Squier sounds tubby, muffled. Fralin has clear, distinct articulation. You can dial in various tones with Fralin, but dry sounds great.
Guess it would depend on whatcha wanna play…. I like ‘em both, but I tend to gravitate towards the Squire - then again, I’m old and according to the VA (and my wife), my hearing is pretty much ruined.
Thank you for your input, gentlemen! I don’t dislike the Squier, but I’m liking the Fralin a bit more and I’m going to ask Fralin what they recommend for new pots/capacitor.
Good plan. Congrats, @JerryP.
Thanks Mike!
I think there’s a sweet spot around 40-50% on a tone pot with many P pups. That’s my thought.
Also good plan going forward.
Fralin - clearer, clear and articulate, nice bite/growl
Squier - agree it’s tubby and it that’s with the tone up 100% I’d say limiting.
Fralin for the win IMO
I got an email in to Fralin; waiting to hear what they recommend.
Lools lile someone had a gilt complex.
Fralin recommends 250K and a 0.47 uf or 0.5 uF capacitor. He didn’t mention audio or linear taper.
Fralin.
You can shape that tone for anything. The Squier is muddy, esp at 100%
It sounds like you played the Fralin with lighter touch too. On the Squier, you had more meat on the strings but it didn’t come off harsh. I’d hazard a guess that if you do the same on Fralin it would sound more angry
Squier: more muddy, underwater sounding. Less substance to the tone, I bet with the tone rolled off or even at 50%, it would be pretty bland
Fralin: Brighter but not too much, much more substance, I’m betting a good sound throughout the tone knob settings.
Most of the squiers Ive opened up have 2 250k pots and a .047 capacitor. I’d love to know if a set of different (maybe better) pots would make a difference. If you go that route, please post a sound clip.
Will do.
I wouldn’t recommend higher than .047 unless you want it to be darker. 250k will sound darker than 500k but on a bass will be fine.
Audio or linear is more about how you prefer them to act as you roll off the pots, and neither matters at 100%
The Fralin sounds so much better than the Squier to me there it’s not even close. The Squier is more muddy and lacking in definition, clarity, and higher harmonics. Fralin all the way.
That said, the Squier DID sound better than I expected; it wasn’t terrible anyway, just much more bland and muddy than the Fralin. It did have a nice, round, almost filtered sounding quality though - it wasn’t terrible.
“Not terrible” is a pretty good description of how I feel about more or less most stock Fender pickups I guess.
@JerryP I liked the Fralin.
It gave me aromas of rich dark currants, nectarine skins, gushing blackberry, but lots of fragrant tobacco, rich soil, white flowers, smashed minerals and metal. Medium-bodied and saucy but racy acidity stabilises the highs nicely with the robust tannins. Deep red currants and ripe cherries, laden with mocha, loamy soil, charred herbs, pencil shavings, roasted hazelnut. Dense like characters that make it perfect for Motown covers.
OK, quick question…
My local GC has the components I need; why would I spend $16.99 for an Allparts Orange drop cap versus $2.99 for an Allparts ceramic cap?