Single coil to match Whole Lotta HBs

[Ilsenhab]

Looking for a single coil (noiseless, mini HB or rails) in the middle position to match the output of a set of WL HBs I have in a warmoth hollowbody strat. I have a fender vintage noiseless in the middle right now and the difference in volume is problematic in terms of the other pickups height/output etc.

Tones are for mostly classic rock, funk, jazz, blues, country and modern variations of those genres.

Thanks in advance for your advice, cheers!

 

[jeremy]

welcome to the forum! 500k pots in the guitar? want a single coil type tone? id suggest a custom stack plus if so. more output and thicker tone than a vintage strat pup, but with the 500k pot it wont sound dark and should match the buckers well

 

[Ilsenhab]

Yes 500k Dunlop super pots. Description on the website sounds good as well.

Now if I could only find an easy schematic for a "bridge on switch" so I could get the two humbuckers together too

 

[zionstrat]

I think Jeremy hit it for classic tones...

If you want something that can push a bit harder, I'd recommend a cool rail... There's nothing actually cool about it it's just cooler than a hot rail

But I love to put them in the middle position parallel to self... That gives them a very calm. clean spanky tone that can give you fantastic quack in the two and four position.

And I put in a series to parallel mod so I can flip it back and get a screaming middle pickup for leads I didn't care much for middle pickups before I learned this trick.

As far as adding in the neck pickup in any position, there's plenty of diagrams out there but let us know if you don't find one.

 

[Mincer]

I say if you want it to sound like a single coil, go for a Classic Stack or Parallel Axis Stack. If you want it to sound like a humbucker, look at the Cool Rails or Red Devil.

 

[Clint 55]

My advice is that it requires a lot of heat for singles to match with full hbs. So if your goal is volume balance, get the hottest one that you'd still be happy with the sound of. Don't go get another vintage output one. The hotter they get, the more middy they get. Also you have to choose between stack and single size hb. As you may already know, stax emulate true single coils while single size hbs sound more humbuckerish but spanky cuz of their single form factor.

 

[Synapsys]

The only single coil form factor pickup that matches humbuckers is, to my ears, either the Hot Stack for Strat or tne Hot Tele Stack.

Not as single coil sounding as a Custom Stack, Vintage Hot Stack or Classic Stack, but not as P90-ish as the PA Stack.

 

[zionstrat]

This is a pretty good list - it covers a wide range of classic sounds, warmer hot sounds, and the cool rail in parallel that I listed is more of a neutral/ modernsound. And now that I think about it, another good dual rail here is the DiMarzio cruiser which is a little bit weaker and wouldn't require parallel.

So my question for you is are you looking for three matched pickups or are you looking for more of the classic strat quack in the two and four positions?

If you're looking for quack, a weaker middle pickup does the job. If you want to use your middle pick up by itself, you might go with one of the hotter pickups recognizing you'll get less quack in the two and four positions.

 

[Clint 55]

He said in the op that he's looking to remedy the volume drop with his fender vintage noiseless. Cruiser, cool rails in parallel, classic stacks aren't going to cut it. Gonna need something hot or at least medium.