Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

[rocksoldier]

I´m looking to replace the neck pickup in my strat (Japan Squier), becasue the stock one is kinda muddy and weak.
The tone i´m looking for is something suitable for some 80´s sounding metal, but still but still sounding like a strat.
Think Yngwie or something, NOT looking to nail Yngwies tone in particular, but you get the point...
As the title says the bridge pickup is a Dimarzio Sds-1, which is somewhat hot, for a single anyway, so i suppose some extra output from the neck pickup would be nice as well, to push my Jcm800 a little harder, and match well with the Sds-1.
But still sounding like a nice strat, just a little hotter.
And btw: I use a 500k volume pot right now, because the sds-1 is very fat sounding for a single, so if the neck pickup in question would work well with this as well that would be nice.

 

[wixomwhat]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

try a Dimarzio HS-2 in the neck. Its humcanceling and sounds good with 500K pots. Great clean tone and is a good shred pickup too.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

Duncan Custom single would be nice.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

HS-2 or YJM....good bridge between traditional strat pups, and "hot" strat pups. They sound stratty enough, and will handle the shred too.

 

[Folo]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

Why HS-2 and not HS-3?

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

I'd go with an HS-3 in the neck or YJM (pretty much the same pickup with the YJM having staggered poles).

I haven't tried it yet but I would think for what you're going after the Virtual Vintage Solo or Solo Pro would sound great in the neck and balance very well volume wise.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

you could put another SDS-1 in the neck, and hey, one in the middle too! They are my favourite single....

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

I would get a full set of sds-1's and while you are working on the pickups add a TBX and give the body cavity and pickguard a full shielding job. I would go with at least 5 or 6 coats of shielding paint. Then get some 3m spray adhesive and spray the back of your pickguard and place some tin foil over back of the pickguard and trim away the extra.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

Doesn't Carvin still sell that copper shielding tape? I used it way back in a noisy tele and it kept everything down to a whisper. I think that might work pretty well on a pickguard as everything is flat.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

There are some copper sheilds on ebay that are probably less than the cost of the copper tape or a can of spray adhessive.

 

[BigDreamer]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

My vote is for another SDS-1 in the neck.

 

[rocksoldier]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

That tape sounds interesting, but i´m from sweden, so i have to see if i can buy that stuff here...
So another Sds-1 in the neck, i would have thought it could be muddy, but perhaps not?
How about the fs1 otherwise, still hotter than a regular strat single, but not as hot as the Sds-1, might be another option?
I would like to here a little bit more about how the Sds-1 (and fs1 for that matter) sounds in the neck from those who used it.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

I might have your answer. I've got a pickup here that in every respect is an SDS-1. It has the look, the Dimarzio pole spacing, the two bar magnets on the bottom, but it's wound to 6.5k, instead of the SDS-1 which is wound to 8.6k. I don't know if this was some kind of neck version of the SDS, or what, but it's an older pickup, perhaps 15-20 years.

How does the SDS sound in the neck? Well, I had an "SDS" in the neck a long time ago and I loved it, but the thing is, I think this one here @6.5k is the actual SDS I used. So maybe I was fooling myself, and the real SDS would indeed be a little muddy in the neck. I don't know. Anyway pm me if you want it. I've got shielding tape too, BTW.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Good neck pickup for use with Dimarzio Sds-1 bridge?

I have the SDS-1 in the neck and bridge on my Charvel. It has a real full, fat sound when on the neck position. When neck & middle are together, the sound has a bit more bite and bounce to it. The middle is exactly what you'd think it is. Hope that helps.