best shredding neck pickup

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HeadBanginologist
ok, i've asked this like 10,000,000 times but i need a better neck single coil for my charvel. when i eq my amp for the Custom to sound great, the choppers sound like crap, really muddy. so i need something that can cut through without being muddy or too bright. maybe more mids to be smooth sounding.

how is the YJM, HS-3, jb. jr, lil 59, hot rails, cool rails?


an example of the smooth tone i like is malmsteen's tone, how it's very smooth but still cuts through.

what can you recommend?

thanks :)
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

Have you tried the Pro Tracks, im about to put a FT2 and 2 PT in my Charvel, other than that iv never owned a guitar with single coils before.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

i've heard about them, and i've also heard that they can get muddy in neck position.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

The Chopper is a pretty dark pickup. More of a bridge pickup than a neck pickup IMO.

Tried Dimarzio Cruiser? A true single-coil sound without the noise. Or so they say at Dimarzio.

Dimarzio Fast Track 1 is a bit darker, but it might balance with the Custom a little better (more output than the Cruiser). Still brighter than the Chopper

EDIT : The Cruiser might get you closer to Yngwie's tone, as it is closer to a true single-coil sound.
Malmsteen's tone is awesome BTW.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

i had a fast track 1 in my strat before i made it a double fat strat. i had one in the neck and one in the middle. very nice for high gain. just listen to vinnie moore. go to his website. and watch his like korean video thing. most of the shredding is on the fast track one in the neck.i then put a cool rails in and it had about the same sound exept a bit more mids. both were great.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

I've got a Hot Rails in the neck of one of my Charvels and it has an amazing lead tone. However, it is a darker sounding pickup in the neck position. It has a ton of mids and bass, with the wrong EQ settings you could call it muddy for rhythms. However, the lead tone is so smooth, perfect for shredding. I use the Distortion in the bridge for rhythms and the Hot Rails in the neck for leads: Insant shred tone! I ordered a Cool Rails for the neck of one of my other Charvels because I liked it as a middle pickup between the Hot Rails and Distortion. It sounds a lot like the Hot Rails with a lower output, more like a vintage humbucker. Neither one will give you Yngwie's tone, but both would be great for shredding leads.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

You already know Malmsteen used the YJM and the HS-3 in the neck and it worked for him, you don't need us! lol
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

i dont want to sound like yngwie, i just like the smoothness of his tone.

Travis? what charvel was that model? i have the san dimas III series one.
by the way, the body is made of mahogany... if that helps.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

i have the Lil '59 in the neck of my RG 560 & it's a good one there. it's warm sounding but lacking that 'smooth' factor you are after. however, it'll shred well under high gain + sounds superb clean...
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

dont use the hs-3 or any of malmsteen's pickups i've tried and they sound like ****, completly compressed POS. You should try the cool rails.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

thanks for the replies :)

does anyone have clips of the cool rails in neck?
preferably for shredding, i know it can do pretty much anything but i want to hear it's shred capabilities.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

I agree with Travis, go with the hot rails. They are actually surprisingly good for definition and shredding runs.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

fusion101 said:
dont use the hs-3 or any of malmsteen's pickups i've tried and they sound like ****, completly compressed POS. You should try the cool rails.
Click to expand...


Sadly, this is true in my experience as well. The HS-3 was ok in the neck position but was pretty lacking in the bridge. The YJM was too thin and nasty sounding even for the neck. I actually gave the YJM away. After that purchase, I vowed to never buy DiMarzio again, and I won't.

The hot rails neck destroys both of these pickups. Great lead tone. If you play like I do (bridge for rhythm and neck for soloing), the HRn is your pickup and the custom will work well with it, IMO. It worked for me and I paired it with a JB. Killer combo.

Farkus
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

My Charvel 650XL (poplar body, maple neck through) has the Distortion/Cool Rails/Hot Rails combo. That is one killer set up, sustain for days. One of the other ones is a Model 4 (basswood body, maple bolt on neck) which will be getting a Cool Rails neck, 1/4 pounder mid, and JB bridge. I should be getting the pickups in the next couple of days. Once I put them in, I'll post how they perform in that particular guitar. Also, both of those guitars have an active mid-boost that I just left in. I may decide to rip them out eventually, but for now, they sound really good the way they are.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

thanks guys

looks like i'll give the hot rails a try, hey the guy already orderd it for me anyways. so why bother :D
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

Hi! I also had one before but my brother game me a new one and I have a flawless coil because it's not really giving any unwanted or irritating sound. The killer setup is really cool! THanks.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

The JB jr and Little Screamin Demon are good. The HS-3 needs a clean boost and is good for super precise shredding. However the HS-3 is a precision instrument that isn't very tolerant of slop.
 
Re: best shredding neck pickup

I use a pair of HS-3s so I can only recommend them as a pair (with only a 250K volume pot in the circuit - ala YJM) - here's a 80's high gain shredding tone (HS-3 neck and bridge in a 70's strat).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q7P8-EU4yI

 
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