Thanks so much for following me on my tone journey! Minute markers in the description! Please bare in mind the tone comparisons Josefinas clip is on a different amp. Not ideal I know! But I knew I wanted to change them so I’m less bothered there! Thanks to Mick, Tim at Bare Kncukle, and Radioshop pickups! Hope you enjoy this episode. Will it be the last?!

@dreiight

4 жыл бұрын

OMG thanks for the Heart! ❤️Im from Philippines ❤️❤️

@yetanotherbassdude

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe worth rerecording the Josefinas using the same amp setup as the others? I really like the sound of them, but that could also be that I prefer the amp. Kind of hard to separate the two.

@jorismak

4 жыл бұрын

please stop using the LUT from the last few videos.. you look like you lived in the desert for the last 10 years :)

@mariodriessen9740

4 жыл бұрын

It may be the amp, but I can only hear what I can hear. And what I hear is these Josefina's sounding way better to my ears than all of the other sets.

@TheSeanCreagh

4 жыл бұрын

You going to try mixing and matching the different pickups? Like, having a mother's milk in the neck, a josefina in the middle and a 63 veneer in the bridge? Might find the magic combination?

I like seeing you testing stuff instead of just demoing it at the end. I would love to see more videos like these. Keep up the great content! :D

It is amazing how tone heaven is so close to tone hell.

@mcd5778

3 жыл бұрын

Same with real hell

The CS Josefina for me, hands down. EXCELLENT series, Rabea. Thanks for doing this.

I love watching you play your touch is so soft at times... yet you play hard as well , shows that you need to vary your technique and playing for the moment and music

This series helped me with my strat pu journey. I've tried multiple Fender CS, Monty's, Kloppmann, Duncans. What helped me in particular is what you said about the wire. I prefer enamel wire with low output. When you played the mother's milk for the first time, I had the exact same smile you had. I love how punchy and mid scooped they are. I'm gonna go and purchase a set right now. Thanks Rabea!

Hey, thanks for bringing us along your journey.. enjoy making your choice!

Just put emgs and a floyd in it

@RabeaMassaad

4 жыл бұрын

Hahaha don’t tempt me

@harrisfrankou2368

4 жыл бұрын

Van Halen stripes?

@TimSklyarovMusic

4 жыл бұрын

@@RabeaMassaad and after that you must remove the floyd, fill in the hole, retouche the body and install original tremolo and josefinas back :) As one guitarist did... :)

@seba.makron

4 жыл бұрын

I love EMG SA sound in David Gilmour red Strat

@stabiloskus

4 жыл бұрын

HAHAHAHHA 😂😂

YES! Just wanted to let you know I just received a Bare Knuckle Silo to put in my new guitar! Can't wait to try it out! 🔥

Great! Very enjoyable and relaxing. They all sound good to me, but I'll admit to really liking the Ron Ellis and Custom Shop pickups for different reasons. But mainly they both sound really natural and the tones are balanced among settings. Some of the others have a "WHOA! NEW POSITION" sound to them. Maybe it's just me. Also I laughed out loud to the Mick popup and honk. I needed that after all the crazy shit that's been going down here in the US today. I"m ready for the next one and consistently dig your playing and vids.

The Josefinas still sound the warmest to me.

@willdask8ter72

4 жыл бұрын

Completely agree, the others are just missing that something

@pbasswil

4 жыл бұрын

To me it's not their 'warmth', per se, it's just their overall tonal balance. For me, they're the most musical. They have a beautiful sound, clean; I don't think I'd ever crank the gain or stomp on an o.d. or dist.!

@klashy47

3 жыл бұрын

This video convinced me to go buy some! 🤦🏻‍♂️& I just wanted to hear the difference. lol

Hi Rabea, def with my headphones on I liked the warm tones of the josefinas ! Thanks for the time with this vid.

I just picked up an Eric Johnson Thinline Strat. Wanted one since they first came out. It's so perfect the way it is, and the pickups are so good, I don't have to do a thing to it other than play. Keep up the good work. You'll find what fits what you want.

Dude you're looking great. Congrats on shedding a few lbs my dude. Love this tone video!!!

I'm thinking your Josefinas sound most like the tone I have in my head when I ponder reasons to buy a Strat. It's a very sweet tone to which you can always add some hair if you need it.

@kempire4623

4 жыл бұрын

Agreed. They have that buttery strat sound. I like the 2 bare nuckles second, but found them both pretty similar. The radioshop just sounded like something was missing and the grey bottoms had too much

@bill9163

4 жыл бұрын

Bea already has a substantial amount of hair

Adonized gold pickguard looks soooo sick with the sunburst! Love your vids!

I've been looking forward to this!

Love the vids and your style ! And this gold scratch plate is awesome 👌

BK 63 Veneer Board PUPs sound the best to my ears...always fantastic Bea keep rocking brother!

They all sound awesome, dude! I think the '63 Veneer suit your playing the most, but every set you've tried (including the originals) sound great 👌

Been waiting for this one! Woo Hoo!

Miss Campos gets the nod for me.Josefina is a legend and after listening,I know why. Great vid Bea! Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks to share this.

I really like the Ron Ellis pickup's. The high end is there but without that piercing ice pick quality to it but it keeps alot of that bottom end we love. Try 1 pickup frome each set and see how that goes! Beautiful playing Bea!

Realy like those pickup vids. And man lovely playing dude🤙

This is an amazing series, most of the time the comparisons are so close to not bother but these all sound amazing in their own way! I like the veneer board ones I think :) The Josephinas were on a different amp so it's hard to tell, they sound more compressed in that clip and I love more open clearer sounds, the closer to David Gilmour the better imo haha! I hope you put out a final video and let us know why you chose them! :)

Such a fantastic player! Mothers Milk were my favourite, plus such a great name!

First of all, high compliments on the exceptional playing style. To my ear, the original Josefina's still reign supreme over all the options demoed in this video. There is just this unspoken "thing" about the tones these generate, partly in the single note bite early on but particularly the lower end chording that is clear and bell like. Wonderful demonstration.

Those Gray bottom pickups sounded very percussive and funky with long sustain i really like the way they sounded.

I’ve done what your doing with every set of custom shop pickups made. It’s something you have to do but after having done it , the original fenders that come in the guitars are usually the best. They really know what they’re doing at fender, and got it right the first time and are still getting it right today! One secret that prs figured out when researching vintage strat pickups, was that the bridge usually had the weakest output of the three, although they were all 3 pretty close. Most people try the opposite with hotter bridge outputs, so they never get it right! Having said all this, there are two other makers I tried that rival the fenders and those are lindy fralin , and Jason lollar!

Hearing the Josefinas melted my heart - hard to explain, crisp but mellow, clear but warm, and also the string definition is the most even. But the Ron Ellis seem to be close and strong enough to cut through the mix.

Pretty happy you liked the '63 Veneer board set, I have that set - well voiced for maple boards. Looking forward to seeing what set you choose!

I've spent entirely too much money over the last few weeks on tone journey gear and I fully blame you, Mick, and Dan lmao. Bought my first p90 guitar ('19 gibson les paul special tribute dc in blue), ordered a set of silos for my prestige s5470q, set of montys pafs for my epiphone LP traditional pro, emerson 50s wiring kit for the epi, locking tuners for both the gibson and epi and a Ryra Klone. I can't wait for the pickups to get here.

Good luck ! They all sounded good!

I cannot watch these videos without picking up my strat!!!!! LOL!!! Love the vids!!!!! Cheers from Texas!

The '63 Veneer Board is currently winning imo. Really nice sounding 👌

Gotta say I love Mick's pickups and that Mick Taylor is the man!.

Holy f**k! Haven't watched you in a while, you just keep shrinking! Looking great dude.

I love these Vids !

The Ron Ellis set of pickups sound about 1000% better to my ears! Warm, sweet, articulate, dynamic AND aggressive at the same time. One of the best Strat pickups I’ve heard so far!

Hey Rabea, just wanted to say I've really enjoyed this series of videos. Thanks for all the great work. My two cents - I think I prefer the Josefinas.

