Ace Flibble
New member
I'm usually very confident choosing pickups, but this one has me stumped and I could do with some input.
I have two guitars with middle pickups. Both are ESP Horizons, identical wood and hardware. One is HSH and the other is HHH. I prefer the feel and look of the HHH guitar but I've never been entirely happy with the tone of it and prefer the tone of the HSH one, so I'm going to change the pickups in the HHH to match the HSH.
The HSH guitar has an SD Custom in the bridge, a Hot Rails bridge model in the middle, and a Full Shred in the neck. I'll put the same Custom and Full Shred in the HHH one, but the middle pickup is a tougher replacement as there doesn't seem to be any full-size humbuckers that replicate the tone of the Hot Rails, and it is the middle pickup that I'm most keen to change. (The current middle pickup on the HHH is a Custom/'59 which has been rather a disappointment in this position. Loved it in the neck of an LP, but not here.)
The main thing I like about the Hot Rails is how thick it is while still being fairly tight and controlled; I expect this is due to it being smaller and not covering as much of the string? In any case, it's my main lead pickup. I definitely want something that will have that same level of output, so flicking to the middle position serves as an automatic, miniature boost; I've never liked having every pickup position balanced in output. I like having the middle position hotter than the other two.
I don't care about cleans with this pickup. I use the middle for high-gain, melodic solos only; not any complex shredding, so it doesn't need that kind of 'response'. I use the original Strat style of 3-way switch to have just each pickup on its own, so the combined positions 2&4 aren't a concern.
So the goal is:
- Full-size, regular-spaced humbucker. I know there are adapters to put single coil-sized pickups in humbucker rings, but since I'm mostly doing this so I can get more use out of the nicer-looking guitar, using a crude adapter plate really doesn't fit the bill.
- Noticeably (not just slightly) more output than a Custom.
- Very mids-heavy, thick tone...
- ... But tight on the low-end.
Ideas?
Right now I'm toying with the idea of a Black Winter, if it's possible to get it without the cheesy Ye Olde font and dark pole pieces (this guitar is bright, shiny, and happy...), or maybe just throwing a second Custom in there and letting the natural difference in position take care of making it louder & thicker.
I have two guitars with middle pickups. Both are ESP Horizons, identical wood and hardware. One is HSH and the other is HHH. I prefer the feel and look of the HHH guitar but I've never been entirely happy with the tone of it and prefer the tone of the HSH one, so I'm going to change the pickups in the HHH to match the HSH.
The HSH guitar has an SD Custom in the bridge, a Hot Rails bridge model in the middle, and a Full Shred in the neck. I'll put the same Custom and Full Shred in the HHH one, but the middle pickup is a tougher replacement as there doesn't seem to be any full-size humbuckers that replicate the tone of the Hot Rails, and it is the middle pickup that I'm most keen to change. (The current middle pickup on the HHH is a Custom/'59 which has been rather a disappointment in this position. Loved it in the neck of an LP, but not here.)
The main thing I like about the Hot Rails is how thick it is while still being fairly tight and controlled; I expect this is due to it being smaller and not covering as much of the string? In any case, it's my main lead pickup. I definitely want something that will have that same level of output, so flicking to the middle position serves as an automatic, miniature boost; I've never liked having every pickup position balanced in output. I like having the middle position hotter than the other two.
I don't care about cleans with this pickup. I use the middle for high-gain, melodic solos only; not any complex shredding, so it doesn't need that kind of 'response'. I use the original Strat style of 3-way switch to have just each pickup on its own, so the combined positions 2&4 aren't a concern.
So the goal is:
- Full-size, regular-spaced humbucker. I know there are adapters to put single coil-sized pickups in humbucker rings, but since I'm mostly doing this so I can get more use out of the nicer-looking guitar, using a crude adapter plate really doesn't fit the bill.
- Noticeably (not just slightly) more output than a Custom.
- Very mids-heavy, thick tone...
- ... But tight on the low-end.
Ideas?
Right now I'm toying with the idea of a Black Winter, if it's possible to get it without the cheesy Ye Olde font and dark pole pieces (this guitar is bright, shiny, and happy...), or maybe just throwing a second Custom in there and letting the natural difference in position take care of making it louder & thicker.
