Hi-fi yet soft Strat neck pickup - Vintage Rails?

[amdkj]

I think I know the answer to this, but it's been quite a while since I used any of the SD rails, so I need a bit of a refresher before I make a decision.

Short version: how is the Vintage Rails in the neck (not middle)? How suitable is it for not getting the most classic Strat sound?

I have picked up a great-feeling but wrong-sounding MIJ Classic 70s ash & maple Strat, which currently has the infamous 2000s Japanese ceramic bar single coils in it. I think they actually sound good if you want a P-90-ish sound, but that's not what I'm after and they hum especially badly. They have to go, and I'm leaning towards a Vintage Rails for the neck spot.

I have two other Strats. One has Fender Texas Specials (middle as a dummy coil), which I consider the classic Strat EQ, while the other has SD Hot & Vintage Hot Stack Pluses, which is my thicker EQ option. Both have the usual Strat snappiness or 'spank' to the note attack.
I want this new Strat to go in the opposite direction to those for the neck position, with a more hi-fi, wide-ranging EQ, but a softer/duller pick attack and less output than the Texas Specials. Think Parallel Axis, but less ugly, available in white or parchment, and not as hot.
The guitar is routed SSS, a little deeper than vintage but not full modern depth, so I may not be able to lower the pickup all the way down, so it's really important that the output is in the right range. And I want flat (non)stagger, if possible.

The stock ceramic pickups actually have this softer attack already, which has made me think a ceramic bar is the way to go, hence looking at the Vintage Rails or Duckbucker. I remember the VR having the right sort of EQ, too, but I only ever used it in the middle position before, and it's hard to find in-depth reviews of the it at the neck.
Otherwise, in regular Strat rod magnet terms, I was thinking something A2 or 3 for the soft feel and low output.

I have no intention of using the middle pickup, so with that in mind I'm happy to use it as a dummy coil for the neck, if there's a standard neck single which has the tone & attack I want. (Alnico II Pro Flat, maybe?) But if the neck can be a hum-cancelling pickup itself, so I can dump the middle entirely, that's preferable.

For the bridge I'm just going to hit up the Custom Shop and ask for a lil' humbucker close to a Filter'tron. (i.e. Very weak & bright humbucker.) But I can't afford to go CS for more than one position so I want to get the neck sorted with something off the shelf.

I'm not against looking at other brands, but I've always been most satisfied with SD. (And in particular I've always been disappointed with every DiMarzio rails I've tried; they are fine in their own right but to me they've never matched how they're described and what I intend them for, and those are expensive mistakes to make.)

TIA for any input on the VR in the neck, positive or negative.

 

[Mincer]

The Vintage Rails sounds fantasticly quacky in the neck of a Strat. But that's what it does. Trying to get something else out of it probably won't be successful. It simply sounds like a great Strat pickup.

 

[idsnowdog]

Try replacing the slugs and magnets with Alnico V rod magnets first to see if you can live with it. It's a cheap experiment that often yields good results.

 

[uOpt]

EMG SA is also a possibility if you also have an active bridge pickup.

 

[amdkj]

Try replacing the slugs and magnets with Alnico V rod magnets first to see if you can live with it. It's a cheap experiment that often yields good results.

I'm not that handy and have always broken every pickup I've tried to mess with, even just a humbucker magnet swap or adding a cover.

EMG SA is also a possibility if you also have an active bridge pickup.

Yeah, I have 89s in another guitar pretty much always split (i.e. effectively an SA), and they're certainly hi-fi but they're also very spanky and a lot louder than anything else I have.

The Vintage Rails sounds fantasticly quacky in the neck of a Strat. But that's what it does. Trying to get something else out of it probably won't be successful. It simply sounds like a great Strat pickup.

I was afraid of that. On paper it looks right but I guess the clue's in the name: Vintage.
Maybe I'll reverse my priorities and stick a production pickup in the bridge (neck Red Devil or Cool Rails, perhaps?) and the neck can be the custom job, see if they can make some kind of 'Modern Rails'.

 

[Mincer]

I was afraid of that. On paper it looks right but I guess the clue's in the name: Vintage.
Maybe I'll reverse my priorities and stick a production pickup in the bridge (neck Red Devil or Cool Rails, perhaps?) and the neck can be the custom job, see if they can make some kind of 'Modern Rails'.

Well, a 'Modern Rails' would be the Cool Rails. It is very clean and clear, and very much what a lot of players go for in neck pickups these days.

 

[amdkj]

Well, a 'Modern Rails' would be the Cool Rails. It is very clean and clear, and very much what a lot of players go for in neck pickups these days.

I meant with the split design, a single coil character, and the lower output. I used to have a trio of Cool Rails and while it was quite a while back so I don't remember them exactly, I did eventually replace the neck and bridge with the full-size Jazz humbuckers, and I remember thinking it barely made a difference from the CRs. (i.e. I've always remembered the CRs as sounding like the Jazz, both neck and bridge.)

 

[idsnowdog]

 

[Teleplayer]

Cool rails has a humbucker tone. I use it with 500k controls and sounds clear, but nothing like a strat pickup IMO.

Maybe you would be better off with a stacked noiseless single coil. I used Dimarzio HS-2 and Area 58. Both of them are a bit soft, compressed, and don’t give the most classic single coil tone IMO. HS-2 is warm and bassy when both upper and lower coils are in series, but sounds good using coil split, otherwise 500k controls help a lot too. I am never totally satisfied with Area 58 because of the compression and softness in pick response. Area 67 is closer to a vintage strat tone.

 

[Mincer]

SD's stacked singles start with the Classic Stack Plus, which is a louder, but chimey single coil tone, and get progressively hotter and darker. But honestly, if you are after the lower output Filtertron tone, you might have to go Custom Shop. There are also Lipsticks, I guess.

 

[amdkj]

Both of them are a bit soft, compressed,

To me, "soft" and "compressed" are opposite descriptors?

if you are after the lower output Filtertron tone

That's for the bridge. For the neck, which is all I'm asking about here, to quote myself: "Think Parallel Axis, but less ugly, available in white or parchment, and not as hot."

 

[Artie]

I might be the exception here who thinks a Vintage Rails might just fit what you're asking. But then again, I'm not a performing musician, and I play at fairly low volume. (Home studio volume.)

 

[Teleplayer]

I have a suggestion for your Strat. Route it out so you can put some mini-humbuckers in neck and middle. They could have the combination of soft pick response, moderate brightness, broad EQ, and hum-cancelling that you are looking for.

Ideally put:

Neck: A2 mini humbucker( n)
Middle: A2 or A5 mini humbucker(b)
Bridge: Dimarzio chopper / Fast Track 1, or maybe Coolrails.

I used this concept with a pair of Lollar mini-humbuckers and Dmz Chopper bridge. I guess it could also work with Duncan antiquity mini-humbuckers, although they reportedly sometimes have issues being microphonic. AFAIK, Lollars are wax potted while Duncans are not. The clean tone of the mini humbucker is smooth and articulate, and the middle position is brighter for finger picking style.

Edit: You don’t have to put the middle pickup. I also tried it with Neck + Bridge pickups selected, and confirmed it would work well with 2 pickups and a 3-way blade switch.

 

[jeremy]

im a big fan of mini humbuckers and firebird pups in the neck and middle positions.