Duncan stacked singles?

papersoul

papersoul

New member
What do you all think of these? I would like to get a strat but I hate the hum and the thin plinky tone of singles but would be nice to have stacked singles that were quiet and more powerful while retaining some single cool tonality? Make sense? What you all think?

I don't own a strat right now. I always end up selling them. I have a PRS with split coils but they sound too thin and quiet. I was thinking of a fat strat or a good American Strat with Stacked Duncan singles.

Thanks.
 
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Re: Duncan stacked singles??//?

Re: Duncan stacked singles??//?

the classic stack + will have the plinky tone you dont like. the custom and hot stacks might work better for you
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Thanks, one guy I thought who got a really nice rock tone with singles was Malmsteen. I also thought Blackmore did as well. I believe Malmsteen used stacked coils from Dimarzio but they sounded very singleish to my terrible ears. LOL
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

malmsteen used to use dimarzio hs3 then the yjm in neck and bridge which is a slightly modified hs3. they are very low output and not as bright as most vintagey single coils. now he has some signature duncan stacks.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

papersoul said:
Thanks, one guy I thought who got a really nice rock tone with singles was Malmsteen. I also thought Blackmore did as well. I believe Malmsteen used stacked coils from Dimarzio but they sounded very singleish to my terrible ears. LOL
Click to expand...

sounds like you need a set of YJM furys for the thicker, darker sound hes getting these days.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Yes the YJM stacks do have a darker tone than the normla singlecoil tone. They do however retain some of the crispy tone you should get from a single coils. They are a little hotter then the Dimarzios. TheYJMs are based on the Duncan stack series which I've been told are very good also. YJMs are very good pickups for anything else so they might be winner here. I do love them on my Yngwie Strat.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

What sucks is that the Duncan vertical humbuckers have non-removable covers. Except the Malmsteen pickups which are removable and are offered in three different colors. As for the others though, this is downright stupid.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Thank you guys,

I have had some peripheral nerve issues and pain in my arms and hands so at times playing can be a struggle, especially with getting the right feel I want when playing. For that reason I tend to shy away from anything too unforgiving, hence things like old Marshall Plexi's, less saturated amps and single coils. I have always struggled with singles. Humbuckers and higher output buckers like 14-16K seem to work best for me because of the added heat and compression, the notes come easier for me. So I sort of found the formular that works for me - Gibson LP, 14K+ pickup in the bridge, forgiving amp like my 20th Anniversary Bogner Shiva with EL34s.

So, getting a strat with singles is really stepping out of the box for me and it is scary as hell. I feel naked and exposed.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

So guys it would he nice to have the single coil give for variety but I would want it to be quiet and have more balls, more like a P90 or something. I am playing in a 90s hard rock and grunge cover band so I do need some good punch to keep up. I am not sure if I want to do a single strat or maybe a Billy Corgan strat since it has three rail buckers that split. I guess the ultimate would be noiseless stacked singles that provide punch and power with gain. I don't want that thin unforgiving lead feel I have when I play a straight single coil.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

you could put a hot stack in the bridge a custom stack in the neck and vintage hot stack in the middle for a nice variety of heavier strat tones
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

jeremy said:
you could put a hot stack in the bridge a custom stack in the neck and vintage hot stack in the middle for
a nice variety of heavier strat tones
Click to expand...

Thank you sir! And these will offer single coil like tonality? I thought these were humbuckers essentially and can be split for single coil tones? I am fine either way! I am thinking I don't want my strat to be another humbucker guitar since I already have those tones covered. I want some variety so I want the nice clean tones or "close" from singles but I want to be able to get the heavier tones for grunge and 90s rock since I am in a 90s hard rock band.

I don't see info on the Custom stack, and for Vinstage Stack I see a Vintage Stack Plus? I also see a Hot Stack Plus. Are these the same as the regular Hot and Vintage? Thanks!!! :)
 
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Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Jeremy, can you comment on what you wrote above? I posted after you because I am a little confused on the models.

For example, is it the Hot Stack or Hot Stack Plus? Vintage Hot Stack Plus?
Whatever I get, I prefer the look of standard single coils.
 
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Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Anyone??? I am confused like what is the difference between the hot stack and hot stack plus. Are both humbuckers? I want my strat to look traditional.
 
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Re: Duncan stacked singles?

If the name says "stack" it's a humbucker with the coils on top of each other, not side by side, hence stack. Hot stack and Hot stack Plus are two completely different pickups and the Hot stack doesn't look like a "normal" singlecoil as it has the bar magnet not rod magnets. They are both singlecoil-ish sounding but the Hot stack Plus should sound a tab more like singlecoils.

With the stacks you'll get close to singlecoil sounds but they are not EXACTLY like true singlecoils but very close. You won't get humbuckers sounds either because of the stacked coils. They sound much more singlecoil than humbuckers. But they have a little more muscle than true singlecoils.

At the moment Duncan offers:

Classic stack plus
Vintage stack plus
Custom stack plus
Hot stack plus
Hot stack

The "Plus" models look like singlecoils, Hot stack doesn't.

Plus they offer the YJM Furys wich are based on the stack plus series. and the Parallel Axis stacks which are again different looking.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

marvelous_seven said:
YJMs are based on standard stack design,not stack pluses. Frank said it in a thread a while ago.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah sorry my bad. I wasn't sure anyway. I even said that they were based on the normal stack series in this very thread earlier. Anyway YJMs are based on something that was alreadry proven good so they have similar qualities. I know I like them in my Yngwie Strat.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

Thanks guys! I just want something different than my LP, SG, and PRS. But o also need something with enough balls and compression to handle 90s hard rock and grunge since that is what my band plays. I like pickups that are fairly forgiving with creamy compression so something tells me I could end up with rail humbuckers in these.
 
Re: Duncan stacked singles?

I really liked the old Fender SCN stacked pickups that were in my strat stock.



Think characteristic strat tones, way more forgiving, DEFINITELY STRAT SOUNDING across the board, full tones that carried well in the mix without noise.

Would definitely help you out in getting those 90's tones with more compression than vintage strat singles. I'm thinking you can't go wrong with beefier output duncan stacks as well, and it will sound different from your other guitars.

use ur gut with your pickup choices and I wish you the best with your music making endeavors!
 
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