Single coil recommendations to go with tb-6 distortion

[Zombie 13X33]

Just ordered a jackson js34q dinky in red (hss) and I also just ordered the tb-6 trem bucket distortion bridge pickup just cus I've always wanted it and I'm sick of cheap ebay knockoffs lol. Can someone recommend something decent for the neck single coil mainly and possibly one for the middle? Super excited so please don't rag on me if you don't like what I ordered please..

I mainly play 80s metal. Metallica and iron maiden, etc.. also spending alot of time on my e minor pentatonic scales to hopefully be able to play whatever i want someday solo wise. I usually run my guitars in Eb as well and ernie ball hybrid stringsif that helps at all..

Thanks

This is my current obsession.





.
Brad.

 

[Mincer]

This really depends on what you use the neck and middle singles for. I'd probably make sure these 2 pickups hum-cancelling, due to the gain used. A neck Cool Rails and a middle Classic Stack would cover a lot of territory while remaining hum-free.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

I'm sorry haha. I only use the neck position for jazzy leads/solo styles or metal solos if they work for that. Otherwise I'll end up using the bridge. I'm going from an hh ibanez with invader clones to this jackson. I also have a glarry strat converted to hsh with invader clones. Obviously I'm done with the clones and invader for now. No complaints tho just looking for something different and special for this one as its my most expensive guitar so far. Yes I know its still on the cheaper side but I'm no pro yet. Thank you though for your input so far.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

The neck cool rails sounds like what I'm looking to be honest. No idea what they are but I do know I was really thinking of a rail setup in the neck if it was recommended. Not super familiar with single coils yet.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

The rails just "look" cool...

 

[beaubrummels]

Hot Rails can be very Strat like and balance well with a Distortion bridge volume wise and handle gain leads. My Jackson came with such a set. They were too hot for me personally so I’m on the hunt for alternatives.

I have a Vintage rails bridge that I might use for the middle and get a cool rails for the neck. I’ll try swapping them around to see which works better where. Don’t discount using bridge pickups in other positions to match levels and get the sounds you need.

Someone on here (sorry I can’t recall the username) advised me to have a lower output single in the middle and the hotter one in the neck so that the 2-4 positions are balanced. I think that is sage advice.

 

[Mincer]

The Cool Rails is sort of like a single coil-sized Jazz. Clear, with more treble than anything. They are great with gain and without, but they work really well as a complement to higher output pickups. The Hot Rails is mostly mids, and more powerful.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

Thank you. That helps alot actually

 

[bigcupholder]

Cool rails in the middle would give you a nice option for shredding solos where the bridge pickup is too chirpy/harsh on the high frets but the neck pickup can be muddy. That frees up the neck slot for a warmer pickup.

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[Nmoc strat]

If you're looking for those Dave Murray type fluid solos, the Hot Rails Neck is what you want.

 

[Demanic]

I would suggest trying the stock singles with the TB-6. Since you play mostly on the bridge, you might find that you like them. If not you can always replace them later.
If you do, and want true singles, I'd recommend the Quarter Pounds.

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[Aceman]

If you're looking for those Dave Murray type fluid solos, the Hot Rails Neck is what you want.

I too was gonna suggest Hot Rails neck and cool rails middle.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

Thank you everyone. The guitar came in today and the stock neck pickup actually sounds decent but the middle is muddy. The stock bridge doesn't seem very powerful. Cant wait to install the tb6 that also came in today along with my rps 10s and hybrid set to choose from.

I may try the options you guys suggested when my funds come in for it.

 

[UnderTheFlame83]

Thank you everyone. The guitar came in today and the stock neck pickup actually sounds decent but the middle is muddy. The stock bridge doesn't seem very powerful. Cant wait to install the tb6 that also came in today along with my rps 10s and hybrid set to choose from.

I may try the options you guys suggested when my funds come in for it.

Awesome. That looks like a great Jackson. I like the color. Let us know how you like the Distortion.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

Here is the new Jackson in all its glory. I love this thing. The fretwork was actually done perfect (imo) and feels super smooth for being a low end guitar. The close up was taken in my living room on a beautiful sunny day and it really shows off the grain and color perfectly. The duncan distortion tb6 is great too. The factory humbucker wasn't bad but I'm happy I did what I did. I ordered some Seymour duncan single coil covers to put on the factory single coils until I get real duncans later. Really leaning towards a rail style for either the middle or neck and a normal single coil duncan for the other spot. Looking into vintage style or anything jazzy for the neck and middle positions. Still doing my homework there but I may end up doing the cool rails and hot rails combo everyone was talking about above because they just look awesome lol. I recently picked up a treble bleed kit but haven't decided what guitar I'm going to put it into yet. I kinda like having the ability to roll back the volume on this one and cleaning up the sound some for leads. I just play at home for fun so it's all just for fun.

I'm going to make another post about my Ibanez and the leds I just installed in it the other day.

-Brad

 

[Zombie 13X33]

Also might be worth mentioning. I put ernie ball rps hybrids on it and added one more spring because it was having trouble returning to zero. It was doing the sharp or flat thing. Now it's more stable and returns to zero. I haven't done to many five bombs or anything crazy yet. Kinda taking it easy on it. I do use it just not like some of the kids on youtube that are really yanking on the bar then complaining the whole guitar is out of tune or they pop strings out of the bridge lol. I also added the 2 Allen wrench holder thing that goes on the back of the headstock. I really like that. Also added speed knobs because I had extras laying around from my Ibanez project.

 

[Zombie 13X33]

I would suggest trying the stock singles with the TB-6. Since you play mostly on the bridge, you might find that you like them. If not you can always replace them later.
If you do, and want true singles, I'd recommend the Quarter Pounds.

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The stock singles actually sound pretty good. I ordered some duncan single coil covers to fake it for now lol!! I think I'm going to get more duncans eventually but it would only be for my own personal pleasure.

 

[Demanic]

Cool! Jackson pickups certainly aren't horrible and they might play well with the Distortion in the bridge. Which is an excellent choice for that guitar.

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[UnderTheFlame83]

Cool! Jackson pickups certainly aren't horrible and they might play well with the Distortion in the bridge. Which is an excellent choice for that guitar.

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I agree. I think the Jackson pickups are some of the best stock pickups. They also have the rail pups similar to Duncan Hot Rails that come stock on the X series silver and gold crackle guitars. You might be able to find them pretty cheap. Those would work well in the middle and neck position of the guitar you have.

 

[AdrianSD]

Yeah, I have the original Jackson pickups from an old Jackson Performer PS4, Korean most likely and, while the bridge and middle sound pretty average, quite weak and undefined, the neck bucker sounds simply glorious so it just went back in, now paired with a Black Winter in the bridge Unfortunately it's a 2 conductor pickup so can't split it, but in position 2 it's wired by parallel with the middle single coil and it sounds alright. Hard to beat Jackson's necks and stock pickups in the reasonably priced bracket.