Post by exyearrboy on Jan 16, 2005 2:20:12 GMT -5
I'm playing in a blues-infused indy band (I'm trying to bring a mix of Clapton and SRV to the younger crowd in Tucson) and had been running a stock Mexican Strat into a Fender Stage 100 solid state head and Marshall MG412 cab (which, by the way, is a piece of trash). I was happy with the clean tone as I have a Digitech MultiFX pedal to model a nice vintage Fender Tube amp and 10" speakers, but I was having the typical Single coil problem of being drowned out live (my rhythm guitarist apparently has rejected the concept of a "mix"). I could sack up here and just play my LP, but I love my strat tone and tiny neck for upper fretboard runs, so I opted for two other solutions.
First Solution: Bill Lawrence 280S neck pickup.
The Lawrence is probably the sweetest sounding pickup I've played though. My sound was already clear, but it gave my solos a lot of definition that was lacking with the stock pickups (not to bag on them, as I re-installed the neck pup in the mid position of my project (the resistance is about the same, I just wired it out of phase with the other pickups like they do stock). It filled out the bottom end and puts out clear mids, with a bit of growl when I switch on my Vintage Rat. As a whole, I'd reccommend these to anyone looking to upgrade their strat... though the only color options are cream and black, so you may have a DIY looking instrument (fortunately, I love that look).
Solution 2: DOD Milkbox Compressor
Quick rundown on what a compressor does for those who haven't dealt with 'em: A compressor squeezes the signal wave, lopping off the peaks and troughs a bit. The effect? A shot of testosterone for your solos without having to use the other compressor pedal, your distortion. David Gilmour from Pink Floyd was a heavy user, (see Comfortably Numb). It also evens out string response, so lighter picking tends to come out more forcefully, though harder picking will be reduced a bit as well, so a compressor is not necessarily for every style. The DOD impressed me (as it compressed me... sorry.
) as it gave a bit of life to my work without coloring my tone too much. If anything, it thickened it a bit, which is always a plus when you're working with strats, which are generally pretty thin sounding, particularly through a solid state amp. I keep the volume and compression level at about 12 noon on the dial (too much compression can be harsh), up the treble voicing a bit, and tone down the attack. It's pretty versatile and easy to control, and while it's not as obvious as distortion in my sound palatte, I think it's probably at this moment the second most important effect behind my amp modeler/reverb pedal. If you're playing lead on a strat I'd definitely reccommend a compressor for clean to moderately dirty rock/blues/country, and again for the price and quality. The Boss may be pricier, but I found it had a tendency to bleed into my tone more than I'd like (and it was twice the price).
Ty
Ty
First Solution: Bill Lawrence 280S neck pickup.
The Lawrence is probably the sweetest sounding pickup I've played though. My sound was already clear, but it gave my solos a lot of definition that was lacking with the stock pickups (not to bag on them, as I re-installed the neck pup in the mid position of my project (the resistance is about the same, I just wired it out of phase with the other pickups like they do stock). It filled out the bottom end and puts out clear mids, with a bit of growl when I switch on my Vintage Rat. As a whole, I'd reccommend these to anyone looking to upgrade their strat... though the only color options are cream and black, so you may have a DIY looking instrument (fortunately, I love that look).
Solution 2: DOD Milkbox Compressor
Quick rundown on what a compressor does for those who haven't dealt with 'em: A compressor squeezes the signal wave, lopping off the peaks and troughs a bit. The effect? A shot of testosterone for your solos without having to use the other compressor pedal, your distortion. David Gilmour from Pink Floyd was a heavy user, (see Comfortably Numb). It also evens out string response, so lighter picking tends to come out more forcefully, though harder picking will be reduced a bit as well, so a compressor is not necessarily for every style. The DOD impressed me (as it compressed me... sorry.
) as it gave a bit of life to my work without coloring my tone too much. If anything, it thickened it a bit, which is always a plus when you're working with strats, which are generally pretty thin sounding, particularly through a solid state amp. I keep the volume and compression level at about 12 noon on the dial (too much compression can be harsh), up the treble voicing a bit, and tone down the attack. It's pretty versatile and easy to control, and while it's not as obvious as distortion in my sound palatte, I think it's probably at this moment the second most important effect behind my amp modeler/reverb pedal. If you're playing lead on a strat I'd definitely reccommend a compressor for clean to moderately dirty rock/blues/country, and again for the price and quality. The Boss may be pricier, but I found it had a tendency to bleed into my tone more than I'd like (and it was twice the price). Ty
Ty
