Fender Pickups on my Hendrix Relica!!

[seanbl1]

Hi folks,

I have a questions for you. I currently have the Hendrix 1997 Jimi Woodstock fender and was thinking of changing the pickups to the 69 Fender custom or 57.

My questions is which is better sounding to get the Jimi killer tone, is it the 57 or 69 pickups or maybe something else?

Thank you kindly in advance folks :)
John B.

[DanD]

Haven't tried the '57s but have tried some Abigail '69s, Fender Japan '68s, Crays, Tex Spec, EJs, Fat 50s, Am Std, etc...

The Fat '50s followed closely by the Crays are my choice in Fender pups.

That said, my fave single coils are by Jim Rolph. I don't know what wind they are, they came stock in an early RS Stepside from the first year of RS guitar production when Stepsides were bolt neck. Seymour's SSL 1s are also great sounding pups and they won't break the bank.

As far as coppin' Jimi's tone I guess it would be a combination of guitar + amp + effects + the period/song you want to emulate.

With the effects added into the mix I really doubt that you're gonna notice a huge difference among the pups.

I'd venture a guess that if you left the '69s in place and started experimenting with a fuzz, wah, and a Leslie effect you could get really close to a lot of the masters work.

[phantomman]

I'd venture a guess that if you left the '69s in place and started experimenting with a fuzz, wah, and a Leslie effect you could get really close to a lot of the masters work.

+1

I'm not a big fan of the CS '69s because -- unassisted -- theyre relatively low-gain pickups. They do well for funk, R&B, and pop, and if you stack them with a lot of fuzz, octavia, wah, rotovibe, etc, you can pull off some pretty credible Hendrix vibe. But for raw, stand-alone Strat tones, I think Fat '50s, Texas Specials, or 57/62's sound more authentic.

[chuckocaster]

I'm gonna throw this out there cuz I've been super impressed by them: Get some DiMarzio Yngwie pups. SERIOUSLY! They are vintage output, sparkly when clean, and do very well when effected. Not expensive at all, they are about the same price at what has been mentioned. Yes, they're stacked pups, but don 't sound like it. I would put them up against most anything. I'm that impressed by them. I've used plenty of quality and booteek pups, and they are among the best sounding pups I've heard.

[ch willie]

+1

I'm not a big fan of the CS '69s because -- unassisted -- theyre relatively low-gain pickups. They do well for funk, R&B, and pop, and if you stack them with a lot of fuzz, octavia, wah, rotovibe, etc, you can pull off some pretty credible Hendrix vibe. But for raw, stand-alone Strat tones, I think Fat '50s, Texas Specials, or 57/62's sound more authentic.

I've used a lot of pups over the years, but I found my favorite Strat sounds in the 57/62s. I don't know how true to Hendrix they are, but you'll get awfully close.

[Cogs]

...for raw, stand-alone Strat tones, I think Fat '50s, Texas Specials, or 57/62's sound more authentic.

Really? I think the Custom '54s are the best p'ups out there right now,& I think that is because they are low-gain. They are incredibly transparent & bell like, & that's why I like them.
To my ears, the Texas Specials have a kind of "mid hump" & I used to dig them but no more.
Sometimes I think pickups are kind of like photographs or television screens. Once we become accustomed to certain hues or "chroma", then we see it as normalized. Of course, there are extreme examples of high & low output pickups, but using the photo analogy once more, to someone's eye what we see as "flat response" might be a shade greener or redder to other eyes. I might not be using the terms correctly but you might know what I mean anyhow.

[Offshore Angler]

Jimi is the ultimate example of how the player matters more than the gear. He used Teles, Strats, Flying V's and always managed to sound like Jimi. You can play Hendrix on a banjo and its still unmistakably Hendrix. Take just about any Strat, plug it into a dimed Marshall and go from there. IMHO, a lot of his sound was that huge amp sound. He was one of the first to exploit massive sound and feedback.

Gotta go with71818 though, clear pups and nickel strings over the mids and steel strings of modern gear have a certain magic. Switching to nickel will change the character of your guitar more than switching pups. IMHO & YMMV.

[ch willie]

I tried Texas Specials, but I just couldn't get into them. I'm not the biggest SRV fan, and so I wasn't going for that particular sound when I tried them. They weren't bad pickups, just didn't suit my sound.

I haven't tried the 54s. I imagine they're good. I do think Fender makes some great pickups. I can't believe it took me so long to try the 57/62s. Guess I first had to go through my Clapton mid-boost and Vintage Noiseless phase (an expensive, unsatisfying adventure).