Do the hot rails sound right?

[Falloffthebonetone]

What we are looking for in my buddy's custom guitar we are making is a bridge pickup that's brighter, tight and focused. Good for down tuning, rather hot but below active power, great harmonic sensitivity, a sound that won't be like a cocked wah when the mids are up.

A plus is too, if we decide on 3 hot rails, then we can split em all to get stratty tones. He's more of a thrash guy but LOVES SRV and Hendrix too. Does a set of 3 hot rails with 500k pots sound right from anyone with experience?

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

While I like the hot rails in the middle and neck, when I tried it in the bridge I just didn't find it all that bright. Imagine the Invader, as that's what tech support told me the HR was intended to sound like. I split them all day long and they get a nice split tone. I'd not call it a classic Strat tone but if you tinker with your amps clean settings it is not bad.




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[idsnowdog]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

You're not going to find anything resembling Hendrix or SRV in the Hot Rails.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

You're not going to find anything resembling Hendrix or SRV in the Hot Rails.

When they are SPLIT we are hoping to get close, not exact.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

While I like the hot rails in the middle and neck, when I tried it in the bridge I just didn't find it all that bright. Imagine the Invader, as that's what tech support told me the HR was intended to sound like. I split them all day long and they get a nice split tone. I'd not call it a classic Strat tone but if you tinker with your amps clean settings it is not bad.



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Did you use 500k pots? And is it brighter than say an emg 81?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

When they are SPLIT we are hoping to get close, not exact.

Split mini-humbuckers don't sound very good. You can get some decent tone from parallel though.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Split mini-humbuckers don't sound very good. You can get some decent tone from parallel though.

Hmm. So what would you recommend as a bridge pickup that would fit out needs? We can rout anything we want in this body. Its mahogany and a bolt on maple neck.

 

[Securb]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

I have the Hot Rails in my Tele split with 250K pots and I love the split and humbucking tones. It does not sound like a Strat split but it will serve up some killer classic rock tones.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Back in the late 80's, I bought a Charvel Model 1A (vintage style trem bridge, 3 single-coils) from my friend 's music shop. I also was going to order 3 Hotrails pickups for it, but my friend pointed out that it might be altogether too much and suggested i had Hotrails at the bridge and neck positions, and used a SD Alnico II Pro Strat pickup in the middle. I did exactly what he suggested and i had fantastic position 2,3 & 4 sounds, that were very Strat-like without splitting the Hotrails. Of course positions 1 and 5 were the straight Hotrails for the serious hard rock sounds.

My impression of the Hotrails was that they have a lot of power, but not a great deal of character. But when combined with the Alnico II Pro Strat pickup in the middle the sounds were very characterful in a typical Strat way. It was a very versatile guitar.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Did you use 500k pots? And is it brighter than say an emg 81?

Yep.

And no, the EMG 81 is brighter and with much more high end.


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[freefrog]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Split mini-humbuckers don't sound very good. You can get some decent tone from parallel though.

+1. A Hot Rails in parallel has an inductance of 3H, giving the resonant frequency of a single coil. The output voltage is spot on too. I have a HR bridge with a series/parallel switch in my main stage "workhorse" and no problem to get decent Fenderish cleans in parallel. FWIW.

 

[JoBeans]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Yep, parallel is the way to go with the Hot Rails, nice single coil tones with lots of character and it is still humbucking. This is the same concept used by Joe Barden with his Danny Gatton Telecaster pickup; two blade coils in parallel as the default.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

I used a Hot Rails for years and it is definitely not a bright pick up. Thick and powerful, but not very bright.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Hmm. So what would you recommend as a bridge pickup that would fit out needs? We can rout anything we want in this body. Its mahogany and a bolt on maple neck.

I have mixed feelings about mini-hums. The ones I have tried have either been too thin or too dark. However one setup that I can wholeheartedly endorse is a Fastrack II bridge, Duckbucker middle and JB Jr neck. The Fastrack II sounds almost exactly like a full size JB and the Duckbucker in the middle gives some nice 2/4 position quack. Also the JB Jr in the neck is a great shredder with a little bit of single coil spank, especially when you run it in parallel.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

^ Do you think the Fastrack II sounds more like a full-size JB than a JB Jr does? Man, that's trippy.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

Have you tried the Super Dist Single? I've been looking at that one and the FT2 for a while but can't make a decision.

Some of the single hums out of the Duncan CS look interesting, but there seems to be a lot more people that like the DiMarzios.


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[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

I think we are actually going to hit up the custom shop with this one.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

^ Do you think the Fastrack II sounds more like a full-size JB than a JB Jr does? Man, that's trippy.

The Fastrack II sounds much closer to a full sized JB than a JB Jr. I like the JB Jr for the neck, but I think it is too bright and weak for the bridge. On paper the Super Distortion S and the Fastrack II look nearly identical, but I haven't compared the two in real life. My impression of the Hotrails was that it was powerful, dark and lacked character.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

My impression of the Hotrails was that it was powerful, dark and lacked character.

I like the Hotrails, but I'd say that's a fair assessment. I kind of beat what I want out if it. Even when I split them (for parallel coils in the neck or neck + middle) and get something vaguely Strat-like, it's from picking hard and making the pickup quack into the amp. Quack, as in like a giant duck in a hockey mask chasing you with a chainsaw.

 

[Kam]

Re: Do the hot rails sound right?

I had a Hot Rails in the bridge of a Strat for a while. I agree with the guys who say that it lacks character. I eventually dumped it for a full-size Custom, because it was too dark, thick, hot and modern sounding for my tastes.

Having said that, I've tried it neither split nor parallel.