Single Coils that go well with SD Hot Rails (Purpose: Airy/Straty sound)

[alexreinhold]

Hi, I have a Charvel DK22 with 500k pots, an SD Hot Rails in bridge and SD SSL-6 Single Coils in mid & neck position. Despite their fame, I do not like the SSL-6 pups at all (especially when playing clean) :-/

On other guitars I have Fender Texas Specials and Lollar Blackstars and I love them. But I would also be up for something less hot. I've been looking at the SD Antiquity Surfer II and the DiMarzio The Cruiser (Andy Timmons). But I am worried those might not have enough output to go well with the Hot Rails. What do you think?

[ArtieToo]

Can you describe what you don't like about the SSL-6's?

[jeremy]

the ssl6 is a different beast than the texas specials or lollar blackfaced (i assume thats what you meant, never heard of blackstars), thinner wire and more turns while the other two are basically a vintage wind other than the ts bridge which has more turns. i like the ssl6 with 500k pots but it doesnt sound like a vintage strat pup. i think the surfers are fantastic sounding pups but not sure id like em with 500k pots. do you have any vintagey single coils laying around that you could throw in this guitar as a test? if you like a texas special neck with 500k pots, then youll be fine with surfers for example

[Mincer]

Classic Stacks sound good with 500k pots, and they will blend pretty well with Hot Rails. As a bonus, they are hum-cancelling, too.

[hamerfan]

Consider a David Gilmore set:
ssl-6 in the bridge, and two Ssl-1 in middle and neck.

[GuitarStv]

The SSL-6 is very beefy in the mid-range and are halfway to a p90 rather than a single coil. SSL-1 or 2s sound like a good strat pickup with 250k pots . . . they might be too bright with 500k.

[freefrog]

Hi, I have a Charvel DK22 with 500k pots, an SD Hot Rails in bridge and SD SSL-6 Single Coils in mid & neck position. Despite their fame, I do not like the SSL-6 pups at all (especially when playing clean) :-/

On other guitars I have Fender Texas Specials and Lollar Blackstars and I love them. But I would also be up for something less hot. I've been looking at the SD Antiquity Surfer II and the DiMarzio The Cruiser (Andy Timmons). But I am worried those might not have enough output to go well with the Hot Rails. What do you think?

If you add a series / parallel switch to your Hot Rails, it should sound close to a standard SC in tone and output once in parallel mode. It would avoid mismatched volumes with regular singles coils when played clean (and would contribute to airy/straty tones). With overdriven sounds, mismatched levels are less an issue anyway.

500k pots shouldn't be a problem either if you're ready to put resistors in parallel with your single coils. See below the part named "FAKING OUT YOUR SINGLE COILS WITH RESISTORS":

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2018/1...n-guitars-101/

If you appreciate Lollar Blackface's : SSL1's (or SSL2's) should sound on par with them since they have similar specs (6,5k, 2.6H of inductance) and shouldn't sound too bright with the "parallel resistors" trick explained above... Mid and neck Antiquity Surfer II should be a wee bit brighter if memory serves me right.

That's what I think, without discarding all the good advices already wrote by fellow members above. :-)

Good luck in your quest.

[alexreinhold]

Can you describe what you don't like about the SSL-6's?

I have a hard time describing sound. But they just don't sound as airy clear in clean mode. I love the pure strat sounds of the likes of Knopfler, Gilmour or Cory Wong - and somehow it's not working for me.

lollar blackfaced (i assume thats what you meant, never heard of blackstars

yeah, no clue what drove me to write blackstars

if you like a texas special neck with 500k pots, then youll be fine with surfers for example

yeah, that's the big question. Tbh, the Hot Rails to me sound more heavy with 500 pots, that's why, in this guitar, I'd like to keep the pots. But I have no idea how to get that vintagy sound with 500 pots.

500k pots shouldn't be a problem either if you're ready to put resistors

Oh interesting, will look into that for sure!

[CaptainWhizz]

I watched a couple of demo videos of the Tom Morello Strat, which has a Hot Rails and two Fender Vintage Noiseless, I don’t know if that’s worth looking into?
I think the Vintage Noiseless pickups were in Clapton signature models at some point?

My knowledge of Clapton and Gilmour (and Lace Sensors) is very limited, but I believe that both used Lace pickups in the past?

[itbepopples]

I find the sound you're looking for is attainable with vintage output singles. I currently have some alnico 2 singles in the neck and middle position of my strat with a neck version hot rails in the bridge and even with the lower output hot rails i just can't get the the pickups to mesh. I'd look into some Ssl-2s and maybe something a little less aggressive in the bridge to match.

[Synapsys]

In my ESP LTD ST-213A I went with a Hot Rails Bridge (switchable between series /parallel via a push/pull pot) and two Classic Stacks, with another push/pull to wire them in series.

250k pots for everything. Sounds awesome both clean and with crunch/high gain.

[jeremy]

i like the hot rails with 500k pots but as you are finding, its hard to get a vintage sound with 250k. the classic stack plus might be good with 500k pots, havent tried it.

i dont recall gilmour using lace or fender vintage noisless, he used emgs for years. the clapton sig strat had lace when they came out, then eventually fender switched it to the fender noiseless. the preamp has lot to do with how that guitar sounds

[donaldr]

With 500k pots I would try a STK-S7 in the neck position first with your HR bridge.

[jeremy]

i use a hot rails neck in the bridge position with a single coil neck and i can get the output to match ok (250k pots). the hot rails is still quite tonally different but i kinda like the combo. however the hot rails neck and bridge are quite different beasts