Best Pick Ups for Blues Like Stevie Ray in Telecaster

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Favorite Texas Blues/SRV-esque strat pickups

• Thread starter guitargeek135
• Start date Jul 27, 2017

• #1

What pickups are yall loving these days? I'm going for the Stevie Ray sounds. So far I'm leaning towards the Fralin Blues Special and the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot but would love other options!

Thanks!

Updating my OP:

A little more context...these are going in an old MIM strat that currently has Fender Custom Shop '69 pups in it. This is my red-headed stepchild of a strat, so I'm just looking for a different flavor. I have the vintage and low output sounds covered in my Custom Shop '57 strat & Eric Johnson strat, and the high output covered in a deluxe strat with 3 humbuckers.

As far as the other elements to the SRV sound...yes, I've got fender amps and fender-inspired amps covered, as well as multiple tube screamers. I used to play with 13s on this strat but I'm thinking I'm going to go down to 11s just out of comfort. And I bang the crap out of the strings on all my guitars, so I understand the impact playing dynamics can have on tone.

Just looking for a different arrow in my tone quiver.

Last edited: Jul 28, 2017

• #2

Either one will get you there.

SRV used a lot weaker pickups than you might think. A large part of his tone came from the heavier strings, a Tube Screamer into a cranked Fender amp and obviously his heart and fingers.

• #3

Fralin Blues Specials are fantastic. Haven't tried the Duncans but they make a lot of great pickups too.

• #4

What pickups are yall loving these days? I'm going for the Stevie Ray sounds. So far I'm leaning towards the Fralin Blues Special and the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot but would love other options!

Thanks!

Fender Pure Vintage '59 pickups. Replaced '69s in my Classic Player Stat and experienced much of the fatt articulation and sweet top end that SRV is known for. Pickups need to be fairly low to get "that sound." Price is right, too.

• #5

Texas Specials or Tex Mex for me.
Had Fralin Blues but they sounded indentical to TS's so I sold the Blues instead of reinstalling them.... and they were worth more on the market..

• #6

Texas Specials are supposed to be the shizz when impersonating SRV.

• #7

Check out the Van Zandt website. Their PUs have been used by SRV, Jimmie Vaughan, and Smokin' Joe Kubek. They still make great PUs. I like the Vintage Plus in the bridge and the True Vintage in the mid and neck positions. Great tone.

I also really like the Don Mare Junior Watson set. You can't go wrong with Lollars either.

http://www.vanzandtpu.com/pickups.html

Last edited: Jul 27, 2017

• #8

Texas Specials have done it for me

• #9

Fralin vintage hots. SRV's pickups were low output. I had early texas specials, they were all mids no highs.

• #10

I've had Texas Specials in a couple of Strats. In some, big fat woody tones. In others, just kind of so-so ok. I'm one of those "sum of the parts" thinking guys - yes pups, but...body wood, neck wood, fretboard all together combine to make for the basic tone(s) of any particular piece. A point of discussion here and on many boards over many years. To each his own.

• #12

Texas Specials are sick! try them

• #13

More about the amp IMO. Most avg. output Strat pups will do it.

• #14

Either one will get you there.

SRV used a lot weaker pickups than you might think. A large part of his tone came from the heavier strings, a Tube Screamer into a cranked Fender amp and obviously his heart and fingers.

Yes, low output pickups, im using the Klein 1959 Epic Series set, the neck pickup is 5.9k, best strat repro pickups today in my opinion. 11 gauge set of strings is all you need, not a massive sound difference going up from there as there is going from 10s to 11s. Any good fender tube amp will work, but something with a 15" speaker like a 64 Vibroverb is gonna get you that sound, fat with a big low end. Then a ts-808 for overdrive or as a boost. I can go for days about how to get the SRV sound, but you've got to have in your hands and your soul! Have fun.
Liam

• #17

I own Onamac Texas Magic and Fralin Blues Specials. Both are 10 out of 10, IMO. You can't go wrong with either.

• #18

Slightly OT..... Texas Specials are the victim of being the high school sweetheart of pickups. Everyone wanted them, raved about them, had them, lived happily with them for years....now...they want something new and trash talk ol' sweetheart

• #20

I just installed Texas Specials in my 95 MIM Strat. Its a really good playing guitar but was collecting dust because the pickups were awful. They were dull and very noisy. The TS's transformed the guitar!!

Definitely has that SRV kind of thing when you cranked up the amp a bit. It think the idea was to add in the Tube Screamer thing with these pickups. Perhaps the TS has double meaning?

I played it yesterday through my 2 amp setup and it sounds fantastic! Cleans, screaming blues stuff etc.

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Source: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/favorite-texas-blues-srv-esque-strat-pickups.1850867/