Grateful Dead Music Forum

The original is the Alembic Blaster which is still being manufactured by Alembic. If you know you way around a soldering iron, there are a few inexpensive kits available, as well as the schematic and PC boards.

Bill, tgo

I just put Bare Knuckle Apaches and a spud72 buffer and obel in my Strat. These pick ups are incredible. Bell clear, articulate Jerry Tone. Looking for gator or Wolf 1.0 tone?
Can’t recommend these enough.

Thanks for the tip. I like that Bare Knuckles will sell you a single Strat PUP - bridge, middle, or neck - i.e., you aren't locked into your only option being buying the full set like David Allen forces you to do.

I see from the website the middle PUP has these specs: 5.6 kΩ Magnet: Alnico 3. Personally, I prefer a bit more beef from my middle PUP (6.0K) so I'll stick with the Kent Armstrong I'm using now but if I do in the future make a change will consider a Bare Knuckles Apache.

much overlooked, but, I have removed so many after market/boutique pickups over the past 30 years and always come back to the original gold lace sensors that came with the guitar. Its not a popular opinion but when you consider alligator was more about the vibe than the parts, there isn't a lot wrong with stock fender pups
I think you can get really close to the essence of his tone, at least late 71-73, with a stock strat and a fender emp. Dialing in the fender amp is the trickiest part

I wound my own pickups for my Alligator. I used Alnico 3 poles and Heavy Formvar wire like in the PUs Fender was producing in 1954-55. I wound them to 1954 spec (a little under 8000 winds, testing out to a little under 6K). I did replace the "G" pole with a taller, '57 spec one. The "G" pole in the 1954-55 spec was a little shorter as most players were using wound "G" strings at the time. I also shielded the inside of the covers, ran to ground, and didn't ground the strings, again copying Alligator. However, I concur that you should be able to get tones you like from stock Fender pickups.

Bill, tgo

wleeds wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:46 pm much overlooked, but, I have removed so many after market/boutique pickups over the past 30 years and always come back to the original gold lace sensors that came with the guitar. Its not a popular opinion but when you consider alligator was more about the vibe than the parts, there isn't a lot wrong with stock fender pups
I think you can get really close to the essence of his tone, at least late 71-73, with a stock strat and a fender emp. Dialing in the fender amp is the trickiest part

On that note, I think modern Fender's latest Gen4 noiseless pickups are actually pretty fantastic. Might not be vintage or purist or all that interesting. But they're about as clean and bright as any pups I've heard, and that's all you really need.

Hi Guys,

Resurrecting an older thread here as I had a question regarding Strat pickups and string pull. I have a pair of Fralin Real 54’s in my Strat which are made with Alnico III magnets. I’ve also used a set of Vintage Fender 54’s in it, but prefer the sound of the Fralins.

While the sound of the Fralins is great, I have noticed there is some string pull with them where the G string seems to warble / oscillate a bit. Lowering the pickups to make them flush with the pickguard seems to help along with using a wound G string.

Anyone have any advice for some pickups that use magnets that would have a bit less pull on the strings while still retaining classic Strat tones?

Thank you in advance!

I found that the G&L pickups that come in the S-500 models NAIL the Jerry and Mark Knopfler tone big time. You can buy the pickups direct from G&L. I have them in all my strats now just about as i found them to have the best of both worlds. Also having G&Ls PBT system allows me to really dial in the tones im looking for.

Slewfoot2000 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2023 9:36 am I have a pair of Fralin Real 54’s in my Strat which are made with Alnico III magnets.

A-III are the weakest Alnico magnets, so I doubt that is causing excess string pull. Are the G string poles really high and close to the strings? Like more staggered than they should be?

I am thinking something else is causing what you are hearing.

I actually have a custom neck on the guitar which is a one piece vintage maple. It has a 14” radius and has been plek’d and looked at so don’t believe it’s anything there. And it also has a new nut and bridge so nothing there.

The pickups are also the flatter stagger option of the Real 54’s since it’s a flatter radius.

It did get better with lowering all the pickups as low as possible, but still there a bit. Might just be what it is, but curious if anyone’s had experience with different pickups and string pull.