Quarter Pound vs. DiMarzio SDS-1? What other hot, fat neck SC's are out there?

[Rex_Rocker]

OK, so I've had the DiMarzio SDS-1 in my Strat matched with a Nazgul for a while. Love the Nazgul, but I don't think the SDS-1 is the right match for it.

I just overall don't really like the SDS-1, TBH. It's not as high output as I would like, and it's kinda cheap-sounding, IMO.

It's not that the voicing is too bright, but the high-end just has this kinda raspy, ugly, quality to it kinda like the Super 2 or the D-Activator. It's not the cool kind of nasty like the Gibson 500T or the Duncan Distortion either. It's just ugly to the point it sounds kinda like a cheap stock pickup on a low-end starter guitar (to me, at least).

As far as the output goes, it struggles to keep up with the Nazgul. I have it set pretty close to the strings, but if I get closer, it starts sounding worse. When I flick the switch, even on high-gain, you can tell when you're playing it just feels weaker, and it doesn't sound juicy and saturated like the Duncan Distortion Neck on my Les Paul (obviously, apples and oranges, but you get my point). Clean levels are hard to match too.

I used to have a QP on my Squier Esquire, and I loved that thing, but I only really tried the bridge version, and the Tele QP's seem to be a completely different animal spec-wise compared to the Strat ones. I know the Strat QP Neck is higher DCR than the SDS-1, but it also runs on A5 rather than Ceramic. Will it be hotter, fatter, and smoother than the SDS-1? Mind you, I don't really want "darker". I still want it to have the jangle of a single coil (I like the Phat Cats, for example), I just want it to sound more refined and more like a higher-end pickup than the SDS-1.

Or what other single coils should I be looking at? I kinda want to stay single coil because, first, my Strat is only routed for HSS (only using an HS setup), and second, I don't really want to go for a SC-sized HB because I want something different than my Les Paul, but equally as good.

So... thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Rex_Rocker]

This is the Strat with the Nazgul/SDS-1.

 

[Mincer]

The Hot Rails neck is hot and fat, though not single coil. So is the neck Hot Strat, which is a single.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

What's the Hot Strat like?

Not sure on the Hot Rails. I want smooth, but I don't want dark. I remember the Tele bridge version being super dark, but then again, the specs on the Strat neck version is completely different. But I kinda want a single coil because I already have a neck hum on another guitar. I just don't want a traditional Strat single coil.

 

[Mincer]

The neck Hot Rails isn't that dark to me, actually. The Hot Strat has more mids and treble than bass, and is great for that flutely, neck single coil tone. It is pretty hot, so it matches well with hotter humbuckers.

 

[El Dunco]

How about the cool rails?

 

[Mincer]

How about the cool rails?

The Cool Rails really isn't hot or fat. It is clean and clear.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The blurb does say the Cool Rails is kinda like the Jazz Jr., no?

I'm not a fan of the Jazz.

I'm between the Hot Strat and the QP.

 

[Aceman]

I just played a Jake E Lee Charvel yesterday.

It had SDS-1's and a JB in it. I liked the SDS's. They could hang with the JB reasonably. Thought they sounded nice. Not uber loud like a Hot rails in the neck (which I have been playing the past couple of days) but not "OMG are these wired wrong?" either.

A nice comp between single and mega output me thinks. But I get that isn't what you are looking for.

 

[Artie]

I have a Strat with 3 Hot Rails. Love it. But I like 3 Cool Rails even more. Both are spanky / jangly.

 

[GuitarStv]

The quarter pounder is crazy loud in a neck. Keeps up just fine with a JB, so I think it would work with your Nazgul as far as power goes. It sounds sort of dark for a single coil (kind of half way between a single coil and a humbucker). It can get noisy too, being a true single coil.

You might also try an SSL5/6, although they'll be lower power than a quarter pounder they'll also sound quite a bit more single coil-y.