Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

[Dave Z]

I've spent a week trying to figure out how best to rewire my HSS Am Special strat (Diamondback & TexMexes which I find too middy in this mahogany body) with Duncans then finally decided to simplify and buy a SSS P/G and make this a strattier strat. I've listed to every sample I could find of the noiseless stacks, as I have a lot of electricals to deal with and I find the STK-7's eq to be the best for mid/neck to my ears, yet still having a vintage vibe. (The STK-4s have a brittle edge I'm not liking.) So, the question is, what bridge pickup works with these? It'd be nice to keep some of the rockier aspects of a bridge bucker, but still get some quack in the 2nd position. Is the Custom stack (STK-S6) the right choice here? Don't want to seem like a different guitar when switching to bridge, but looking for a bit more girth in the bridge than vintage. EQ looks right but hard to find a sample with these in combination. Hot stack looks too middy for mahogany/rosewood, thats the problem I have with the TexMexes (and noise) and I'd be concerned a rails PU would sound different, more humbuckery. Thanks for any links to sound bites & options of course.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Actually, the STK-S4 isn't really that brittle. But I'd say for a bridge pickup with the STK-S7s, you might look at the STK-S6 or even a YJM Fury.

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Maybe its the micing or the eq but on the clean tones I have found on youtube, the stk4s have an edgy top end that doesn't have the smoothness of the non-stack pickups of same wind (vintage staggered for example). I suppose highs are the easiest to tame so I'm temped by the SKT4 calibrated set. Kinda wish there was a set like that for the stk-7.

Yeah I saw the fury, wow 25K resistance but quite bright in your tone sample. Reminds me of the Demon. Definately want a tone control on that, will see if I can find Yngwei's wiring online. Damn, found a nice demo of the YJM set that wasn't just shred; clean and with TS808 it sounds like what I was looking for, a bit beefier than vintage but with a genuine strat sound. Nice sounding set, well articulated highs. Never would have believed it from a 25k DCR single.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

i had a stks4 neck and middle with the stks7 bridge and i thought that was a terrific set. i didnt find the stks4 neck and middle overly edgy.

the yjm is older stack technology compared to the stack plus models so each coil is 12.5k. the old hot stack was 20k+ and not really very high output

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

With Stacks, you can't really use the DCR as an output comparison- it really doesn't work so well. The YJMs aren't overtly hot at all.

 

[donaldr]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Just for a point of reference, I have a STK-S7 in the neck position with a Screamin Demon TB12 in the bridge (dymmy middle).
I had to lower the STK-S7 and raised the TB12 to match volume wise.
STK-S7 has some low end and @jeremy posted should make a terrific set with STK-S4 in neck/middle (by the way I think it's were I'm heading as I already have another HSS guitar and looking to going back to SSS)

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Just for a point of reference, I have a STK-S7 in the neck position with a Screamin Demon TB12 in the bridge (dymmy middle).
I had to lower the STK-S7 and raised the TB12 to match volume wise.
STK-S7 has some low end and @jeremy posted should make a terrific set with STK-S4 in neck/middle (by the way I think it's were I'm heading as I already have another HSS guitar and looking to going back to SSS)

ALL RIGHT! Another day spent really listening to the clips on SD.com, utube etc, you have me convinced, just ordered a STK-7 for bridge and the STK-4s for mid & neck. YJMs were tempting but I read a LOT of reviews on them (and more clips yes) and probably not what I'm looking for (clean, blues, old rock and occasional excursion into jazz). thanks for the input forum folks.

Now, no more buzz...

 

[jeremy]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

look forward to hearing your impressions once you get them installed

 

[donaldr]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

ALL RIGHT! Another day spent really listening to the clips on SD.com, utube etc, you have me convinced, just ordered a STK-7 for bridge and the STK-4s for mid & neck. YJMs were tempting but I read a LOT of reviews on them (and more clips yes) and probably not what I'm looking for (clean, blues, old rock and occasional excursion into jazz). thanks for the input forum folks.

Now, no more buzz...

Give us your impression when you got them, I'm really close to do the same thing (move STK-S7 bridge and get STK-S4 neck and middle)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Was just using my S4'd Strat tonight. It is a pickup that is great if you love using the volume and tone controls- it sounds wonderful at every setting.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Count me in as another STK-S4 N/M user. "Brittle" is the last word I'd ever use to describe them. In fact, if I was trying to criticize them, I'd say they're too smooth as compared to classic single coils. But . . . I won't say that.

I think I'm using an S6 in the bridge. I gotta get her out and see. I hate getting old.

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

I will certainly post. Will be a week or so since waiting for a black pearl p/g...that guit needs a touch of flash. Really looking fwd to quiet study/practice. Need to up my theory game.

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Bridge pickup for Vintage Hot Stack Plus in Mid & neck

Alright then, an intense 3 hrs later, I'm done. Diagram & photos below. Getting to the meat of it, the Noiseless pickups are GREAT! Definately different than the singles I have in my old frankenstrat (Alnico II Pros). The Noiseless are of course Alnico V, and I was going for an Alnico V tone to contrast with the A2Pros. More like the American Standard I had back in 2000 - clean, tight, glassy modern Strat. The Stk-4s have that down. Whereas the A2Pros are big, brassy and blowsy on the bottom end, scooped mid with an extended and very sweet high end, the Stk-4s have a tighter, woodier top end, more mids that are very well balanced (no 'honk') and highs that are smooth rather than sweet - you do lose a little harmonic content with the bucker mode. But here's the deal: I added aDPDT to split the Bridge & Neck, and you *do* get some of that Single coil edge back on the top end. You add noise, but for clean sounds at moderate volume they work fantastically, as regular singles do. Nice having the option. Adding the extra switch in my brand new black pearl p/g was kinda hairy but I'm REALLY glad I added it.

Wiring notes: with all the grounds, I reduced the number of wires to manage by bunching the body cav, trem and jack return to a quick-release (grnd1 on pot, near grounded ear). It's got a purple end in the photo. Tones ground at the grounded ear, run thru that ear to pot. The black wires are tinned to the shielding wire, which is protected form grounding on a switch with shrink tubing. So just the 3 shield wires go to the other side of hte volume pot.

So, thanks all for the contributions to the thread. I'll never give up my A2Pros, but for a lot of clean and jazzy stuff, the NS4s are doing the job really really well. Head & shoulders above the TexMex/Diamondback combo that was in there before. That p/g, complete, will be going to the trading post soon.