priest's Glen Tipton has a few Strats he loves. I don't know if it could get More metal than that.

Big Beef with Biting Edge in a Strat comes in different flavors but in my experience the Duncan Little 59'er (single coil size Seth Lover PAF)is tha powersound that does it best. At the bridge and/or in the neck position.

I had a set of semour duncan hot blades for strat. They're really hot. They distort very nicely. Yeah but personally I would just save the money and buy another guitar. $100 or $600. It's not much difference. You can get a real nic guitar for under a grand these days. Check out some of the new Ibanez guitars for dirt cheap. That quality at that price was unheard of 15 years ago.

NiCad wrote: thanks for replying miks

I don't really think I could ever sell it, besides, I couldn't afford a new guitar if I did :)

Just wanted it to be a bit more powerful - been listening to Vinnie Moore's Time Odyssey and thought damn, how can I get those sounds? (without borrowing his fingers!)

regards

NiCad wrote: thanks for replying miks

I don't really think I could ever sell it, besides, I couldn't afford a new guitar if I did :)

Just wanted it to be a bit more powerful - been listening to Vinnie Moore's Time Odyssey and thought damn, how can I get those sounds? (without borrowing his fingers!)

regards

Hello, and welcome to the forums. I just listened to some clips from Moore's site. I think a set of Dimarzio F.R.E.D. neck and bridge pickups would nail that sound in an alder wood strat. An overdrive pedal into a JCM800 would make a complete setup for it.
If you need to conserve cash, buy a new pickguard hum-sing-sing and transfer you're old controls and wiring into it with one F.R.E.D. in the bridge.
If you can't afford a Tubescreamer and a JCM800, try a Korg Pandora, it'll let you get the feel of playing with those overdriven tones, while accompaniment with the onboard drums and bass will get your chops tight. You can also lay down tracks on the cheap with it, while your saving your cash for some real deal tube goodness. You may be able to save some more cash if you can find anything pre-owned for sale.

I play a lot of post hardcore and indie rock stuff. I like a REALLY fat tone, deep, warm sound. I also tried to get this out of a TELE! I use a Seymour Duncan Invader in the neck. I had to get a new pick guard so I could use a h'bucker. I use a hot rail in the bridge and LOVE the sound I get. Your body should already be cut for a humbucker in any position, so I suggest finding a pickup you really like, go with that and get a new pickguard. It's easy to change (just undo screws) and put the new one on. You'd have to remove it anyway to change the pickups in a strat. Hope that helps man!

Thanks for all the great advice - I mean it, you guys are cool

I re-read my first post - Malmsteen does indeed use HS-3s as SME said earlier - I think my brain went off on one during that post!
And you're right, I haven't been to one of his concerts but I did see Deep Purple once (boy, they were LOUD!)

Lots of good things to get, at the moment though the pickups are the only things I can buy. I've had the scratchplate off before and the body is cut out for single-coils only (not like my mates squier that has a large rectangular cutout), so to fit the bigger humbuckers I'd have to get it routed out by someone.

Would have liked a FRED though - you can't argue with satch, can you? :lol:

CoyoteTrax mentioned the Little 59'er - I might get one of these for the neck and a hot rails (or similar) in the bridge, but I'm gonna save this page so I can read it all again offline.

Thanks again for all the replies, I know it takes time and I appreciate it a lot.

Cheers

PS - Oh yeah, when I said "Can a strat do metal?" I didn't mean it in a bad way or anything, just to get people's attention :)
Maybe I should have put "How can I make my strat do metal?"

I just bought a lil' 59'er for my Tele, but I haven't tried it out yet. That may be my weekend project before recordng next week.

NiCad wrote:
Would have liked a FRED though - you can't argue with satch, can you? :lol:

LOL, it was Satch's tone that got me out to get one for the bridge in one of my Kramer's. Violin-like, cutting solo tone a la Satch. Very evenly balanced PAFish tone, with a compressed nasal bite in the upper mids. Not as versatile as a Duncan JB, but a tighter bass than the JB, and less ice-pick-in-the-ear than a JB.

I like GCPA845's idea of a Duncan Invader in the neck of a Tele or Strat, although I am a Joe Barden fan for Tele's. I just bought a Barden strat deluxe neck pickup to try in my gypsy jazz guitar.

