I'm looking into getting a new set of pickups and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a set of the Van Zandt Rocks, does anybody have these or know much about them?? The other set I was thinking about was either the Van Zandt or Fralin Blues. I have heard the Fralin Blues on a website and they sound'd pretty nice but I don't know if they have the bit I'm looking for, I play a wide variety of stuff but mostly blues/rock
Once you enter the realm of high quality p'ups it no longer becomes an issue of which brand sounds better than another, but more an issue of which p'ups are going to produce the best sound in "your particular guitar."
Unfortunately, that can only be determined by installing the p'ups and then listening to how they sound.
You'll notice a lot of people saying Van Zants are great and Fralins are OK, or vice versa, but that only means "their particular guitar" sounded great with Van Zants and only OK with Fralins. Your guitar is going to be completely different.
Change the p'ups a whole bunch of times and listen. Eventually, you will either find a set that works great or, discover that you need a new guitar because none of the p'ups you've tried seem to sound good. That has happened to me a few times.
Good luck! Enjoy the journey!
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
thanks for the help Tele-Bob, I never really knew that...
does it depend on each individual guitar OR is it more what the guitar is made with, which would make it more depend on the line of guitar??by this I mean if my friend has a american vintage strat like mine that has Van Zandt Rocks in it will it sound the same as my guitar would if it has the same pups in it??
by this I mean is it like the "every guitar feels and sound a little different" or does it have more to do with is the body alder or ash? is the finish all poly or nitro topcoat poly undercoat?
the pickups are going into a '57 AVstratRI that has a custom made rosewood neck that is HUGE like the Warmoth FATBACK neck with Dunlop 6100 frets.
Thanks again for the help Tele-Bob
Go to a guitar shop that has a lot of guitars. Play a bunch of alder bodied, rosewood board American Series Strats. They'll all play and feel different. Some will be better suited to your needs.
I like the sound of my medium weight alder Strat with Fralin Vintage hot pickups, when I put the same pickups in my light swamp ash Strat they sounded bad to me.
The pickups you choose depend on everything including your own idiosyncrasies.
I had an American Deluxe Strat that was the best playing guitar I ever owned. After 5 different sets of p'ups we're swapped out, I sold the guitar. It was never going to sound right.
Yes, even guitars of the same exact model will sound different. You just have to try different p'ups to see what you like. In some cases, like my Am Dlx Strat, nothing is going to work. It can be a lot of fun.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
I've got the same basic guitar as you with the big rosewood neck and speed bump frets.
I use this guitar to demo pickups and the best set I've come across with this guitar's a set of Duncan Antiquity II Surfers...............superb.
You can never have too
much music in your life.
Jim In Texas are the Duncan Antiquity II a hot pickups?
Tele-Bob I wish I had the money to be able to buy set after set of pickups, sh*t I'm barely able to afford the set i want to get right now.
A guy on another forum tried to tell me that GFS pickups were as good as Van Zandt's. Now I've never heard of GFS but I kinda have to believe that id someone is only going to charge like $45 for a set of piclups that can't be that great. Have you guys ever heard of these pups if yes have you ever heard them??
I don't have any Zants, so I can't comment on them other that to restate what has already been said. Killer pickups are in a world of their own and depend greatly on the guitar in question.
I have a set of Fralin Blues Specials in an alder Strat Deluxe and love them. The same pups sound lously in my Ash Strat Deluxe. That one ended up with Fender CS Fat 50's after going through half a dozen sets of "the best pups" on the maket. It is so totally subjective as to be scary.
from what i've played and heard, the fralins are a little "blusier" or smoother if you prefer. while the van zandts are a little gnarlier and ruder. i like both brands, but it depends (like everyone else said) on what you want. maybe there is a tech or shop locally that will let you try a couple guitars with those pups in them? you'll need to find a high end shop, not guitar center or the like.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
I had a mid '80s '57 Vintage Reissue that was like that. I bought it new. It was my first Strat and I didn't know what to look for. It was the most God awful toneless piece of crap ever built.Originally Posted by Tele-Bob
I tried different pickups in it and finally sold it to a guy who liked to use a lot of distortion.
LOL! Yup, the more gain you use, the less important the guitar becomes.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
The Antiquity ll pickups are not hot.
They are closer to an actual early 60's strat pickup in the 6.4k region.
A hotter bridger is offered(which I use). It's 9.4k.
You can never have too
much music in your life.
My tech really digs the Duncan Strat Antiquitities too. He put a set in a friends Strat and they do sound great.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
I'm looking for a pickups that has that stevie ray vaughan number one strat kinda growl, what pickups do you think would best suit that style? of course thats "IF" they were to sound good in my guitar. I know the guitar makes a BIG difference but I was just trying to get a couple of ideas for a good jumping off point.
are the Van Zandts really worth the money?
have any of you ever tried a custom wiring harness like what is discribed here?
http://www.griblinengineering.com/custom_harnesses.htm
or the Torres
http://www.torresengineering.com/blueswirharn.html
If you have tried them what did you think and what company made yours? are they worth the extra cheese??
