Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

[jmcorey]

So I am looking to put duncan rails pups in a strat pickup. I am very undecided about the bridge pickup.

The hot rails bridge, while great, is almost too much, sounding very midrangey, almost dark.

As a solution, I am thinking about putting a neck version of the hot rails in the bridge position. But how different might that be from the cool rails bridge to begin with? The impedance is the same, but I suspect from the tone curves that the HR neck in the bridge might have more mids than the CR bridge, yet not be as overwhelming/prone-to-distortion as the HR bridge pickup.

Thanks for your help.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

ive wondered about this myself. i have a hot rails neck that i think im going to put in the bridge as a test, dont have a cool rails bridge to test it against though.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

I'd say give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised! The Screamin Demon is a bridge pickup but it makes for an awesome neck pickup...give it a try and see what happens!


Personally, I'd suggest trying Bill Lawrence rail pickups (L45S for Strats) as they are a much more balanced set, IMO. Hot Rails are awesome but they can be a little over the top and on the too warm side.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

ive wondered about this myself. i have a hot rails neck that i think im going to put in the bridge as a test, dont have a cool rails bridge to test it against though.

I'm not super familiar with the Hot Rails neck, but the Hot and Cool Rails bridge pickups are REALLY different. The Cool Rails bridge is much brighter than the Hot Rails and a bit scooped in the mids. It's my impression that the Hot Rails neck is fat and midrange-y like the bridge, merely less hot.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

the hot rails neck and bridge are miles apart. the bridge is a thick, almost dark, high output pup (for the form factor, not x2n or distortion output) the neck is significantly brighter and lower output. the cool rails neck is cleaner and brighter than the hot rails neck but i havent compared the cr bridge to the hr neck. might be kinda similar?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

The Cool Rails are much scoopier than either Hot Rails. Sort of the single coil sized version of the Jazz.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

neck to neck and bridge to bridge for sure, curious how far off the neck hr and bridge cr are...

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

neck to neck and bridge to bridge for sure, curious how far off the neck hr and bridge cr are...

Exactly.

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

For all who are following, I contacted Seymour Duncan technical assistance by email through the website. The response I got back (from Davey) is quoted here:

"The neck pickup will be under-wound from a bridge and retain a similar tonal range, with a softer mid response. This would be a good option if you want a pickup that still handles gain and cuts the wait the hot rail does, but not as hot or mid range forward. The Cool Rails may be a little too far into the vintage voicing territory if you are fan of the voicing of the hot rails."

The implication is that the hot rails neck should have more mids than the cool rails bridge.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Rails bridge in strat - difference between cool rails bridge and hot rails neck

For all who are following, I contacted Seymour Duncan technical assistance by email through the website. The response I got back (from Davey) is quoted here:

"The neck pickup will be under-wound from a bridge and retain a similar tonal range, with a softer mid response. This would be a good option if you want a pickup that still handles gain and cuts the wait the hot rail does, but not as hot or mid range forward. The Cool Rails may be a little too far into the vintage voicing territory if you are fan of the voicing of the hot rails."

The implication is that the hot rails neck should have more mids than the cool rails bridge.

Yes, that is what I would expect, too.