Single coil pups

[JMPGuitars]

that's interesting because i'm not a fan of the strat bridge pickup either "but" i've just tried some highway 1 pickups,alnico 2 and all 3 pickups are just over 12K resistance.the bridge pickup is awesome but the weaker alnico 2's don't suit the middle & neck positions in my opinion.i'd like to keep the bridge and put alnico 5's back in the middle and neck but not sure if they will balance out?

Resistance doesn't directly translate to output. The magnet type alone doesn't determine strength, it determines character more.

If the pickups are wound correctly, I like A2 in the neck, and A5 in the bridge, but that depends on the maker. Most makers don't include enough info like henries or actual output.

[crgfrench]

Well I just blew my pickups money on an Egnater 20 Rebel mark 1 head for $250. So it's going to be a bit longer before I upgrade this strat...

20191228_233021.jpg

[AussieTim]

Oh well gives you more time to suss out pickups, I have spent years swapping pickups around and have found;
That some work in one guitar and for some reason sound like crap in another guitar.
Just because it is a big name charging big dollars doesn't guarantee great sound.
Sometimes a pickup that doesn't have a great pedigree sounds great in your guitar
Its fun to swap them around and find your own sound

[crgfrench]

I picked up a set of Duncan Isle of Mights from a shop in Liverpool. On sale they cost me 200 quid including shipping.

Turns out I bought them on Seymour's birthday (!)

These came packaged with all the Hendrix stickers and booklets and I realized they are identical to the Duncan Hendrix signature pups but with a regular magnet stagger.

So these are actually replicas of the pups Seymour gave Jimi at Xavier University in 1968.

Will post something more once I get them into the Strat.

20200215_005535.jpg

[crgfrench]

The specs for these are 6.07DCR. I measure 6.41, 6.16 and 6.13 at the ends of the wires.

I got thinking about these. Seymour gave Jimi a set of 6.07DCR regular stagger alnico 5 with no RWRP middle. They installed these on a right handed guitar which was restrung for a lefty and flipped over to play lefty.

Since most players are righty and own right-handed guitars, Duncan's Custom Shop recently made identical pups except with reverse stagger to mount in a righty guitar (possibly with a "voodoo" reverse slope bridge pup) so modern players can try to replicate the Hendrix sound. These are called the "Jimi Hendrix Custom Set" and are sold out.

But if a righty owns a left-handed strat, they could replicate what Jimi had directly by loading a regular stagger 6.07DCR set, restringing for righty and flipping over to play righty. These are called the "Isle of Might" set from the Duncan Custom Shop's limited run that was only sold in the UK and is also sold out. You would not need a "voodoo" pickguard with this method since flipping the guitar naturally reverses the slope of the bridge pup.

Anyhow so I found a left-handed 1995 Black Label Mexican Strat for sale in a Philly pawn shop today and picked it up for $250. I think it will be perfect for these Isle of Might pups.

And I'm hoping it will sound great with the Fullerwell 18W circuit in my Denim Deluxe.

20200220_165618.jpg

[crgfrench]

Built a new pickguard for the Mexican Blackbird:
Guitar Fetish 3-ply black lefty pickguard
Duncan Isle of Mights
Black Duncan pickup covers
Fralin Blender pot kit
CTS 250k pots
CRL 5-way switch
0.0453uF ceramic disc tone cap

20200318_040952.jpg

[JMPGuitars]

Have you ever tried the Schaller Megaswitches? They're 100% better than any other lever switch I've seen.

[AussieTim]

I use a Schaller Megaswitch in my stratocaster it allows me to get the bridge and neck combination like a Telecaster a sound I am fond of.

[crgfrench]

Have you ever tried the Schaller Megaswitches? They're 100% better than any other lever switch I've seen.

Thanks for that tip Josh -- this is the first bit of luthierie (is that even a word?) I've ever done so I used the parts that came in the Fralin blender kit. But I also have a (right handed) squire strat I'll probably redo after this project and I'll try the Schaller -- thanks! This Mexican Blackbird is a lefty I'm flipping over to play upside down. I might also try one of the Duncan speed pots.

20200318_035140.jpg

[crgfrench]

I use a Schaller Megaswitch in my stratocaster it allows me to get the bridge and neck combination like a Telecaster a sound I am fond of.

Oh I see now -- that's cool. The Fralin Blender pot accomplishes this by using the bottom tone knob to blend the bridge & neck (and also all 3 pups) in any combination.

20200318_033901.jpg

[crgfrench]

Fralin is a well-respected brand, but I haven't tried their pots. I believe it's simply a no-load pot, probably made for them by CTS, though I don't know who actually makes it. I think CTS has the same thing available also.

Spot on Josh the blender pot is indeed made by CTS.

20200322_115901.jpg

[JMPGuitars]

Spot on Josh the blender pot is indeed made by CTS.

I love that it says ACME on it. Roadrunner's gonna take your guitar and shred.

[crgfrench]

The Mexican Blackbird got a whole lot blacker today.

20200327_162845.jpg

20200327_173340.jpg

20200327_183747.jpg