Pre-load Strat Pickguards ?!

[Alicia Willis]

I have a 2019 Player Series HSS strat. Alnico V single coils and Alnico II humbucker.

I love the sound/tone of my guitar coupled with out tube amps but I’ve been looking to deepen the sound.

I would like a lighter, brighter, neck pickup but wouldn’t mind a bit more nastiness from my humbucker lol.

ive looked at various pre loaded pick guards and the Seymour Duncan 920 D seems like it might fit the bill on paper but I can’t find any videos with anyone using a lot of distortion or gain.
what would captain ED recommend?
or should I leave what I have alone and just maybe work on tweaking amp settings / pedals ?

I have two tube amps. A Blackstar and a Marshall.

 

[Ed Seith]

Last person to talk to. I have never found a Strat I got along with. I just this week got my first ever SSS guitar, and it's an Ernie Ball Music Man.

 

[Alicia Willis]

Last person to talk to. I have never found a Strat I got along with. I just this week got my first ever SSS guitar, and it's an Ernie Ball Music Man.

lol I guess I should have put this elsewhere. You are the mighty and powerful ED though !

 

[Alicia Willis]

I tried several guitars when I finally got my own (not playing my hubby’s guitars) and fenders just feel great in my hands. But I want to nail down the tone I want lol. We have a schecter that feels nice (not as nice as my fender) and I get a heavier tone out of it (it has EMG’s)
I might be reaching to far on what my guitar can do lol

 

[Alicia Willis]

Last person to talk to. I have never found a Strat I got along with. I just this week got my first ever SSS guitar, and it's an Ernie Ball Music Man.

Also, I don’t have Ernie Ball Music man money lol. We just finished paying off the Malmsteen strat and then the hubby sold it. The man is the king of the buy and sale I swear ! Lol

 

[Jesse Salmons]

God i wish i could help but alas im a humbucker guy! What i would do is use the videos that ARE available and see how well they compare to your idea of the sound you want. Sometimes though, the sound you’re looking for could be in a pedal, could be in different amp settings, and even settings on your guitars tone knob. Before buying anything id tweak your settings and see if maybe you can get that sound out of your current gear, and if not, continue on looking! Sorry i couldnt be more help!

 

[Ed Seith]

lol I guess I should have put this elsewhere. You are the mighty and powerful ED though !

Just cuz it's got my name on it doesn't mean I'm the only one with answers, or even the one with the BEST answers. It still fits here. I like to learn shit, too!

 

[Ed Seith]

EMGs are EMGs no matter what they're in, but there are a lot of hot humbuckers out there that will beef up your strat. You mentioned wanting a loaded pickguard - you can try something like this:

Introducing The Dave Murray Loaded Pickguard For Stratocaster - Seymour Duncan

Now anybody can easily customize their Strat with Dave Murray’s preferred pickup set with the Seymour Duncan Dave Murray Loaded Pickguard For Stratocaster.

www.seymourduncan.com

 

[idssdi]

I have no experience with changing pickups in my guitar so I would definitely advice going through the settings on your amp/tone knob before buying a new pick guard

I did do a little googling though

Fender Pre-Wired Strat Pickguard Shawbucker/Gen 4 HSS (Tortoise She...

Voorbedrade pickguard voor Stratocaster e-gitaar, Fender Shawbucker Humbucker, 4th Generation Noiseless Single-Coil pickups.

www.musicstore.com

Fender American Performer HSS Stratocaster LOADED PICKGUARD Strat Double Tap!

Your finest resource for guitar parts! Fender, Gibson, Charvel, Seymour Duncan, Guitar Bodies, Guitar Necks, Loaded Pickguards, Guitar Pickups and more...

stratosphereparts.com

There's also a Steve luckather hss preloaded pickgiard but those are Emgs so don't know whether that works if you don't have a battery compartment in your guitar yet.

Most preloaded pickguards are sss so for your configuration it may be better to buy separate pickups to get the king of tone you want out of it.

 

[Alicia Willis]

God i wish i could help but alas im a humbucker guy! What i would do is use the videos that ARE available and see how well they compare to your idea of the sound you want. Sometimes though, the sound you’re looking for could be in a pedal, could be in different amp settings, and even settings on your guitars tone knob. Before buying anything id tweak your settings and see if maybe you can get that sound out of your current gear, and if not, continue on looking! Sorry i couldnt be more help!

I have a humbucker in my strat now. Love it and it’s mostly what I use lol. I rarely use my single coils.
I find the issue with a lot of videos for fender stuff is they only focus on ONE type of sound. Which I get. But if I’m paying $$$ I want to see everything it can doya know. Not just the typical fender sound.

 

[Alicia Willis]

EMGs are EMGs no matter what they're in, but there are a lot of hot humbuckers out there that will beef up your strat. You mentioned wanting a loaded pickguard - you can try something like this:

Introducing The Dave Murray Loaded Pickguard For Stratocaster - Seymour Duncan

Now anybody can easily customize their Strat with Dave Murray’s preferred pickup set with the Seymour Duncan Dave Murray Loaded Pickguard For Stratocaster.

www.seymourduncan.com

Holy shit ! Thanks ! Idk how I’ve not seen this one yet !!!!

 

[Alicia Willis]

I have no experience with changing pickups in my guitar so I would definitely advice going through the settings on your amp/tone knob before buying a new pick guard

I did do a little googling though

Fender Pre-Wired Strat Pickguard Shawbucker/Gen 4 HSS (Tortoise She...

Voorbedrade pickguard voor Stratocaster e-gitaar, Fender Shawbucker Humbucker, 4th Generation Noiseless Single-Coil pickups.

www.musicstore.com

Fender American Performer HSS Stratocaster LOADED PICKGUARD Strat Double Tap!

Your finest resource for guitar parts! Fender, Gibson, Charvel, Seymour Duncan, Guitar Bodies, Guitar Necks, Loaded Pickguards, Guitar Pickups and more...

stratosphereparts.com

There's also a Steve luckather hss preloaded pickgiard but those are Emgs so don't know whether that works if you don't have a battery compartment in your guitar yet.

Most preloaded pickguards are sss so for your configuration it may be better to buy separate pickups to get the king of tone you want out of it.

Thanks Ids ! I had looked at the first one you sent. It might fit the bill. Youre right too, there are so many options for SSS strats, so maybe just redoing the pickups themselves would be a better idea.
I was just trying to get around having to take it to someone lol.