neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

I have this awsome custom shop strat thing but playing metal on it makes it sound lyk a dying cat. I put a hot rails in the bridge and it sounds great for my maiden and guns and roses covers. I plan on putting a hot rails in the neck for more shredy stuff. please tell me if this is the right pickup for shredy stuff in the neck. i would have got a YJM dimarzio but i dont want the hassle of the output drop when switching from bridge to neck.What do you guys think?


I also will probably put the custom shop fender pups which come out of this awsome strat into my project axe because they are very versitile and can "just about" cut it for anything.


Basicaly im asking you dudes what pup to put in the neck for shredy stuff with no gay output drop. Dimarzio HS3?

Ill play malmsteen/12fret and upward twidaly thingz. I need this to cut it for rhythm aswell and not go all muddy when playing chords. I dont give a flip wot it sounds lyk clean.


Thank youz
 
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Re: neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

Ya know, Dimarzio just came out with the Air Norton S - a Strat sized version of the Air Norton. I bet that'd make a formidable shred neck pickup. And it'd probably complement the tone of that Hot Rails well - smooth, fat and warm.

I'm not a great fan of a single coil tone for shred guitar, even in a neck pickup. And since you're trying to avoid a "gay" output change between the neck pickup and your Hot Rails, it makes more sense to use a humbucker. Maybe a brighter one if you want something close to a single coil tone without the clanky or earpiercing high end.

So with that in mind, you might try the neck/middle version of Seymour Duncan's JB Jr. or Li'l Screamin' Demon. Both are known to be bright in the bridge position, but the neck version would likely make a great medium output shredder pickup.
 
Re: neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

I like the Hot Rails in the neck for shred metal leads. It is extremely fat and smooth, and plenty high output. The Cool Rails is another suggestion if you want something a little less aggressive. Either one will work great for shred type leads, but neither one will sound remotely close to Yngwie's tone. As long as you're not trying to emulate his sound, you should do well with either one of those pickups.
 
Re: neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

hot rails neck! weedly-weedly-weee!

or cool rails neck, they're both very smooth, liquid lead sounds.. cool rails is a touch more versatile though, if that's what you want :)

listen to a few solos of iron maiden's brand new world album - pretty sure the majority are hot rails neck!

tom
 
Re: neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

Hot Rails neck sound great for shred. Unless you have the rest of his equipment, I don't know if I'd venture into YJM/HS-3 territory. They're pretty weak and I think the Hot Rails in the bridge would really overpower the HS-3/YJM in the neck.
 
Re: neck shred pup for sss strat. helpy please?

The Hot Rails neck isn't bad, but it's just a bit dark and murky. If you have a Hot Rails bridge, I'd suggest the Cool Rails neck and middle.
 
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