Red Devil or Cool Rails in the neck?

[Chillymac]

HSS partscaster with 59 Custom hybrid in the bridge and stk-4 in the middle. For clean to crunch, no super high gain stuff, what all-purpose neck pickup do I want and why? Blues, country, classic rock.

[zionstrat]

Can't speak to the Red devil haven't done one yet.. The cool rail, on the other hand, is not terribly stratty out of the box. It's clear and cleaner, however it's got some pretty massive output so I would perhaps compare it to a jazz neck pickup.

However, I parallel cool rails a lot of the time, and in that situation it becomes far more strat-like.

So my guess, not having used the Red devil, is that either one could develop a relatively standard strat tone, the cool rail could go brighter and the Red devil would be more mid-like...

[beaubrummels]

Welcome to the forum

"Blues, country, classic rock" why not just another STK4 in the neck?

[Mincer]

They are voiced very differently. The Red Devil has more mids and bass, while the Cool Rails is clean and clear, like the Jazz humbucker: lots of treble, not a ton of bass and mids. So for what you want, I'd say the Red Devil.

[Chillymac]

Welcome to the forum

"Blues, country, classic rock" why not just another STK4 in the neck?

I have a strat with Lollar Blackfaces that covers strat stuff and I’m not a huge fan of the stk-4 in the neck. As much as I want to love it, there’s just something missing for me.

[jeremy]

i think either could be fine. as others have said, the red devil will be middier and the cool rails brighter. for chording, id choose the cool rails, for solos id choose the red devil but thats though my rig and either pup will do both things just fine

[Robbiedbee]

I really like the Cool Rails. I think it's really punchy in clear in the neck position. It also pairs wonderfully with a single coil middle pickup in that in-between position. I have it in a Strat with Vintage Rails in the middle and another Cool Rails in the bridge. Notch positions are lovely and chimey. The neck pickup on its own though is just great; articulate, handles gain well and to my ears definitely does retain some Stratty qualities.

[Clint 55]

The poles create vast differences in tone. The red devil with the screws is crunchy, the cool rails with the blades is clean and snappy. There are obviously other differences but that's how I'd advise you make your choice. Very different tones and feels.