Neck single-coil-form pickup to pair with the Nazgul (bridge)
- Thread starter UnderPI
- Start date
Welcome to the forum!
Power-wise, it will work great. The tone is very different than the Nazgul- you get a more mid-focused pickup in the Hot Rails than the Nazgul, which is upper mids and highs. First, decide the sound you want in the neck. Then decide what is more important...volume balance, or the tone? Sometimes you can have both, but sometimes we have to prioritize.
Power-wise, it will work great. The tone is very different than the Nazgul- you get a more mid-focused pickup in the Hot Rails than the Nazgul, which is upper mids and highs. First, decide the sound you want in the neck. Then decide what is more important...volume balance, or the tone? Sometimes you can have both, but sometimes we have to prioritize.
UnderPI
New member
Thanks! 
You are right, and this is partially the reason I made the question. I was hoping of finding a single-sized pickup that would combine both (volume balance and tone), but it seems that this is quite tricky in the case of Nazgul.
For instance, I was trying to find a match for the Sentient, which is a natural full-size fit for Nazgul tonewise, but I think I could not find a single-sized pickup with similar tonality *and* power at the same time. In particular, it seems that Duckbuckers and Vintage Rails have similar tonality with the Sentient, but I am afraid that volume balance would be an issue compared with Nazgul. Do you have any such experience, or what do you think about that in general?
You are right, and this is partially the reason I made the question. I was hoping of finding a single-sized pickup that would combine both (volume balance and tone), but it seems that this is quite tricky in the case of Nazgul.
For instance, I was trying to find a match for the Sentient, which is a natural full-size fit for Nazgul tonewise, but I think I could not find a single-sized pickup with similar tonality *and* power at the same time. In particular, it seems that Duckbuckers and Vintage Rails have similar tonality with the Sentient, but I am afraid that volume balance would be an issue compared with Nazgul. Do you have any such experience, or what do you think about that in general?
Ace Flibble
New member
Cool Rails is that. Arguably the Little 59 is, too, as long as you back it away from the strings a little bit more than usual. DiMarzio's Pro Track also does it. (The Chopper too, if your guitar is quite warm-toned and you want to err on the side of extra clarity.)
UnderPI
New member
Thank you all for your responses!
So, if the Cool Rails is a good match to the Sentient, I think that the Vintage Rails *in series* should also be a good match, possibly on the somewhat brighter side (but this is something I would like). Also, the Vintage Rails has a slightly higher output than the Cool Rails (by the SD website), so it would not have issues keeping up with the Nazgul.
More specifically, regarding the sonic characteristics of each pickup we have (all neck versions, from the SD website):
Sentient
Cool Rails
Vintage Rails (typical wiring *in parallel*)
So, I would guess that when the Vintage Rails is wired in series, its mids would be slightly boosted. If this is the case, it should be a very good match for the Sentient.
What do you think?
Lastly, about DiMarzio, I very much like many of their pickups, but for this project I am working on I would like to go full SD.
So, if the Cool Rails is a good match to the Sentient, I think that the Vintage Rails *in series* should also be a good match, possibly on the somewhat brighter side (but this is something I would like). Also, the Vintage Rails has a slightly higher output than the Cool Rails (by the SD website), so it would not have issues keeping up with the Nazgul.
More specifically, regarding the sonic characteristics of each pickup we have (all neck versions, from the SD website):
Sentient
Cool Rails
Vintage Rails (typical wiring *in parallel*)
So, I would guess that when the Vintage Rails is wired in series, its mids would be slightly boosted. If this is the case, it should be a very good match for the Sentient.
What do you think?
Lastly, about DiMarzio, I very much like many of their pickups, but for this project I am working on I would like to go full SD.
