Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

[Numbercrunche]

I am about to buy a new Stratocaster that has a look I really like but comes with three single coil pickups.

I would prefer the bridge pickup to be a humbucker for that throatier, meatier, fatter sound but don’t know if one of the Seymour Duncan single coil sized humbucker will do the trick. There is also the concern it may overpower the middle and neck pickups which on this guitar are the Fender American Standard Single Coil Pikups.

I am still learning guitar but given the changes in my life the past few months, I want a little nicer, semi-custom guitar and if I am jumping the gun on this $1,200 sand blasted model I am okay with it. I am not interested in really fast heavy metal guitar solos but more the rhythm sounds (at least I call it that) you hear in AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds and TNT. That may not be humbucker at all for all I know. The intro to the KISS song Heaven’s on Fire also has that sound I would like to get from this guitar.

If anyone thinks one of the Seymour Duncan Single Coil Sized humbuckers will do the trick let me know. If I am better off having the guitar routered to fit a traditional humbucker I can go that route down the road. Part of me thinks I should just buy the guitar and leave it stock for a while and see what I think it needs as opposed to having it modified before I even have it delivered.

Thanks for any tips. I know it sucks trying to help someone who is being somewhat vague about tonal desires but I appreciate any insight.

NC

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

I would say to leave it like it is and see if you like it as it is. If not, you'll have a better idea of what you want the guitar to do and have a better understanding of what to put into it. That being said, for the styles you mentioned, I would suspect the Little 59 or the new Red Devil would do the trick.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Demanic]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Maybe a Hot rail?

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[devastone]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Good suggestions, DiMarzio also has some nice sounding single coil size humbuckers. If you want to stick with Duncans, the Lil' 59 is probably going to get you closest to the AC/DC ballpark, the next step up in mids and power would be the JB Jr.

FWIW, I don't know for sure about the sand blasted strat (you're looking at the one at Sweetwater, right?), but most new strats have a swimming pool route meaning you can put a full size humbucker in just by getting a new pickguard, and humbucker of course. You might want to double check that but I would almost bet it is already routed under the guard.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Definitely Cool Rails.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

I am about to buy a new Stratocaster that has a look I really like but comes with three single coil pickups.

I would prefer the bridge pickup to be a humbucker for that throatier, meatier, fatter sound but don’t know if one of the Seymour Duncan single coil sized humbucker will do the trick. There is also the concern it may overpower the middle and neck pickups which on this guitar are the Fender American Standard Single Coil Pikups.

I am still learning guitar but given the changes in my life the past few months, I want a little nicer, semi-custom guitar and if I am jumping the gun on this $1,200 sand blasted model I am okay with it. I am not interested in really fast heavy metal guitar solos but more the rhythm sounds (at least I call it that) you hear in AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds and TNT. That may not be humbucker at all for all I know. The intro to the KISS song Heaven’s on Fire also has that sound I would like to get from this guitar.

If anyone thinks one of the Seymour Duncan Single Coil Sized humbuckers will do the trick let me know. If I am better off having the guitar routered to fit a traditional humbucker I can go that route down the road. Part of me thinks I should just buy the guitar and leave it stock for a while and see what I think it needs as opposed to having it modified before I even have it delivered.

Thanks for any tips. I know it sucks trying to help someone who is being somewhat vague about tonal desires but I appreciate any insight.

NC

If you're buying new, you know just about any Fender strat is available in factory HSS with stock fullsized humbucker options? And most of these are matched sets that Fender feels work well together


Btw, American Standard line got discontinued in 2016, so you should push for deep discounts if getting one of those sold as a new & unused guitar

Also, if dropping $1200 on a strat, you"re MUCH better off buying a used higher-end recent Fender USA model (if it's gotta be Fender for you) or a used ESP Vintage Plus (if you want a godd@m spectacular strat for sure)

 

[Adieu]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

FWIW, I don't know for sure about the sand blasted strat (you're looking at the one at Sweetwater, right?), but most new strats have a swimming pool route meaning you can put a full size humbucker in just by getting a new pickguard, and humbucker of course. You might want to double check that but I would almost bet it is already routed under the guard.

Fender American stuff MOSTLY transitioned to HSH routing between 1999 and 2000.... unless the new ones reverted so recently that the internet hasn't caught wind

So still able to get a bridge humbucker after investing $10-30 in a new pickguard, but NO swimming pool rout for almost 20 years now

And - curiously - the current new Mexicans often have tight SSS routing

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Another option is to have the guitar routed for a humbucker. Not sure what your local shop charges but at mine it’s a reasonable fee.
If I were to have it routed I’d probably just have a swimming pool rout done in case later on you decide you want a neck bucker etc.

 

[devastone]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Thanks for clarifying that about the routes Adieu, been a while since I owned a Fender strat. I personally like the HSH better than the swimming pools anyway.