Those Ron Ellis totally kill! Great strat tones! A winner for me! The bk 63 comes pretty close to but those Ron Ellis just did a special thing

@AbcDino843

2 жыл бұрын

Higher output, that's all I think.

Hey Rabea, Thank you for this great comparison! Really appreciate it! Good to see (and to hear) it from a players point of view... I prefer the mother‘s milk for the nice punch... Take care Fobbl

What a great vid. For what it’s worth I’m a real BK fan but the radio shop sounded really great.

hearing them back to back, OMG the ron ellis!

Man I found you on a Leo video and have been watching your videos and subscribed. First I had a band at the beginning of the 80's. Me on guitar and my cousin on drums, my brother singing and a friend Mike White who's father was Harold White, some country music star, but we wrote our own music and played bars and parties. The DT's. Well I have not played in 27 years and you make me want to play again. I am going to try. I still have my stick and amp.

15:56 Holy mother of God! When you played that E chord my face melted.

I really liked the mother's milk set, and those Ron Ellis pickups sound fantastic!

Throughout the whole journey I preferred the original set. Now it’s the Ron Ellis! The volume knob is your friend if they’re too much. Sterling work as always!

I'm just now watching this and I think it's cool that you took the time to try all the stuff even if you're just going to end up with the originals.

All the pickups sounded good in their own way. I've watched enough of your videos to notice that you do have a liking for a clean, expansive, ethereal sounds. That is something the Josefina's can deliver, but the other's can't. It's easy to add breakup, overdrive, dirt, etc. to your tone with a pedal. You can't make a dirty pickup sound clean unless you turn the pots way down, but then you give up on the rich tones you get by having the pots wide open. If you want those beautiful clean tones, then of the pickups you've tested, I think the Josefina's would be the best choice. Thanks for sharing your tone journey, which many of us have made numerous times.

It's the Josefina's for me ... " back to ground zero. They sound beyond perfect to my ears. All the sets are great, as always it's the tone that's in "your" head. Also, do any of the sets feel different? Is it harder to get the notes and articulations from some of them? I don't mind sacrificing a bit of tone if a set plays easier, you'll more than make up for it in the articulation you'll put forth in your playing.

I will applaud you for testing these out so I don't have to. I will just keep my noiseless pickups and work with the eq.

I'm going to guess that the veneer boards are going to work so well in a mix.. in a band context everything is going to change so much. One of my favourite strats is actually wired up so I can get the bridge and neck together, and that works really well in a band context opposite another strat or Gibsonish tone because I can switch out to a tele(ish) sound! I'll say it till I'm blue in the face, guitar in isolation is one of my favourite sounds BUT 99% of the time as working musicians our guitars are part of a greater whole and THAT is the ultimate tonal test. Rabea, man, I have to say I've REALLY enjoyed this series, after 30 plus years of playing all I can say is that just when you think you're finished with one rabbit hole, another opens, but that's all part of the joy and the journey!

What a lovely journey this has been :)

Wow , those Josefina's are beautiful! Best, Pete.

You inspire me to play and chase tone. Thanks for that. Cheers

The way Fender made it originally sounds great to me. This was fun, at least I know I really can’t go wrong with any of those choices. Thanks

I have to concur with most of the comments here regarding the Josefinas. They are the only set that delivers that classic early 50s Strat sound. They sound just like the guitar looks and that’s perfect for me. Since I’m a cheap bastard I have the Tonerider Surfaris in my 50s Strat which come surprisingly close to the Josefinas. Just a little bit less clarity I guess. The others are way to hot to my ears, even the 57s. They all have so much more gain, when clean jangly twang is the sound that this guitar should deliver. Of course the other pickups sound amazing, but they are just not suited for the 50s Strat sound. In a mid to late 60s they would indeed be perfect!

💣💣Oh hell yeah the Josephine’s for sure. You can always warm/heat up the signal but it’s very hard to get back to that round clear strat tone if you go too far past 1960 😂 great vid series long live the bunny holes

Love the white aged 3ply pick guard. The original pickups are the best “Josefinas”.

