My HSS Combo Consideration for my Hot Rod Super Strat

[Etienne]

Hello everybody

I'm new to the forum and right out need some advice(s) from you more experienced sound connoisseurs.

In general I'm considering to add a full Seymour Duncan HSS configuration for my Hot Rod Super Strat Warmoth build.

Guitar anatomies are ... Body: Alder / Fretboard: Rosewood / Type: Locking Tremolo (Vibrato System) = Floyd Rose with Tungsten Sustain Block

Music: Hardrock/Metal (Example: Harem Scarem)

Now after I've done my part of research I consider in detail the following HSS combo:

Neck HB: Cool Rails (SC-size HB) / Middle SC: Vintage Flat Strat (True SC) / Bridge HB: JB (Fullsize)

My goals are:

1. Need Les Paul-a-like fat humbucker sound from bridge and neck. They should pair gain wise!

2. On the other hand I need the true single coil split clean glassy in-between sounds from positions 2 and 4.

Question 1: What do you think spontaneously?

Question 2: Is it possible to wire like the VAI-JEM-guitars without to push-pull? So SC-splits only for pos. 2 and 4?

Question 3: I plan to install 1 volume pot and 1 tone pot with 500k resistance each. How about that matter?

Thanks in advance!

[GuitarStv]

What you've listed there sounds like it would work. You might want to consider swapping the single coil for an STK-S4 to keep all positions hum free.

[jeremy]

if he is splitting the buckers in 2 & 4 then he would need to split the stack in those positions too keep it hum cancelling, but it can be done with a super swich

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!
The Cool Rails isn't a very 'fat' neck pickup. It sounds clean and clear more than fat. A Little 59 would be closer to the fat description.

[Etienne]

Thank you very much for participating. Now so far I get ...

What you've listed there sounds like it would work. You might want to consider swapping the single coil for an STK-S4 to keep all positions hum free.

if he is splitting the buckers in 2 & 4 then he would need to split the stack in those positions too keep it hum cancelling, but it can be done with a super swich

Also I've considered Duckbucker or Vintage Rails. For the sake of ease I'm leaning towards a true single-coil RwRP middle position because I rarely play the middle pu alone. But for certain I'm still open for advices.

... The Cool Rails isn't a very 'fat' neck pickup. It sounds clean and clear more than fat. A Little 59 would be closer to the fat description.

Seems a better idea than mine. So Little '59 Strat in the neck position would pair almost perfectly with the bridge full-size JB gain-wise or should I consider a more corresponding fat sounding bridge hb?

[Etienne]

My 1st decision: Bridge PU should and will be JB full-size. In this case (Floyd Rose) eventually Trembucker.

If my priority is fat sounding (+ gain/output-wise balanced) Les Paul-a-like bridge and neck sounds then why I shouldn't choose a JB Jr. Strat as neck PU?

[Mincer]

Well, a JB Jr, in any position, (and a full size JB, for that matter), isn't a fat sounding pickup.

[Etienne]

Well, a JB Jr, in any position, (and a full size JB, for that matter), isn't a fat sounding pickup.

Do you mean JB pronounces upper mid freqs and has less warm lower mids to be fat sounding?
So If I go neck with a Little '59 Strat then what would you advise me for bridge?

[jeremy]

jb with 250k pots sounds pretty fat to me?

[JB6464]

Don't waste your money on a trembucker JB, Get the Antiquity JB and you will thank yourself later.

[Mincer]

'Fat' is always lower mids to me, and no matter how I try a JB, it is never ever fat.

[Etienne]

'Fat' is always lower mids to me, and no matter how I try a JB, it is never ever fat.

Ok. My priority is to make my Strat more to sound like Les Paul.

So if I choose Little '59 Strat Neck then what about '59 humbucker full-size Bridge?

Enough low mids? Description says scooped.

[eclecticsynergy]

I think the Lil 59 neck and Vintage Flat Strat middle are good choices for this situation.
They will be well suited for autosplit wiring in positions 2 and 4.

And once you have a true Strat pickup there, you might find yourself using middle position more often.
Great cleanup for thinner interludes, and nice chime compared to humbuckers.

However I don't feel the full sized 59B will be hot enough or fat enough at the bridge to suit you here.
When I think Les Paul tone from a Strat type, I think DiMarzio: The Breed bridge if you can get one, or an AT-1.
Or even the classic Super Distortion, which performs well in just about anything. It roars.

[Mincer]

Ok. My priority is to make my Strat more to sound like Les Paul.

So if I choose Little '59 Strat Neck then what about '59 humbucker full-size Bridge?

Enough low mids? Description says scooped.

That's a good setup. If you want something more rockin' than a 59, look at the Whole Lotta Humbucker and High Voltage, too. Also, an Alnico II Pro gets a more 'Slash Les Paul' buttery mid thing going on.

[Clint 55]

Fat to me would be Hot Rails neck and A2 JB bridge. Then stick a vintage flat strat in the middle and have it not balance volume wise in position 3 but achieve the goal of quack with auto splits in position 2 and 4 on the 5 way switch.

Or stock would be the Custom Custom. But the Hot Rails neck is the fattest single size hb.

Also, you don't need a rwrp middle single. Normal Duncan strat pups are south, while hbs split stock to north.