Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

[Ghwar]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

The '59/Custom Hybrid???

Maybe ! I haven't tried one so I don't know, but I know the 59' is an excellent, expressive and very toneful pickup, and the Custom is not far off, just a little more juicy. It's kinda hot, but still very tame and has a very nice clean IMO. Maybe the hybrid is just what you need.


I might suggest a 59' Neck model, but in the bridge position. Its a tiny bit weaker at about 7.6k, so it will play really nice with the singles. I have a '59N in the bridge of one of my guitars and it sounds really sweet.

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[Mincer]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

The Hybrid tends to work really well because of its excellent split sound, so you don't lose the middle/bridge single coil thing. Plus, it can get pretty aggressive when full on, and still balances well volume-wise with singles.

 

[Npinedo13]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

I put a Seymor Duncan Black Winter trembucker in my strat to gear it toward metal and hard rock, but it does really well with bluesy and clean tones as well! The cleans are more bright but that could also be the 500k pots but its definitely worth a look! Not a "just for metal" pickup as its marketed, although high gain it does sound mean and defined!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

The Black Winter is a remarkable pickup for all kinds of music, although it is marketed as a metal pickup. It does lots of things well.

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

The Black Winter is a remarkable pickup for all kinds of music, although it is marketed as a metal pickup. It does lots of things well.

Good to know.

 

[Francois]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

My Strat is an HSS. The bridge is a (now vintage) Lace Sensor Gold dual pickup. The sound is VERY precise ! (But I cannot garantee it works well in all guitars)
But if used in through the clean channel of a loud Marshall it can be earsplitting if you don't roll down a little treble on the tone control. (I remember Some people complained at sound checks).

Now, as Stratocaster bridge Humbucker, I'd like to try a X2N, a Black Winter and than a Seymour Duncan SH-11 Custom Custom...

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

My Strat is an HSS. The bridge is a (now vintage) Lace Sensor Gold dual pickup. The sound is VERY precise ! (But I cannot garantee it works well in all guitars)
But if used in through the clean channel of a loud Marshall it can be earsplitting if you don't roll down a little treble on the tone control. (I remember Some people complained at sound checks).

Now, as Stratocaster bridge Humbucker, I'd like to try a X2N, a Black Winter and than a Seymour Duncan SH-11 Custom Custom...

Interesting. I've never really looked into any kind of Lace pickup.

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

Another vote for the Hybrid! It seems to excel in an HSS design. I even wrote a blog about how I use mine.

Dave; would you suggest using a 250k or a 500k pot with the 59'/Custom if wiring to it with only a volume control, no tone control?

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

You have to keep in mind that a lot of the pickups being suggested here do not sound their best with 250k volume and tone pots. Unless you use some clever wiring, you will need to pick a humbucker that works well with 250k pots.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

Dave; would you suggest using a 250k or a 500k pot with the 59'/Custom if wiring to it with only a volume control, no tone control?

I use 500k...but I have to admit, I haven't tried anything else. It sounds great as it is, so I never thought I needed to search for something else.

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

You have to keep in mind that a lot of the pickups being suggested here do not sound their best with 250k volume and tone pots. Unless you use some clever wiring, you will need to pick a humbucker that works well with 250k pots.

I do have a 'clever wiring' scheme so can use a separate 250k volume and tone pots for the neck and middle single coils and the split humbucker and a separate 500k volume for the full humbucker so will stick with the conventional 500k as Dave recommends.

 

[chadd]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

You have to keep in mind that a lot of the pickups being suggested here do not sound their best with 250k volume and tone pots. Unless you use some clever wiring, you will need to pick a humbucker that works well with 250k pots.

I use a 500k volume, but I also use APS1 singles and they aren't as harsh on the top end.

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

I use a 500k volume, but I also use APS1 singles and they aren't as harsh on the top end.

With the 59'/Custom?

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

I love the often overlooked SH11. It works great split, it's great with OD, and it's a bright pickup, so it should work well with the pots and caps.

Sorry, I must disagree. The Custom Custom is a very mid-rangey pickup that has a decent high end with overdrive or distortion, but it will be very different from the singles in tone and output.

 

[chadd]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

With the 59'/Custom?

I had one in there for a while, yes. Now I have a Custom Custom in the bridge. I prefer the extra thickness from the Custom Custom

 

[Condemned soul]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

Would the Full Shred work in this situation?

 

[BlakeC27]

Re: Best All-Round Bridge Humbucker For HSS Strat?

I had one in there for a while, yes. Now I have a Custom Custom in the bridge. I prefer the extra thickness from the Custom Custom

The Custom Custom was on my list but I really wanted to match the Alnico 5 of the 59'/Custom with my current single coils and the similar DC Resistance when splitting the humbucker.