Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

[spleenharvester]

This follows on from here since it's not really about pedals anymore (I feel like all the pickup guys are lurking in this subsection!): https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...ns-about-the-Boss-SD-1-and-Pork-n-Beans-bosot

Basically, I need some pickups for my Blacktop (to go through an AC15C1, often with an SD-1 in between). Mainly for rock (Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, lots of Drive-By Truckers) but half decent cleans are also quite desirable. I was thinking hot rails with conversion mount to fit in humbucker space, but I've read that humbuckers are always better if there is space. However, I haven't really seen suggestion as to what humbuckers would be a better alternative.

I was thinking P-Rails might be a decent idea, as I'm really liking the sound clips. Alnico II Pros and Seth Lovers also seem to be on the same page, looking at Duncan's pickup suggestion tool. I'm having real trouble gauging which would be the best from sound clips though as they all sound great (too many variables, wish I could try all of them). And to be honest, I'm so far out of the loop with pickups that I don't know what to look for.

Really, any input appreciated, be it experiences or suggestions. I am very indecisive. Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

id suggest either an alnico II pro or seth lover for the neck. great clean tones and warm creamy distorted ones for slash style solos. i like the p90 rails a lot but mostly use the p90 setting. the humbucker settings are very thick and can be dark depending on the guitar/amp combo. vox tend to be pretty bright so might be fine. a pair of seths is a great setup but the seth is a paf and doesnt have the punch of a more modern/higher output pup like the hot rails. a duncan custom might split the difference and sound great for the crunchy rock tones without sounding overly modern

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

P-Rails, an Alnico II Pro & Custom combo, and even the Whole Lotta Humbuckers will get you there. I wouldn't go much hotter than the Custom, though. With a ton of gain, the unpotted Seths might be an issue depending on where you stand in relationship to your amp.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

Thanks for the replies guys - I've found a place that will repair my Slash Alnico II Pro (which would go in the neck) and Hot rails (which would go in the bridge) at a reasonable price, so I'm going to give the hot rails a try before I make any big purchases (if they're good enough for Mike Cooley then hell, they're probably good enough for me). The only issue I have is that I can only find one humbucker to single-coil adapter, and it looks like this:

Obviously intended for LPs/etc but I am thinking maybe put it underneath my strat's pickguard and hold it in place with the pickup screw holes. My only issue is that those pickup screw holes are obviously slanted whereas my pickguard is not, so the adapter would go in diagonally. I'm worried there would be a slight gap at the bottom right/top left of the humbucker 'gap' due to this. Has anyone done anything similar?

EDIT: Having fiddled around with that picture a bit, it seems it would leave a gap at each corner. I see GFS do straight adapters but it would be a pain in the ass getting it shipped over here.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

Is it difficult to find a pickguard that will work? I'd think that anyone that makes or sells pickguards could give you something that would work. Or you can take a normal Strat pickguard and route the neck for the humbucker...use nothing in the middle. It would be at least as attractive as some sort of weird adapter on top of another pickguard.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

Is it difficult to find a pickguard that will work? I'd think that anyone that makes or sells pickguards could give you something that would work. Or you can take a normal Strat pickguard and route the neck for the humbucker...use nothing in the middle. It would be at least as attractive as some sort of weird adapter on top of another pickguard.

Seems like it would be tricky to find and more expensive. (Also the adapter would go under the pickguard, so it would look pretty normal)

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

Bit of a bump to this. I've opted to go for a hot rails for tele + humbucker route adapter (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221941747708?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT will go under the pickguard and I'll drill holes to accommodate the current pickup screws) for the bridge and a Slash alnico II pro for the neck.

Which way should I angle the hot rails - what effect does it have? I'm guessing having the 'highest' side on the lower strings will just make those strings louder and vice versa?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

I'd angle it just like on a normal Strat. It was sort of designed with that angle in mind.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

So I finally got around to finishing this project. I can now confirm that you can, indeed, seat a Telecaster pickup in a humbucker spot without modding the pickguard - at sacrifice of a slight (probably unnoticeable) loss of angle (and also top/bottom two screws poking above the pickguard slightly). I bought the les paul to tele adapter linked further up, trimmed it down to size with scissors, drilled some holes where the mountings were for the old pickup, and then used 3/48 UNC bolts to secure the adapter (+ pickup) in place.

In the end I went with a Duncan hot rails tele bridge, and a Slash signature pickup (bridge version) modded to 4-conductor in the neck. Also shout out to Armstrong Pickups UK, who did an excellent job of repairing my Slash pickup after I completely mangled it trying to convert it to 4-conductor in the first place (a job they also finished for me).

It sounds as gorgeous as it looks. The hot rails tele also definitely sounds better than the strat version to my ear (I don't seem to be alone on that, looking around). I forgot what a massive difference dropping a few Duncans in can do.



Also the adapter I bought from that ebay listing is very close to the Fender mint green colour-wise, it's just an odd lighting trick that makes it look that different.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

Wow, what a cool, unique instrument! I like the outside-the-boxness of it. I like going with whatever works for you.

 

[spleenharvester]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

After a few days of mucking about with this strat, I have to say - what a beautiful sounding combination of pickups. Sure, the cleans aren't mind-blowing, but I've never heard something sound so tight overdriven before. I'm kind of glad the Slash neck pickup is actually the bridge version as it wouldn't have balanced well in the middle setting otherwise. That pickup also sounds surprisingly good when split.

Gonna get some clips up as soon as I can get a damned microphone working properly.

 

[Maggot]

Re: Pickups for HH Blacktop Strat

That thing is cool cuz it's cool to be resourceful with the stuff you've got. I'm glad that it sounds excellent.