???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

[Lewguitar]

I have tried the Cool Rails and others and compared to my vintage '63 Strat single coils, Antiquities, SSL-1, APS-2 and Fralin True Vintage single coils in my main Strats I prefer noisy vintage style single coils! They're just livlier to me.

So this has kept me from ever getting really familiar with the tones of Duncan's humcancelling Strat size pickups.

Maybe you guys who use them can help me out.

Like: what's the diff? Why would you choose the Cool Rails over the Vintage Rails or Little '59 for example?

Where would you use one but not the other?

I guess I'm looking for a comparism of:

Cool Rails
Vintage Rails
Duckbuckers
Little 59
anything else I may have missed!

People write to me all the time asking about these and I just don't know what to tell them! :smack:

Thanks, Lew

 

[Travis]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Well, I love the Cool Rails. It is ultra versatile. It can go from blues to shred, no problem. Since it's more of a PAF type pickup, don't expect Texas Strat style blues. The Little 59 is supposed to be similar to the Cool Rails but I didn't like it as much. It had good clean tone and was o.k. slpit. But under any kind of gain, it was just too weak, even for more bluesy tones.

I've got a couple of Vintage Rails in my Hamer Mirage I. They do a great job of getting the Strat type single coil sound without the hum. Probably the closest to a single coil I've heard from a true humbucker. The Duckbuckers are identical to the Vintage Rails except for cosmetics. I prefer the look of the rails.

All of those pickups I've tried in both neck and mid positions, but not bridge. I would highly recommend a Cool Rails for someone looking for PAF type blues tone out of a single coil size and a Vintage Rails for someone looking for single coil twang without the buzz.

 

[Stringer]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

One of my guitars is a H-S-S setup, and I have two Cool Rails paired with a C5. It's a funky guitar -- I put in three-way mini-toggles for each pickup, so the Cool Rails can be in series or parallel, while the C5 can be split.

Anyway, the best I can answer your question is that the Cool Rails are great when you are going for a vibe, rather than a specific sound. They won't nail the vintage tone the way some of the other pickups you mentioned will, but I wasn't putting them in a vintage instrument, and it wasn't necessarily what I was going for. I was looking to get a lot of sounds out of one guitar that would all be useable, and that would easily cut through the mix. Using a dual humbucker PRS as my main guitar, it's nice to grab something and get a brighter, punchier sound, but without sacrificing the output.

That said, I'm plainning on adding some more vintage-style guitars to the arsenal.

 

[Stringer]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Oh, I see now that you were looking for a comparison between the different humcancelling pickups, not between the humcancelling and the single coils. Well, the Hot Rails just weren't versatile enough for me, and I wasn't looking for a PAF sound so that steered me away from the Little '59. No real experience with the Duckbuckers or Vintage Rails.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

I've never used them but years ago when I designed my axe there was an option that for the cool looks (I DIG that design!) I just use two lil'buckers instead of 2 normal HBs but a tech friend of mine talked me out of that. He explained all the types and I realised there is no 1-space replacement for the Invader

It is not my experience it's just all what I was told :scratchch :?:

lil's and rails besides they do hum-cancelling also match most humbuckers pretty well considering output so for a HSS or HSH axe he'd suggest using them for a balanced sound instead of normal singles. He also said that the different rails produce different level of brewtality with Strat flavour, the Hot & Cool rails are voiced quite similar and make those '80s rock tones, resembling the times when guys here and there hod-rodded their Strats, they just come with 2 different levels of power, the HR pumps out closely as much juice as an Invader (actually he never cleared it out and that confused me a littlebit for a while). The Vintage is rather voiced for the '70s and before and match best those lo-mid output HBs and no-MV amps of the '70s. The lil'59 and JB are supposed to produce PAF and JB tones and they work best as intended in alder Strats but for some reason he did not explain he did not advise to use them in ash axes. I have no any input about the Duckbuckers.

0.0002 cents, hope he was knowing what he's talking about :smack: :disappoin

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Thanks! I'd also like to know how you percieve the output of these various pickups compared to vintage Strat pickup designs like the Duncan SSL-1.

Do you hear the Cool Rails as being weaker, the same, or hotter?

Thanks, Lew

 

[Stringer]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

In series, the Cool Rails are definitely hotter and thicker. If I just pick up that guitar and plug in, I'm always surprised at the chunk from them, thinking they are considerably girthier than true single coils. But if I pick it up mid-set after chugging along with higher output humbuckers, my perception completely changes. They are bright and articulate and, well, everything else I associate with single coils except the hum.

