Slider’s Vintage ’59 Pickups

the story goes back to this one day a year or two ago while i was hanging out with LP-man at his pad,  just shooting the siht and doing some guitar noodling.  LP-man, as you can tell by my affectionate nickname for him, is a Les Paul / Ibanez type guy.  he just loves Paul Gilbert, and Slash, and all these heavy, heavy rockers.  me?  i’m a Stratohead through and through.  it was this difference in taste that gives rise to our incessant squabbling, albeit in jest, over the whole LP vs Strat issue.  for the record, i prefer a Strat but i’ll be the first to admit that the choice of guitar or effects or gear should be dictated by what one is trying to create or emulate at a specific time.  but it’s just too much fun to say something obnoxious like, ‘Dude, LPs are for dickwads’ and see his face go white-hot in anger, right before he goes into a verbal assault at yours truly in his attempt to tip the scale in favour of the LP.

okay, so we were back at his pad, and i think in a weak attempt at making an impression, he broke out this Godin “Stratowannabe”.  i laughed so hard my tummy hurt.  ‘What is this rubbish?’, i said.  but he had a faint smile on his face.  i sorta knew he had something up his sleeve, but wasn’t sure what it was.  ‘Cuba dulu, bai.  Cuba dulu.’, he said in this calm, eerie, i’m-about-to-pwn-you tone.   i took the guitar from his hands and strummed a few chords.  ‘Interesting’, i thought.  after about 20 minutes, i was reduced to admit that it sounded better than Gladys.  nonsense, my heart said.  but my mind knew it sounded better.  it just had the clarity, the depth and the complexity of a good vintage Strat.  my Gladys with her Lindy Fralins were no match for his Stratowannabe.  i had to bury my embarrassment deep inside before i could ask the simple question of ‘Are those stock Godin pickups?’

he laughed out really loud, knowing that my question was as much about the pickups as it was about me admitting defeat.  he told me that they weren’t stock, but aftermarket Jason Lollar ‘Blackface’ pickups.  it was on that very same day that i realised i preferred 50s, or 60s Strat tones.  and despite the Lindy Fralin Blues Specials being great for what they were, i just preferred the tone from the Lollar Blackfaces more.

so after some research on pickups, it basically comes down to preference.  you have the Lollars, Rocketfires, Suhrs, Van Zandts, Don Mares etc etc… it’s too fragmented to be objective to come to a decision.  my guitar tech told me to check out this small, custom pickup winder by the name of Slider aka Rod McQueen.  i read his marketing blurb and watched a lot of the videos on YouTube, before pulling the trigger for a set of ’59′s in Vintage Charged A5 and a “Straight Up” middle’.

to be honest, i haven’t played with it enough, and the guitar is with another guitar tech at the moment for a setup and overall servicing.  but during the limited time of having it, and despite the imperfect setup, the pickups shone through loud and clear.  the clarity was immense.  the bridge was just sweet, no ice-pick or shrillness to it at all.  in fact, i’ll go out on a limb and say it’s the best damned bridge pickup i’ve heard in my life.  the ‘kraaanggg’ sounds coming out from it could have been straight from a 60s Decca album.  i can’t wait to get it back from the tech so i can make a video of some sort.

it’s a great time for guitar gear.  all these custom effects builders, and custom pickup winders, and custom guitar makers are coming up with some serious, heavy stuff.  i haven’t tried all of ‘em, but i’ve experienced some and so if you’re looking for a set of solid custom-wound, vintage-inspired Stratocaster pickups,  Rod’s are as good as they get.  AFAIK, he doesn’t have a website, but checkout the cool pics on his myspace or drop him a line directly at sliderspickups [at] bigpond [dot] com .  he’ll hook you up, for sure.

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~ by thehindsight on March 9, 2011.