Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

simonbaker

simonbaker

New member
Hi. I haven't posted here in a while.

I built myself a superstrat HSS guitar after getting a sudden urge to need a Floyd Rose after a 25 year hiatus.

I put an old (TB4) JB Trembucker in the bridge, and bought a Little 59 and a Vintage Rails to go in the neck and the middle positions.

I love the sound of the Little 59 in the neck, and the JB in the bridge. The 2 and 4 positions with the Vintage Rails work really well,but I'm not entirely sold on the sound of the Vintage Rails in position 3 on it's own.

I really want to have a great overwound (but still bell-like) strat middle position to compliment the other pickups, and I'd like to have a balanced output level with the other pickups. This will be a go-to pickup for all kinds of clean and dirty tones.

I'm happy to have a true single coil, as I'm not worried about hum in the middle position.

The SD options that I've considered are perhaps a Quarter Pound for Strat, or a Custom Flat Strat, because of their increased output.

I'd appreciate any input that you can give me, to get the tone I'm after. (I'm open to suggestions for any pickup manufacturer)

Simon.
 
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Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

The Custom Flat is going to give you the sound you want. The Vintage Rails is a really exaggerated treble, which I like, but the Custom is a hot version of a traditional Strat sound.
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

if you are using 500k pots then the ssl6 is exactly what you want. the qp is fat and dark in comparison. i like it in the bridge but thats about it
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

Thanks for the replies. I have put 500k pots in. Daft question, but I can only get the Custom Flat in white here in the UK. I suppose I can fit any strat sized cover on it? (I'm going for a cream cover to sit nicely with the zebra TB4 and black Little 59)?

I've tried to post a picture, but the new Apple OS won't let me. Here's a link to my FB album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1145166552206032&type=1&l=052024f806
 
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Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

ive swapped covers on my ssl6 without issue
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

Just a suggestion...the Lil Screamin Demon is awesome in the middle position.

EDIT: I know its not a Single Coil
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

id say the ssl6 sounds better clean than the lil demon, although i havent heard the lil demon in the middle in a long time
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

jeremy said:
id say the ssl6 sounds better clean than the lil demon, although i havent heard the lil demon in the middle in a long time
Click to expand...

I was thinking along the lines of being more balanced–I really like the Lil Demon clean but my favorite clean probably does not equal your favorite clean.
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

I don't think the QP or the SSL-6 sounds much llike a traditional single coil, but they will balance better output-wise. I agree with the SSL-6, but it still is pretty beefy for a clean & clear single coil sound. Either choice will be a compromise.
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

I've ordered an SSL-6.

It's going to be a better option for this guitar. I don't really want the mid-range hump of the QP in this position. I've got all the fatness I could ever need from the other two pickups.

The Vintage Rails is definitely under-powered in this situation. It has a DCR of 2.5K (I'm assuming it's so low in this pickup because it's a parallel output).

I know that output generally increases with DC resistance, and DC resistance is not a perfect measure of pickup strength.

I'll let you know how I get on.
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

OK. Got the Custom Flat for Strat in tonight.

I posted elsewhere about staining the white pickup cover to match the JB Zebra.

Here it is in place.

17a9c5436e96844e5272fe7ba5bd0155.jpg


My first impressions are that this is an awesome pickup.

It has a sweet bluesy tone on its own (it's going through a 500k pot).

It's nicely balanced with the other two pickups. I don't have a drop in the 2, 3 and 4 positions any more.

I love the way it sounds with the JB. I've got a push/push on the JB for single coil slug and serial humbucker wiring.

The middle pickup sounds amazing in parallel with both settings on the JB. I can have a fat quack sound, or a more traditional single coil in between tone.

The vintage rails didn't give the variation with the JB in single and full humbucking mode. It sounded almost the same regardless of the JB switching.

The SSL-6 sounds great with the Little '59 as well. It's really musical, and has a natural bloom to the tone.

I've had a couple of hours with it, and it has transformed this guitar.

I'm looking forward to playing it out next weekend.
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

I'd love to hear it if you can record a clip. It looks great, and I am happy it worked out!
 
Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

Ok. This is rough and ready. I had a quick noodle with the SSL6 in mid position on it's own, followed by the SSL and the split(Slug coil) of the TB4 in parallel.

https://soundcloud.com/simon-baker-556683488/ssl6-tests/s-E2ANG

The notch position with the bridge pickup is right where I want it to be tonally. It has a serious amount of quack!. The middle pickup on its own sounds really full. It's nice to have a really lively single coil option to go with the humbuckers.
 
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Re: Can I have a great balanced Strat middle pickup to go with powerful humbuckers?

glad it worked out so well!
 
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