In parallel, they are actually quite thin and glassy. I've played it right before and after a stock U.S. Strat, and the Cool Rails seemed to have lower output without as much top end... but you would never in a million years think that they were humcancelling. And the difference in output flipping from one of them in parallel to the C5... the change can be like switching amp channels. I think they sound great, but that guitar requires lots of volume tweaking.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Stay tuned for some interesting news about these pickups...

 

[joelap]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Stay tuned for some interesting news about these pickups...

If that was a bump, that was the best bump ever!

If that was a hint towards a new product... then sweet! :laugh2:

 

[kallsop]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Don't leave us hanging! I'm in the market to replace the PUP's in my '98
USA Strat and have been reading like crazy - and changing my mind daily.

 

[54stratlover]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Lew, I wish i could help you i use the hotrail, cool rails, JBjr, and lil '59. the problem is is that I don't explain things nearly as well as you. You are TONUS EXPLAINIONUS MAXXIMUS!. I use the cool rails in the middle position and a hotrails in the neck position in my "KINGS X" guitar. The hotrails has Huge output! Cool rails about 2/3 the output. they don't really sound vintage to me, but i use them to play hard rock/alternative stuff, and detuned. I don't know how to compare them to a vintage tone.

My favorites for single coil bridge position are the JBjr and lil'59. they are my cure to the wimpy strat bridge pup problem. Of course they don't sound exactly like the full size version, but I have always liked them. I usually use the bridge for rhythm playing in a rock context, and they get rather chunky. the lil'59 has more pronounced mid tones to it. I favor the JB'jr for rock, and the lil'59 for blues. I think someone that is very knowledgable with pots and caps and wiring could really dial them in. Oh, I usually coil split them with a push pull for the heck of it.

 

[54stratlover]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Stay tuned for some interesting news about these pickups...

maybe they wil make them with little nickel covers.

 

[bloodswords]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

i have the Lil '59 in my Ibanez RG560 & i didn't buy this one for its 'vintage' attributes. it sounds smooth & warm when driven but nothing overpowering. it's superb clean.

 

[strat_master]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Well out of those lew the only one i have tried is a hot rail pick up, it is VERY hot, it distorts almost anything a little too much power for my liking sometimes if you ask me. But it has a very "balls to the wall" type of sound. Think pop punk or even sadly metal. If i could choose again i would have tried out a little 59 as i have heard good thing about it or even a jb jr. My firend has one in his strat and he likes the jb jr. Not sure how it sounds though he told me it was really good for shredding

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Lew, it is my opinion that vintage rails and dunckbuckers have the most single coils like tone of any of these...the little 59 sounds like a vintage buckers just a tad brighter, the Hot rail sounds like a big fat hot bucker and teh cool rail is more tame that the Hot rail. In fact to me the little 59 and the Col rail sound VERY similar, but one is a rail, and the Duckbucker and Vintage rails hit me the same way...they sounds almost the same but again, one is a rail. The output on the Duckbuckers and Vintage rails is about the same as most Duncan Single coils, they are just quite...these 2 pups have aobut 98% of the TRUE single coils sound w/o the hum, all the others sound more like buckers.

 

[rinse_master]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Stay tuned for some interesting news about these pickups...

Does that mean the Evil Duckbucker is finally gonna be a reality?

 

[JeffB]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Don't leave us hanging! I'm in the market to replace the PUP's in my '98
USA Strat and have been reading like crazy - and changing my mind daily.

Indeed. I spent over an hour last night listening to the cool rails, lil demon, 59, and hot rails....and I thought I had narrowed it down to the demon or cool rails...now I feel the need to wait for this news :sigh:

 

[Imp]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

no-ones mentioned this, i think

the hot, vintage and cool rails are... well... rails! there's no chance of polepeices not matching up on strat bridge positions, mustangs, etc.

thats a good practical reason to go for rails i guess.. as for tone, the lil '59 sounds a hella lot more 'open' and suited to big open rock chords than the hotrail.. think AC/DC or led zep for the 59, and something heavier like maiden for the hotrail?

 

[Imp]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

Stay tuned for some interesting news about these pickups...

lil' jazz, please please please *crosses fingers*

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: ???'s about Cool Rails, Vintage Rails, Little 59's, Duckbuckers, etc.

I've only used a Cool Rails, it was in the bridge position of a Fender Super Strat. It was an easy way to make a Fat Strat without having to change much. My perception is that it sounded alot like a PAF style humbucker. The output was more than the stock Super Fat pickup that it replaced, it was louder than the neck pickup when I had all the pickups set to a height where each one sounded great. I was surprised that it still had a fair amount of quack when combined with the mid pickup. I ultimately took it out because I wanted a more classic Strat-y sound from the bridge. Ended up using the stock pickup and wiring a tone control to it. That's all I do for Strats now. I leave the humbucker sounds to my Gibsons.