Single Coil Neck/Middle Pickups to pair with Seymour Duncan SH11 Custom Custom

[donaldr]

The STK-S7 is not compressed at all IMHO. It's the perfect continuity, sound and volume, from the STK-S4 neck (I don't have a middle pickup). It's a bright bridge pickup but less bright and with more body than a STK-S4 in the bridge.

I had a STK-S7 in the neck with a 250k pots and it was too dark IMHO. If you decide to have one I would definitely use 500k pots (don't know if you need both volume and tone 500k pots, you would have to experiment).

If you want the STK-S7, I agree with Christoper by having it in the neck with a STK-S4 in the middle for good quack in positions 2-4. But I never use positions 2-4 so don't quote me on this

I never had an SH11 so I cannot say if the STK-S4 neck would be a perfect match with the SH11 bridge. But according to specs, I would expect the STK-S4 to be brighter and lower output when switching from bridge to neck.

Since you want to order both for neck and middle, I would start with one or the other in the neck and nothing in the middle. Play a bit and decide if it's doing the job of not. If not then swap the neck for the other one.

 

[Chistopher]

Also, am I right in saying that the S7 doesn't have a "noisy" counterpart? I remember the Surfer Custom bridge being close though

 

[IMENATOR]

It depends on how you want to use those single coils and how you may change or not your Amp's EQ or not when going to the humbucker. For example you may set your clean channel for the best tone possible with single coils then your gain channel for the best tone possible out of the humbucker, in this case the single coils may sound too thin/bright in the gain channel. If you want to go back and forth single coils and bridge regardless what channel you want then the single coils I would choose would be higher output, less treble and ideally more mids (SSL6 or maybe even quarter pound), and probaby get them closer to strings for a better volume and EQ balance, but that also means they walk away from the vintage strat sound which may or may not be what you want.

 

[Lampshadenoah]

It depends on how you want to use those single coils and how you may change or not your Amp's EQ or not when going to the humbucker. For example you may set your clean channel for the best tone possible with single coils then your gain channel for the best tone possible out of the humbucker, in this case the single coils may sound too thin/bright in the gain channel. If you want to go back and forth single coils and bridge regardless what channel you want then the single coils I would choose would be higher output, less treble and ideally more mids (SSL6 or maybe even quarter pound), and probaby get them closer to strings for a better volume and EQ balance, but that also means they walk away from the vintage strat sound which may or may not be what you want.

I was looking at the SSL-5s before but couldn’t find any example of them being used in a neck position so it put me off on trying it.

As far as the vintage strat sound, I don’t need to be be exactly that and have that be a top priority. Basically, with it going to be my only guitar, I want it to do MCR, Green Day, Taking Back Sunday, etc. (pop punky, emo, post hardcore/ish stuff) well and do more classic, cleaner stuff like Pink Floyd and John Mayer well enough.

If I had it my way I’d have a Les Paul and a separate Strat.

Basically, when starting my search for what I wanted, I wanted the modern C neck, 1.650” nut width and 9.5” radius with medium jumbo pickups and a maple neck. That felt the most comfortable for me. Then, I had to decide what configuration and which pickups. So, my idea was a bridge that could do the pop punk/emo stuff well (would have gone with the SH4 JB but wanted to have a bit more versatility and wasn’t sure about it in an alder body Strat. Plus, I had that in my old Les Paul Studio I had to sell) and then I wanted the single coils to be able to do the cleaner stuff.

So, I do want a “stratty” sound, but it doesn’t have to be TRUE; just has to be in that vein. If it was a bit “rounder” of a sound and less glassy and trebly with a bit higher output, but could do John Mayer, Hendrix, Clapton, Floyd etc well enough, that’s the goal.

Basically I wanted either a Tele or a Strat for the comfort since I have some hand problems and wanted to get both worlds close enough since I’ll only have 1 guitar.

My alternative was going to be a Tele with SH11 bridge and Pearly Gates neck. That also is appealing to me with the hard tail, since I most likely won’t be using tremolo and don’t want to have the complications with the Strat’s floating trem. But, the Strat is appealing because I wanted to be able to have some single coil sounds too for other genres, since for the pop punk/emo stuff mostly uses the bridge pickup.

So, moral of the story, looking for a way to get what I want from the bridge pup as the first priority, then as the second, having two single coils that can have a healthy balance of being able to meld with the bridge pickup okay, but also have the versatility to do the other artists I’ve mentioned.

 

[IMENATOR]

I was looking at the SSL-5s before but couldn’t find any example of them being used in a neck position so it put me off on trying it.