I've owned a lot of Strats and moded them all to some degree including pickups. A few years back I traded for a Fender Kenny Wayne Shepherd model. I've changed the tuners (Hipshot staggered locking) and the bridge (Calaham vintage narrow), but have never even considered opening the control cavity. For whatever reason the stock "Fender KWS Custom Voiced" pickups just sound amazing. Apparently Kenny spent a year working with Fender to find the correct "voice" for the pickups he wanted, and they nailed it! They have the warmth, articulation and vintage tone I think many of us seek, but struggle to find. This guitar is MIM, but it plays and sounds like a Custom Shop instrument...

Went through this a few years back. I really like the Josefina's as well. I ended up settling on the Custom Shop 69's and haven't looked back. Really enjoyed the series.

Your playing is stellar as always brother. The Josefina's sound best to me. I know you said this was the end, but I would have to suggest Virgil Arlo 54s or Fender CS 59s. I run the 59s in an ash bodied Strat and they sound similar to the Josefinas but with a bit more warmth. Enjoy the journey my dude.

Fender custom shop has really figured out the way to remove the harsh top end and still ring like a bell type tone. I have been trying out the hand wound ones and really never anything sounded so balanced across all strings, really i am over searching for new sets. Enjoyed watching your journey Bea.

For me the Josefinas sound the best but now that I know you are playing them through a different amp it makes me question that....but they sound SO good!!

I can only reiterate what I've said before... they all sound amazing in your hands Bea! :-) Sometimes it takes a bit of a journey to find out that you like home just the way it is.

Ron Ellis stand out as having the most character making the others seem flat and standard.... after having jumped around the video hearing them back to back. At first I thought they broke up too much but then figured that is awesomeness lol..... I have a 2006 Eric Johnson strat I think is plain sounding and those Ellis one's would give it some balls!

Great video as always. I do prefer the Ron Ellis as well. I’m sure it’ll never end.with the tone search.

love that tone! planning to upgrade my classic vibe strat pickups to bkp mothers milk after watching this series 😂 🥰

I now have two Fender Custom Shop Strats. A 59 and 57, I’m leaving the stock hand wound pickups in both. They are perfect for the guitars.

Josephinas for me, thanks for sharing. On my custom Strat I currently use Rene Martinez Texas set with Emerson blender controls. Very happy with this set up, a keeper .

Can i say that every pick up sounds amazing? hahaha Just personal taste so definitely fall in the rabbit hole!

Great upload. I prefer the Josefina ones. I think they complement that guitar perfectly. All the others are awesome too, though... Cheers

This was really interesting to watch. To be honest, it is difficult to decide which pickups sound 'best.' It must be a matter of personal preference. I know it is 'wrong' but the white three-ply scratch plate looks best to me, especially with white pickups. Can't wait to see which you go for Rob.

This is a brawl between titans , Rabea, thanks for giving us the chance of listening top-notch tones. Anyway Josephina's warmest , probably the ones singing more with your touch are Mother's Milk . Veneer probably more all-rounded , Ron Ellis … bare with me mate , I can see Mick's eminent point , but prolly they fit better his touch/playstyle. They just didn't "click" with you I thought.

Bea, the Ron Ellis have the "thing" that I identify with the best of vintage guitars. Hard to describe but it's a bit of compression combined with articulation that gets me every time...

I feel like your sonic evaluation of each set is spot on. And out of these, I prefer the BK '63 veneer board. Not pokey, not weak, very balanced and with really nice character. FWIW, I'm a big fan of Bare Knuckle. I have a set of Trilogy Suite pickups in a Warmoth strat and it absolutely kills. So much output but still so "Stratty". I have a set of Lindy Fralin Real '54s in my other strat. Then I have a pair of Mules in my Gibson Lucille and a pair of Warpigs in an Epi Flying V tuned to C standard. Of course, the best way to handle this is to have a different strat for every set of pickups. Then, instead of suffering needlessly in this tonal rabbit hole, just have your cake and eat it too. lol

The josephinas were recorded differently, panned in the middle, whereas all the others panned right, which leads me to believe the set-up is different too. I’d need the josephinas recorded the same way to make proper judgement, but in this video they just sound the best. Thanks for this, loved it.

