Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

[rsinger]

Just got my Deluxe Strat back from the shop, where a Hot Stack was installed in the bridge position. Same shop put a JB in the bridge position of my Ibanez Les Paul copy (yeah, I've had that one for decades). I also have another Strat with a Hot Rails in the bridge position. Next to either the Hot Rails or the JB, the Hot Stack sounds mighty mighty thin. I use harmonics from the 12th, 7th, and 5th frets a lot; these are rich and sustained out of the JB, some less so out of the Hot Rails, and *way* less so out of the Hot Stack. And the sustain out of the JB in the Ibanez is head and shoulders what I'm getting out of the Hot Stack. Maybe I'm a fat humbucker kind of guy, but I was really enjoying the feel of the Strat, and the tremolo. I'm bummed, when I listened to the Hot Stack on the SD demo page I thought I was hearing comparatively superior articulation and zing in the notes. I also use a lot of pinch harmonics, so I need a responsive pickup that hears everything, picks up all the details. I like to hear rich harmonics and sustain with heft but without the gritty sonic sandpaper, you know? I'm playing covers (now), the usual suspects: Black Crowes, Journey, Racal Flatts, Huey Dewey and Louie, all that. My amp is a Mesa Boogie Roadster 2x12 combo, plenty of beef in that. I like to use a Barber Direct Drive to pump up the sustain and drive.

Any ideas? I'd rather not have to route out the guitar. Maybe the Strat version of the JB? The Hot Rails was feeling a little edgy to me and I already have one in the other Strat.

Thanks for any clues, Forum - Bob

[dotsdad]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Try a Little Screamin Demon. It is GREAT in Strats. It retains a lot of that classic Strat bite and responsiveness, but with the added b@lls of a humbucker. It'll give you pinch harmonics up the yinyang. It's not nearly as hot as the name would imply, so it won't overpower the stock neck & middle single coils the way a JB Jr will. I love it in my HSS Strat!

[AlexR]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Well, the little JB is also an option too. If you're in the US you probably have the 21 day swap up your sleeve.

[Aceman]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

YEp - explore the Duncan return policy. Great and awesome service, for exactly this situation.

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Double-check the wiring. I had one years ago and it wasn't thin or weak at all. That's why it was called "Hot".

You may have gotten one where 2 wires were reversed during construction (stranger things have happend) and it's either running in parallel or split.

Also try adjusting the height - maybe it's too far from the strings.

[rsinger]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Thanks Dotsdad (Happy Father's Day!), Alex, Ace - yep, starting early tomorrow I'm all over that 21 day policy. From your suggestions and research I'm thinking maybe Demon @ bridge, JB @ middle, and some as yet unidentified neck pickup that has clean, chimy, saturated, strat-like tones with output on par with the other two for smooth transitions while changing pickups during a tune.

[dotsdad]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Hey, I just though of something...you said "Deluxe Strat." Is yours the model with the Vintage Noiseless pickups? I ask because the VN sets are shipped with 1MEG volume and 500k tone pots. Stock Strats use 250k pots. They do this to try to put back some of the brightness lost to the noise-cancelling dummy coils in the VN pickups. Duncan's lil humbuckers are voiced for the standard 250k pots found in most strats...

You can do a couple of things if the pots are not 250kk. Try connecting a 470k resistor from the hot stack's lug on the switch to the back of the volume pot. Second, move the 2nd tone pot from the middle pickup to the bridge. (theres a drawing on duncan ste.) These two things may take outa lot of the high end harshhness from the 1k and 500k pots iin the Deluxe

[rsinger]

Re: Uh oh! Think I got the wrong SD pickup....

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. I've been posting in response but I'm not seeing those. I've been playing the guitars a lot today, A-B through same amp settings. The question is, if I'm p[laying a Black Crowes, Journey, or Rascall Flats tune, where I want some push and substance to the notes, would I ever pick up the Strat with the Hot Stack @ Bridge when I could pick up the Ibanez Les Paul with the SD JB in the Bridge position? I don't think so. I think the Hot Stack has to go in favor of the Strat JB or the Demon.