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Thread: Pickups for rude, rough Strat tone?

  1. #1
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    Pickups for rude, rough Strat tone?

    Greetings, forum members!

    My first post. Have much enjoyed reading others' contributions.

    I have a Classic Player Strat.
    Fender Vintage Noiseless pups: not a true single coil sound.
    Fralin High Output Strat: much better, but still a bit too refined.

    I'm considering a Fralin Steel Poled Strat set.

    Comments/advice invited.

    Thanks in advance.
    ...the saga continues...

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    If you're looking for a pickup that will have a great clean vintage tone, but posses a balls-to-the-wall overdriven tone then you should check out the Rio Grande Bass Bottoms. I've been recommending them in every pickup thread. They're a very full sounding pickup, but yet clarity is maintained when the pickups puch the amp, unlike so many other single coils. Try them out, you won't be disappointed. :)
    The man with magic hands.

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    burst_king: thanks for advice

    Thanks for suggesting the Rio Grande Bass Bottoms.
    I'll definitely check them out.

    Do you know of any guitar manufacturer that installs them as stock equipment? It would be handy to hear them in a guitar before buying. Or are they strictly available as aftermarket replacements?

    I'll see if Rio Grande has a website.

    Thanks again.
    ...the saga continues...

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    Plexigrind: www.riograndepickups.com

    No one is installing them standard as far as major manufacturers are concerned. Check out their "artist" list. I garuantee that you'll like them if you order them. Also, they may have a return policy. One note though: If you want covers on them that costs extra. The Muy Grande is too big to have a cover fitted, but it WILL fit in a normal strat pickgaurd.

    BTW, when you install the Muy Grande use both the spring that comes with the kit and the rubber spacer. If you only use one or the other the pickup will push the screws up, making the pickup touch the strings. If you use both types of spacers, on each side, the problem will be solved. This doesn't happen on the two Tallboys.

    As far as sound files: I may be able to email you some. Drop me a line if you're interested. I'll use the normal strat switching in the samples unless you want to hear a few different combinations. The electronics on that particular strat are hot rodded with a couple of push pulls and "better" tone pot wiring. Either way, you know where to find me.

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  5. #5
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    Your pickup is definitely the Muy Grande, it's rough and meaty, ther is no way to not love that pickup!
    Last edited by Felipe; 07-30-2002 at 01:36 PM.
    Felipe Nacif

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    Oooohhhhhh yyyyyeeeaaahhhhhhh!
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    Forum Member Guildx700~'s Avatar
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    Some folks diss the Fender Texas Specials, but setup properly they are rude, in your face and fat, I love em. The whole key is lower than usual pup height and nickle strings with em IMO.

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    Forum Member Guildx700~'s Avatar
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    You've got it Spose!!!!

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    Much appreciated, everyone.

    Has anyone heard the Steel-Poled Fralins? How do they compare to the Muy Grande?
    ...the saga continues...

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    Muy Grandes will kick anything's ass except the new Stellas as far as output goes. However, the Stella is WAY hotter and almost deffinately won't have as much meat to the tone. If you want a well rounded, clear sounding pickup get the Bass Bottom set by all means. :)
    The man with magic hands.

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    Originally posted by Plexigrind
    Much appreciated, everyone.

    Has anyone heard the Steel-Poled Fralins? How do they compare to the Muy Grande?
    I have a set of Steel Poled in my strat and they are ballsy. I remember describing them as being able to bark like a Saint-Bernard with a cold :nicholas

    They don't do the usual vintage SRV-like tone, nor the glassy clean but they excell at raw fat tone, great for rock and raw blues. I particular like them with quite some distortion and the tone down, very trashy sound.

    HTH,

    Yoeri

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    Forum Member LightninBoy's Avatar
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    I'm looking into something like this myself. I've looked all over the Rio Grande website, and haven't been able to find anything referred to as "Bass Bottoms". I see a "Big Bottom" set that consists of a Muy Grande and 2 Tallboys, but that's it. Where can I find info on the Bass Bottoms? Looking over his site, and digging through my old magazine stash for that old Guitar Player "Top 50 Replacement Pickup Shootout" article for more info on their pickups, I think I might be interested in some Muy Grandes, maybe with a Stella in the bridge. Those steel poled Fralins are an interesting option as well...
    "The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold - and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose."

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    Forum Member LightninBoy's Avatar
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    Mr. Riffenstein,

    Are your Fralin steel poles wound with the 42 or 43 gauge wire?

    Thanks...
    "The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold - and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose."

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    Originally posted by Guildx700~
    Some folks diss the Fender Texas Specials, but setup properly they are rude, in your face and fat, I love em. The whole key is lower than usual pup height and nickle strings with em IMO.
    There ya go...:nelson

  15. #15
    Forum Member LightninBoy's Avatar
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    Thanks, I've tried those. Like them alot for what they do, but they weren't quite what I'm looking for...:tw59
    "The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold - and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose."

  16. #16
    Forum Member jim in texas's Avatar
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    I put CS '54's in my Players strat and these are NOT what you want.

    I'm sure that you know this but you might have to change the pots when you take the VN's out.

    Just out of curosity, how do you like the abalone position markers on your Players?
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  17. #17
    Forum Member LightninBoy's Avatar
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    I emailed Rio Grande and Dave responded that the set in question is referred to as the "Big Bottom" set - Muy Grande :bigal in the bridge with Vintage Tallboys in the Neck and Middle positions. I went with a set of these from dealer about 3 hours from where I live - they offered this set at the same price as the Vintage Tallboy set. They should be arriving in a couple of days. I'm putting them in a black alder/maple Strat - I'll let you know what I think after I've had a chance to really test them out...
    "The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold - and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose."

  18. #18
    Forum Member kuntikin's Avatar
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    Originally posted by burst_king
    Muy Grandes will kick anything's ass except the new Stellas as far as output goes. However, the Stella is WAY hotter and almost deffinately won't have as much meat to the tone. If you want a well rounded, clear sounding pickup get the Bass Bottom set by all means. :)
    Stelly :tw59
    barlo the kuentikin (=holder of power)

  19. #19
    Forum Member kuntikin's Avatar
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    I hope I may be of some help. Here are my strats:

    90 US sunburst strat, alder body and rosewood neck: stelly on the bridge, van zandt vintage +s on the neck and middle.

    01 US sienne sunburst fat strat tx special, ash body and maple neck: pearly gates + on the bridge, lindy fralin vintage hots on the neck and middle.

    02 US mary kay white strat, ash body rosewood neck: torres blues tele bridge on the bridge, dan torres real vintages neck and middle.

    Rude? Rio grande is always rude, these suckers have some high mids that is the trademark of their sound. But they are generally dark in comparison to the others (I have BBQ texas,, tele muy grande bridge, and stelly as listed above). You would not regret it. But beware! Stelly is a TELE muy grande bridge for a strat bridge position. So it's not like a p90 (as far as I remember lindy fralin's steel poles are supposed to be similar to p90's, at least that's what he says on his website).

    If you have a hb routing, consider pearly gates +. Many people don't like them because they expect usual hb's. This one is a strat hb, hence is brighter then the other seymour duncans. You can buy it from guitar trader if I am not mistaken.

    I'd go with stelly on the bridge and van zandt's if I were to make the choice (vintage or blues, depends on how much output you want, but remember that vz are already a little darker than the other ones).
    Last edited by kuntikin; 12-22-2002 at 12:05 AM.
    barlo the kuentikin (=holder of power)

  20. #20
    Forum Member LightninBoy's Avatar
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    My set of Rio Grandes (Tallboy in neck and middle w/ Muy Grande in bridge) arrived yesterday...

    (Rant on) As I said before, I ordered from a dealer a couple hours away. I only mention this to demonstrate why I have a hard time ordering online or over the phone - so far I'm batting about 10% as far as getting exactly what I originally ordered using this method. I'd intended to leave my other set completely intact on the pickguard in case I wanted to switch it back out, or possibly sell it that way. Found that the 5-way switch I ordered turned out to be a 3-way, and one of the pots didn't have the nut, lock, and dress washer included with it so I wound up scavaging my old setup in order to finish the new. I know I should probably have these as spares, but I'm relatively new to this stuff. Anyway, this seems to be par for the course every time I deal with someone over the phone. :! (Rant off)

    Fortunately, the tone these pickups produce made it all worthwhile. They are exactly what I've been looking for. I hate to post too much right off the bat about them because I know it's hard to be objective about something new that makes you all excited to play. I will say the one thing that really struck me about these pickups is how well balanced they sound. They're nice and meaty with lots of attitude, but not shrill - plenty of high end, but not of the annoying variety at all - and they clean up so well. I play a lot of riff-oriented rhythms, and these pickups are perfectly suited to that. The lead tones I've always loved the most are Band of Gypsies era Hendrix, and I'm very happy with what this set has to offer in that respect.

    I've got a couple of other Strats that I'll be buying pickups for also, and I want something different in each one. I'm looking at possibly a set of Fralin Vintage Hots, or maybe a set of the Rolphs - I want a more traditional sound for my other alder/maple strat, but I haven't decided exactly what to go with on my ash/maple Strat - hot, semi-hot, whatever. May try the "Muy Macho" set from Rio Grande - Muy Grande in the neck and middle with a Stella in the bridge... I have this growing urge to go as hot as I possibly can with that one - nothing gets the old juices flowing like a nice piece of hot ash...
    "The lord will take two things so much alike that he would not mind choosing from them blindfold - and then for a great jest he will allow the slaves to choose."

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