HSS wired HH w/ RWRP coil toggle. Pegasus/SSL1/Lipstick as a Pegasus/Sentient mimic?

[ACWraith]

I have a rear-routed HSS guitar which I plan to wire as HH by pairing the middle and neck. There will be a switch to swap RWRP coils between the two pairs. Each coil pair will also have a switch to toggle its series/parallel connection. Lone coils are not a concern. (Please note that I desire this wiring and a new guitar is not an option.)

If the guitar was routed for HH, my preference would be a Pegasus/Sentient set. However, it is not. I would like to choose two true single coils which will sort of mimic the Sentient when connected. I've never matched pickups myself before.

My current guess is a RWRP SSL1 middle and a Lipstick neck. Their EQ sort of matches the Sentient and their series resistance sum doesn't skyrocket past the Sentient's like some other combinations do. The SSL1's resistance is roughly half of the Pegasus so the coil swap switch may produce pickups with roughly the same resistance. That said, I'm not sure how much the Lipstick's low resistance throws anything off.

Is the SSL1 & Lipstick pairing a valid solution? Is there an even better pair of true single coils which would mimic a Sentient when connected in series? Would those single coils play well when paired with the polar opposite coils of the Pegasus?

 

[Teleplayer]

I feel you may be better off with a single coil sized humbucker in the neck position. Try a coolrails for the neck. If you want something a bit hotter, I have heard someone that uses the Coolrails bridge version in the neck when its wired with series / parrallel switch.
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/for...6166577-rail-humbuckers?p=6166913#post6166913
There is no problem to use 500k controls with the coolrails.

 

[ACWraith]

Does a Cool Rails sound like a Sentient in real life? The EQ diagram looks vastly different.

As lone coils are not a focus in this wiring, is there a problem using 500K pots with the SSL1 and Lipstick anyway? My volume pot will be linear and I'm not attached to a particular tone curve. (Granted, my tone knob is the first thing to go if I need room for switches so the answer might be moot.)

 

[Teleplayer]

Sorry I can't answer your question since I don't have experience with The coolrails bridge or Sentient. However you can't expect a single coil in the middle position to combine and sound like a full size humbucker. IMO that's not a realistic expectation, regardless of how accurate the EQ diagrams on the Duncan website may or may not be.

 

[ACWraith]

Understood. I don't really have many opportunities to explore pickups in real life myself so I can relate. Fortunately, I know the single coils won't sound quite the same. I'm just trying to work with the routing I have to approach the Sentient's lauded clear articulation with something resembling its tone. It doesn't have to be perfect. With all of the variables and my lack of real life comparisons, I wouldn't even realize if it was!

 

[Mincer]

Even vintage single coils in series sound quite tubby compared to a pickup like the Sentient. A Cool Rails is the closest single-size humbucker that gets a Sentient-like tone by itself. But the construction of single coils in addition to the actual coils being pretty far away from each other prevents them from sounding like an actual humbucker.