Geeking on my Strat. Pickup combo questions.

[shotgun]

Hi, first time posting on the forum though I have been following it for a while. I'm about to replace the pickups in my strat. After many hours of research on this page I think this is the setup I'm going to go with. I mostly play fuzz rock, and classic rock type stuff, I'm wanting to occasionally border right on the line of metal. This is what I was thinking

SSL-5 bridge,
SSL-5 middle,
Vintage STK-S7 Hotstack neck

Is there anything I need to be aware of when mixing the single coil SSL-5 with the humbucker type Vintage hotstack? I know that the STK-6 is the stack version of the SSL-5, but I'm sort of hoping for a best of both worlds setup, with single coils and humbucker.
I might also change the wiring so I can play the bridge and neck pickup together (tele style).
It looks like the output of the STK-7 is actually closer to the SSL-5 so I'm thinking it might be a good pair up? Some of the info on the output levels is confusing. I'm going by the numbers and they don't always match up with the graphic of the output level.

thoughts?

 

[Jacew]

Re: Geeking on my Strat. Pickup combo questions.

and classic rock type stuff, I'm wanting to occasionally border right on the line of metal.

I play mostly that kind of stuff, with tappable SSL-7 bridge. I would say that it's the perfect single coil for that. Tapping gives it a tele-like dark "spank" if needed too. I also have SSL-5 middle, they pair up really well.

I can't say for sure, but for fuzz rock, I'd go for tappable version even with SSL-5 bridge, and a lower output neck. You want spankiness for that I would guess.

But if you want neck pickup usable for "grittier" soloing, it's pretty hard to find something that would do both well. Depends of what kind of tone your after.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Geeking on my Strat. Pickup combo questions.

Welcome to the forum!

That certainly sounds like a balanced setup. Remember that there will be added low end (you might want that) with the STK-S7 in the neck. That certainly isn't bad (I would like it), but it will be there. You can also go with a Classic Stack in the middle for more versatility.

 

[shotgun]

Re: Geeking on my Strat. Pickup combo questions.

I play mostly that kind of stuff, with tappable SSL-7 bridge. I would say that it's the perfect single coil for that. Tapping gives it a tele-like dark "spank" if needed too. I also have SSL-5 middle, they pair up really well.

I can't say for sure, but for fuzz rock, I'd go for tappable version even with SSL-5 bridge, and a lower output neck. You want spankiness for that I would guess.

But if you want neck pickup usable for "grittier" soloing, it's pretty hard to find something that would do both well. Depends of what kind of tone your after.

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I was alternately considering the SSL-7 for the middle pickup but I wasn't sure if it was too hot to match with the others. I know that might sound weird, but on the demos I listened to it sounded a little too "shreddy" in the bridge position. I'm wondering if it would give some nice growl in the mid position though with its heavy mid focus. I mainly use the middle pickup for rhythm by itself. Never really use position 4 but sometimes I mess with position 2. Glad to hear that it matches well with the SSL-5. Almost seems like pairing it with the STK-6 would be more balanced. At least from looking at the numbers.

 

[shotgun]

Re: Geeking on my Strat. Pickup combo questions.

Thanks for the advice. I really like the neck pickup, it's probably my favorite one on my strat. I just wanted to beef it up a bit and give it some balls without totally destroying the character. STK-7 seems perfect for this. What are your thoughts on the SSL-7 for the middle pickup? I'm going after growl and a thick rhythm. How does the SSL-7 compare to the SSL-5 in the mid position? Not easy to find demos for the middle pickup. :scratchch