Ace Flibble
New member
The Vintage Rails is a lot lower in output than the Cool Rails; I'm not sure where you got the opposite impression from. The Cool Rails in parallel is still hotter and thicker than the Vintage Rails, and in return the Vintage Rails in series is still quieter and brighter than the Cool Rails (in series). The offset half-rails of the Vintage Rail also mean that in both series and parallel it has a much sharper pick attack than the smoother Cool Rails and the less even power between its coils mean it doesn't cancel hum quite as effectively. A series Vintage Rails is more like a Strat-size equivalent of a Seth Lover (but still brighter), while the parallel Cool Rails is like a Strat Hot Stack with the volume and tone controls both rolled down. You get the Vintage Rails when you specifically want a Strat-like tone with humcancelling and no output drop when bending, but don't want the power of the Hot Stack; you get the Cool Rails when you want a humbucker tone. There's really no point trying to use them in alternative ways to get different sounds out of them. If you like the idea of the Vintage Rails but you want a series humbucker tone, you want the Cool Rails. If someone likes the idea of the Cool Rails but wants a parallel Strat tone, they actually want the Vintage Rails. That's why the two pickups exist as separate products. No matter how you wire them up, neither one of them is able to 'cross over' into the other's territory. The CR is always the humbucker-sounding one and the VR is always the single-sounding one.
As for the SD EQ charts, those are relative charts and quite misleading if you try to pitch them against each other 1:1. For example, in that comparison of the three pickups, those charts don't show you that the Cool Rails and Vintage Rails each sense a much smaller length of string than the Sentient does, giving them both a much brighter and sharper note attack. (Which by full humbucker terms would come across as more treble... like the Sentient has.) It also doesn't indicate the compression (the VR is noticeably more compressed, both in series or parallel, than the other two) or give any indication to the pickups' sensitivity to string spacing and proximity. (The VR is really sensitive to variations in string height, while the Sentient has the most drop-off when bending strings or when the string spacing doesn't line up with the poles.) Lastly, it barely takes output into consideration; if you look up the Invader's EQ chart you'll see it shows it having very low treble, when in reality that pickup's output is so high that even though its treble seems low compared to its bass and middle, in a total sense it still produces a stronger treble signal than any low-output pickup.
We can make this very straight-forward:
If you want a humbucker tone to match with the Nazgul (but in a Strat size), get the Cool Rails.
If you want a hum-cancelling single coil tone to match with the Nazgul, get the Hot Stack.
If you want an actual single coil to match with the Nazgul, get the Quarter Pound.
Leave the Hot Rails for pairing with high-output super-thick humbuckers (e.g. Invader or Black Winter), or as a bridge pickup itself.
Leave the Vintage Rails for pairing with low- or medium-output humbuckers (e.g. Jazz or Cool Rails) or as a slightly smoother middle or bridge option with 'true' single coils. (Yes, even if you wire it up series.)
As for the SD EQ charts, those are relative charts and quite misleading if you try to pitch them against each other 1:1. For example, in that comparison of the three pickups, those charts don't show you that the Cool Rails and Vintage Rails each sense a much smaller length of string than the Sentient does, giving them both a much brighter and sharper note attack. (Which by full humbucker terms would come across as more treble... like the Sentient has.) It also doesn't indicate the compression (the VR is noticeably more compressed, both in series or parallel, than the other two) or give any indication to the pickups' sensitivity to string spacing and proximity. (The VR is really sensitive to variations in string height, while the Sentient has the most drop-off when bending strings or when the string spacing doesn't line up with the poles.) Lastly, it barely takes output into consideration; if you look up the Invader's EQ chart you'll see it shows it having very low treble, when in reality that pickup's output is so high that even though its treble seems low compared to its bass and middle, in a total sense it still produces a stronger treble signal than any low-output pickup.
We can make this very straight-forward:
If you want a humbucker tone to match with the Nazgul (but in a Strat size), get the Cool Rails.
If you want a hum-cancelling single coil tone to match with the Nazgul, get the Hot Stack.
If you want an actual single coil to match with the Nazgul, get the Quarter Pound.
Leave the Hot Rails for pairing with high-output super-thick humbuckers (e.g. Invader or Black Winter), or as a bridge pickup itself.
Leave the Vintage Rails for pairing with low- or medium-output humbuckers (e.g. Jazz or Cool Rails) or as a slightly smoother middle or bridge option with 'true' single coils. (Yes, even if you wire it up series.)
UnderPI
New member
Ace Flibble, thank you so much for taking the time to prepare such an in depth explanation!
After reading your post, it is now even more evident that Cool Rails should be the right choice (given that I want a humbucker to match the Nazgul), so I will proceed with that.
After reading your post, it is now even more evident that Cool Rails should be the right choice (given that I want a humbucker to match the Nazgul), so I will proceed with that.
Last edited:
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