Check the Charvel HSS demos. Those are SSL-6, the flat pole version of the SSL-5 to hear those neck/middle tones. Those guitars do not use the SH11 but at least you can get some idea.

 

[elelpe]

S7 iin the middle actually can be somewhat useful for channeling Gilmour sound since you won't use SSL5 or S6 in the bridge position while keeping S4 in the neck for Mayer stuff.

500k volume 1 (b + m)
250k volume 2
500k tone

That said, lower ouput middle pickup will give you better quack.

 

[Lampshadenoah]

S7 iin the middle actually can be somewhat useful for channeling Gilmour sound since you won't use SSL5 or S6 in the bridge position while keeping S4 in the neck for Mayer stuff.

500k volume 1 (b + m)
250k volume 2
500k tone

That said, lower ouput middle pickup will give you better quack.

How about the S6 in the middle? How do you think it would compare to the S7? I know Gilmour uses an SSL-5 in his bridge for the “Comfortably Numb” tone. How do you feel about the S6 or S7 in the middle with S4 in neck vs the S6 or S7 in the neck and S4 in the middle?

 

[Lampshadenoah]

S7 iin the middle actually can be somewhat useful for channeling Gilmour sound since you won't use SSL5 or S6 in the bridge position while keeping S4 in the neck for Mayer stuff.

500k volume 1 (b + m)
250k volume 2
500k tone

That said, lower ouput middle pickup will give you better quack.

I do agree with the pots though! I was def thinking 250k neck, 500k everything else. I mean, maybe a 500k for bridge and just going straight S4 on both mid and neck with 250K volume pot and 500k tone?

 

[Lampshadenoah]

Also, let’s say we do bridge SH11 and neck STK-S4.

For the middle, assuming it’s going to a 500k volume pot, how would y’all compare the S6 to the S7 in the middle position?

and, for bonus points, of the one y’all would recommend of those two, would there be any argument for swapping the middle and neck pickup (S4 in the middle, S6 or S7 in the neck).

Thanks again for the input!

 

[Mincer]

Even with a 500k pot, the S6 & S7 has a lot of bass and lower mids, and are high enough output to hit a preamp pretty hard, making clean sounds not-as-clean. I'd keep the S4 in the neck, though, for certain.

 

[Lampshadenoah]

Even with a 500k pot, the S6 & S7 has a lot of bass and lower mids, and are high enough output to hit a preamp pretty hard, making clean sounds not-as-clean. I'd keep the S4 in the neck, though, for certain.

The bridge and neck pickup I’m feeling like I’m set on. Just kind of between the S4, S6, and S7 in the middle.

After listening to different samples, I’m thinking of the S6 in the middle. I’m really only worried about clean in the neck. Having a higher output in the middle I think I’m fine with. I won’t really be playing much that’s fully clean. Cleanest for me is probably edge of breakup at minimum. I do like that round, dark sound. I feel like that blend is position 4 with the S4 would be a really good sound. I just really like the SSL-5 sound of the S6 and I think in the middle it would sound great.

I really only need the neck for true clean. I kinda want the neck/mid sound for like a round, “throaty” sound. I think that smoothness and darkness with a little more attack and chime of the S4 could sound great.

 

[Mincer]

The bridge and neck pickup I’m feeling like I’m set on. Just kind of between the S4, S6, and S7 in the middle.

After listening to different samples, I’m thinking of the S6 in the middle. I’m really only worried about clean in the neck. Having a higher output in the middle I think I’m fine with. I won’t really be playing much that’s fully clean. Cleanest for me is probably edge of breakup at minimum. I do like that round, dark sound. I feel like that blend is position 4 with the S4 would be a really good sound. I just really like the SSL-5 sound of the S6 and I think in the middle it would sound great.

I really only need the neck for true clean. I kinda want the neck/mid sound for like a round, “throaty” sound. I think that smoothness and darkness with a little more attack and chime of the S4 could sound great.

It will also be nice having everything hum-cancelling.

 

[Teleplayer]

I would not choose STK-S6 in the middle. It will have an awful lot of mids and the notch position tones will become indistinct. Like others have said, it’s normal to put a vintage-ish pickup in middle position, which is generally better for the notch positions. STK-S7 is probably the limit of what is likely to work. I’m interested to hear how the STK-S7 performs for you, even though the STK-S4 is the safest choice IMO.

