In-between sounds with Strat Stacks

[LukeW]

Hello everyone. I have an hss strat and am thinking about changing my current single coils for a vintage hot stack and custom stack. Would these pickups give me the in-between sounds in positions 2 and 4? I only see it mentioned along with rwrp on the classic stack pickups. Thanks.

[Mincer]

They are both a bit hotter than the Classic Stacks, so you won't get a very authentic 2 & 4 sound, compared to 2 Classic Stacks. That sound is best when 2 lower output pickups have the same power level.

[LukeW]

Thanks. The sound samples were only for bridge and neck so I didn't know if they even worked in 2 and 4. I'll look more 8nto the classics. I liked the sound of the vintage better on the SD samples on the website.

[jeremy]

i had a classic stack + neck and middle with a vintage hot stack bridge and i loved that setup! notch tones were good too.

[LukeW]

Thanks. I liked the sound of the vintage in the neck on the sound samples on the SD website. Mayne paired with the classic middle would sound good.

[donaldr]

FYI, I had a Vintage Hot Stack in the neck and found it very dark with 250k pots. It's a bridge pickup, so I move it in the bridge position and put a Classic Stack + in the neck and wow! I cannot comment about positions 2 and 4 as I have a dummy in the middle and 3-way switch.

[LukeW]

Thanks Donalddr. I'll listen again to the samples.

[IMENATOR]

Agree with Mincer, the best quack is when all pickups are vintage output. Being that said using a vintage output single coil in the middle helps a lot with the quack in notch positions when using stacks in neck or bridge. In my personal experience I have used STK-S6 in neck or bridge with an actual SSL-1 in the middle and the quack was very usable. And I always mention I use autosplit wiring to get noiseless in position 2 and 4.

[LukeW]

Thanks Imenator. I have Fender Tex-Mex pickups in the neck and middle right now and a SD JB Trembucker in the bridge. I use a freeway switch that auto-splits for position 2. I have listened to Youtube videos of the Classic stacks and they sound a lot better to my ear than the sound samples from SD on the website. I'm not sure why they sound so different. One video did a back to back between Fender single coils and Classic Stacks. They sounded close but maybe more output than the Fenders.

[IMENATOR]

I have never tried the Vintage Stack for Strat but having a bit more output than vintage fender ones does not sound like a problem to me. I do not use modelers so something I have learned is that even if I cannot really have the sound of your favorite band or album you can always find good sound that you can enjoy. I don't need to perfect match the tone, I just need to be in the same ballpark. But if you are super picky about tone chasing I am convinced direct to PA modelers with the same guitars/pickups/pedals are the way to go because the sound we love from albums is a recorded one, even live albums.

[LukeW]

Thanks Imenator. I wasn't looking to match a band exactly. I am just looking for strat tone without hum.

[Mincer]

2 Classic Stacks sound great with a JB, and are really good in 2 & 4, no matter if you split them or not. Just an excellent hum-free Strat sound.

[EC Strat]

I had a classic stacks 4+ set and the notch positions sounded really good (for a noiseless set). Very stratty

[freefrog]

For those who would want more quack in 2d and 4th positions: a superswitch enabling an inductor / choke in parallel with the pickups would do the job, whatever are the PU's involved.

If the technical background and/or gear necessary to measure inductance is/are lacking: a Bill Lawrence Q filter has the proper specs (ultra low DCR and impedance, low inductance, tiny coil giving low noise).

If it harms the output level too much or makes the sound too quacky, just put in series with a resistor (4.7k to 24k, depending on your needs and tastes).

FWIW. :-)

[LukeW]

UPDATE: I installed the neck and middle of the Classic Stack Plus stk4. They sound good. I now get no hum even with overdrive and flanger on. I'm still experimenting wIth pickup heights and amp settings since I think these are hotter than what I had. Thanks for your help everyone.