HSS Strat Bridge Position???

[A_Cold_1]

I need help choosing a good pickup for my HSS Strat in the bridge position. For my neck and middle, I'm almost certain that I'm going to go with Cool Rails. (Ik some people don't like the Cool Rails, but to me, they sound right )

I'm caught between (but not limited to) the JB and Full Shred. I'm not entirely sure if either will pair with the Cool Rails, but from what I've read, others have said good things about the Full Shred and Cool Rails pairing. I should note that my Strat is not very good. It's a Bullet Strat with a trem.

Please leave suggestions and thoughts on the Full Shred and JB, as well as other pickups that would pair well. For my gear, I use an Orange Crush 20RT amp, a Behringer V-AMP 3, and occasionally an OCD Fulltone Pedal.

 

[TVFV]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

Sounds good to me.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[elelpe]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

What do you want from a bridge pickup?

 

[Mincer]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

Well, the Cool Rails is sort of like the single coil-sized Jazz humbucker. So either the JB or Full Shred would sound great. The JB & FS are pretty different sounding pickups, so you have to decide what you like. The JB is more upper mids, while the FS is more pure treble.

 

[A_Cold_1]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

What do you want from a bridge pickup?

I'm looking for a pickup that would do well with Rock Music. I also dabble a bit in Heavy Metal, but that "Rock n Roll tone" is what I'm primarily after

 

[Mincer]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

The JB is more of an all-around hard rock pickup, where the Full Shred, to me, is suited to like an 80s metal thing, where that sort of trebly distortion tone was used a lot. You might also look at the 59/Custom Hybrid for a great all-around rock tone.

 

[A_Cold_1]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

The JB is more of an all-around hard rock pickup, where the Full Shred, to me, is suited to like an 80s metal thing, where that sort of trebly distortion tone was used a lot. You might also look at the 59/Custom Hybrid for a great all-around rock tone.

I’m looking for a well-rounded rock pickup, something that I can get a good crunch with open chords too, (Think AC-DC) so I think I’m going to go with the JB. Thanks for the help!

 

[tstone2]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

In my 2011 MIM bridge I tried Invader, too much. JB alone too ice pick high end however sat very well in a mix and could nail early VH tones amongst other tones. Settled with a Duncan Custom paired with Vintage Rails in mid and neck. A bit of a volume mismatch between Humbucker and SC's but I love the tone of the VR's. Very satisfied with final combo. YMMV.

 

[AlexR]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

I’m looking for a well-rounded rock pickup, something that I can get a good crunch with open chords too, (Think AC-DC) so I think I’m going to go with the JB. Thanks for the help!

Judging by your wants the JB is quite literally the last pickup I'd be looking at.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

Yeah I think the JB might be too hot and "peaky" in the lows, mids and highs for what you want.
Maybe look into a 59' bridge, a Custom 5 or the 59/Custom hybrid.

 

[RockinProf]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

I'm looking for a pickup that would do well with Rock Music. I also dabble a bit in Heavy Metal, but that "Rock n Roll tone" is what I'm primarily after

I've got a couple HSS guitars that I've been though a lot of pickup configurations on and I'm frequently on the rock on the outer edge of heavy metal space you're describing.

So far, for versatility I like a DiMarzio Air Zone in the bridge with SSl-2's in the middle and neck. I also wire the Air Zone to series/parallel with a push/push pot.
--> This has a good in the vibe of a Les Paul with the bridge in series and then the traditional Strat tones in the neck and middle for a lot of versatility. the Air Zone in parallel plays nice with the singles too. Also, the cool added Easter egg on that configuration is that the Air Zone in parallel and the tone backed all the way off is pure Billy Gibbons. Keep in mind that you likely want t a 500 K pot for the bridge, so see John Suhr's wiring diagrams to get values for resistors that take the scratchiness out of single coils where a 500K pot is used.

For just straight forward rockin' I really like a JB in the bridge with an SSL 2 in the middle and an SSL 4 in the neck. Here I use a push/push coil split/coil tap where closed the JB is full series and the SSL 4 is full power and then open, the JB i in split mode and the SSL 4 is tapped (auto split/tap in position 2 and 4 too). This gives you a balls to the walls super stat in configuration 1 and a pretty good traditional strat in configuration 2. Here I use a 250K pot as the JB likes 250K and so do the singles.

Those are my two cents at least.

 

[A_Cold_1]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

I've got a couple HSS guitars that I've been though a lot of pickup configurations on and I'm frequently on the rock on the outer edge of heavy metal space you're describing.

So far, for versatility I like a DiMarzio Air Zone in the bridge with SSl-2's in the middle and neck. I also wire the Air Zone to series/parallel with a push/push pot.
--> This has a good in the vibe of a Les Paul with the bridge in series and then the traditional Strat tones in the neck and middle for a lot of versatility. the Air Zone in parallel plays nice with the singles too. Also, the cool added Easter egg on that configuration is that the Air Zone in parallel and the tone backed all the way off is pure Billy Gibbons. Keep in mind that you likely want t a 500 K pot for the bridge, so see John Suhr's wiring diagrams to get values for resistors that take the scratchiness out of single coils where a 500K pot is used.

For just straight forward rockin' I really like a JB in the bridge with an SSL 2 in the middle and an SSL 4 in the neck. Here I use a push/push coil split/coil tap where closed the JB is full series and the SSL 4 is full power and then open, the JB i in split mode and the SSL 4 is tapped (auto split/tap in position 2 and 4 too). This gives you a balls to the walls super stat in configuration 1 and a pretty good traditional strat in configuration 2. Here I use a 250K pot as the JB likes 250K and so do the singles.

Those are my two cents at least.

Thanks for the suggestion! I think I've settled on the JB for the bridge.

 

[mystique1]

Re: HSS Strat Bridge Position???

I have the JB Trembucker in my HSS Strat. I used to have DiMarzio Rails pups in the bridge slot, The Chopper mostly, and the Tone Zone S for a time too, but even though on paper the JB is higher output, it somehow blends much better with the 2 Fender single coils than the mini humbuckers. It has better clean, and high gain sounds imo.