Bridge pup for Strat

[fretburner]

I want a humbucking pup in a single coil package for my strat.

Which pup would give me a heavier "chug chug" sound? Cool Rails or JB jr.?

Are the hot rails to hot (very hight output) that it will "drown" the stock pups of my strat? It's an '89 am. std. strat btw.

Thanks!

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Hi fretwire; I can only comment on the CR in the bridge. On mine, I wouldn't call it "heavy" at all. I never normally like the sound of the bridge by itself on a Strat. The CR added just the right amount of low-end to help fill out the frequency spectrum, making it a nice useful tone by itself. But it still retains the classic "bridge-twang". Its just a fuller, richer twang.

Its one of my favorite sounds.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

imo, the Hotrails don't overpower stock singlecoil pups... I found it to be a very nice rock pup...

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Artie,

Fuller sound = thicker right?

I always find single coils to "thin" for my taste, so I don't want to play distorted rythmn sound with a single coil (i almost always use the bridge for rythmn be it clean or dirty). Also, the stock pups are so bright sounding, and I don't want to roll down the tone knob that much coz that would make my pinch harmonics sound weak.

Does the CR give me a bassier sound and cuts the highs a bit so it won't sound as bright?




Kommerzbassist,

The HR seem to have more mids to it than the CR. Would this be the high mids or the low mids?

I generally don't like mids for the bridge. I want lots of mids for the neck pup though. Give's my lead tone a "rounder" sound.


Thanks!

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Artie,

Fuller sound = thicker right?

Right. In the context that I'm using, I mean a bit more bass, to make up for the lack of same with a single coil in the bridge position. The Cool Rails doesn't have a "lot" of bottom end . . . just enough to make the bridge sound better.

If this helps, here's a little clip I posted in the Tips and Clips section awhile back when I first installed the CR. Its the same basic part played on one channel with just the CR, and on the other channel in the #4 notch position - CR + SSL-1.

Cool Rails clip

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

^^ Great tone!

I definitely cannot get that kinda tone from the stock pups on my strat. Coz like I said, mine is too bright sounding.

Can you tell me your exact setup for that? Amps and settings? The tone knob on your guitar?

Btw, the bridge (CR) only would be on the left channel?

I wish you can post some distorted, palm-muted clips on those cool rails.

Thanks!

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

My setup is a minimul home studio. As far as the guitar goes, I always run volume and tone controls on "10". Since I run into so much equipment that has those controls, I never use them.

Here's a quote from the thread where I originally posted that clip:

I run the guitar straight into a DBX 163x compressor, but I have the compression turned to minimum. I use it as a buffer to split the signal and match it to the next stage, which is a Johnson J-Station, and Yamaha FX-500. The J-Station is set to the "Black Face" emulation with all effects turned off. I have the Yamaha set for just a smidgen of chorus, reverb, and delay. Not much, just a touch. Both of those units are stereo, so all four inputs come into a Tascam mixer, which feeds my soundcard.

The "trick" to keeping it clean is, I only mix in a bit of the Yamaha. The "J" is full strength, but I bring in just enough of the Yamaha to give it a bit of ambiance, and to help take away the "digital" character.

The CR is the one panned "right". btw - I made a little mistake in that other post. On the left is the Cool Rails with an EMG. I hadn't installed the SSL-1 yet when I made that clip.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

I wish you can post some distorted, palm-muted clips on those cool rails.

Thanks!

I'll see what I can do about some distorted tones. I don't think I know how to do palm-mutes yet. :yell:

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Wow. You didn't even use a real amp? The J-station is that good?

I almost always roll up my tone knobs to 10... and it's only on this strat that I considered rolling it back to the center position for the bridge (and mid) pup. I love the twang when playing it clean but yeah, just too bright for my taste. Your tone though, I wouldn't consider bright, but is so clear, and yeah, fuller.


Btw, I read back at the website, and SD says lower output pups would be more open, i.e. you have more control on the tone? As opposed to high output pups?

The hot rails sound heavy. And the JB seems to be "open" too. And both are high output pups.

Thanks Man!

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Yeah, I think the "J" is killer. Unfortunately, its out of production, but you can still find them on eBay from time to time. Several folks from the J forum, who've used POD's and V's have all said the J had better sound.

For digital recording, its excellent. I'm not sure how it would be "live", though.

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

there's someone here selling it really cheap but i'm afraid i wouldn't have much use for it. my jtm60 has an emulated/unemulated(?) midi out that i can connect to my soundcard.

btw, i think i'll go with the cool rails.

i was thinking, i won't use it to play megadeth anyway as i will be using my RG and LP for that... so yeah, i love your tone, and i love the tone the the audio samples, so i'll go for it.

thanks man!

if you can still post a soundclip with a distorted sound, it will still be cool though.

 

[Artie]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

btw, i think i'll go with the cool rails.

Thats cool, but I'd hate to see you make that decision based on my one clip alone. There's a lot of folks who love that Twangbanger. I just haven't had a chance to try one yet.

if you can still post a soundclip with a distorted sound, it will still be cool though.

I'll see what I can do. "Distortion" tends to be modelers weak point.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Kommerzbassist,

The HR seem to have more mids to it than the CR. Would this be the high mids or the low mids?

I generally don't like mids for the bridge. I want lots of mids for the neck pup though. Give's my lead tone a "rounder" sound.


Thanks!

All the mids

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

artie,

from the soundclips on SD's website, the CR sounded best for me... followed my the HR and the hotstack... the quarterpounder sounds good too... i also liked the EQ shape of the CR from the site ...and the tonewizard is saying CR too if i want rock/classic rock...




Kommerzbassist,

I don't really like mids on a bridge pup... but some will argue that a great pup is that pup with well-defined mids and that it will help you cut through in a live setting... i'm not so sure about this though... what's your opinion?

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

Hey, why is the twangbanger NOT yet in the tone charts? And no soundclips?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

I don't think you can get a "true" heavy metal "chugga chugga" tone from a single coil size pickup...but Jennifer Batten (guitarist with Jeff Beck) gets a pretty heavy tone with the JB JR. The Hot Rails might be even heavier.

Of the pickups mentioned in this thread the Twangbanger is my favorite.

Lew

 

[fretburner]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

^^ yeah... i think so too... but maybe the CR can get me close? i wanna preserve the 3-single-coil look of my strat...

I've heard the CR is more open than the HR... though the HR sure sounds heavier?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

I don't think you can get a "true" heavy metal "chugga chugga" tone from a single coil size pickup...

The Livewire Hot for Strat will do some serious "chugga-chuggin"

 

[Boleslaw Gers 666]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

I have the JB Jr. and the Hot Rails, the hot rails is killer in my '89 strat. Excellent for most types of metal with nice creamy soloing. JB Jr. is a little too thin for my taste.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Bridge pup for Strat

You might want to reconsider the look of your strat. A 59, C5, or Custom trembucker would get you plenty of "chug", "chunk", and make your harmonics scream in a strat's bridge position.

(The Custom and the C5 would also split well and blend very nicely with your middle pickup for clean, twangy sounds)


That being said, I would also look at Dimarzio's Fast Track 2 for the sound you're describing. It might not do it as well as the full sized humbuckers I mentioned, but it will keep the look you want. :burnout: