JB/59 HSH - what single coil?

[CarlosG]

Hi!
I'm searching for single coil to HSH with JB/Jazz.
The middle position will not be used.
I need good strat sound in 2 i 4 position with splitted humbuckers (like standard HSH 5 way wiring).
So I need standard single coil (not stacked) to hum canceling in 2 and 4 position.
The problem is that, like some people, I don't like to hit the pick into the middle pickup, so I lower it a lot.
I wouldn't want a big drop in volume in positions 2 and 4.
Do I need rwrp?
The strongest classical single is the Hot Strat, will it sound good in this configuration?
The second thing is the superswitch. I dont like middle position with standard wiring.
I'm thinking about superswitch and changing middle position.
What useful mid position connection with a super switch are worth considering?
Best Regards

 

[jeremy]

i wouldnt go any hotter than the ssl6 custom, there will be a bit of compromise in tone by not using a vintage output pup. you dont need a rw/rp single if you use standard wiring.

 

[BeKindRewind]

If you're not going to use the middle position I'd steer away from the Hot Strat and actually go with the Vintage Strat. SSL2, (you'll want the version with flat pole pieces so your pick doesn't scrape the staggered poles that the vintage staggers have.)

Since a splitted JB and especially a splitted Jazz will have pretty weak output, if you match them with a Hot Strat which is screaming hot, it'll overpower them and probably lose some quack. I think the SSL2 would be better for split 2/4 positions for most people's needs. The hot strat could sound cool for sure, just don't think that's what most people are gonna be going for in the middle of an HSH.

You don't want the RWRP version, you want the regular version for noiseless 2\4 positions.

As for the superswitch, I'd just make that engage the 2 humbuckers like how the middle of a 3-way switch does.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

The issue is finding a single that'll still have usable output even when set very low to the pickguard.
Not sure the SSL2 would be strong enough for that. But it really depends on how low the OP needs to go.
I think the Hot Strat is probably a good option.

I had a Quarter Pound Strat, set relatively low. in middle position on one of my Floydcasters for decades.
But the humbuckers were 2-wire pickups so the 2 & 4 positions weren't split.

 

[fretburner]

I would imagine a QP would be great especially since you are going to lower it significantly. I've been on the look out for one to put on my Epi Rebel with 498T + 496R.

 

[Mincer]

You could always get a Secret Agent pickup and put it under the pickguard!

 

[fretburner]

You could always get a Secret Agent pickup and put it under the pickguard!

I presume the guitar is a strat type. Wouldn't this be an issue? Tele pups are smaller right?

 

[Mincer]

I presume the guitar is a strat type. Wouldn't this be an issue? Tele pups are smaller right?

Well, you'd need to switch out the pickguard (with no middle pickup hole), and screw the pickup into the wood, but it could work.

 

[Artie]

As for the middle position, a Superswitch would allow the stud coil of the bridge, in series with, the screw coil of the neck, to make a virtual middle humbucker. One of my favorite things to do. Although, it's close to just both on.

 

[CarlosG]

What do you think about Duncan Classic Stack Plus​?
On video sound very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubIt9l4Pnj4
The guy writes that he doesn't split them.
Or maybe it doesn't even know it's splitting because the second position (bridge + middle) sounds very nice. Even the middle single coil sounds very nice.
How do you split HSH with a stacked single coil to get humcanceling in the 2nd and 4th positions?

 

[fretburner]

Well, you'd need to switch out the pickguard (with no middle pickup hole), and screw the pickup into the wood, but it could work.

That would mess up the HSH look though... Although, I think that is the entire point of that pickup in the first place: make your tele look like a broadcaster. This in turn, will make your HSH look like an HH, and people would wonder why you have a 5-way switch

 

[Mincer]

What do you think about Duncan Classic Stack Plus​?
On video sound very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubIt9l4Pnj4
The guy writes that he doesn't split them.
Or maybe it doesn't even know it's splitting because the second position (bridge + middle) sounds very nice. Even the middle single coil sounds very nice.
How do you split HSH with a stacked single coil to get humcanceling in the 2nd and 4th positions?

The Classic Stack is a fantastic pickup. It is my go-to for any Strat. It works well with other pickups, too. I do split it if I am combining with a coil from a humbucker or another single coil so it will cancel hum.

 

[Mincer]

That would mess up the HSH look though... Although, I think that is the entire point of that pickup in the first place: make your tele look like a broadcaster. This in turn, will make your HSH look like an HH, and people would wonder why you have a 5-way switch

See, cool, right? I might have to do this....

 

[CarlosG]

i wouldnt go any hotter than the ssl6 custom, there will be a bit of compromise in tone by not using a vintage output pup. you dont need a rw/rp single if you use standard wiring.

13k it should work with jb, right?
If I use rwrp will I not have humcwnceling in 2nd and 4th position?

I was also thinking about dimarzio fs-1 because Paul Gilbert used them in the early years, the sound I like. But I prefer Seymour Duncan.

 

[CarlosG]

The Classic Stack is a fantastic pickup. It is my go-to for any Strat. It works well with other pickups, too. I do split it if I am combining with a coil from a humbucker or another single coil so it will cancel hum.

Yea, sounds Very good.
I thought I wouldn't use the middle position but it sounds great even on its own.
I wonder if the guy in the video actually didn't split them because they sound great. In the description he says he didn't split them.

if i want to split them i need push pull or superswitch right? in position 2 and 4 i have to split both single and humbucker right?

 

[IMENATOR]

SSL-6 helps to balance the already bright Jazz with its sound with less treble and more body to it for notch position 4, and it is louder than SSL-1/2 so it can be a bit lower. Being that said I eventually put an Alnico ii neck instead, it has more mids and less treble than the Jazz, I think it is the best quack I have had in an HSH strat. The SSL-6 seems to work great with Distortions too from the Charvel demos. Auto split the SD humbuckers to use the slug coil will be hum cancelling. I dont know if this helped but I intalled my Alnico ii neck pickup backwards, with the slug closer to the neck, maybe I should have tried that with the Jazz to get a warmer sound. The JB bridge split with SSL-6 middle is not bad but I don't use it, it is neck+middle where the magic is imho.

Edit: If you really want to split your SD humbuckers to screw coils then the RWRP version of the SSL-6 (or any other SD true single coil as far as I know) would make it hum cancelling.