Plug For Lew(Fralin Steel Pole 43 Bridge Pickup)WOW!

[STRATDELUXER97]

Hello all....For those of you guys like myself that look for a fat bridge strat tone without carving out your body or replacing a pickguard etc....Check this pickup out..

Here's the deal with mine....I've had this alder/maple necked American Standard Strat that I bought new in the 80s...I thought I was going to be the next EVH back then,and so opted for a Floyd Rose bridge on this axe.. Guess what happened when I changed the bridge..? Yep,lost my lows and my sustain...The cure back then(Actually around the early 90s)was to put a JB Jr. in the bridge position...This pickup was ok and it cut some of the shrillness away and beefed up the bridge position...The gainey tones were pretty cool but I now couldn't get any strat type bridge tones and the 4th position was almost unusable.....UNTIL...

Lew recommended this Fralin Steel Pole 43 Hot for bridge pickup...Now picture having a pickup that does the strat bridge pickup tone really well both clean and with gain and yet still has a great quacky sounding 4th position tone,but with just so much more fullness of tone and no obnoxious midrange hump...The best part about this new pickup is that it also just fits right into my stock pickguard w/out modification...There are screws like on a humbucker instead of poles but from about 10 feet away you can't tell.....If you love P90s and you need or crave ballsy,full bridge tones,try this pickup out...All of the chime and bell like tone is still there,but everything is just alot more of everything...

Special thanks again to Lew who is a buddy and a guy I've learned to trust for my pickup needs...The guy knows his stuff,as we all know,and it was worth me telling you all about this great pickup....Lew also sold me a set of Antiquity Texas Hots for the strat you see in my avatar picture and these are great pickups also.....THANKS AGAIN LEW!

John

[STRATDELUXER97]

Bumped for Lew to see

[dr.barlo]

Good to hear that!

B

[STRATDELUXER97]

Good to hear that!

B

Hello Doc...Wow,finally someone posts....I know,I know,it's not a Duncan pickup! Sorry guys...

John

[Fresh_Start]

Hey -

No apology needed

Lindy Fralin's shop is about 3 miles from my house - I visited him when I was first thinking about replacing a pickup and was totally ignorant (no comments from the peanut gallery please). When I build "the strat", I'm going to try some Fralins and the Steel Pole bridge pups are at the top of the list. I just wish that Lindy were willing to make a tapped single coil...

Thanks for the review John!

Chip

[STRATDELUXER97]

Hey -

No apology needed

Lindy Fralin's shop is about 3 miles from my house - I visited him when I was first thinking about replacing a pickup and was totally ignorant (no comments from the peanut gallery please). When I build "the strat", I'm going to try some Fralins and the Steel Pole bridge pups are at the top of the list. I just wish that Lindy were willing to make a tapped single coil...

Thanks for the review John!

Chip

Hello Chip....You're welcome buddy.....The Fralin Steel Poles are great!

John

[Lewguitar]

Shhhhhhh......

My buddy AJ uses the SP43 in his Jimmie Vaughn Strat with a pair of Duncan SSL-1's for the neck and middle pickups. Killer!

The thing I like about the SP43 is the way it blends with the middle pickup for that classic middle/bridge combination tone. Mini-humbuckers lose some of that chunky chime...that tone some still call "out of phase", tho it's not.

I like wailing through a JB JR too tho...I used one for years in my '57 RI.

I tried a full set of the SP42's a couple of weeks ago...one step lighter than the SP43. They're very cool too, and a little like having a set of P90's on a Strat...but I think I like vintage Strat pickups like the Duncan SSL-1 or Antiquitys for the neck and middle positions better.

The SP 42 and 43 are killer bridge pickups tho.

Thanks!

Lew

[Maggot]

I just put one of these in the bridge position of my Strat, and it's not what I expected - there's a harshness to the treble and upper mids when playing clean that I didn't expect, and it's hard to dial out. I'm leaving it in for the time being though, to see what it sounds like with the full band (& because I don 't have $ to replace it). It seems like it might lead to ear fatigue if played too loud & clean for too long.

I really like the Fralin alnico high output though - that one is cool sounding and unique, but it won't get you into fat strat territory.

One cool thing about it is the notch position between the middle and bridge pickups. I never use this position, but it sounds like a Strat but steelier and more aggressive. The best notch position I've ever heard.

[jeremy]

a buddy of mine has a grosh strat that has a steel pole, nice pickup i think his is the 42.

[Benjy_26]

Links to Frailin's website please?

[Benjy_26]

Nevermind, I found it!

[mrfjones]

i still want to try on of those sp pickups in a tele, but i would really like a tapped one for an esquire.

[Maggot]

i still want to try on of those sp pickups in a tele, but i would really like a tapped one for an esquire.

I feel like the one I have brings out a little bit of tele-ness in my Strat in terms of midrange and aggression.

[Curly]

I have an SP 43, but haven't tried it yet.

I would be curious to know how it stacks up against my favorite strat bridge pickup, an SSL-3 Hot.

[theodie]

Sounds very good. I would like to get my hands on one.