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Please tell me about the APS-1. Sound, everything. Thanks!

I don't know about the 1's, but the 2's are great - warm and fat

you might check the reviews of vintage strat pickups in The Vault


Originally Posted by fuzzyratfartsPlease tell me about the APS-1. Sound, everything. Thanks!AGHHH YOU'VE OPENED PANDORA'S BOX!!!

I put a APS1 in the neck, an APS1 RWRP in the middle, and an APS2 in the bridge of my MIA strat on Dec. 30. I haven't looked back.

I started out looking at these due to the luck I had with my APH in the bridge of my Heritage. I then read Lew's quot;Ultimate Strat Tonequot; thread. After that I started listening to clips and posted my questions on the forum. Lew and Curly were VERY helpful. I started out thinking APS1, APS1 and a SSL-5 (custom) then Curly got me to thinking about the hot. In the end I wanted to stick with the A2 mag so I got the flat polepieces where I could get a beefier sound.

I have never really cared for strats but now I am a believer that a strat with three singles can truly sound great. Of course lately I've added some effects to my rig which made me like this guitar more than before.

I looked up my review and will post it below. Hope this helps man!

Luke

A week and a half of strat pups and boy am I weirded out! I haven't had strat singles before. Well on Dec. 30 I got my strat put back together and put in my A2P's, as well as new pots, switches, etc and then put vintage style wire to the jack and grounds. Here is my review....thus far.
Alnico 2 Pro for strat staggered polepieces, neck position 6.4k ohms DC resistance It sounds like a strat pup what can I say? The neck pup produces and nice clear sound. Great for strumming chords or add a little dirt and play some blues. It doesn't have a glassy sound but still sounds very stratty, around sound like an wide open mouth when you sing. Alnico 2 Pro for strat staggered polepieces RW/RP, middle position 6.4k Ohms DC Resistance

This pup is my wife's favorite. It's raised slightly higher than the neck and is brighter than the neck but not the bridge. This pup sounds good clean or dirty. Throw some gain in and it retains the strat sound and character, but retains upper register definition. It works well for all uses, be it clean, dirty, rythym, or lead. The low string definition with gain is lacking proably due to pup height.

In the neck/middle position you can get the coveted smooth quot;out of phasequot; sound. It is very nice for playing Pipeline's or Walk Don't Run's more mellow parts. For the brighter parts you can switch over to the neck bridge sound or bridge pup.

The middle/bridge it makes a great strat rythym sound with gain. It sounds good for lead playing clean especially but it's not bad with gain. Good low end with punch in the mids and highs make these pup very usable for all types of music and the sound cuts through fairly well.

Alnico 2 Pro for Strat flat polepieces bridge position 6.2k ohms DC Resistance

I like the flat poles best. It seems to allow me more control over the tonality of the pup and what I hear coming out. I would recommend flat pole pieces over staggered. In the bridge position the pup cuts through, but not in a shrill ice pick way but naturally. A bit of a boost will help it really get the job done. It sounds thicker than any other strat I've heard and it is rich with plenty of overtones and gets a great classic, to hard rock sound. Clean this pup sounds good for 50's/60's crashing reverb tones or more mellow sounds. The pup lends itself to nuance as do most Duncans.

I played my strat (1999 US Fender Big Apple Strat that is now single coil equipped) through a Fender 64 BF Vibro-champ with a boss dual OD, Marshall horizontal input 100 watt JCM 800 with EL34's, Marshall vertical input 50 watt JCM 800 6L6's, (both Marshalls with a Klon Centaur) and a Dr. Z Maz Jr 18 watt with a SD booster pedal.

bump

My APS1s are very smooth and punchy....so sweet, with the notch position being very pleasant indeed. I toog the staggered pole pieces option. Revers wound/polarity in mid. A pre-calibrated set will probably be cheaper too. Do it... No desire to swop them out. Keen to get another strat and try other SD pups.

Compared to the alnico 5 SSL -1 and 2, the alnico 2 APS-1 and 2 sound smoother in the highs and not as glassy. The APS series have more mids and since the magnetic field is a little weaker you can move them a little closer to the strings. The APS pickups have thicker chunkier mids than the SSL series and sweeter, less glassy highs and maybe a little less bass. I think staggered poles tend give single coils more midrange transparancy and a bubblier, chimier tone than flat poles. Also, since the staggered poles will be a little closer to the strings than the flat poleed version would be, the overall tone of the pickup seems to be a little brighter with staggered poles, IMO. Lew

Would the APS2 be a god match for the JB. I want it for chord strumming.