Cool Rails verses the LIL 59 in neck pickups , are they the same ?

[DavidRavenMoon]

SD website states the CR neck is 9.8k

I see that now. I was going off notes from one I measured.


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[DavidRavenMoon]

no i don't think so, i think DavidRavenMoon is confusing them with the "vintage rails"...

anyway. the lil screamin demon should be in between those two, but closer to the lil59...

I had a client that used them in all his guitars. 2 cool rails and a hot rail at the bridge. I was going from notes I made from those. I installed them in about 6 of his Strats. He used to be a touring guitarist with Kool and the Gang. I still have a couple of broken one in a box.

But that was over 10 years ago.


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[Artie]

The funny thing is, even though their DCR is similar, Vintage Rails don't sound that good in series, and Cool Rails aren't that great in parallel. I think Duncan got this one right. Or, it's the placebo affect.

 

[Teleplayer]

I'm a fan of the Coolrails neck. I like it because of its combination of brightness and good output level. The tone and level will balance with most PAF-style bridge humbuckers, providing it is mounted close to the strings. I use it with 500k Volume and Tone controls. I found the lil 59 a bit over-warm for my preference, but no issues with the Coolrails.

 

[freefrog]

The funny thing is, even though their DCR is similar, Vintage Rails don't sound that good in series, and Cool Rails aren't that great in parallel. I think Duncan got this one right. Or, it's the placebo affect.

One of my main stage guitars hosts a Cool Rails in neck position, coupled to a series/ parallel switch. Same thing for the Hot Rails in bridge position. In this case (alder body, long scale), the Cool Rails N sounds more than good in parallel. Largely like a regular single coil, actually... Now and to be honest, that's a bridge CR that I've mounted in neck position intentionally: I did consider the inductance as beefy enough in parallel @ 1.9H (which is practically the inductive reading of a CS69)... and it worked for me, exactly like the HR b gives me a decent fake Tele bridge tone with 3H in parallel. FWIW (just to share a recipe that I've found useable and not at all to argue).

To the OP: even if the coils are/were the same, the two ferrous blades inside the coils of the HR explain its higher inductance and spread the magnetic field differently compared to the tiny screw poles of a lil'59. So, practically, it's not the same pickup anyway....

 

[Artie]

In this case (alder body, long scale), the Cool Rails N sounds more than good in parallel.

It's been quite awhile since I've tried it. I should reinvestigate this. I have all four on hand. Hot Rails, Cool Rails, Vintage Rails and Duckbucker.

 

[Synapsys]

Got both the Cool Rails and the Little '59, both neck versions, in two very different superStrats, both with series/parallel wiring for the neck pickup.

The former is in an alder body, bolt-on maple neck with a rosewood fretboard Jackson DK2. The Cool Rail in series sounds indeed very balanced, and it shows its versatility in the way it handles both high gain and clean tones. Parallel has lower output, slightly changing the EQ to a more trebley but yet puncht tone, perfectly suited for Fender-like tones when using clean.

The latter is a mahogany body, neck-through maple neck with an ebony fretboard ESP LTD MH-1000HS. The Little '59 in series sounds fuller in the mids and has more output than the Cool Rails, but that has more to do with the guitar woods and construction. Definitely sounds more vintage than the Cool Rails, and I prefer to use it with gain than with clean tones. Parallel cuts output, bass and middle more evidently than the Cool Rails, and makes it more usable in clean tones. Yet, to get LP-like tones from a Strat, this is the one to get.

This guitar came stock with a Hot Rails neck, but it just had too much gain and mids to my liking. Definitely a Dave Murray from Iron Maiden tone, but while I love the band, I really didn't like the pickup voicing.

 

[quadquadquadquad]

Thinking about the Cool Rails for neck in a bright (maple body) HSS guitar. Will that warm things up?

Assuming I replace all three pickups, been thinking about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, and Lil'59 for the neck or middle and a Custom Custom for the bridge.

Is that a workable combo for this bright guitar that is balanced for HSS (or do we call it SSH)? Comments on the neck and middle pu?Other ideas?

I mostly play edge of break-up and clean and every once in a while a bit more hair/distortion.

 

[JamesPaul]

...

Assuming I replace all three pickups, been thinking about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, and Lil'59 for the neck or middle and a Custom Custom for the bridge.

Is that a workable combo for this bright guitar that is balanced for HSS (or do we call it SSH)? Comments on the neck and middle pu?Other ideas?

...

No experience with those pickups, but most manufacturers, vendors and publications start with the bridge pickup to describe the configuration. So, HSS in the case of your target configuration.

 

[Mincer]

Cool Rails and Vintage Rails are not really 'warm' pickups. I might look at the neck Hot Rails in the middle and the neck if I wanted something warm.