Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

[Deny]

I own an Ibanez Universe which is equipped with DiMarzio Blaze IIs, it has been my main guitar for years and I enjoy it very much.

I have recently purchased an American Deluxe "V" Neck Fender Stratocaster which comes with the newly-developed SCN (Samarium Cobalt Noiseless) pickups. While I think these sound great in the clean and crunch areas, I feel the guitar could use an output boost in the bridge position for leads, however there are some important considerations I'd like to make about the pickup change:

1. What I'm probably looking for is a single-coil sized side-by-side humbucker like the JB Jr., Little '59 or the one that by its specs alone seems to be my favorite, George Lynch's Li'l Screamin' Demon (although I wonder why it's so much more expensive than the others).

2. I really don't care about the tone of the bridge pickup by itself in clean mode, but I'd like to keep the "quack" in position 2, so I'm considering a coil-tap switch or using the 5-way switch to do a coil-split so only one coil will be in parallel with the middle pickup.

3. I'd love that the bridge pickup in the Universe and the bridge pickup on the Strat would have a similiar output level so I can use the same preamp patches with both of them, at least the lead and crunch ones. I know this is a tough call, but "close" will be enough in this case.

4. I'd like the pickup choice to take into account that there are differences in materials and construction in the 2 guitars; there's no way a Blaze II pickup would sound the same on a Deluxe Strat because of the following factors:

. Body shape and size are slightly different;
. Body material is basswood on the Universe and alder in the Strat;
. The Universe has a floating & locking tremolo whereas the Strat has a standard 2-pivot tremolo;
. The Universe is a 7 string instrument and for that alone sounds a little bit bassier than 6-stringers;
. The Universe has a rosewood fingerboard and the Strat has a maple one;
. The Universe's bridge pickup is a full-sized one while the Strat's will be a single-coil sized one.

5. I play Hard Rock, Pop, Instrumental Rock and occasionally metal and my favorite guitar players are Eric Johnson, Shawn Lane and Jeff Beck. My main rig is a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis preamp through a Rocktron Intellifex to the power section of a Laney VC100 combo.

My question is which pickup would be more suited for an application like this?

Some additional information on the SCN pickups (there seems to be very little available about these to this day): DC resistance on the neck and middle pickups is around 6k Ohms and around 11K Ohms for the bridge pickup, and their configuration is stacked single-coil sized humbucker.

Now about the Blaze II bridge pickup on the Universe: Ceramic magnet, 7 string side-by-side full-size humbucker, DC Resistance = 20.47K, Rated output = 380 mV, Tone characteristics = Bass 7.5, Mid 4.5, High 6 (all accoding to the DiMarzio website).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Travis]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

Hmmm. I'm thinking Cool Rails. It's very much like a PAF type humbucker. With the right amp, it can do damn near anything.

 

[Deny]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

Hmmm. I'm thinking Cool Rails. It's very much like a PAF type humbucker. With the right amp, it can do damn near anything.

I know DC resistance is not necessarily an indication of the output level of a pickup, but since the configuration (side-by-side humbucker) and magnet material (ceramic) are the same, I'd say the Ibanez' Blaze II pickup (20.47K) would have a MUCH higher output than the cool rails (10.3K) and although I'm prepared to make some compromises, there are a few SC-sized humbuckers out there with higher output ratings that I'd rather go for unless they suck tone-wise.

I'm especially interested in hearing (reading) people's experiences with coil splitting the bridge pickup with the middle one (strat position 2), has anyone had any success in keeping the strat "quack"? I intend to use one of the poles of the 5-way switch to shorten one of the coils of the bridge humbucker when in pos 2, so it will be full humbucker mode in pos 1 and just one coil in parallel with the middle pup in pos 2.

 

[Travis]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

If you're looking for a high output bridge pickup, then the Hot Rails is more up your alley. It will definitely handle the metal portion. However, I wouldn't say it is so much the pop type pickup. Plus, the players' names you mentioned don't scream Hot Rails to me. I hardly ever combine pickups for different tones. I much prefer to use one pickup at a time, just my personal preference. However, I have heard some great reviews of the Cool Rails used in conjunction with other pickups. One thing to remember, tone is a very subjective thing. In the end, you can't take anyone's word for it. You'll just have to take the plunge and try out different pickups for yourself. Take full advantage of Seymour Duncan's exchange policy. Keep swapping pickups until you find the right one. Good luck on your quest.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

For your application, the Hot Rails will be the closest to what you want. Use a push/pull pot to have series/parallel switching, and you're all set.

 

[ponch]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

I think that a fast track 2 would kill. it has the high output so it it may balance with your rig.

 

[Deny]

Re: Help me choose a new SC-sized bridge humbucker for my Deluxe Strat

Thanks for the answers guys; here's another piece of information I'd like to share with you - I'll keep posting my findings in this thread so others with similar issues can benefit from my experience.

Last night I changed the strings of an old guitar that has a full-size JB on the bridge and gave it a run in my rig. Seems to lack output and bass compared to what I need, I had to raise the preamp gain more than I'd like to in order to get a decent tone. So the hot rails and fast track 2 are really starting to make sense, I'd only like to know more about coil splitting either of them in parallel with the middle pickup.

I'm beginning to think that maybe having more output at the pickups and less gain at the preamp makes for better tone / dynamics and less noise, unless I'm missing something. More testing to come soon...

Well on a side note, after I unplugged the crappy GTX with the JB I plugged the strat in with the bridge pup selected and got a better tone, punchier and more articulate. Go figure...