Hot rails any good for neck?

[xifr]

I've looked at some (all) pickups on the strat pickups page. I'm looking for a single coil sized humbucker. I like the tone of the hot rails. The only concern I have is that on the chart, and from what people have been saying, it doesn't have a very good high end. Is this a big drawback? I use my neck pickup for pretty much everything.

Thanks

[Travis]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I like my neck Hot Rails. It gives some great shred metal lead tone. It can get a little muddy in the bottom end if you don't eq it just right. But I never use it for rhythm anyway.

In the upper registers it stays smooth with gobs of sustain. With a little experimentation you can almost get a legato sound even when picking.

Wht guitar would this be going into?

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

oooh

thats what im looking for in a neck pickup
thanks travis

[LesStrat]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I like my neck Hot Rails...What guitar would this be going into?

+1

[xifr]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

It'll be going into a strat with an alder body

I use the neck pickup for pretty much everything, but main focus on solos and the cool riffs.

from listening to the soundbytes, I don't really like the clean tone of the hot rails as much as something like the little '59. I'm not sure...

Hmmm, what about the classic stack? I like the tone of that.

[Travis]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I had a pair of little 59s in a guitar a while ago. I really liked the cleans but under high gain, not so much. The Cool Rails is a good compromise. I would put it about in between a little 59 and a Hot Rails. It has tonal charactaeristics of both pickups.

In my experience with the Rails pickups, the Vintage Rails has the best "strat" cleans and sparkle, a good amout of quack to it. The Cool Rails does a really good blues/rock tone under gain and has some decent cleans as well (for being a humbucker). The cleans would be more like a full sized PAF type pickup. The Hot Rails is great for shredding leads in the neck. It can be a little muddy of not eq'd right. It is a very thick sounding humbucker and if cleans are important for that position, I would advise against the Hot Rails.

Don't know about the Classic Stack.

[JammerMatt]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I have a Classic Stack in my Jackson Soloist. It does not give me that nice Dave Murray sound at the neck position that you're probably looking for. It has a good clean sound IMO, though, but I'm looking for the sound you're looking for probably - fast clean water over smooth hard rocks... I'm going to Hot Stack once the piggy bank's full enough.

[Davey]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

dave murray and george lynch cant be BOTH wrong

[B2D]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I've not tried the neck Hot Rails but I remember the bridge one i used to have just being a real strong clean pickup... full of tonal vitality and harmonics that got particularly vicious with distortion and nice'n'snarly with OD. I could see how the neck one would get muddy if you're not careful but that could happen with any neck bucker. If the neck is anything like the bridge you'll be hard pressed not to like it.

[tseegert]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I just installed a lil '59 in the bridge of my strat... I've been droolin like a fool since. Just a HUGE sound. Sustain for days. Not sure how it would sound in the neck, but I'd imagine just as good. SD has won a fan for life in me.

[keano12]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

If hot rails is in neck, what goes in bridge to equal it?

[B2D]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

If hot rails is in neck, what goes in bridge to equal it?

They make both neck and bridge versions of hotrails so if you get both its a calibrated set.

[B2D]

Re: Hot rails any good for neck?

I just installed a lil '59 in the bridge of my strat... I've been droolin like a fool since. Just a HUGE sound. Sustain for days. Not sure how it would sound in the neck, but I'd imagine just as good. SD has won a fan for life in me.

I honestly like the Lil 59's better than the full size ones... i think it has a lot to do with that ceramic mag in there.