Duncan singles.....what should I get?

papersoul

papersoul

New member
Hi guys! I am trying to finish my strat and get the pickups and overall electronics situation situated. I already have lots of humbucker equiped guitars and my Telecaster which I love has the Duncan Little 59 and Vintage stack in the neck. I love the Little 59 because it reminds me of a marriage between single coil and humbucker. I want my only strat to be different from my other guitars so I am thinking 3 single coils, assuming I can find ones that are fatter, hotter than usual and not harsh or thin, but still distinctly single coil! Right now I have a Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge and it sounds great, but it sounds like my other humbuckers which is not what I want.

I had the stock singles but they are a bit too thin and bright and I thought about ordering a set of Fender Fat 50s single coils, but I would prefer noiseless. I am looking at various Dimarzio noiseless options but I am such a big Seymour Duncan fan. I also must admit the Dimarzio Injector set is high on my list of possibilities.

One option has been the Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge or something like the Duncan JB with two single coils, but to me a humbucker with two single coils creates volume issues when switching back and forth so I am not sure how guys like Andy Timmons does it with the his AT-1 humbucker and Cruiser single coils. That is also a set I have considered. However, unlike Andy, I use my other guitars, mostly Gibson and PRS for humbucker tones.

So please suggest a good single coil set that is noiseless, fatter than your average single coils and can handle great cleans, mid crunch and solos.

Thanks guys!
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

Barden S-Deluxes are wicked good. They are totally hum free and sound like great single coils, only with "more of everything"; output, clarity, sustain, brilliance, etc. Some find them bright but that can be "fixed" with the tone control. With Bardens you actually use your tone & volume controls; they don't have to be on 10 all the time. All 5 switch positions are very good with a Barden set. The "in betweens" quack great & the bridge alone is full & cutting.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

9fingers said:
Barden S-Deluxes are wicked good. They are totally hum free and sound like great single coils, only with "more of everything"; output, clarity, sustain, brilliance, etc. Some find them bright but that can be "fixed" with the tone control. With Bardens you actually use your tone & volume controls; they don't have to be on 10 all the time. All 5 switch positions are very good with a Barden set. The "in betweens" quack great & the bridge alone is full & cutting.
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Thanks, I will investigate. Noiseless? I am a big Rio Grande fan too and wish they made noiseless pickups.

How about Duncans and Dimarzio? I don't want to give up on cheaper options. I am a big fan of pickups that work with the volume knob, that is why all my humbucker guitars now have Rio Grandes.
 
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Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

Can you afford a set of StraBro90s? Those will take care of that real good.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

The SSL5 matches hot humbuckers well and they aren't very noisy for hot single coils. They have single coil character, but they handle high gain and high volume well because they are slightly compressed. You lose a bit of the single coil openness and touch sensitivity, but you also don't get a clanky, wooly mess with high volume or distortion.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

papersoul said:
What are they????????
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They were a SDUGF pickup tapped set that combined a P90 sound and a single coil sound.
I quote Jeremy
A strat pickup that can switch between a traditional fender single coil tone and a P90 tone that will work equally well both in the neck to match with a bridge humbucker or in the bridge to match with single coils.
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Visually there were a mix of 3 screws and 3 slug.(edited for incorrect info)
Most excellent.
I'm pretty sure you can get them from the Custom Shop, no problem.
 
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Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

You should get:
1) Right to the point. If you wish to canvas opinions about replacement pickups for Stratocaster, say so in your opening paragraph.
2) A clearer idea of why you like the pickups that you like.

Any pickup that will fit in the cavities, and is within your financial reach, is a possibility. Help us to help you by stating what woods are in your Stratocaster, what bridge and what controls.

Finally, do you want noiseless or a true Fender sound? You can have either but not both.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

I prefer a Strat to be a Strat. 3 singles, all the same wind/polarity. Only deviation is a tone control on the bridge PU and one of the SSC units (Ilitch or Suhr).

My vote's on SSL-1/Surfers and maybe a tapped pickup in the bridge if you want something with a little more output there, set up to auto tap for the #2 position.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

i love my surfers and the ssl1 too but i think they maybe too thin for what the op is looking for. if not and you want noiseless then look at the classic stack + for the neck and middle and maybe a custom stack + for the bridge.

on the strabro90's the alnico rod poles were designed to be on the wound strings. i love my set and use that guitar frequently
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

my single coil vote is lace sensors red, silver, blue. my single coil sized humbucker vote would go to sd hot, vintage and cool rails
 
Duncan singles.....what should I get?

I'll bet real money the final answer is the Dimarzio Chopper or something like a JB in the bridge and two hot stacks in the neck and middle.
 
Re: Duncan singles.....what should I get?

papersoul said:
but to me a humbucker with two single coils creates volume issues when switching back and forth so I am not sure how guys like Andy Timmons does it with the his AT-1 humbucker and Cruiser single coils.
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Issues? It's not a bug, it's a feature! The whole point of many HS, HSS and even unbalanced HH setups is that by a mere flick of a switch you get a distinct gain boost/cut plus a different tone all at once. More roar, scream and saturation or more openness, air and dynamics all at your fingertips - how cool is that? Otherwise you might be limiting your pickup choice to just the loudest singles and most tame 'buckers just for the sake of matching output/gain levels, which might or might not be desirable at all.

papersoul said:
So please suggest a good single coil set that is noiseless, fatter than your average single coils and can handle great cleans, mid crunch and solos.
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Single coils aren't noiseless. Hum bucking is what humbuckers do, haha. :grumble:
Now sure, there's a bucketload of hum-cancelling strat, tele and P90 format pickups that sound great, amazing and awesome all rolled into one. But some people feel they still lack the expressiveness, the dynamics, the reaction, the definition and feel of a true single coil pickup; others go as far as saying single coils separate men from boys, because the way SC's sense string attack is so brutally honest it almost feels naked. Sure, there are many articulate humbuckers that don't allow for sloppy playing but a good single coil takes the game to another level, such is the discipline enforced on your picking hand.
That's the number one reason why the single coil is not yet an extinct creature, it's not because many people love listening to the hum itself.

That was helpful as hell, eh?

I'd say, give it a second thought before you go strictly hum-free. You might be missing something else.
 
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