Bridge pup that sounds like PAF?

[Ed A]

Exuse the ignorant question, Ive been playing Les Pauls for 40 years and just picked up (believe it or not), my first ever strat..... If I want to change just the bridge pup (they are all Tex Mex) without routing or modifying and I want to get as close to a classic PAF humbucker tone as possible, what kind of pickup do you guys suggest.... rail, stacked, brand, etc.....

Thanks.

[chuckocaster]

check under the guard, your guitar might already be routed for an HB. some strats are. rails and sc sized hb's have always left me feeling empty.

[Ed A]

sorry.... I see that this should of been posted in the pickup area.....

[Cogs]

A little investigation might be in order. Years ago I saw the Allman Brothers when Dickey Betts & Jack Pearson were on guitars. Dickey played a two-tone maple necked Strat in that show & if I closed my eyes I'd have sworn it sounded like Goldie. I don't know if it was a real one or not; I seem to remember someone commenting on it being a special '54 reissue from the Custom Shop.
Of course, a couple 100W Marshalls, JBLs, & Dickey's hands are all important parts of that equation, lol
*edited for spelling*

[Slammintone]

Ed, I've tried Seymour Duncan Hot Rails and Li'l 59 in Strats and the Hot rails is too much. The Li'l 59 or whatever it's called has these tiny adjustable coils and while the pickup doesn't really sound like a PAF per se (I know you of all people know what a PAF sounds like!), it does actually sound a lot like a slightly overwound PAF type does mounted in a Strat if that makes any sense. Very cool and very VH sounding through a higher gain amp and quiet/nearly noiseless. Short of routing and mounting say a Seymour Duncan '59 or what have you (ThroBak, Timbucker etc.etc.) this is the closest I ever got to a PAF type sound with a Strat single coil sized pickup.

[Slammintone]

Another Seymour Duncan pickup I once had in a '79 Strat about 20yrs ago was a Quarter Pounder. Although a true noisy single coil it's sound was fat and it distorted very much like a heavy PAF into an overdriven, or slightly overdriven amp. This one and the Li'l 59 are my favorites for non routing humbucker tone. Check the sound samples here:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product.../stratocaster/

[Cogs]

Yup, I used to have a Quarter Pounder in the bridge of an old '66 Strat years ago. I eventually put it back stock, but it was definitely a fat sound. I'd actually go w/an under wound p'up to get a fat clean sound.

[DanD]

...it does actually sound a lot like a slightly overwound PAF type does mounted in a Strat ...

That's the part I think most people miss when placing humbucker pups in a Strat.

Placing a humbucker in the bridge is not going to achieve the LP tone many are looking for. I fell into that same trap placing a '57+ in the bridge of a Strat.

For those warm/round sounds I like the Virtual Vintage '54 as a bridge pup. But you can also get really close in positions 2 & 4 with the right pups. My EJ set and my Rolphs in my RS Stepside (both have tone controls to all three pups) do that classic warm/round 'bucker thing.

JMHO YMMV

[demioblue]

Try the DiMarzio Pro Track... DiMarzio's best kept secret for a PAF in a Strat solution.

[Zoso]

Exuse the ignorant question, Ive been playing Les Pauls for 40 years and just picked up (believe it or not), my first ever strat..... If I want to change just the bridge pup (they are all Tex Mex) without routing or modifying and I want to get as close to a classic PAF humbucker tone as possible, what kind of pickup do you guys suggest.... rail, stacked, brand, etc.....

Thanks.

As a follower of your posts on the LP Forum, I'd ask why you want a PAF tone out of a Strat. You have your Les Pauls for that. Wouldn't it be more satisfying to find some new tones?