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
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
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