New pup covers

[Chris P.]

If I'm right that has the same dimensions as a normal Strat pick up.

[exiledarchangel]

Yes, it is the same size as a strat pickup. You can use it without a cover, as a matter of fact you can't use a strat pickup cover with those pickups.

GFS pickups are great btw, I've got a pair of humbucker lipsticks for my epi lp guitar, they sound gerat!!!

[drbassman]

I like the look and specs of the GFS rail pups, but I'd really like them to fit under my covers.  There's only enough room for a pup that's 2.75" x .625" and the typical non-rail Strat pup looks to be 2.635" x .6".   My concern is the comment on the GFS site that says "you'll have to open up the hole on your pickguard a little" to use these rail pups.  How much is "a little?"

So, that's where I'm coming from.

[Tim Armstrong]

It's definitely as big as a Strat pickup with a cover already on it, if not slightly bigger...

Cheers, Tim

[drbassman]

Yeah, as an example, the SD rail pup which is similar to the GFS one would be too big to fit in my Gibson covers.  It's too wide frmo top to bottom at .73".  I only have .625" inside my covers.   A regular Start pup without a cover would fit, I'm just not sure about the rails.

Is the cover on the GFS rail pup removable?

SD specs.........

[Dave W]

Is the cover on the GFS rail pup removable?

I could be wrong but I think the top is actually the top of the bobbin itself, not a separate cover.

[drbassman]

Is the cover on the GFS rail pup removable?

I could be wrong but I think the top is actually the top of the bobbin itself, not a separate cover.

I think you may be correct Dave.  It looks that way in the pictures.

So, if you were going to put a regular sized Strat pup in my covers, what kind of specs would you look for?  Should I go really hot with 9k or more outputs?  Would a pup wound for neck or middle be better than bridge?  I'm really not sure here.

[Dave W]

Traditionally Strat pickups were wound the same for all positions, which is why the bridge pickups sometimes had too little output compared to the others -- because of its positioning.That's why some aftermarket makers wind the bridge hotter to compensate. So if you're looking for hotter, you're more likely to find it in a pickup wound for a Strat bridge position.

Of 6-pole single coil Strat pickups with removable covers, the DiMarzio FS-1 (DP110) is the most aggressive I've heard. It's got plenty of bass and mids in a Strat, I can only imagine how it would do in a bass tuning. I can't link to it directly since DiMarzio has a Flash site but the technical data is here: http://www.dimarzio.com/media/pdfs/tech_data-quick_guide.pdf

[drbassman]

Cool Dave, I see now.  They have some nice looking pups there.  Even some humbuckers in the traditional cover!  Should be interesting.

[Chris P.]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I was surprised to see a new pick up from (I think) SD. A P90 and single coil in one humbucker size pick up!

[drbassman]

No problem Chris, I think we've answered my questions about the Strat pups.  Now I just have to decide what to do.  Dimarzio makes some humbuckers Strats that would fit, very tempting.  The SD are pretty much single coil.  I've got plenty of time to think about it.