Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

[Automator]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some advice for choosing a neck pickup.

I have a HSS guitar with the following specs:

Solid body : Alder/basswood (not sure)
Bridge: vintage trem
Neck: 24 frets, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard
Pickup configuration - HSS: CrunchLab (Bridge), Cruiser Bridge (Middle), Cruiser Bridge (Neck)

I really like the Crunchlab, and the Cruiser on middle position sounds ok, but I have some issues with the Cruiser on neck:

1) When I installed the current pickups I knew from the beginning that there would be a volume difference between bridge and neck, at first it wasn't a problem, but right now I'm looking for a neck pickup that can match the output of the Crunchlab so I can switch back and forth between neck/bridge with almost no volume changes.

2) It does not respond well to pick attack, it lacks punch and bite when accentuating notes no matter how hard I pick the string. I tried adjusting the height of the pickup, but it didn't worked.

I've been looking at other dimarzios and it seems that regarding the output level there are some alternatives:

- Air Norton S
- The Chopper
- Pro Track
- Satch Track Neck

I would like to know which of these pickups (I'm open to other suggestions and brands) will sound good for fusion/blues and also solve my current issues.

Thanks in advanced!!!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

I fear in order to match the output you are going to end up with a pup that doesn't have much bite which is a challenge in the neck position anyway

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

A 1 meg volume pot and a 250k no load tone pot will pretty much solve any lack of bite issues. Duncan has some good high output single coils and stax that you'd probably be happy with. What sound do you want?

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

A 1 meg volume pot and a 250k no load tone pot will pretty much solve any lack of bite issues. Duncan has some good high output single coils and stax that you'd probably be happy with. What sound do you want?

I want something for blues and fusion that sounds good with low or medium overdrive.

In terms of E.Q would like a pickup with balanced bass/mid/treble.

Thanks!

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

I fear in order to match the output you are going to end up with a pup that doesn't have much bite which is a challenge in the neck position anyway

I think you are right.

Maybe it would be better to put a completely new hss set of medium output pickups on the guitar. But I want to try changing the neck pickup first to see if I can get something usable.

Thanks!

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

You could literally pick a vintage output Duncan single coil at random and get something suitable. My favorite is the antiquity mustang. A conservative choice would be the vintage staggered strat. The five two strat's eq chart has equal bass, mid, and treble... Getting enough bite out of your neck pickup is literally as easy as bumping up your pots. Either increase your volume to a 500k or 1 meg and/or switch/convert your tone to a no load.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

#2 in the OP is unusual, when considering what Andy Timmons gets from the Cruisers in his middle and neck. Either way, the Cruisers might be a hard pairing for a bridge like the CL. For example. Have you set your rig to get a great sound from the Cruisers and then listen to how the CL sounds? Suggesting that the CL could be part of the issue.

To have a better idea of what might be an option for the OP, an idea of the type of music and the type of amp might help out a little.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

Chopper or Air Norton S sound good to my ears. Chopper/Neck balances well with a fast track ii/Bridge and Air Norton S/neck with a SuperDist/bridge.

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

#2 in the OP is unusual, when considering what Andy Timmons gets from the Cruisers in his middle and neck. Either way, the Cruisers might be a hard pairing for a bridge like the CL. For example. Have you set your rig to get a great sound from the Cruisers and then listen to how the CL sounds? Suggesting that the CL could be part of the issue.

To have a better idea of what might be an option for the OP, an idea of the type of music and the type of amp might help out a little.

I'm not a gigging musician, my current gear is a 90's Peavey solid state amp, and a boss gt-100. No matter what I try I can't get a good tone from the neck pickup.

On the other hand my PRS SE CU24 sounds great, and its stock neck pickup sounds amazing, the CrunchLab also sounds great, so I just assumed that the cruisers don't work well with my HSS guitar.

These days I'm into fusion Stuff: CAB, Protocol, Govan, Timmons.

Thanks!!

EDIT: Forgot to quote darthphineas, sorry!

 

[dave74]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

Fast2 as long as you can get it set nice and low is amazing for neck-leads.
Had it paired with an X2N in an 88 charvel-pro. (model?)
(had a jackson-floyd and pups stock, crackle-orange, back-angled neck-thru, was high-up like a top-mounted floyd but it was indeed routed-out for whammy-pulls.

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

You could literally pick a vintage output Duncan single coil at random and get something suitable. My favorite is the antiquity mustang. A conservative choice would be the vintage staggered strat. The five two strat's eq chart has equal bass, mid, and treble... Getting enough bite out of your neck pickup is literally as easy as bumping up your pots. Either increase your volume to a 500k or 1 meg and/or switch/convert your tone to a no load.

I don't know, the crunchlab has so much output that putting a vintage/medium output pickup makes me wonder if the volume drop will remain.

Maybe I should look more into the high output duncans and see what I can find.

Thanks!!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

A Custom Stack Plus in the neck with a Hot Stack Plus in the middle should balance things out just fine.

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

A Custom Stack Plus in the neck with a Hot Stack Plus in the middle should balance things out just fine.

The custom stack plus clips sound nice!

Thanks!

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

Fast2 as long as you can get it set nice and low is amazing for neck-leads.
Had it paired with an X2N in an 88 charvel-pro. (model?)
(had a jackson-floyd and pups stock, crackle-orange, back-angled neck-thru, was high-up like a top-mounted floyd but it was indeed routed-out for whammy-pulls.

Thanks!

I found some demos of the Fast track 2 on neck and It sounds great.

 

[Automator]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

Thank all you guys for your comments,

I haven't made a decision yet, but I think that now I have more options to consider before purchasing.

I'll update the thread when I get some results!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Stacked Humbucker or Singlecoil to pair with Dimarzio Crunchlab

Love to hear what you come up with! And post some pics!