Gamera
New member
...passive humbucker that needed to provide 4 things:
1) A nice, thick, bassy "chunka, chunka" distortion for palm-muted power chords. Think King's X, Metallica, etc. I have an effects processor that will provide some of this but I get best results when I give the processor something with some balls to work with. I use a clean channel on my amp so all "chunka, chunka" needs to come from a combination of my pickup and effects processor. I have plenty of EQ control (bass, mid, treble) in both processor and amp. Pickup shouldn't be over-the-top hot or noisy, just something with thump. My Duncan Invader can currently provide this.
2) Be able to shred. Solos 80's style. Decent sustain, articulate, not muddy. Single coils can sometimes provide this but I find humbuckers seem to provide a better sustain and slower decay that makes shredding easier. Notes seems to flow together better...but still remain articulate so you can pick out individual notes...if that makes any sense. My experience is that the Invader will not provide this. You can shred with it but it gets too muddy.
3) Provide tone. I don't want a tinny, electronic sounding piece of junk. A tone with some warmth and character. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are some of the best guitar players on Earth. But their tone, to me, sounds kinda generic and lifeless. Something with a little personality. My DiMarzio HS-3 has personality. My DiMarzio Evo does not.
4) Be able to split the coils for use as either a humbucker or single coil. The guitar I'm envisioning this pickup going into will be a new HSS Strat with the S-1 switching. The S-1 switching allows a single 5-way selector switch to be used in 10 different configurations (series/parallel/split coils/etc.) I'll probably keep the singles (samarium cobalt noiseless) but I'm anticipating having to replace the stock DH-1 humbucker. Perfectly "matching" the output levels of the singles and the 'bucker isn't a huge priority for me. As long as I'm in the ballpark.
Anything come to mind? It doesn't have to be a Duncan pup either. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Duncan, DiMarzio, Fender, Gibson, Bill Lawrence, etc. Just as long as I can get it to fit a Strat. And I'd prefer something with a traditional look rather than a rail design. Any suggestions? I welcome all opinions. Thanks!
1) A nice, thick, bassy "chunka, chunka" distortion for palm-muted power chords. Think King's X, Metallica, etc. I have an effects processor that will provide some of this but I get best results when I give the processor something with some balls to work with. I use a clean channel on my amp so all "chunka, chunka" needs to come from a combination of my pickup and effects processor. I have plenty of EQ control (bass, mid, treble) in both processor and amp. Pickup shouldn't be over-the-top hot or noisy, just something with thump. My Duncan Invader can currently provide this.
2) Be able to shred. Solos 80's style. Decent sustain, articulate, not muddy. Single coils can sometimes provide this but I find humbuckers seem to provide a better sustain and slower decay that makes shredding easier. Notes seems to flow together better...but still remain articulate so you can pick out individual notes...if that makes any sense. My experience is that the Invader will not provide this. You can shred with it but it gets too muddy.
3) Provide tone. I don't want a tinny, electronic sounding piece of junk. A tone with some warmth and character. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are some of the best guitar players on Earth. But their tone, to me, sounds kinda generic and lifeless. Something with a little personality. My DiMarzio HS-3 has personality. My DiMarzio Evo does not.
4) Be able to split the coils for use as either a humbucker or single coil. The guitar I'm envisioning this pickup going into will be a new HSS Strat with the S-1 switching. The S-1 switching allows a single 5-way selector switch to be used in 10 different configurations (series/parallel/split coils/etc.) I'll probably keep the singles (samarium cobalt noiseless) but I'm anticipating having to replace the stock DH-1 humbucker. Perfectly "matching" the output levels of the singles and the 'bucker isn't a huge priority for me. As long as I'm in the ballpark.
Anything come to mind? It doesn't have to be a Duncan pup either. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Duncan, DiMarzio, Fender, Gibson, Bill Lawrence, etc. Just as long as I can get it to fit a Strat. And I'd prefer something with a traditional look rather than a rail design. Any suggestions? I welcome all opinions. Thanks!