I would try a set of Texas Specials first if you want to get that SRV vibe and you're playing through similar amps as he did. If you're playing through a Tech 21 or Line 6 or something, this discussion becomes pointless.
Anyway, a set of Texas Specials is a good set of p'ups that don't cost alot. Put those in and you will at least be able to establish a base line of where your guitar is at. You might get lucky and nail the tone you're looking for right out of the box. Or you will at least know where your guitar sits in the tonal spectrum. If it tends to be a bit too bright, you might want to try some alnico II p'ups of some sort. If it's a little too dull, you might want your next set to be have alnico V magnets in them. Or simply choose from the vast variety of descriptions available here and on the manufacturers websites. Good luck. It's really cool when you finally nail the tone you've been searching for.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
That could easily be construed as being insulting to players who routinely use distorted and gainy tones.
Tone is in the fingers, eh? Let's hear your Vox, Marshall and Fender fingerings then...
Nope. Once could infer that the player himself might be more important.
By it's very definition, distortion destroys nuance.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
I've used both the Van Zandt Blues and the Fralin Blues. The Van Zandts were in a guitar I had several years ago -- maple board/alder body Strat. I remember liking them, in that guitar, but I don't recall much more than that.
Recently, I put a set of Fralin Blues Specials (base plate on the bridge pickup) into a NOS 65 Strat (alder body/rosewood round lam fretboard). I really did not like those pickups in that guitar. They were much too bright, to the point of being shrill. I gave them a few months before I just had to take them out. I put in a set of Antiquities (not Antiquity II), and they are perfect (for me) in that guitar. I've always liked Antiquities in every guitar I've used them. In this guitar, through a small tweed amp, they sound terrific -- smooth, bright but not at all shrill, with just the slightest hint of natural compression. The Fralins, by comparison, were too hot and too piercing.
Sorry hudpucker. Let me re-phrase.
LOL!
Yup, the more gain you use, the less important the guitar becomes.
No malice intended. Just my own perception after having been a "gain guy" in the 80's and then becoming a "clean guy" over the past 5 years.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
I certainly didn't mean to imply that there was malice involved; my response was really more of an attempt to prod Bob into making some needed clarification, IMO. Though I disagree with him on this issue (I found his above statement to be akin to telling a devoted shredder that his axe is irrelevant to his tone), clearly, Bob's submitted much thoughtful input in these heah forums.
I've gotta say though, sometimes the groupthink associated with the 'objective' rants (on something as subjective as tone) of self-annointed tone gurus around here gets tiring, IMO.
Tone is in the fingers, eh? Let's hear your Vox, Marshall and Fender fingerings then...
TELE-BOB I had a set of Texas Specials in a guitar I had a few years ago and I wasn't overly impress'd, it might of just been the guitar but if I remember them correctly they sound'd kinda muddy and not very versitile.I have never tried the Van Zandt Rocks in one of my own guitars BUT I did get a chance to check out a set lastnight at a friends house. He has a set of Van Zandt Rocks in a Warmoth partsocaster and they sound'd pretty darn good, but he has a completely different set up then I do. He was playing through a Vintage Super Reverb with a MJM Blues Devil OD pedal and a few other SUPER NICE boutique pedals.
I just can't believe nobody here has tried the Van Zandt Rocks. It kinda leads me to believe they aren't that great for you Tonality
I make my living selling pickups. I sell Fender, Fralin and Duncan but not Van Zandt so I have no vested interest in what I'm about to say.
My advice to you as a "self annoited pickup seller" is buy the Van Zandts and try them. That's the only way you will know if they work for you.
As a rule, the people on this forum are well meaning and they do their best to be helpful but they can't make up your mind for you.
If I'm not mistaken, Stevie used pure stock Fender pickups from the 60's. That means the neck, middle and bridge were the same. No rw/rp middle, no hot bridge.........stock alnico V magnet pickups.
I say this with all due respect.........big strings, high action, a big amp turned up and an awesome string rake technique will get you closer to his sound than a new set of pickups and a floor full of pedals.
BTW.....if you adjust Texas Specials down to where they're flush with the pickguard, all kinds of good things happen.
Good luck with your quest.
You can never have too
much music in your life.
Right on man! (even though that makes you now sound like a self appointed tone guru! LOL!)BTW.....if you adjust Texas Specials down to where they're flush with the pickguard, all kinds of good things happen.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
Thanks Guys.....
I'm going to buy a set of the Van Zandt Rocks from my local geeetar shoppe tomorrow. I guess if I don't like them it's only $200 bucks right.
The only thing that bothers me is that I have "good" gear not GREAT but good enough for me, I've got good technique and style and I just feel like I'm missing that little bit more to get me to where I want to be TONE wise it's like I'm missing that secret ingredient to make the "perfect" tone soup. I'm sure you all know what I mean...
hope I didn't over use the "quotation". :bug
The Antiquities really do sound good. Make sure you try them, though, through a cleaner amp. They really shine when you have some headroom. At least they do in my '92 Clapton.
