I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

[Taipan]

Hi Guys.
Im getting back into the great pickup search again, I was a member of the original forum back in the 90's. And have been viewing the forum latley.
Im hoping some of you guys can help me out here.

I installed a Duncan Hotrail into the bridge position on my strat & im wondering if anyone here uses this pickup.
Im trying to get more quack in the Position when mixed with the single coil.

I have the hotrail split to single coil in this position but it still dosent have that straty Quack I need.

Can anyone help me out here , Im sure there are H-S-S guitars out there that still sound straty in the
2 & 4 positions

BTW is the Bridge & middle pickup position #2 or #4 ,people always get comfused with that one ?

 

[Taipan]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

fair enough

 

[Simon_F]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Hi Taipan and welcome back.

I've never used a Hot Rails, but my best guess is that the output of the split Hot Rails and the single coil don't match. As far as I know the best quack is achieved when the two pickups have the same output. Have you tried adjusting the relative heights of the two pickups to see if it makes a difference?

I can never remember which is #2 and which is #4 either. That's why I call them bridge/middle and middle/neck.

Come on Strat guys, lend a hand here!

 

[psy]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

I use a HotRails in neck position, both normal and split. IMO there is no way to achieve a Strat quack with this PU w/o active treble boost.

Chris

 

[Taipan]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Thanks guys
Im wondering if rail type pickups are much different than
standard humbuckers ?

Because im sure I have heard H-S-S guitars with a decent quack in
the middle & bridge position.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Thanks guys
Im wondering if rail type pickups are much different than
standard humbuckers ?

Because im sure I have heard H-S-S guitars with a decent quack in
the middle & bridge position.

What's likely happening is that they're wired to split in the middle position. That helps alot. I have a Strat with a Cool Rails in the bridge and it quacks beautifully.

If your Hot Rails is wired to be in humbucking all the time you're just not going to get the quack. Additionally the mis-match of output doesn't help.

For the record, I had a Strat with a Hot Rails in the bridge and a JB in the neck and I couldn't get the thing to quack to save my life.

 

[Taipan]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Ok thats good to know
I had to know if I can actually get some quack with the Hotrails before
i put too much time , money & effort into it .

Thanks for the info guys

 

[Eric Glass]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Resurrecting an old topic here as it's been 13 years

I have a strat which had Dimarzio HS3,HS2,HS4 respectively installed in ti and I decided to do some changing up as those pups are signifigantly weaker than other guitars I have with side by side humbuckers in them. Also I've always been a SD pickup fan.

In particular the HS3 in the bridge sounded weak and tinny bright to me.

I've changed out the bridge HS3 with a Hotrail and the bridge setting sounds great now however the Dimarzio HS-2 and HS-4 are a bit lower in output and worst of all the 2 and 4 positions do not sound right to me. The 2 doesn't quack as much as sound like a humbucker that has been coil tapped and the out-of-phase-ness just isn't what it used to be.

Bottom line question is what are recommends for the middle and neck pups? With hot rails neck pups in those setting I'm guessing the quack should improve? I know the DC resistance in the bridge is like 16 compared to like 10 on the non-bridge hot rails. Would the Classic Stacks STK-S4s sound good in combo with it or the cool rails? I'm wondering if the hot rails neck pups are the only option due to a possible need to sort of match them up in output? My concern about throwing hot rails in the mid and neck is that it might be to hot for my tastes in those positions although in the bridge in works great. Then again the neck hot rail is a different resistance and make up so maybe it sounds great as a set?

thanks in advance

 

[jeremy]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

the hot rails neck sounds fat in that position and i like it for dirty solos but for cleaner tones i prefer the classic stack plus models by a long shot. a cool rails neck and classic stack middle with hot rails bridge would be a cool combo

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Resurrecting an old topic here as it's been 13 years

I have a strat which had Dimarzio HS3,HS2,HS4 respectively installed in ti and I decided to do some changing up as those pups are signifigantly weaker than other guitars I have with side by side humbuckers in them. Also I've always been a SD pickup fan.

In particular the HS3 in the bridge sounded weak and tinny bright to me.

I've changed out the bridge HS3 with a Hotrail and the bridge setting sounds great now however the Dimarzio HS-2 and HS-4 are a bit lower in output and worst of all the 2 and 4 positions do not sound right to me. The 2 doesn't quack as much as sound like a humbucker that has been coil tapped and the out-of-phase-ness just isn't what it used to be.

