Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

[12StringStratMaker]

Alright, so I've got a mahogany chambered warmoth strat with a maple neck.
I've got an Alnico Pro 2 humbucker in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge, both of which I LOVE.
I've never been a big fan of the sound of pickups in parallel but thought I'd be able to live with the two humbuckers together for the middle tone. I can't.
I need a middle pickup.
Preferably I'd like something similar to a Lace Hot Gold (just a bit more mids than a regular strat single) but thick enough to have a bit of humbucker thickness to it and can keep up with the volume of the humbuckers, all wrapped into a single coil size pickup.
I know I'm probably asking Santa to bring me a Ferrari, but any suggestions to help would be awesome!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

I'd look into a Lil 59 or a Cool Rails if I were you...good luck!

 

[12StringStratMaker]

Re: Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

The Alnico Pro 2 and Custom Custom are both nice and creamy. I'm thinking the cool rails might be the pickup that when in the middle position would be a along those lines? As long as this will be a nice blend of bright but creamy pick, I think I'll try this first. Am I correct?
The 59 is based on a more open sound. I'll try it second.
More opinions are always welcome.

 

[Artie]

Re: Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

I've tried both a Lil 59 and a Cool Rails, and to me, the 59 was warmer and smoother. The CR has a bit more punch and spank. I prefer it in my Strat. The Vintage Rails is also a good choice. A little lower output than the CR, but still has its own character. As you can see by my sig, I like the CR/VR combo.

To make things more difficult, I also loved the SSL-6, SSL-1, Classic Stack, and Hot Stack in the middle also. Duncan don't make too many "bad" pups.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

have you tried combining the two humbuckers (N+B) a la the PRS 5-way switching? it yields some very cool options that have the benefit of sounding 'split' while retaining hum cancelling ... just a thought ...

as for HSH, i think you'd like the lil 59 or CR, ... you'll have to figure out exactly what you expect from pos 2 & 4 if you will be using them to combine N+M and M+B ... i used a duck in the middle of my HSH and like it very much (but would recommend a VR instead if you intend to use it for playing leads where you bend notes) ... i have heard guitars with an HR in the middle that also really sounded very good

what kind of music will you be playing / what tone are you going for?

and remember, with the 21 day 'no suck' tone guarantee, you'll be able to ry out whatever you choose and reurn it and try something else risk-free!!

good luck
t4d

 

[12StringStratMaker]

Re: Middle Pickup For A H/S/H

I'm not too worried about position 2 and 4 as I will likely keep the 3-way switch.
My main guitar is an ash H/S/H (all Lace: D-100, Hot Gold 6k, and a custom wound bridge). I used to have a 5-way on that one but found myself always using the 1,3,5 positions, plus I used to sing too so the 3-way was easiest to find positions.
The only guitar I actually have a 5-way switch on is my warmoth twelve string, sometimes it's needed to cool off the brightness of the octave strings. I'm probably in a minority for not likely parallel pickup sounds.
As for the strat I'm talking about in this post, I absolutely love the two humbuckers in there now, so I hope the middle pickup just sounds like a middle version along the lines of the other two pickups.
I play mainly stuff like Counting Crows, Collective Soul, Neil Young, Tragically Hip.