Middle pickup for HSH

[Dirt123]

I'm gonna try switching around my Strat.

I like the JB in the bridge, & I'm going to try an old Gibson T-top in the neck slot. I'm going to make up a new pickguard so the setup will be HSH. I have an SSL-1 that I can stick in the middle, but I'd like to try one of the Strat-style mini hums in the middle.

Will the Ceramic magnet affect the sound of the mini so that it won't match with the Alnico magnet humbuckers? I want a traditional sounding Strat pickup, so I'm thinking of trying a Duckbucker or a Vintage Rails. I'm going to wire it up so that it will only be used in combination with the humbuckers, the middle switch position will be both humbuckers in parallel. I might split the bridge and middle pickup ion the notch position.

Any thoughts?

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

The ceramic magnet shouldn't create any problems. Lots of guitarists mix pickups with different magnets often. Dimebag used his Dimebucker, which has a ceramic magnet, with a '59 in the neck position, which has an A5 magnet, and his tone was always astounding. As for the H/S/H pickup combo, I'd stick with a Stack or Rails pickup in the mid position, because if you use a traditional single coil in that spot, you have to split the humbuckers in positions 2 and 4 and have the single coil magnetically and electronically out of phase with the humbuckers to keep it noise free. With the single coil-size humbuckers, you don't have to worry about that, because it's a humbucker. Though, if you want the vintage strat tone out of a Vintage Rails or Duckbucker, it's recommended that you wire them in parallel.

Hope that helps.

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

Sounds good. A Duckbucker might be cool, I like the way they look, anyway.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

i have a duck in my HSH guitar ... i like the tone of it so much that i devised (and had some tone bros from the SDUG help refine) a wiring diagram using a push/pull to let me use it by itself and preserve N+B combos ... sounds best in #2 and #4 when combined iwth a split humbucker ... and you have to put it up close to the strings, not low like you would a middle pup in a strat with SSS ... only drawback is when bending notes, the teeny tiny pole pieces lose 'focus' on the string and there is a VERY noticable dropoff in volume ... so if i had to do it all over again, i'd try a VR instead - no drop offs ...

BUT, now that the new classic stacks are soon to ship, i'd be all OVER them for the middle of an HSH guitar

and i know that the hotrails and cool rails also sound good, just not my thing ...


good luck
t4d

 

[Artie]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

Yeah . . . what T4D said. I love the Cool Rails, but I also love the Vintage Rails. Its kinda like the CR's shy little sister. Sweet sound, but still has its own character. Strat-like, but still unique. I have a VR in the neck of my Strat right now.

Artie

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

About the Vintage Rail, do strings ever get snagged on the rail? The rails look kind of sharp in the middle where they split.

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

What about the Parallel Axis Stack? There shouldn't be any dropoff with that one, either, because it has 2 poles per string and a constant magnetic field around the string. Not sure about the sound of it, but that too could be an option. It would seem that you wouldn't have to have it lifted higher toward the strings because of it's focused magnetic field. But, I'm not an expert, so I really wouldn't know.

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Middle pickup for HSH

What about the Parallel Axis Stack? There shouldn't be any dropoff with that one, either, because it has 2 poles per string and a constant magnetic field around the string. Not sure about the sound of it, but that too could be an option. It would seem that you wouldn't have to have it lifted higher toward the strings because of it's focused magnetic field. But, I'm not an expert, so I really wouldn't know.

That's a good idea, I don't usually use the middle pickup by itself, so as long as I can get the"quack", it's good.