opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

A

appar111

New member
Looking at noiseless pickups for my strat and haven't been a fan of the Dimarzio Area stuff, so I thought I'd look into the Duncan Classic Stack STK-S1. The idea is to get some noiseless stratty sounds that would work well for pop rock stuff like old Cars tunes.

I'm hoping for something that sounds like a single coil, but not that excessive high end that can sound like a bee's nest with distortion (hence why I don't like the Areas-- sort of a synthetic really bright high end), but I still want something noise cancelling.

Would the STK-S1 work? I know it's old technology, but I seem to have better luck w/ old tech (the best neck pickup tone I've had was probably an old Dimarzio HS-3, which uses similar stack technology as the Duncan stack stuff).

I can pick the STK-S1's up for about $45 a pop used, so I'm hoping to get some honest opinions from my fellow forumites.

thanks!
J.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

You might want to check out Jay's article. This is one of my favorite Strat pickups. Nice round top, but glassy enough to get the all of the quack you need.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

If you think the Areas sound synthetic, if your ears are that discriminating, I don't think you will like any noiseless pseudo single coil. Pickups like the Ant II Surfers sound so amazing that it breaks my heart that people even consider stacked humbuckers, especially on account of a 60hz hum that you can't really hear while you're playing.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I don't know if I'd say you can't hear it while you're playing, DreX. I was using a tele bridge pickup in this same strat a couple days ago and the hum was quite loud, even while playing... almost as loud as the notes themselves. And that was with shielding paint.

I also don't think my ears have to be that discriminating to hear that the Areas sound synthetic and thin. To me it's really noticeable how thin they sound. The Injectors and the VVHB2 were better, but still lacked something. I never noticed that sort of sound out of the HS-3 that I used to use. Maybe it's just that the lack of 60 cycle hum in the Areas reveals how much highs are present and my ears aren't used to it, I don't know, but I just wasn't a fan.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I had one in the neck spot of my mahogany body strat with a maple neck, I didn't dig it. The top end was muted, the bass lacking, and the midrange was dull. It worked well for a few specific clean tones, but was really week with any gain added. I much prefer the Vintage Rails for hum cancelling strat pickups in the neck spot.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

DreX said:
If you think the Areas sound synthetic, if your ears are that discriminating, I don't think you will like any noiseless pseudo single coil. Pickups like the Ant II Surfers sound so amazing that it breaks my heart that people even consider stacked humbuckers, especially on account of a 60hz hum that you can't really hear while you're playing.
Click to expand...

True.

The only thing that sounds and feels like a vintage Strat single coil is a vintage Strat single coil or a really good clone of one.

None of the noiseless Strat pickups sound and feel exactly like a noisy vintage Strat single coil.

That said, the Classic Stack is really good at what it does.

It's one of the best.

I don't use noiseless pickups though.

I use Duncan Antiquitys - noise and all.
 
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Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

Lewguitar said:
True.

The only thing that sounds and feels like a vintage Strat single coil is a vintage Strat single coil or a really good clone of one.

None of the noiseless Strat pickups sound and feel exactly like a noisy vintage single coil. :lmao:

That said, the Classic Stack is really good at what it does.

It's one of the best.
Click to expand...

And Lew, I think that is the mistake people make. It is not a single coil. It is single coil voiced. Since it is not a single coil, it is... something else. LOL. And that 'something else' is often remarkably awesome, tonally.
Some of my favorite tones on record are stacks. And they are in abundance and they influence players to seek out 'vintage' single coils to boot.

It reminds me of Tape Echos (Tube variety esp). when you are in the room, nothing comes close to a tape echo. It cannot be simulated properly. There is presence, feel and energy that does not exist from a pedal and yet there are some brilliant musical and dynamic delay pedals. They aren't tape, but they are great. In a live or on a recorded environment, that 'less than subtle' difference gets reduced. I personally have both and really enjoy them.

Sterile sounding or non-musical sonding pickups are never a product of single vs. stack. Plenty of terrible or impersonal mediocre sounding single coils and some remarkably musical and dynamic stacks.

Cheers~

RG
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

The newest ones, STK-S4's sound pretty good. I whole-heartedly would trust Lew and Rodney on this subject, everything they've said has been fantastic. Rodney has it right when he says they are single-coil 'voiced'. Because of the noise cancelling coil, there is something slightly different about the bottom end, a little less bounce and a little more thud than a real single coil. You'll also miss the interaction of 60 cycle hum with your overdrive circuit, but it seems like you've been using noiseless singles for years, so you want that sound instead.

They're really, really good at what they do, and they are easily the best on the market. I used them for years, but ended up switching to real singles for the reasons I listed above (and for that 'special something' Rodney was talking about).
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I'm rethinking things and for this guitar, I may only end up putting a single coil in the middle. It'd be wired with a humbucker in the bridge for all my rock needs, and then a single coil in the middle for fingerpicked clean stuff, funk and very slightly overdriven stuff. No neck pickup. Only a 2-position mini switch for middle or bridge (I despise the 2 & 4 positions on a strat-- heard too much of it in my "blues days").

