I have a 2001 clapton strat that I took the pre amp out of. I had 250k pots in there, and with the tone controls all the way up I was happy but still wanted a little more high end. I put CTS 500k and 153k orange drop caps and was amazed how much more alive my strat sounds. The bridge p/u got rid of the nasal midrange and I can hear more detail and sound coming trough IMHO. I am using the lace hot gold p/u's. Just a FYI, this is only my opinion, but this seems to be the ticket to better tone.
That could work.. From what I understand, 500k pots do allow more high end, but also increase the inherent noise. With noiseless pickups, that would not matter.
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Glad it's working for you. I always thought the high end on those Lace pickups left something to be desired. Maybe the 500K pots helps that out.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
I like the p/u's but I'll never be happy with the high e on the bridge p/u. There's something wrong with the sound on the high e. I changed the saddles and the nut and changed the bridge p/u (same moderl lace) and it just dosen't want to ring out and sounds a little dull. I may put Fralins in here one day but The lace do sound realy good.
RATS.. now I wish I had not sold those Lace Gold's and tryied this out. Maybe it would have worked..
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Sorry to be the one to tell you, but Lace Sensors will never sound right. If you want the Clapton circuit and no noise but also want good traditional Strat tones, put in some Kinman Traditionals.
Everyone sings about Memphis, but no one ever does anything about it.
The lace are cheap and really do sound good. I think the kinmans cost a lot, right? I guess the lace are less expensive way to go. I've gotten a lot of coplaments on the sound of the lace Hot golds. I had the first generation of lace and these are 10 times better. There's no noise and I went with the hot bridge which I think is around 16k hot which led me to taking the Clapton pre amp out. This set up is sounding really good and if it wasn't for the high e thing I'd say this is my favorite sounding and playing strat. I've had a coustom shop 57 (big mistake) and a SRV model(great sound impossible to play, for me) and a classic 50's MIM strat (real nice should have kept it) I put Fralins in that one and it just sounded flat Should have changed the pots). Lace are good sounding no noise p/u's great for recording and cheap IMHO.
I had the gold ones in the early 90s. Sterile and one dimensional, to my ear.
Everyone sings about Memphis, but no one ever does anything about it.
yea I had those too. I had a 87 strat plus which came with those. The hot golds are the next generation of those. Still I'm thinking of some Fralins.
The hot golds are much better than the regular golds. The regular golds were ok, but just not right for me. I changed them for regular single coils. My Favs.. Kent Armstrong Tweed Tones.
To make the deal even better, I sold the Lace Golds on eBay for about $80.00 and WD graciously gave me the Tweed Tones. I have them also in the Strat I gave my son. Really great pickups.
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Originally Posted by Dwell
Thats what i hear as well.
I've been told that replacing the 250k with a 500k especially on Lace Red pickups really helps restore some of the highs...the Hot Golds seem to thrive just fine with 250k pots though. I have Red/Blue Silver Lace's in one of my Strats and may give it a try when my next string change comes up...they sound great, but I'd like more high end from the bridge at times.
We just put a set of Hot Gold Lace's in a '54 Reissue and it simply sings...very nice chime, quack, you name it....and when overdriven...good Lord! The Hot Golds are nothing like the old gold Lace Sensors...different as night and day. They will be my pickup of choice from here on out....I've run the mill from boutique to Fender custom pickups...back around to Lace Sensors. It cost me a small fortune to learn my lesson. :spin
I wonder if you put a .010 cap in there if it would also bring out the highs without having to change the pots?
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I don't know???...I had a 500k pot in my box of Strat stuff, so I gave it a try, replacing the 250k volume pot with a 500k. It works....with my particular set of Lace Sensors (Red/Blue/Silver) it's not too shrill...actually a little clearer and highs are definitley more defined. Other pickups may sound differently with this mod.
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