My Search/Jerry Strat Pickups

[jeager]

So I got the Lollars and the guitar is up and running. I really like the sounds, lots of cluck and shimmering highs, good bass growls, definitely capable of some Jerryesque sounds I think though unlike anything he ever used.

I wanted to mention that I am now convert from noise canceling pups to good old fashion single coils. I really don't seem to notice much hum or buzz like I thought I would, could be my only experiences were in guitar shops with lots of noise making crap around and shitty cords.

Brad mentioned that these Lollars are Alnico II not Alnico V, anyone care to comment on what the difference might be in terms of tone.

[claytushaywood]

There's tons of comparisons of alnico 2 vs 5 on forums across the net. I've learned they pull the strings less contributing to more sustain. as far as tone- id say smoother higher highs and a smooth clean lower output sound- could have been the wind on mine though- i love alnico 2 humbuckers and really dont like most a5's ive tried- in humbuckers there's a lot better top end and less mud from my experience

I finally got my D. Allen CS Voodoo 69 pickups installed!!! While I was at it I shielded the heck out of my guitar. checked for continuity between the foil pieces all over the place- shielded the back plate and connected it to ground too. along with these notoriously quiet allen pickups this guitar is just as quiet as the blacktop humbuckers previously installed. there is a lot of noise in the room i'm in too! definitely recordable right next to a computer too!

I have to recommend these pickups to anyone looking for AMAZING strat pickups! I tried out quite a few on my journey here and have to say I am so freaking happy I got these D allen pickups. They are 5.8k (neck and middle) and 6.2k (bridge) 42 guage plain enamel wire with alnico 5 magnets- according to this topic- the jerry specs. the middle is RWRP- but there isnt really much of a difference in noise between the 2 and 4 and other positions! (there is some) but man these pups are quiet! and the sound is perfect- Tons of jerry low end spank (also installed a tusq nut)- i can nail his low end country rollin rolickin riffin sound. you know the low end part of tennesse jed that comes right after the main melody line- that sound is there in gobs along with the opening sugaree notes and thump in ramble on rose. these are perfect for jerry's alligator strat sounds! phew... such awesome spank, yet slightly scooped, high end is sparkly but not too overbearing, enough mid range but not too much. i am in love! I am using a fender pro reverb with jensen c12n's- (not very jerry speakers) and am getting gobs of jerry tone. most of the demo's on these pups are people doing hendrix, which they pull off pretty nicely, so hopefully i'll get a sound clip posted here soon. gotta get my 57 back!

d allen is a cool dude- excellent communication and absolutely amazing service. I actually ordered a set of his "budget" voodoo pickups that were $100-(plastic wiring and plastic flatwork) but he ran out right before my order went in (stopped making em- apparently they didnt sell too well) instead of getting a delayed order he just went ahead and shipped me a set of the more expensive CS voodoo 69 pickups at no extra cost! Got lucky there! He also sent me a nice paper in oil cap just because he didnt have what I ordered! i did just happen to get lucky here, but over the course of our conversations he was so helpful in telling me about his work and pickups- i think he sent me like 20 emails total... i really feel bad about how much I bugged him- but he never complained or missed a question. hard to find this kind of service online these days.

While I had my guitar open I went ahead and installed a nifty little gadget from a guy called "deaf eddie" online. It's called the chromacaster- a rotary pot that goes in place of one tone knob on a strat and makes your other tone knob a master tone (which is amazingly more useful and doesnt have the annoyances of two tone knobs) The chromacaster has 5 positions in which it rewires your bridge pickup into different configurations- working in conjunction with a standard 5 way switch. you get all the stock tones- plus nearly every combination of series, paralell and out of phase wiring that are possible with 3 pickups- things like bridge and neck in series plus middle in paralell out of phase- bridge and middle in series, b,m,n parallel, b, n parallel out of phasel- tons more... seriously i think its like everything but 3 or 4 pretty much repetions! the series sounds are really different and useful! forget the blender knob- the chromacaster has made my strat the most versatile 3 vintage style pickup strat ever. and it looks bone stock and complete stock strat pickup selection is always available with the standard 5 way switch- no toggle switch selections. the only thing id say is that its been somewhat of a learning curve learning what positions are what... but it really only took me a day and a half to remember what every location is. check it out- search "deaf eddie chroma caster" he makes a bunch of other switches with less options if you so desire, and he can make custom rotary switches too!

I highly recommend this combo for any strat player looking for great tone or jerry tone-and the chromacaster IS IT for interesting wiring schemes. the neck and bridge thing is cool- but series options and out of phase options are wayyyy more unique sounds. im getting some good fat humbucker sounds with these- but its like a bright humbucker- really kinda like a super D

sorry for the hugggggeee post- i've been chasing this tone for a while and i've found it and i want to shout it on the rukind-top! i hope you all can enjoy these pups one day too!

[mkaufman]

Very cool! Any chance of using all 3 pups simultaneously with those electronics?

mk

[Utah Joe]

Absolutely. I have a FAT-O-Caster V.2 in my '73 strat and it works as advertised. Here's a link to the tone charts for the wiring kits Deaf Eddie offers:

http://www.deaf-eddie.net/tonecharts.html

[claytushaywood]

Very cool! Any chance of using all 3 pups simultaneously with those electronics?

mk

http://deaf-eddie.net/tonecharts.html

oh yeh! check out his website... the chromacaster allows all 3 pickups in parallel/ bridge and neck in series with middle in parallel/ bridge and neck in series out of phase with middle in parallel/ all 3 in parallel out of phase/ a lot of his other units allow all three pups in series! that's gotta be a dark powerful sound

in hindsight i kinda wish it was a little bit simpler switching. the fatocaster would probably be easier to utilize live- its not difficult just remembering. once i got it down completely itll be fine though. i do wish i had middle + neck in series... but i cant live without out of phase tones.

ill be making a demo of the D allen voodoo 69's soon and i'll post some sound clips of the chromacaster- deaf eddie's site has some explanations and demos of these sounds im talking about if yall havent heard em

[tigerose01]

I'm in a GD coverband and trying to find pickups in the single-coil variety that can emulate Jerry's early Wolf tone (ala 1973-74). The Winterland recordings capture that sweetness and glassy clear tone that is one of my favorite eras for him. I've followed some of the threads on this where Fender CS 57/62s and CS69s and the Voodoos have all been mentioned, however the Youtube recordings have so many variables with amps, effects, player technique and recording quality make it difficult to compare. I also noticed the Voodoo Blues sets that D. Allen has with the Austin Blues pickup in the 'bridge' postition that sounds pretty close as well in the 4 and 5 positions giving some additional options for the 'bridge' tone. Looking forward to any clips and info about the Voodoo Blues set if anyone has them.

[caspersvapors]

I'm in a GD coverband and trying to find pickups in the single-coil variety that can emulate Jerry's early Wolf tone (ala 1973-74). The Winterland recordings capture that sweetness and glassy clear tone that is one of my favorite eras for him. I've followed some of the threads on this where Fender CS 57/62s and CS69s and the Voodoos have all been mentioned, however the Youtube recordings have so many variables with amps, effects, player technique and recording quality make it difficult to compare. I also noticed the Voodoo Blues sets that D. Allen has with the Austin Blues pickup in the 'bridge' postition that sounds pretty close as well in the 4 and 5 positions giving some additional options for the 'bridge' tone. Looking forward to any clips and info about the Voodoo Blues set if anyone has them.

I kinda think this is one of jerrys most elusive tones. Especially the tones he was getting circa the grateful dead movie. While that guitar is claimed to just have some sort of regular strat pickups in it, I have NEVER heard any type of strat that sounds close to that guitar. 1st Gen wolf had its own thing going on imo.

[Tony6Strings]

I finally got my D. Allen CS Voodoo 69 pickups installed!!!

It seems like every single strat player in the world is going completely apeshit over the D Allens. When I emailed him to ask which of his pups would be best for an Alligator tone, he suggested the Voodoo 69's. Go figure. I'm thinking I'll get a set at the beginning of the month. I've always been really happy with the pups in my Am. Std, but I've heard so many good things about these pups that I've gotta try em out.

[Maybeck09]

I wired in my strat with the Chromacaster and love it. First one I got wasn't working so Eddie sent me another right away. Great little device and a fun way to learn your strat wiring! I've got it in my "Blackie" strat with Fralin Blues Specials and I am limitless with pickup combo options. Fun to play with and really gives your strat many more sounds to pull from. And like said, looks absolutely stock. Wire to one tone pot (all you need) and the other becomes the Chromacaster knob. The Fralins really kick ass too.

[unnbrokenchain]

I just threw in the Fender Custom Shop 69's in my American Deluxe Strat along with an Alembic Blaster set on full boost. They get the tone!

[wleeds]

I just threw in the Fender Custom Shop 69's in my American Deluxe Strat along with an Alembic Blaster set on full boost. They get the tone!

do you have any sound samples? I was thinking the about the CS69 as well

[claytushaywood]

i'd definitely recommend d allen's voodoo blues over the fender 69's. and i think anyone on this forum would agree having tried both sets side by side. the d allens are better made, much much lower noise, and have a perfect jerry sound. i havent even gotten into modding my amp or installing jbl's or using brass. and my strat with d allens and a blaster through a pro reverb with jensen c12's can cop awesome 72-74 tones.

[hippieguy1954]

i'd definitely recommend d allen's voodoo blues over the fender 69's. and i think anyone on this forum would agree having tried both sets side by side. the d allens are better made, much much lower noise, and have a perfect jerry sound. i havent even gotten into modding my amp or installing jbl's or using brass. and my strat with d allens and a blaster through a pro reverb with jensen c12's can cop awesome 72-74 tones.

A-Once you do the mods and change the speakers (if you do) everything will sound different including your pickups! Get ready for that!

B-I've had several strats over the years. American, Japan, and Mexican. I had sold them all to have money for a different guitar. I love it. That said, I was wanting a strat again as I have always liked them, so just for fun I went and bought a brand new, made in Tiawan, Squire Standard Strat. Only cost me $200. I had to dress the frets, reset the neck and block the tremolo and thats it. I thought for sure I would want different pickups because its a Squire etc., but when I plugged it into my rig (SMS Classic Jerry preamp into a rocktron velocity300 into 2x12 cab with JBL E120's), it sounded amazing! These are great pickups and will stay in the guitar. They totally nail the the early Jerry Strat sound!

[Mosfed]

I really wish people in this board would listen more to Waldo. He answered most of the questions on this thread a few times over

- so we know they were stock Fenders and we know they were Alnico Vs - so where does this leave us

- Yabbra wound pickups - YIIIPs - insanely expensive - sets on eBay go for a grand
- custom shop 69s
- D Allen Voodoo 69s

Not sure where I stand because I haven't heard them all. I wish I had more faith in the custom shop these days. I have a 62 custom shop strat that doesn't too close to the Jerry sound. Although admittedly I haven't experimented as much as I should with it

The d allens I find intriguing as they have nailed the 5.8 and they are hand wound.

Any newer takes?


BUT LISTEN TO WALDO!!!!!

[Mosfed]

It looks like the Ybarras are a bit hotter than 5.8. - like 6.1- 6.3. - probably not a huge difference but if it saves me $800 it's most appreciated...