BruceBruce
New member
I ordered a Duncan Custom to put in the bridge of my Strat and a SSL6 to put in the neck. Mind you, this guitar is VERY bright. It has an alder body and maple neck and fretboard. After I bought it new, I first threw some hot rails in which worked fine, but now I'm after a more traditional Strat sound as I have three Les Pauls for that humbucker sound. I do want a bridge humbucker for more versatility though. I threw in a GFS Crunchy Pat, but it just didn't work in that guitar. Muddy AND icepicky at the same time. I didn't think it was possible. Not to be negative towards GFS, as I've used some of their pickups (including the Crunchy Pat) with great results in other guitars. I thought it was time to get myself some "brand name" pickups.
So I got myself a Custom SH-5 as I have one in a Les Paul and it's probably my favorite pickup. However, it displayed the same symptoms as the GFS: bright and icepicky, except the mud.
I put an SSL6 in the neck that's too dark right now and a Duncan Classic stack in the middle, that has been for sale for ages in the trading post and not sold, I can't figure out why. So I thought I might use it myself as the middle pickup.
I wired it as a single coil with only one coil active, as opposed to being hum cancelling. Surprisingly, it works very well that way. It matches the output of the SSL6 in the neck, but sounds brighter. So I think I'll put the stock MIM ceramic in the middle, as I prefer hotter pickups and I like how those sound.
So the plan is: Custom (bridge), MIM ceramic (middle) - SSL6 (neck). I currently have a 250k volume, 250k tone for neck + mid and a 500k tone for the bridge humbucker in it. I'm using a .047 cap.
I think of putting in a 250k volume, 500k neck tone, 250 middle tone, no tone for the bridge pickup and putting in an alnico 2 magnet instead, converting it to a Custom Custom.
OR:
250k vol, 500k tone for the SSL6, 250k for the SH5, keeping the ceramic magnet.
I could also use a 1 MOhm tone pot for the neck and bridge if I decide to go the Custom Custom route.
So what do you think? What magnet and/or tone pots would work best?
So I got myself a Custom SH-5 as I have one in a Les Paul and it's probably my favorite pickup. However, it displayed the same symptoms as the GFS: bright and icepicky, except the mud.
I put an SSL6 in the neck that's too dark right now and a Duncan Classic stack in the middle, that has been for sale for ages in the trading post and not sold, I can't figure out why. So I thought I might use it myself as the middle pickup.
I wired it as a single coil with only one coil active, as opposed to being hum cancelling. Surprisingly, it works very well that way. It matches the output of the SSL6 in the neck, but sounds brighter. So I think I'll put the stock MIM ceramic in the middle, as I prefer hotter pickups and I like how those sound.
So the plan is: Custom (bridge), MIM ceramic (middle) - SSL6 (neck). I currently have a 250k volume, 250k tone for neck + mid and a 500k tone for the bridge humbucker in it. I'm using a .047 cap.
I think of putting in a 250k volume, 500k neck tone, 250 middle tone, no tone for the bridge pickup and putting in an alnico 2 magnet instead, converting it to a Custom Custom.
OR:
250k vol, 500k tone for the SSL6, 250k for the SH5, keeping the ceramic magnet.
I could also use a 1 MOhm tone pot for the neck and bridge if I decide to go the Custom Custom route.
So what do you think? What magnet and/or tone pots would work best?