Bottom line question is what are recommends for the middle and neck pups? With hot rails neck pups in those setting I'm guessing the quack should improve? I know the DC resistance in the bridge is like 16 compared to like 10 on the non-bridge hot rails. Would the Classic Stacks STK-S4s sound good in combo with it or the cool rails? I'm wondering if the hot rails neck pups are the only option due to a possible need to sort of match them up in output? My concern about throwing hot rails in the mid and neck is that it might be to hot for my tastes in those positions although in the bridge in works great. Then again the neck hot rail is a different resistance and make up so maybe it sounds great as a set?

thanks in advance

That's a tough one. No humcancelling Strat size pickup sounds exactly like a vintage style Strat pickup.

The Classic Stack Plus is my favorite, and does sound very good and captures most of the tone of a vintage Strat pickup. To me it sounds slightly compressed and not as bright and transparent as a Duncan Antiquity or SSL-1.

Not having 100% of the tone of a vintage Strat pickup was something I couldn't live with so I use Antiquity Surfers. With a five way switch, I DO have HUMCANCELLING in two out of the five settings: #2 and #4. If hum is really a problem onstage those are the settings I use.

 

[Mincer]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

The Hot Rails, even split doesn't give great quack tones with any pickup. It is better in parallel along with a Strat-voiced pickup like the Classic Stacks (great pickup). The Cool Rails is closer to a clean humbucker than a Strat, so if Strat sounds are the goal, the Classic Stacks are the ones. When the Hot Rails is used in combination with them, it isn't quite the quacky sound as if you had another Strat-voiced pickup. The Hot Rails is really high output, and mid-voiced, which is the opposite of a Strat, really. When choosing a bridge pickup with high output like that, you will sacrifice pure Strat tones, although it has its own benefits.

 

[CK71]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

If you consider using a full size humbucker check out the 59/custom hybrid. I had that in a strat and it split really well with single coils giving me some nice quack. It also handles gain well.

 

[Mincer]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

If you consider using a full size humbucker check out the 59/custom hybrid. I had that in a strat and it split really well with single coils giving me some nice quack. It also handles gain well.

This is legit. It is a wonderful pickup for many things. My current favorite.

 

[Eric Glass]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Thanks all for the replys.

The Hot Rails, even split doesn't give great quack tones with any pickup. It is better in parallel along with a Strat-voiced pickup like the Classic Stacks (great pickup). The Cool Rails is closer to a clean humbucker than a Strat, so if Strat sounds are the goal, the Classic Stacks are the ones. When the Hot Rails is used in combination with them, it isn't quite the quacky sound as if you had another Strat-voiced pickup. The Hot Rails is really high output, and mid-voiced, which is the opposite of a Strat, really. When choosing a bridge pickup with high output like that, you will sacrifice pure Strat tones, although it has its own benefits.

Yeah I am thinking I may have made a mistake in going with the hotrail in the bridge due to the possible inability to get those tones back (the #2 quack in particular). However I am totally happy with the hotrail's bridge sound on it's on. Wouldn't probably like it on many other guitars but I always felt vintage type bridge strat pups were a lil' on the weak and bright side for my tastes. The HS-3 for example. The hotrail being a dark voiced pup really works well there. I may try classic stacks in the mid and neck , see how it goes and if necessary in the bridge

 

[Mincer]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

Thanks all for the replys.



Yeah I am thinking I may have made a mistake in going with the hotrail in the bridge due to the possible inability to get those tones back (the #2 quack in particular). However I am totally happy with the hotrail's bridge sound on it's on. Wouldn't probably like it on many other guitars but I always felt vintage type bridge strat pups were a lil' on the weak and bright side for my tastes. The HS-3 for example. The hotrail being a dark voiced pup really works well there. I may try classic stacks in the mid and neck , see how it goes and if necessary in the bridge

You might like the Hot Rails in parallel...it would be worth a try.

 

[Synapsys]

Re: I Need some help getting Quack (hotrail & singlecoil)

The Hot Rails, even split doesn't give great quack tones with any pickup. It is better in parallel along with a Strat-voiced pickup like the Classic Stacks (great pickup).

Spot on, Mincer. I own a set on my ESP LTD-213A, with the HR wire to a series/parallel push-pull pot. Turns a regular Strat into a very versatile one.