Good bridge mate for Cool Rails at neck …

[coolredmudball]

I’m building an electric tenor ukulele modeled loosely on a Gibson ES335. I have a Cool Rail for the neck pickup and was looking for a good mate at the bridge. I’d like it to be a humbucker and it has to be a rail pickup because of using just four strings. I play blues, country rock, indie rock, classic rock but no heavy metal. I know this is an SD forum but please don’t limit any suggestions.
Thanks
Dave

 

[coolredmudball]

PS. I’m new to this world so there is a lot of terminology that is a foreign language to me. High output, bright, dark, muddy. I learn by doing so until I experience these different tones they are pretty meaningless to me .

 

[jeremy]

by humbucker you mean fullsize humbucker or single coil size humbucker like the cool rails?

 

[Mincer]

Another Cool Rails is a good choice. You might also try a neck Hot Rails, wired in parallel.

 

[coolredmudball]

by humbucker you mean fullsize humbucker or single coil size humbucker like the cool rails?

I haven't routed out the pickup cavities yet so a full size humbucker would be acceptable. Would I get more tone options with a full size hb? I am using push pull pots on both volume and both tone.

 

[coolredmudball]

Another Cool Rails is a good choice. You might also try a neck Hot Rails, wired in parallel.

Would having two Cool Rails limit the options? And I heard the Hot Rail described as a 'high output' - does this mean there would be more distortion? You are suggesting the Hot Rail at the neck and the Cool Rail at the bridge - is that correct?

 

[Mincer]

Would having two Cool Rails limit the options? And I heard the Hot Rail described as a 'high output' - does this mean there would be more distortion? You are suggesting the Hot Rail at the neck and the Cool Rail at the bridge - is that correct?

Cool Rails is a clean, clear pickup, which might be good for your application. A Hot Rails is much higher output, but wired in parallel would bring the output down and clarity up significantly. Using a neck Hot Rails in the bridge is a great idea when you don't want the power of a bridge Hot Rails.

 

[Artie]

Would having two Cool Rails limit the options? And I heard the Hot Rail described as a 'high output' - does this mean there would be more distortion? You are suggesting the Hot Rail at the neck and the Cool Rail at the bridge - is that correct?

For awhile, I had a Strat with a Cool Rails/Vintage Rails/Cool Rails. It was sweet. Now its three Hot Rails. They are way underrated pups. (I suspect that a Cool Rails bridge and a Hot Rails neck are the same pup.) :friday:

 

[Aceman]

I was going to suggest another Cool Rails as well.

 

[Teleplayer]

Is the scale length somewhere around 22 inch? I’m thinking the coolrails may end up sounding warmer than you expect. There is no problem to put the neck coolrails in the bridge position even if using 2 identical pickups. I have seen some electric mandolin style instruments using firebird pickups, which will suit any string spacing and will be brighter sounding. One idea is to put the angled coolrails neck into the bridge position and place a firebird pickup in the neck where you will get more benefit from increased brightness. If possible you can try it with just the bridge position coolrails and then make a decision about the neck pickup.

 

[FATBRIDGE52]

I did not have good results with Cool Rails in the bridge on my strat.... I have a American pro ii which BTW already had great sound! I installed a Cool Rail in the bridge and i.m finding it is extremely filled with HI Mid, nothing else. Very hard to tame! I found it not very flexible at all when in the second position, The Strat Quack is completely gone there. I tried raising , lowering the pup, .....rolling of mid on my amp to almost 0. I purchased it for a little beef in the bridge. It does not have the tone i was looking for,. Missing all the sonic clarities. I will be taking it out and putting the original back in at the cost of the Cool Rail itself.. I will continue to drive my HRD with pedals to get the juice i.m looking for. I did love the fact it was quiet!!!! I may consider another alternative, if anyone has suggestions, but it wont be without a ton more research!

 

[marcello252]

I don't think posting the same post in three threads is a nice introduction as far as I know, decide the thread you want to use and please stick with it

 

[jeremy]

or start your own, which would be the best course of action as opposed to spamming other peoples threads with the same text over and over again