WOW! At first I had 2 conclusions; I didn't like the Mothers Milk pickups, and that I prefered the Radio Shop pickups overall. That was until you plugged those Ron Ellis in though. MAN! That sound! Now we know how Mick is so good! His tone is all in his guitar! :P I need to get me some of those!

I would have bet you anything this would be my last response but I like the Josefinas best. I can't believe I'm even typing this. I didn't know Radio Shop before this but I would have bet on the Bare Knuckles before we started and, once announced, was sure the Ron Ellis pickups might do it but... nope. They're all pretty good (and fairly similar) but I actually love the warmth of the Fender Custom Shop set. That being said, I've never been a big fan of that "chimey" sound most often associated with the Tele but also the Strat. My favorite Strat (I've got three) has a Custom Shop "Texas Special" set that I lower as low as possible (a tip from Dan Patlansky - works great) and it's so versatile. My other two have a Custom Shop "Custom '54" set and DiMarzio set. This was a great series. Stay safe everyone. Cheers from Florida.

@Macmax7077

4 жыл бұрын

I think he needs to try the Ron Ellis Mid 60's.

I'm really glad you did this video. I have BKP Mothers Milk pickups in my Strat and had been gassing for a set of those Ron Ellis after hearing Mick's vlog. Now having heard them in comparison to the MM though I actually prefer the BKP tone. It's interesting that you were struggling to hear much difference between the MM and 63 Veneer sets. When I asked BKP about the 2 the response I got was that the difference in tone is negligible as they're basically aiming at the same tone and the difference is that the 63s are more vintage accurate in their construction. I think the only thing I'm going to change on my Strat is to fit a baseplate to the bridge pup to get just a little bit more grrrr from it 😂

This is fun! If you want to throw your mind in the blender get a set of injector pickups. They sound so good for single lines and legato. They don't quack as you would expect but make up for super cool sound. Keep us posted on your findings.

Totally convinced me to purchase the Ron Ellis 64's. I was very close purchasing the Mothers Milk, but I like that extra drive the '64's gave. Nice growl.

Hey, Bea. I'm torn between the 63 Veneers and the Ellis set from Micks Strat. The neck pickup on the 63's sounded monstrous, and the bridge was fat and not "too" Strat-y. However, Mick's cleaned up so nicely. The note chime and string seperation in that 4th position was a thing of audible beauty. Cheers!

I prefer the Josefina ones. I think they have a subtlety the others lack. Great playing, as always, by the way! The next thing you could try is mix'n'match different pickups on the same scratch-plate!

I have Lollar's Dirty Blonde's in mine, and I could not be happier. To be honest: They all sound "Very Stratty" and you couldn't go wrong with any choice. Only way to tell: Play through a looper and Demo each pickup (with the exact same phrase) played & edited to be Listened-to: back-to-back-to-back = lot's of work. Easter to Differentiate. Those Josefina's sounded like vintage strat - to me.

I'm loving this series as I'm about to start this same journey, even though I love my fender pickups (Pure Vintage 59's) so thanks so much. Oh and I have a Trans white 50's American Original strat with a 3 ply tort guard on it. No it's not authentic but it looks magnificent :) Go with the heart I say.

For me the bareknuckle mothers milk just scream. after hearing them I'm really considering a set. Great video, thanks for taking us on the journey with you!

@user-of9ut1hd9q

3 жыл бұрын

They really reminded me of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone. Punchy, chimey, and FULL

AMAZING!!!

Do more of these tone adventures!

Clearly the Ron Ellis PUs...great definition, great bottom end and very open sounding.

Thank you so much!!!! Killer chops!!!! Allen Houston, TX🙏🤘❤️

Josephine's sounded best! Loved the clarity and warmth!!

You´ve got a very nice strat and you had a very complex work with this video. I think it took a long time to get it done. Since I´m an old SRV fan I would have liked to hear this great PUs and your great strat with old Fender Amps like an old Deluxe Reverb or a Pro Reverb for example. I love this Fender/Fender combination.

Man, loving these vids! And that sound at @10:40 till 11:00 .... mannnnnn, i want to be able to play that XD I just started 1.5 weeks ago so long way to go but dang would I like to be able to do that someday haha. For my pick i prefer the '63 veneers. For some reason they seem to keep the Earpiercing highs in tome (something i def. prefer in the clean sounds). Not a fan of the grey bottoms tbh, may even say i like them the least XD Keep doing what your doing, Always enjoy your vids and other vids with you in them :)

Watched them all, and for me, it's the Josefinas the whole way through. Just the right blend of all the right ingredients. Not too much, not too little.

Still loving the Mother's Milk set, but to my ear, that's what a blues strat should sound like. Every set sounds great and has it's own character. The Ron Ellis set definitely has an old school late 60s/early 70s rock and roll sound on the crunch.

Rabea, you are the man! Love your videos! Your playing is just fantastic! Just food for thought, with respect to vintage pickups and it is ALL PERSONAL PREFERENCE, obviously. Easy winner, after much research, a boatload of cash for nothing searching for vintage. Vintage, or old and outdated. The best ones I ever had were the Beck Artist and Clapton Artist Strats and I still have the Clapton and have a great guitar to get the Beck back. Their techs: They chose noiseless, because 60 cycle hum sucks, that was not available at the time, so it was a 2 second decision for both. Clapton: I will take a non-relic, Strat, with vintage noiseless to have 5 position with no 60 cycle hum, make a TBX, add a 25DB (built in tube screamer) and that is good! Want the 2 point trem? Thought about it, but I don't use the damn thing! Beck: I will take a hotter noiseless (ceramic magnet needed), 5 positions with no crap 60 cycle hum, LSR nut and give me that modern 2 point, so my Strat stays in tune...I love that and add locking machine heads to that for tuning stability! 22 frets for both thank you! WTF was my big search all about? I did do that and then the Clapton/Beck Artist were freaking fantastic! The Ultra Noiseless are great, but not interested in the Ultra Strat, ONLY, due to nickel frets? Fender? What is that about? You put great stainless steel frets on everything! It is not enough to break the bank, but a new, replacement neck is cheaper, than a fret job? Really? Why, in the world, did I just not go with vintage, hot, or ultra noiseless in the first place? If it was a no-brainer for these 2 legends, what am I looking for? They could have had any pickups they wanted! * I do love these dare and compare Strat pickup searches and they are well done, like this one. After all my effort, a lot of cash...why didn't I just go Beck/Clapton Artist in the first place! They would have used these modern noiseless pickups, if they were available back in the day! Beck: why would I want relic? I want a nice guitar? That is wear and tear, from humidity, temperature changes, travel, tons of hours playing, bumps and bruises? That was no to look cool! That happened, but I want a mint one! People pay extra for the Custom Shop to toss the body around for a while and use old worn necks, with new frets? Why not just buy a mint one? * That was really good food for thought for me! What you like is the best tone, pickups, whatever you like! This is NOT encouragement, but just, my experience and I, for me, should have just bought the Beck and Clapton Artists to start with and would have saved myself a ton of cash. *** Food for thought! Everyone wants to hunt for trolls that aren't! Just food for thought, based on my, personal mistakes and my personal wish, loving those 2 Strats now! I loved the video, Rabea Rocks, the video Rocks, the persons that post rule and this video took a lot of work and is great! I don't care what you pick, but I wished somebody would have just asked me: If you love these 2 icons, just buy their Artist Strats! They picked out the parts they wanted! Rabea! Awesome job, as usual and it confirmed to me, that my Clapton Artist is going nowhere and I will get a Beck back, that I wish I still had. All the best to everyone! What you like is the best! Be Safe! Huge fan of Rabea! Please don't mix up the message, as some sort of hating or trolling...NO...just food for thought and this video did help me, for my preference! Happy playing! Rock on! :)

Although I liked the Ron Ellis the most on your setup I'm reassured by what I hear from the sound profile of the 63 veneer as I just ordered a neck one for my Swamp Ash/Roasted Maple neck Jazzmaster ;). That slight roll-off/smoothing of the mids is really what I will need with Ash. Btw, got your Sillo in bridge haha, it's going to be a heck of a groove machine!