h/s/s question.....cool rails.......

[bagouser]

Hello Tenacious Tone Tweakers
Happy New Year to all...............

It's tax refund time again (I get mine RIDICULOUSLY early) and as usual, It's new guitar/seymour duncan pickups time as well.
Last year, a few of you helped me choose a Screamin Demon/Full Shred set for the guitar I bought then that I am still madly in love with, many thanks for those patient and generous to lend a hint or reccomendation to a fairly new, but obsessive SD fan.

I'm doing a H/S/S guitar this time around, and I've already decided to try the regular Custom in the bridge. My buddy has one and I tried it thru my amp and loved it. I'm already a fan of the C5, so It wasnt hard to convince me on the Custom. It sounds a little more "full" with a little more "cut", but it still crushes with distortion and sings when clean.

For the other 2 SC spots, I have been dying to try Cool Rails.
My question is: Do I get a neck and bridge Cool Rails or 2 necks?
What goes in the middle?
I do plan to use the #4 position alot, so this is a crucial decision for me.
Two guys at two different music stores told me the exact opposite.....
So I turn to the knowledgeable folks on the forums........
Thank you guys again for all your help.........

 

[uOpt]

Re: h/s/s question.....cool rails.......

I didn't like the Cool Rails at all. Bland and nothing special. I'd go either hot rails or a YJM or something.

You will get an ultra-weird #4 position. I would expect a split hotrails to be better here than the CR, split or not. Or put a vintage rails into the middle, or a real Strat pickup that has the right polarity to cancel hum with the split DC in the bridge.

There's no middle CR. Middle position pickups are neck pickups except for true single coils where you often get the RWRP offer, which doesn't apply to humbuckers.

 

[bagouser]

Re: h/s/s question.....cool rails.......

I realize that I'm doing a single coil trick with single coil sized HBs....the more I think about it the less sense it makes......I'm just curious because one guy told me to put a neck CR in the middle and a bridge CR in the neck.
He says this is how Fender would do it stock...bridge/middle/bridge......
If anyone has 2 cool rails in the same guitar, could you offer some tips?
Maybe this is just some mad scientist scheme I'm dreaming up.....feel free to let me know if thats the case as well.......

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: h/s/s question.....cool rails.......

I would use two neck Cool Rails in the neck and middle positions.

If you were going to use a bridge version, you'd use it in the middle position for a more even response from pickup-to-pickup. You'd use it in the neck position if you wanted more output and a warmer, fatter tone from the neck pickup.

There are no rules. Just what works for you.

Good luck with your Tone Quest.