Strat Quack-middle split Positions 2 and 4

[evh_slash]

Ok So I had my stock Ibanez RG premium which had an amazing Quack in split positions (2 and 4) . Great for cleans, so sparkly and loud and "glassy".... I then put some Dimarzios in it to upgrade the stock ones.... Although the Lead sounds with the humbuckers is amazing, I've lost out on the glassy character in positions 2 and 4.... Why can I not re-create that same sparkle / poppy glass sound from the stock pickups ???? Do I need to set my pickups at a certain height to get a better snap ?? Do different pickups make a difference to this ?? I have noticed that the OUTER coils of the humbucker are active in the 2 and 4 split positions, so would this affect the phasing / quacking of the pickups ?? Should I try flipping the humbuckers around so that the inner coils (directly above and below the middle pickup) are the active ones ?? Maybe the quack is not happening anymore because the outer coil is active, therefore further away from the middle pickup ... Is this likely ?? Any help please ??

I miss the clean tones !!! I thought buying some dimarzios (PAF PRO + PAF JOE) would be a good move... The humbuckers by themselves sound awesome !! But Im missing that sparkle and pop from the split positions....

[Liko]

Re: Strat Quack-middle split Positions 2 and 4

Pickup height and pickup choice can indeed make a big difference in the amount of interaction you hear between the pickups (audible as "quack"). I'm assuming you have the HSH variant of the RG series, something like the RG950. First off, did you replace the middle pickup along with the 'buckers, and if so, with what?

The keys to quack are first in the spacing, and second in the relative output. The pickups have to be positioned in the guitar at a relative distance from each other and at relative positions along the string for them to pick up the string's vibration with a slightly different phase; this natural "chorusing" produces the glassy shimmer of the dual-pickup positions on a Strat. The amount of it that you get depends on the relative strength of the signal produced by each pickup; you get the most quack when the coils are perfectly balanced in relative output, which typically means that you need a slight increase in output level as you move from neck to bridge (or else the bridge and middle pickups are set closer to the strings than the neck) because there's less vibration back and forth closer to the bridge. We'll assume, since you probably didn't take a router to your guitar or pickguard, that the spacing is the same as with the stock pickups, and so that's not the problem.

By replacing the pickups, you've changed three things; the overall output level of each pickup (and thus most likely their relative levels), the pickup height (and thus again their relative outputs), and their resonant peaks and overall voicings (which changes the relative level of various frequencies through the guitar's full harmonic range). All of these will change the interaction between any two pickups and thus the amount of chorusing you hear in positions 2 and 4.

To fix it, the simplest and thus first thing to try is altering the height of the middle pickup until you get either position 2 (bridge/mid) or position 4 (neck/mid) to quack for you. When you've dialed it in for one combination, if it's still not working for the other, try altering the height of the humbucker in the other combination to see if you can get them balanced.

If it's just not working, then examine the pickups you've chosen, specifically their relative output and their resonant peaks. The PAF Pro and PAF Joe are designed to work well with each other in bridge and neck, respectively, and toe the line in both output and tone between PAF and modern windings and so have similar, slightly treblish but relatively even timbres. However, it's always a trick finding a middle SC pickup that works well with humbuckers. Sticking with DiMarzio, an FS-1 would probably do it as a true single-coil, though it's wound really hot (14k that's hot even for a bridge Gibson-style bucker) so you might have to back it off the strings a bit when you put it in. If you want a Strat-sized noiseless, you might consider the Injector neck; it's got overall similar voicing as the PAF Pro/Joe, and a similar DC resistance as well so you get a good progression of increasing output as you head from neck to bridge.

[LReese]

Re: Strat Quack-middle split Positions 2 and 4

I've used the bridge side coil and still got it to quack, just different. There's really not enough info, but sounds a little like your split is not working. Also the possibility of phase issues.

Could also be as said above - Heights might need to be adjusted.

[Progbusters]

Re: Strat Quack-middle split Positions 2 and 4

Yeah I had a dimarzio hs3 neck but lost #2. I returned my fender stock neck pickup and got #2 back.