Should a hot rails sound muddy?

[Kev]

Hi guys, ive just installed my Breed pup and sounds excellent (best clean sound out of a bucker ever)
But it seems to put the hot rails in my strat to shame, and the hot rails sounds really muddy and over bassed. However, what i did notice when i wired up the breed in the ibby is that i wired it up backwards, and everything worked, but it was really muddy , but NOT out of phase. Then i re-wired it, and everything was crystal clear. Whats weird tho, i wasnt confident enough to mess with the strat at the time, so a technician did it for me. Its just when comparing them both now, the hot rails is terrible.

Does anyone know waht im on about here or is the hot rails just muddy?

P.s.

Do you ever leave this forum ArtieToo

Kev

[ArtieToo]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

Do you ever leave this forum ArtieToo

Kev

Heh . . . I'm "logged on" more often than actually sitting in front of the computer.

[Woodcutter]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

I've heard alot of ppl say the hotrails is muddy, but i've never played one.

[XSSIVE]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

i've never found the strat hot rails to be muddy in a strat i actually find it to be a bit harsh and edgy and i like the tele hotrails much better!

did you use 250k pots or 500k? if you have 250Ks in there throw in a 500K volume (or all pots to 500K) and that should get rid of the muid you hear.

-Mike

[Boston Joe]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

I've never found the Hot Rails to be muddy-- thick, but not muddy. BUT, it is not the kind of pickup you should be using through a very warm, high gain amp. They were essentially designed-- in my opinion-- to boost a Strat's output but still retain that clear Strat bell tone-- but on steroids . A brighter, cleaner overdrive works well with the pickup.

[Boston Joe]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

... I have never had any problems using the 250k pots.

[Stevo]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

What position is it in? Bridge? Neck?

It's probably out of phase, by the way. I normally have to reverse the wiring with Duncan pickups on Fender guitars.

[bloodswords]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

i have the Hot Rails in the bridge of my tele. yes it has more bass (it was conceived to offer more bass) but i still hear lots of single note definition.

[Kev]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

This pickup definitly doesnt have a clear bell like tone lol. Well, its very very thick to put it bluntly, manages distortion fine and searing leads, but the cleans are the worst i've ever heard from a pickup.

I might try turning a few wires round oneday. Its in the neck poistion btw. Im running a single coil in the middle and a normal humbucker in the bridge.

It just pisses me off that if a tech wired it up wrong and i've paid the sod good money and took the time to get all the way to him.

Never again ....

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

This pickup definitly doesnt have a clear bell like tone lol. Well, its very very thick to put it bluntly, manages distortion fine and searing leads, but the cleans are the worst i've ever heard from a pickup.

+1 exactly what I'd say... I used to have one in the Bridge of my Strat and it's going out for a full sized '59 cause I want some good cleans from that position too...

[Kev]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

Why is Dave Murray using them!

[Kev]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

Try using it coupled with a bridge one. It is one of my favorite clean sounds ever. I like the bridge's clean better, but the real magic is blending the two. But the reason for my having the neck hot rails is the solo tone. It's probably the fattest, most appealing tone (to me) that I've ever heard. Listen to Iron Maiden's "Blood Brothers" to hear what a bridge/middle (neck) hotrails sound like together clean.

Oh yes, i have indeed, many a time! Im an enormous maiden fan

[Robert S.]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

Kev, did you install a Hotrails bridge model in the neck position? Most retailers only carry the bridge version (at least thats been my experience) and a bridge model in the neck position will sound muddy. Most people that complain about the HR being muddy have done this.

You need to pull the pickguard and look at the sticker and if you have a bridge model, you need to change it out for a Rails or Jr neck model of some sort.

Most stock Fender mid position pickups are out of phase with Gibson, Dmz and SD humbucking pickups but not all Fender mid pickups are top north so you have to go by a case to case basis. The cure is to wire the humbuckers using the south start wire (green for SD) to hot. Another solution is to swap the Fender neck and middle pickups or in the case above where only the mid pickup is Fender, use the old neck pickup in the mid position. Most all Fender mid and neck pickups (stock - in the same guitar) are the same except for the rw/rp condition.

[Kev]

Re: Should a hot rails sound muddy?

Kev, did you install a Hotrails bridge model in the neck position? Most retailers only carry the bridge version (at least thats been my experience) and a bridge model in the neck position will sound muddy. Most people that complain about the HR being muddy have done this.

You need to pull the pickguard and look at the sticker and if you have a bridge model, you need to change it out for a Rails or Jr neck model of some sort.

Most stock Fender mid position pickups are out of phase with Gibson, Dmz and SD humbucking pickups but not all Fender mid pickups are top north so you have to go by a case to case basis. The cure is to wire the humbuckers using the south start wire (green for SD) to hot. Another solution is to swap the Fender neck and middle pickups or in the case above where only the mid pickup is Fender, use the old neck pickup in the mid position. Most all Fender mid and neck pickups (stock - in the same guitar) are the same except for the rw/rp condition.

That sounds interesting rob, i was pretty sure it was a hot rails neck also, i'll find out.