Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

[spleenharvester]

I have a 2011 Blacktop with a Slash APH-2B and a Duncan STHR-1B with a downward slant on the higher strings (with an adapter I fashioned to fit in a humbucker slot). This guitar runs through a Vox AC15 + SD-1.

I decided to swap the pickups around (the hot rail was originally in the bridge, and the Slash in the neck - they balanced quite well). After swapping around, the Slash sounds much better in the bridge position than the hot rail did, and is just about ready to melt your face off. The hot rail, however, sounds really thin, and much lower output than the Slash. This is a bit confusing for me as I was under the impression the hot rails had a higher output, and that combined with it being a bridge pickup in the neck made me expect the Slash pickup to be overpowered by it, if any. Wiring is unchanged.

1) Is this just the hot rail sound in the neck or is something up?

2) Can anyone recommend a pickup to replace the hot rail in the neck if I decide to? Can be a humbucker or a tele pickup. I want a thick rhythm sound (which I know is going to be tricky with an AC15 but the hot rail isn't sounding that thick at all). Something like the sound @ 2:27 (which is done with a hot rail, but the guy is running through a JVM 410c):

 

[Mincer]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

I wish it was a better demo- I don't like how either of them sound there!
For your guitar, it sounds like something is up with that Hot Rails. It shouldn't sound thin in any sense. Is it wired in parallel? Are both coils working? Try wiring it directly to the jack and seeing if it sounds thicker. A Hot Rails (Strat or Tele) would be my choice for you, but we'd have to figure out if the pickup you have is working properly.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

I wish it was a better demo- I don't like how either of them sound there!
For your guitar, it sounds like something is up with that Hot Rails. It shouldn't sound thin in any sense. Is it wired in parallel? Are both coils working? Try wiring it directly to the jack and seeing if it sounds thicker. A Hot Rails (Strat or Tele) would be my choice for you, but we'd have to figure out if the pickup you have is working properly.

Oddly enough, there was a similar issue with the Slash pickup when it was in the neck - it was a lot harder to push it into overdrive than the hot rails in the bridge. Which does make me wonder if the tone pot for that pickup has been tampered with - I'll have a look. The hot rail just sounds like a really nasally bridge pickup when in the neck position.

One thing I did notice, though, was that the Slash pickup kicks the absolute hell out of the hot rail in the bridge position (assuming it is indeed fully working), and itself in the neck position. Never heard this setup growl like this before. Maybe it's just time to change out the hot rail.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

a bridge hot rails in the neck might be kinda tubby or nasally sounding but it should have a good amount of output. i tend to prefer the sound of full size buckers over single coil size but i do have a strat with three hot rails that sounds damn good

 

[AlexR]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

If the issue is the same for that position where the pickups have changed, I'd be looking at all joints which connect that position pickup to the output.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

Hahahaha I'm a total moron. I didn't even change the wiring round when I changed the pickups - I've been listening to the hot rail the entire time, not the Slash pickup!

Which I suppose begs the question as to why the Slash pickup sounds so nasally. Time for a poke around I think.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

One thing I did notice, though, was that the Slash pickup kicks the absolute hell out of the hot rail in the bridge position (assuming it is indeed fully working), and itself in the neck position. Never heard this setup growl like this before. Maybe it's just time to change out the hot rail.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

I've done that before!

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

Thought I'd bump this since I never actually got chance to share a clip - having finally gotten to push this setup harder I've gotten very close to the sound I want for rhythm playing. Here's a very brief clip of what an STHR-1B in the neck of a Blacktop Strat sounds like through a Boss SD-1 and Vox AC15:

https://soundcloud.com/user-351954377/test3/s-5oCJA



edit - not sure why embed isn't working. Link works fine

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Duncan hot rails for tele sounds thin in a strat neck?

Actually I've used Hot Rails for years but Not in the Neck , I tend to not want to put that much sizzle in the neck tone - but for souped up Blues , Rock / Metal ~ they kill in the bridge on a Tele ( For Me

pretty good entertainment from this Topic , like Jeremy's Tubby tone description + forgot to switch the leads : LOL . Oh and Spleenharvester <-- the Name ) Maybe an M.D.