Pickup configuration/selection advice — HSS Strat

[aculler]

Hello all,

I want to install a bridge humbucker in my SSS Strat to add a little more versatility, and I've got my eyes on the Jazz bridge. I'm hunting an 80s/90s rackmount-era clean tone (I know...), so the Jazz bridge's scooped EQ appeals to me to reduce mid frequencies. I'd likely pair the Jazz bridge with Classic Stacks in the middle and neck positions, and according to the Seymour Duncan product specs, all three pickups all more or less have the same DCR, with the single coils actually being slightly hotter.

My question is this: I do a lot of playing in the second position (bridge+middle), so would installing a low-output humbucker like the Jazz bridge and routing position 2 to combine the full humbucker (rather than just the inner coil of the humbucker) with the middle pickup produce similar sounds to a single coil in the bridge? I like the quacky sounds in position 2, so I'd like to keep them there if possible.

I've read combining a humbucker and single coils in the in-between positions can lead to a thin sound, but I thought matching output levels and combining the full humbucker with the middle pickup might solve this problem.

Anyways, I'm opening this up to the forum. There's not a lot of literature online about the Jazz bridge, let alone about how they pair with single coils, so any advice on this pickup configuration would be great! Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

welcome to the forum!

i think the jazz bridge would match up well with classic stack plus models in the neck and middle. as far as the notch tone... id probably split it, or maybe even partial split, to get tones closer to the typical tone with two singles. with the jazz in series, youll get a little quack and its a cool tone, but might not be close enough to the classic tone.

as far as dcr, the jazz has typical humbucker construction and the cs+ models have new gen stack construction so the dcr doesnt tell you all that much since the construction is so different

 

[aculler]

welcome to the forum!

i think the jazz bridge would match up well with classic stack plus models in the neck and middle. as far as the notch tone... id probably split it, or maybe even partial split, to get tones closer to the typical tone with two singles. with the jazz in series, youll get a little quack and its a cool tone, but might not be close enough to the classic tone.

as far as dcr, the jazz has typical humbucker construction and the cs+ models have new gen stack construction so the dcr doesnt tell you all that much since the construction is so different

Thanks for rolling out the welcome wagon, Jeremy! Very much appreciated. Thanks for setting me straight about DCRs—I know next to nothing about pickups. But if you think the Jazz and Classic Stacks should work well together, I'm glad to hear it! In your opinion, are there any other vintage-voiced single coils worth looking at?

Also, thank you for the recommendation about partially splitting the humbucker. I'd never heard of that technique, but it sounds like a great solution. Come to think, I might not even mind a "thinner" tone produced by a split humbucker. Some of those direct-to-console tones of yesteryear were as thin and plasticky as saran wrap before the chorus, delay, reverb and whatever else is thrown on.

 

[jeremy]

real single coils or stacks? if you want a great strat tone with no hum, the cs+ are a great choice. if you dont mind some hum, there are other options. ssl1 or surfers or hendrix for vintage alnico 5 strat goodness. aps1 or texas hots for warmer, chewier alnico 2 sweetness.

 

[aculler]

Aw shoot. I didn’t know there was a difference. I was only looking at Classic Stacks from an output matching standpoint.

I typically play clean on a Princeton, so noise rarely is an issue.