Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

[gregsuarez]

I'm looking to replace all 3 pickups in my American Deluxe Strat (alder body, maple fingerboard), and I've narrowed down my choices to two sets of pups. Please give me your opinion on which set might be a better fit (or if another trio would be better).

I'm looking for a traditional Strat sound, but a bit more boosted and as hum-free as possible. I'm looking for airy, glassy highs and tight lows. At the same time, I don't want the highs to be shrill or the lows to lack bass completely.

I've narrowed down the choices to:

Cool Rails (all three positions)

or

Custom Stack Plus (B)/Classic Stack Plus (M)/Vintage Hot Stack Plus (N)

Thoughts?

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

Your stack choice is one of my favorites, and you can set it to auto-split in the 2 and 4 positions because that Classic Stack Plus middle pickup is RWRP. So you'll get hum cancelling and killer quack tone. Don't get me wrong the pickups work great in 2 and 4 without coil splitting them, but there's a really slight volume boost when splitting them that makes the volumes match wonderfully (and in a way never possible with straight single coils) when split.

Cool Rails are great, too, but when you say glassy highs, the edge goes to the Stacks.

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

^+1. The classic stacks are amazing, imo. I don't own a strat anymore, but the thought of those pickups almost makes me want to buy a new one just to put them in.

 

[gregsuarez]

Re: Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

Interesting comments on the Stacks. What do they give me that the Cool Rails don't, I wonder? Not that I am necessarily leaning toward the Cool Rails, I am just wondering why the Stacks are so much better in your opinion?

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

Glassy highs?

 

[gregsuarez]

Re: Cool Rails vs Stacks... opinion?

Glassy highs?

Articulate, smooth, ringing... you know, stuff like that. :fing2: