The Best Stratocaster Upgrade! | Lollar Special Blonde Stratocaster Pickup Set
Lollar Pickups returns to the channel with the Special Blonde Stratocaster Pickup Set — Blonde neck and middle paired with the hotter Special bridge. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Lollar Special Blonde Stratocaster Pickup Set is installed in the Giordano Guitars '60s S-Model, into the Benson Amps Vincent 2x12" with Scumback H75-PVC speakers. The Keeley-modded Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer and Effectrode Tube Vibe join for the second half.
Check out the Lollar Special Blonde Pickup Set: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-stratocaster-pickups/strat-blonde
The Special Blonde is a considered hybrid within Lollar's Stratocaster lineup — the Blonde neck and middle deliver the vintage-voiced clarity and chime that Lollar's Blonde series is known for, while the bridge swaps in the hotter-output Special Stratocaster pickup rather than a matching Blonde bridge. The result addresses a common Strat complaint directly: a vintage-voiced bridge pickup can sound thin and brittle when pushed, while the Special bridge brings more body and output to that position without sacrificing the neck and middle's classic character. Explored across clean-ish tones from 00:47, showing the balance between the three positions.
The Benson Vincent Clean Channel cranked with added treble from 04:40 pushes the Special bridge into its own natural breakup territory before any pedal enters the chain. The Keeley-modded Ibanez TS9 — Robert Keeley's famous modification opening up the tone-coloring caps and op-amp circuit for greater headroom — joins from 06:49, with volume knob cleanup explored from 08:27 and the Effectrode Tube Vibe stacking in from 09:32.
🎸 Lollar Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-stratocaster-pickups/strat-blonde 🎸 Giordano Guitars: https://www.instagram.com/giordanoguitars/ 🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Giordano Guitars '60s S-Model | Lollar Special Blonde Set (Blonde Neck + Middle / Special Bridge) 🎛️ Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer (Keeley Mod) | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Benson Amps Vincent 2x12" | Scumback H75-PVC
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Ableton Live
