Single-coil-sized humbucker to go with Fender Vintage Noiseless (or...?)

[CaptainWhizz]

Long version- I have a 2016 MIM with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups. I won it in a contest, so although it is a lovely guitar, it doesn’t quite suit me; my Strat tastes run more to double-hum or single-hum guitars with Floyds or hard-tails. I was thinking of selling it or trading it.

However, it has a nice neck, and locking tuners. Plus, it gives me options I don’t have (the closest I have to single-coils in other guitars is an Everything Axe Strat).


Short version- what’s a good single-coil-sized humbucker to go with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups in a Strat with 2-point vibrato and “7-way switch”? Aim is to have nice, crisp cleans, highs more important than lows. Ability to rock hard welcome, but not needed.

However, I don’t want to mess with the rest of the wiring or cut the scratchplate. Current thoughts are that the Little 59 sounds very nice, but the JB jr maybe sounds more “stratty”? I am willing to take the JB jr from my Everything Axe set and put a Distortion in its place (no problems with cutting up that scratchplate). Maybe Cool Rails bridge?

Alternatives- get a new scratchplate with a Distortion bridge and Jazz neck, so I can swap the two sets of pickups as I feel like it. Or buy a hard tail body and use the neck on it with a new setup.

Thank you to those who made it through.

[jeremy]

id say cool rails for the bridge, it has great highs and a nice overall tone. sounds good both clean and dirty.

i have five pickguards wired up for one strat all loaded with different sets of pups. im sure i could drop them into other strats but i bought them specifically for this one. its nice to have variety ready to pop in

[CaptainWhizz]

id say cool rails for the bridge, it has great highs and a nice overall tone. sounds good both clean and dirty.

i have five pickguards wired up for one strat all loaded with different sets of pups. im sure i could drop them into other strats but i bought them specifically for this one. its nice to have variety ready to pop in

Thank you. There seem to be a shortage of Cool Rails bridge pickup demos on YouTube, but in theory that did seem to be a good match.

I may still get another pickguard for it in future I guess, to swap between.

[Mincer]

Neither the JB Jr nor the Little 59 sound Stratty at all. The JB Jr sounds like a bright humbucker, while the Little 59 sounds like a humbucker with more mids. I agree the Cool Rails is the clean and clear choice, but again, it sounds more like a humbucker than a Strat.

Also, keep in mind that Fender and SD's pickups are out of phase, so you will have to reverse the hot and ground on the SD.

[jeremy]

right. the cool rails doesnt sound like as much like a strat pup as a classic stack plus for example, but its not supposed to. if you want strat tones but noiseless the stack plus line is fantastic. i love the classic stack plus neck and middle but prefer the vintage hot stack plus for the bridge position

[CaptainWhizz]

Neither the JB Jr nor the Little 59 sound Stratty at all. The JB Jr sounds like a bright humbucker, while the Little 59 sounds like a humbucker with more mids. I agree the Cool Rails is the clean and clear choice, but again, it sounds more like a humbucker than a Strat.

Also, keep in mind that Fender and SD's pickups are out of phase, so you will have to reverse the hot and ground on the SD.

Sorry, to clarify, I don’t want it to sound like a single-coil, but I’d rather have it a little more bright and chiming, and less thick like a Hot Rails.

[jeremy]

yep, cool rails

[ArtieToo]

I 2nd the Cool Rails motion. There's a reason they call it the "Cool" Rails. One of my favorite Duncan pups.

[Disgruntled Goat]

I third the Cool Rails motion.

Also, not sure about this: is the pickup rout in the average Strat body deep enough to accommodate stacked coil single coil-size humbuckers now? I've had to get a Dremel in there and make a little space, before. That would disqualify the "Stack" series ... I'm assuming the body's not gonna get altered if the pickguard isn't.

Cool Rails for the win!

[Juanhanglo]

Air norton s.

It rocks in series

Sounds stratty in parallel

And can be split to a 5.5 or 7k coil.

And comes in all the right colors

[donaldr]

right. the cool rails doesnt sound like as much like a strat pup as a classic stack plus for example, but its not supposed to. if you want strat tones but noiseless the stack plus line is fantastic. i love the classic stack plus neck and middle but prefer the vintage hot stack plus for the bridge position

I would suggest STK-S7 bridge. Not an humbucker but I was also coming from humbucker bridge guitars and that pickup (with own tone pot) made me like my single-coil bridge in a Strat. I can play everything from blues to '80s hard rock with that guitar. It's not as spiky as a regular strat bridge and being noiseless it can take drives very well. Also always good to have an SSS in the stable.

[CaptainWhizz]

I would suggest STK-S7 bridge. Not an humbucker but I was also coming from humbucker bridge guitars and that pickup (with own tone pot) made me like my single-coil bridge in a Strat. I can play everything from blues to '80s hard rock with that guitar. It's not as spiky as a regular strat bridge and being noiseless it can take drives very well. Also always good to have an SSS in the stable.

Thanks, I will check that out.

Air norton s.

It rocks in series

Sounds stratty in parallel

And can be split to a 5.5 or 7k coil.

And comes in all the right colors

From what I’ve heard of the Air Norton S, I think I would like it, I just worry that it wouldn’t be a good match with the single coils.

In my mind I’m looking for a pickup with a similar EQ to a Jazz or Full Shred; emphasis firmly on the higher end of the frequency spectrum. But this is all based on my limited knowledge of those pickups and how they sound, as chunky/ beefy is what I normally go for.