 

[Lampshadenoah]

I would not choose STK-S6 in the middle. It will have an awful lot of mids and the notch position tones will become indistinct. Like others have said, it’s normal to put a vintage-ish pickup in middle position, which is generally better for the notch positions. STK-S7 is probably the limit of what is likely to work. I’m interested to hear how the STK-S7 performs for you, even though the STK-S4 is the safest choice IMO.

How distinct do you think position 4 would be from the middle and neck if I do 2 S4s? And if I do the S7, in your opinion, would you think it would be best in the neck? Just so the S4 could better change the tone of the neck and bridge. Or do you think the S7 would be fine in the middle?

If it’s the safest bet and the neck/middle position would be distinct enough, I also couldn’t be opposed to the double S4s. I mean, with how much I see of that combo of either SSL-1s or the STK-S4s in both the neck and middle, I assume it works well.

Do you believe that the S6 would be a bad call just for the middle, or also the neck? And if i went with the S7, are you thinking the neck would be the better position?

 

[Teleplayer]

It seems like you need the STK-S4 in the neck position as you mentioned its use for clean tones and something that approximates a strat single coil.

For notch position 4, (neck + middle), 2x S4 will give you something with a distinct quack, like a decent approximation of a strat tone. S7 middle will be less distinct for position 4 - You may find it’s only really usable on a clean amp setting, although I don’t know this for sure. As has been mentioned above, putting the S7 in the neck and S4 in the middle is likely to work better for position 4, if you want to experiment swapping the two pickups around..

For Notch position 2, (bridge + middle) neither of S4 or S7 are going to really sound like a strat. That’s because IMO the SH-11 is a fat sounding pickup with a slightly compressed feel. The position 2 may be used as a brighter tone using overdrive. I cannot say which would be better out of S4 and S7 - It would be a complete guess. If you end up trying this, I hope you will let us know.

 

[Lampshadenoah]

It seems like you need the STK-S4 in the neck position as you mentioned its use for clean tones and something that approximates a strat single coil.

For notch position 4, (neck + middle), 2x S4 will give you something with a distinct quack, like a decent approximation of a strat tone. S7 middle will be less distinct for position 4 - You may find it’s only really usable on a clean amp setting, although I don’t know this for sure. As has been mentioned above, putting the S7 in the neck and S4 in the middle is likely to work better for position 4, if you want to experiment swapping the two pickups around..

For Notch position 2, (bridge + middle) neither of S4 or S7 are going to really sound like a strat. That’s because IMO the SH-11 is a fat sounding pickup with a slightly compressed feel. The position 2 may be used as a brighter tone using overdrive. I cannot say which would be better out of S4 and S7 - It would be a complete guess. If you end up trying this, I hope you will let us know.

I appreciate the input!

I’ll be sure to update on what I end up doing and upload some pics/samples if I can. I’m a drummer with some relatively novice guitar chops, but went to school for audio engineering and have had an interest gear and how things affect the sounds of one another for as long as I can remember. So, with my budget for gear, half of the fun is learning a lot about how it all works. So, my samples won’t be super great, but I’d be happy to provide simple stuff comparing the pickups with clean, crunch and overdrive to give a clear idea how it worked out

 

[Teleplayer]

Being a drummer seems like a good foundation for music so you can always play in time.

 

[chadd]

I ran a pair of APS-1 with my custom custom in a strat. I just added resistors to the singles so they saw 250k (ish) instead of the 500k volume

 

[donaldr]

As I said in post #21, define want you want from your Strat. Are 2-4 positions important to you or position 3 is more important? It's almost impossible to have a "do-it-all-perfectly" guitar. You will have to compromise or get a second one as you already mentionned.

Classic Strat with 2-4 positions: STK-S4n and STK-4m
Texas Strat with 2-4 positions: STK-S7n and STK-S4m
Classic clean, good position 3 and not-so-good 2-4 positions: STK-4n and STK-S7m

And you would have to play with 250k and 500k pots to find the right combination, maybe a 250k/500k dual volume pot if you use a STK-S4.

STK-S6m would not really work with STK-S4n or STK-S7n but I never tried the STK-S6 so YMMV.

HSS is full of compromises, as in general, single-coils are brighter and humbuckers are darker. If you want a Strat sound I would go STK-S4n, STK-S4m, PGb and use a boost pedal for your heavier stuff or a Screamin Demon bridge.

Also, have a look at Godin guitars, the SD and Exit 22 models are HSS models with 24.75" scale like an LP, so they will give you a rounder sound than a Strat. In this case I would go STK-S4n, STK-S4m and Screamin Demon bridge.

Last, have a look at PRS guitars. They have some HSS and also some HH with good single-coil sound when splitted.