From what I gather, he is looking at the sandblasted strats at Sweetwater, so it should be the same route, but occasionally Fender does weird stuff.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Remember that AC/DC rhythm sounds are Malcolm on a Gretsch with I assume Filtertrons. At some points, Angus doubles the rhythm but it is mostly from the Gretsch, and Malcolm.
Al

 

[Shooweri]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

If you don't like the stock bridge pickup, you might like the little 59. It's great pickup for classic rock and splits well with middle single.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Oh in that case who knows what's in there, rout wise.... although it sounds like it's their get-rid-of-bstock bodies & surplus hardware and electronics models

If youre dead set on one, save yourself $500:
https://reverb.com/item/15624047-fender-limited-edition-sandblasted-ash-stratocaster-2015-sunburst

 

[Despair]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Remember that AC/DC rhythm sounds are Malcolm on a Gretsch with I assume Filtertrons. At some points, Angus doubles the rhythm but it is mostly from the Gretsch, and Malcolm.
Al

Malcolm Young had been using TV Jones pickups in most of his guitars for a long while. Classic Plus for some eras, but he apparently also used one of their Power'Tron models in some guitars for a while. Early on is probably closer to a TV Jones Classic until Malcolm's number one apparently was rewound, can't say off top of my head whether from that point whether it'd be closest to a Classic Plus, Power'Tron or something else.

Filter'Trons have a sparklier, twangier sound than typical humbuckers. If you are really focused on the AC/DC rhythm sound, one would be an excellent choice, and a pretty good match for single coils.

Anything in an alnico Filter'Tron will be closer than all the people doing Angus's rhythm sound with excess distortion, though.

 

[Toejam]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

A Little Screamin' Demon or Little '59 would work well.

 

[Toejam]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Malcolm Jones had been using TV Jones pickups in most of his guitars for a long while.

I don't know who Malcolm Jones is, but that's what Malcolm Young used.

 

[Despair]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

I don't know who Malcolm Jones is, but that's what Malcolm Young used.

Ugh, I kept getting logged out and having to retype it, it kept automangling, and was in a hurry to post before I got interrupted again.

Malcolm Young was what I typed the first few times, and thought I wrote the last...

 

[sedawkgrep]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Dimarzio Pro Track. Puts you into a PAF-style HB tone which is exactly where you want to be.

 

[Numbercrunche]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Thanks for the suggestions.

And yes it is one of the ones from Sweetwater but one with almost no yellow showing. No disrespect to yellow but on the sandblasted guitars I prefer the look of the sandblasted black over all red/orange if possible. It makes the guitar look smoldering hot to me.

The guitar will arrive on Wednesday of next week and I'll play it for a while to see what I think. Before I put any new pickup in I'll pop the pick guard off to see if a standard hum bucker will fit.

And I agree on the used guitar thing where I can get an American $2,000 guitar for about what I paid for this one but I am really picky about color. So as long as my sandblasted one looks like I want (you never know until you see one in person) I don't mind spending the extra money on it and modifying as necessary.

NC

 

[Adieu]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

Thanks for the suggestions.

And yes it is one of the ones from Sweetwater but one with almost no yellow showing. No disrespect to yellow but on the sandblasted guitars I prefer the look of the sandblasted black over all red/orange if possible. It makes the guitar look smoldering hot to me.

The guitar will arrive on Wednesday of next week and I'll play it for a while to see what I think. Before I put any new pickup in I'll pop the pick guard off to see if a standard hum bucker will fit.

And I agree on the used guitar thing where I can get an American $2,000 guitar for about what I paid for this one but I am really picky about color. So as long as my sandblasted one looks like I want (you never know until you see one in person) I don't mind spending the extra money on it and modifying as necessary.

NC

You've seen the pretty pristine identical finish used one link for $750 above, right?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best bridge pickup for humbucker like sound

I am about to buy a new Stratocaster that has a look I really like but comes with three single coil pickups.

I would prefer the bridge pickup to be a humbucker for that throatier, meatier, fatter sound but don’t know if one of the Seymour Duncan single coil sized humbucker will do the trick. There is also the concern it may overpower the middle and neck pickups which on this guitar are the Fender American Standard Single Coil Pikups.

I am still learning guitar but given the changes in my life the past few months, I want a little nicer, semi-custom guitar and if I am jumping the gun on this $1,200 sand blasted model I am okay with it. I am not interested in really fast heavy metal guitar solos but more the rhythm sounds (at least I call it that) you hear in AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds and TNT. That may not be humbucker at all for all I know. The intro to the KISS song Heaven’s on Fire also has that sound I would like to get from this guitar.

If anyone thinks one of the Seymour Duncan Single Coil Sized humbuckers will do the trick let me know. If I am better off having the guitar routered to fit a traditional humbucker I can go that route down the road. Part of me thinks I should just buy the guitar and leave it stock for a while and see what I think it needs as opposed to having it modified before I even have it delivered.

Thanks for any tips. I know it sucks trying to help someone who is being somewhat vague about tonal desires but I appreciate any insight.

NC

You might check out the Little 59 or the new Red Devil. Both go for a 'throatier, meatier sound' of a humbucker in a single coil size.