Barden pups are very versitile. I love my two-tone HB.

Dimebag used a Bill Lawrence for his metal tones, didn't he? http://www.billlawrence.com You could call him up and ask for a custom recommendation to suit your needs.

Tommy P. wrote: [quote=NiCad]
Would have liked a FRED though - you can't argue with satch, can you? :lol:

LOL, it was Satch's tone that got me out to get one for the bridge in one of my Kramer's. Violin-like, cutting solo tone a la Satch. Very evenly balanced PAFish tone, with a compressed nasal bite in the upper mids. Not as versatile as a Duncan JB, but a tighter bass than the JB, and less ice-pick-in-the-ear than a JB.

I like GCPA845's idea of a Duncan Invader in the neck of a Tele or Strat, although I am a Joe Barden fan for Tele's. I just bought a Barden strat deluxe neck pickup to try in my gypsy jazz guitar.

Barden pups are very versitile. I love my two-tone HB.

Dimebag used a Bill Lawrence for his metal tones, didn't he? http://www.billlawrence.com You could call him up and ask for a custom recommendation to suit your needs.

I ordered a Bill Lawrence pickup for the bridge spot on my Strat 2 months ago and although it's worth the wait I'm really chomping at the bit to try the Lawrence pup's. I ordered his Q-filter too, which should be interesting. Believe it or not, I'm still waiting for the pickup.

The Little 59'er does rock in the Tele too at the bridge position. If you have one installed I recommend having a coil-splitting switch installed too so you can flip back and forth between the heavier/chunkier tones and the single coil bite that's so fun to lead with. IMO the 59'er in the Tele bridge spot really puts out.

CoyoteTrax wrote: Judas Priest's Glen Tipton has a few Strats he loves. I don't know if it could get More metal than that.

Big Beef with Biting Edge in a Strat comes in different flavors but in my experience the Duncan Little 59'er (single coil size Seth Lover PAF)is tha powersound that does it best. At the bridge and/or in the neck position.

My Lite Ash Strat has a Lil 59 in the bridge, sent to a JCM2000 DSL on the green channel (crunch mode) with an original Marshall Guv'nor overdrive, it just kills with attitude. But then I pick up my LP with original pu's and the fatness just grabs you by the bones :D

Strat Love

I have an American Standard strat that has played everything from metal to jazz to plain old rock n roll. I use Fender Lace Sensors - Silver in the neck and bridge (love them no end) and I would recommend them without pause. Sound can be tweaked extensively though volume controls, tone controls, and effects processing. Never had a problem getting the sound I want from this guitar. Very unlike my old Ibanez that was a great shredder but had no soul once you cut away all the effects and grunge.

I know I am biased but I will just say one thing. Strats do it the right way.
All the soul a guitar should have and the ability to be malliable. Get a guitar that sounds good under all conditions and then shape your sound via playing style, effects, and volume contrl. Strats were made for finesse.

Cheers,
Wiley

Definitely a strat can do metal; is there another player in your band? Its a good mix with a strat + a paul, good mix live and recorded.

Lindy Fralin makes some killer strat replacements, as does Lawrence, and any of the stacked humbuckers will be good here - you can hear samples on DiMarzio's and SD's sites amongs others. Also look at Bareknuckle if you're gonna drop something larger into the bridge.

Have you had the pickguard off yet? A lot of Strats have a humbucker rout cut in the bridge position already to save on tooling costs.

If so the JB is a classic and works very well with the strat body makeup, and Moore's Ibbie signature has the DiMarzio Double Whammy in the bridge, I dunno if they even make that one anymore.

Fralins are sold on ebay in complete wired pickguards so you can just drop the guard and electrics into place, and that might be an idea for A/Bing pickups till you find what you want.

Let us know how you get on!

nicad, do you have an older strat? the new ones are routed for a humbucker at the bridge. the red, blue, gold, and white brock was reffering to is fender's lace sensor pups. they are single coil pickups. i know the red one is "hotter" than a normal single coil, and the gold is more bluesy. btw, lace sensors are the pups w/o the little magnets sticking out. yea, i'd check out some of the little single coil humbuckers. look at the SD little JB. the JB is versatile and good for everything.