Yeah BUT will they be able to do what I want?
I want a beefey pickup with a nice bluesey tone that can get down with the best of SRV when it comes to growl.
SRV's #1 had 59 Fender pickups rewound by Van Zandt but new Van Zandts arent gonna sound the same.
The Duncans usually sound pretty good in everything.
Personally I have had great success with the Fralin Vintage Hots.
The Duncans used to have a 90 day return policy might check into them if you dont like em you can send em back or at least you used to be able to.
They're pricey, but O.C. Duff sells a "Number One" set modeled after a set from a '59. They come in at under 6k with a the weakest pup in the bridge, a la Old School. After playing a 5.8 in the bridge, I can't figure out why all the new Strat bridges are overwound. Bring back the twang!!!
WOW, I check'd put the site and they sound cool. I can't believe that every other pickup designer has got it wrong though... BUT mayb just maybe thats why we have never heard a pickup that REALLY gets the SRV tone!!!!!!COOL SITE, BUT DAMN $290 a set for the "number 1" pups $290 thats some coin.
Has anyone ever heard of this company before Sabby's post??
Oh, that 5.8 in the bridge? It came from this cheap set. :hee They're winners; no joke. They should be everybody's first replacement set: They're really surprisingly nice.
BTW, I heard of O.C Duff from the TDPRI board, where people lavish praise upon him for great customer support.
YEAH DUDE!!!!!
I have been wondering about GFS pickups for a LONG time, so I take it you own a pair. What set do you have? what do you think of them?
I got a set of OC Duff Tele pickups early Feb 2004 liked them alot posted a good review at the TDPri and lots of people got them after that. Back themn I got a set of 2 for $100 shipped but after he got so popular his prices went up. OC is real good at making the pickups sound the way you want them to by your description of the sound your after.
The linked set is really nice: underwound at 5.35 (n), 5.5 rwrp (m), 5.8 (n). Snappy, lively, and sweet too.
What is the real meaning of "HOT" pickups? I know they are overwound but I guess I don't understand the entire concept of winding and why a 5.35k sounds different then a 6.5k. Cna anyone break it down for me?
I just know I like the way a pickup sounds, but I would like to know why one thing sounds good to me and another one sounds like POOP.
High gain playing is a different skillset. It is heavily picking hand dependent. Use of muting and feedback and violin swells are large parts of it. It's all good and it just depends on the appropriate application. Just like any playing style, when done by somebody good such as Santana, it's really pretty, and if it's done by a less competent player it sucks. It takes a real knack to play gain and not suffer from "Disappearing Guitar Syndrome".
But I agree, the more gain the less important the guitar becomes. But not the player.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
I have another question. How is it that the O.C Duff "number one" pickups can be a lower output pickup and still have that signature Number One Growl? Isn't it that SRV's pickups were hot and that is how his guitar got that growl becuase that FOR SURE isn't all pickup attack, because I play pretty aggresive and I still don't get that growl. Plus the guy at O.C Duff said that he makes the "number one"pickups just like a TRUE Vintage '59 Fender pickups but Stevie had his rewound by Van Zandt Pickup Company back in the day. So are his pickups set up like Stevie's were before the rewind or after??
I'm trying to find out if I want a hot pickups or not. I have only had a few pickups in my guitars so I don't have a ton of experience, my '57 AMvintageStrat has the '57/'62 fender pickups in it currently, but I have tried the Texas Specials and didn't really like them. I later found that I didn't have them set up correctly (THANKS JIM IN TEXAS)
I really like what the guy at O.C Duff has going on with each individual pickup made to your specification.
Last edited by guitarplayingdrumr; 08-23-2005 at 06:37 PM.
I'm really not an SRV guy, so I'm not one to ask. But, in my experience, growl comes from the player's attack on the strings and the power section of your amp, not so much a guitar. I think Fender said Number One had low-output pups when they analyzed it. And if you're looking for Buddy Guy like bite, you probably don't want a bridge pup too far over 6k. To my ears, his best tones (pre-70s) came from 50s Strats (maple-ash with pups like the "Number One" set).
FWIW, I'd think your '57/'62s, a TS9, and a Blackface-type amp above 7 should get you all the grit you need. A lot of the SRV sound comes from brutalizing your guitar.
Yep, it's a common misconeption hat high outputs sound more aggressive. When you have low outputs you drive the amp harder and get more growl. You get better dynamics and more cut. High outputs will be more compressed and tighter sounding.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Why is That?????
It seems like the Hotter a pickups is the more it would drive the amp.
and why do you get more growl out of a low output pickup?
THANKS a lot for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.
Also Sabby you said "FWIW, I'd think your '57/'62s, a TS9, and a Blackface-type amp above 7 should get you all the grit you need. A lot of the SRV sound comes from brutalizing your guitar"
I can't get my amp above 7, I'm just jamming at home right now because I'm bandless at the present time. What might be another solution?
I have a Deluxe Reverb BUT it's not broken in yet so it still doesn't break-up very easy. I need to get it retube'd and rebias'd, I just haven't had the money.
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