If I set it up this way, I would feel much less obligated to go with a noiseless or stack type single. One of my favorite sounds in the last 10 years was when I played a 1956 relic strat with just the middle pickup through a tweed bassman. Such a great clean sound! Woody, not scooped out, not thin, but not too bassy like a neck pickup can be sometimes.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

Mincer said:
Nice round top but glassy enough to get the all of the quack you need.
Click to expand...

This was precisely what I disliked about the -S1. Not enough gnarl or bite. Slightly squashed dynamics too.

TimmyPage said:
The newest ones, STK-S4's sound pretty good. ... I used them for years but ended up switching to real singles for the reasons I listed above (and for that 'special something' Rodney was talking about).
Click to expand...

The STK-S10 Fury is another nice generic Rock Strat pickup. Great for situations when noise-cancellation is essential.

Whenever I want the real deal, I revert to true single coils. Strat, Tele, Jaguar, Jazz Bass, P-90.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

TimmyPage said:
The newest ones, STK-S4's sound pretty good. I whole-heartedly would trust Lew and Rodney on this subject, everything they've said has been fantastic. Rodney has it right when he says they are single-coil 'voiced'. Because of the noise cancelling coil, there is something slightly different about the bottom end, a little less bounce and a little more thud than a real single coil. You'll also miss the interaction of 60 cycle hum with your overdrive circuit, but it seems like you've been using noiseless singles for years, so you want that sound instead.

They're really, really good at what they do, and they are easily the best on the market. I used them for years, but ended up switching to real singles for the reasons I listed above (and for that 'special something' Rodney was talking about).
Click to expand...

Yes - I used the Classic Stack S4's in one of my Strats for a long while too. They're really good.

The sound is just a little less lively than regular SSL-1's or Surfers. A little more compressed.

That's what I hear from all noiseless pickups - even paf style humbuckers.

The thing is, I expect it from paf style humbuckers. I don't expect it from single coil size Strat pickups.

It's not that the Duncan STK-S4's don't produce a really good sound. They do produce a really good sound.

It's just not 100% of the vintage sound that I want to hear when I plug in my Strat.

So I play Duncan Surfers instead - hum and all.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I had some once. They do sound like a single coil, and they are pretty good. Just don't get them for a maple bodied guitar.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

These stacks sound great split too, in combination with another single coil. I use my STK-S1 with a RW/RP middle Five-Two, and when both are on, the Stack is split. Quack for days. The Stack by itself has more thunk than snap, but I like that sound. I was constantly trying to get that bass response from any singles I have tried. I also teach in a room with fluorescent lights, and hum drives me crazy.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I have the STK-4n/4m/9b in my Strat, and I love it. Then again, I actually prefer the somewhat more mellowed tone of the stacks. It just seems more "refined".
Possibly better for someone who's 60-something.
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

It's been a long time since I used noiseless pickups, but in addition to sounding compressed, they seemed to have a rounder, softer attack. Not as sharp edged. Like it takes a smidge longer for them to reach full volume. There's a lot of ways of describing the same thing. Is that anyone else's experience, and if so, if that common to all stacks?
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

DreX said:
It's been a long time since I used noiseless pickups, but in addition to sounding compressed, they seemed to have a rounder, softer attack. Not as sharp edged. Like it takes a smidge longer for them to reach full volume. There's a lot of ways of describing the same thing. Is that anyone else's experience, and if so, if that common to all stacks?
Click to expand...

That is a good description actually.

They do sound compressed which works well for clean tones/shimmery tones especially.
And yes...very common IME with the exceptions of Bardens. Bardens are clean and maybe a bit sterile in the wrong guitar but very little compression 'effect'.

Some stacks are too compressed IMO. Dynasonics are fantastic single coils but they are a unique size. I recently installed a set of TV Jones Magnatrons which are Dynasonic voiced stacks in a Filitertron case but the compression was too much. Too rolled-off, too spongy despite being bright. Too much presence lost. On the other hand, the Duncan Tele STK set is very dynamic/present even with compression characteristics and is extremely close to a vintage single when paired with an tube amp pushing to breakup.

Cheers,

RG
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

I think the best idea for a noiseless/humbucking Strat-sized pickup is one that has one coil for the first three strings, and another coil for the bottom three strings (similar to the old double-coil P-bass pickups, or the ones on the Fender Electric XII, but those aren't Strat-sized). I just the other day happened on a new Fender noiseless pickup that has the two coils side-by side (or "end-to-end") that fits in a Strat cutout, but I lost the link. They were selling them at one of the big online sellers. I think this has the most potential for sounding like a real Strat single coil, only noiseless. I'll try to find the link again, my computer crashed and I lost the tab that had those new pickups on it. Fralin makes a pickup that uses the same idea, but again it isn't Strat-sized. I've always wanted to try putting those pickups that came in the Electric XII in a Strat, and see how they sound in a six-string guitar, but one that fits a Strat pickup cutout would even be better.

Al
 
Re: opinions on STK-S1 Classic Stack?

^Vintage Rails do the same thing - Even though the coils are narrower and across all 6 strings, the magnets are only under 3 strings per coil.

Evans was the 1st I know of that marketed the 3X2 config - Jeff Healy was a user.

Some say there is a point where volume drops off between the D any G strings, so I have not noticed that on mine.
 
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