Hot Rails Neck with Custom Hybrid bridge?

[Nagisa]

I have an HSS routed Ibanez AZ. Now it has a Duncan Custom/59 Hybrid. I like it but it's pretty dark, even for the Injector neck that I have in it. I think I'd rather turn it into an HSH. I like Iron Maiden's neck solo tones. Would the hot rails neck pair well with the hybrid?

THanks!

[Mincer]

Well, I think the Hot Rails neck was in the 'Iron Maiden Strat', so you are good there. The Hybrid is a little brighter than the HR, however, but many are OK with that if you like a crunchy bridge pickup with a warmer 'Dave Murray-ish' neck pickup. I think the combo might work really well.

[Nagisa]

Hmm..the Hybrid sounds really warm/dark to me. A much darker neck may be too much.

[larryguitar]

Try temporarily swapping the Hybrid into the neck and see how it sounds; it will give you a good basis for comparison.

Larry

[Clint 55]

The Hot Rails is the darkest single coil size humbucker that Duncan makes. You can get more cut and grind out of the single coil size humbuckers with screw poles, while the ones with blades are more liquidy and snappy. None of them are going to be brighter than a single coil though. If your guitar's all dark you could up your pots to 1 meg volume and 250k no load tone.

[eclecticsynergy]

IME the Hybrid is not a very dark sounding humbucker - the guitar must have a very dark natural voice.
Perhaps a Cool Rails would be a better choice here.

[Nagisa]

IME the Hybrid is not a very dark sounding humbucker - the guitar must have a very dark natural voice.
Perhaps a Cool Rails would be a better choice here.

Yea it's a very warm sounding guitar.

[Mincer]

Yea it's a very warm sounding guitar.

If it is, then yes, a Cool Rails would be better. Or a Classic Stack if you like Strat sounds.

[GuitarDoc]

I've NEVER heard the hybrid as being as being "dark". Quite the contrary, actually. Are you running it through a 250k volume pot?
You could try running the neck and middle pups through the 250k vol pot and the hybrid through a 500k or even 1 meg vol pot and have a master tone pot.

[jeremy]

Try temporarily swapping the Hybrid into the neck and see how it sounds; it will give you a good basis for comparison.

Larry

its an hss guitar so that wont work.

you say the bridge is dark. how do you find the injector neck?

[Charvel1975]

IME the Hybrid is not a very dark sounding humbucker - the guitar must have a very dark natural voice.
Perhaps a Cool Rails would be a better choice here.

This is what I'm debating on if I go from active pickups to passive pickups in my Charvel Model 5FX which is a neck-through construction with a maple neck and poplar body. The Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid Trembucker in the bridge and a Cool Rails for the slant single coil position in the neck?

[Clint 55]

Demo of cool rails in a super strat.

[Nagisa]

its an hss guitar so that wont work.

you say the bridge is dark. how do you find the injector neck?

The injector sounds about the right level of bright.

[Clint 55]

A9 is even more cutting than A5. You could swap that into the 59/C. I dunno if you would be up for that tho. That and upping your pots could make a significant difference.

[GuitarDoc]

3 easy inexpensive things to try before spending the big bucks on a new pup:

1. Replace pot with 500k or 1 meg;
2. Swap the A5 mag for an A9;
3. Change the pole screws to ones with higher carbon content, such as 1022.

Each of these has a small affect, but do all three and it will be very noticeable.