STK-S9 love it or not?

strat dude

Active member
I have been doing battle with the strat size Strat bridge pickup for decades. Tried quite a few pickups- cool rails, hot rails, little 59, YJM fury, even put a Tele vintage stack in a Strat and liked it a lot, Dimarzio HS-3 , HS-2, many custom wound true singles, others I can’t remember right now. And while I like things about all of the pickups, the search for the most versatile and closest to perfect pickup is still on.
So I guess I should say I play a variety of styles from country to YJM (badly), through an East club 18 and a variety of different speaker. Not a metal guy or chugga chugga stuff.
So to the question, any with experience with the hot stack for Strat lovers out there who think it’s a good match? From what I hear in clips I likee, but would like to hear from owners. Thanks.
 
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i have one in the bridge of a strat paired with a classic stack + bridge in the neck, and cs+ middle in the middle. i think its a fantastic strat bridge pup, as long as you dont need a very stratty sound. it still sounds like a single coil but its mid focused and has a lot of output compared to a vintage pup. i like the way it sounds clean and dirty and its great for solos
 
i have one in the bridge of a strat paired with a classic stack + bridge in the neck, and cs+ middle in the middle. i think its a fantastic strat bridge pup, as long as you dont need a very stratty sound. it still sounds like a single coil but its mid focused and has a lot of output compared to a vintage pup. i like the way it sounds clean and dirty and its great for solos

That’s what I wanted to hear, and no I do not want it to sound like a vintage Strat pickup. I have that covered. I have piles of “vintage” Strat pickups and really want more from a Strat. I find the Vintage Strat bridge position to be completely useless by itself and barely useful in position 2 (just my opinion of course). I actually like some of the other bridge pickups quite a lot. The Fury is very close but just not quite there. I don’t mind the little 59 and actually kind of like it, but wish it were a bit more articulate, but definitely useful. It’s really about finding a balance for me when I get the bridge sounding how I want and flip to the neck it’s not right and vice versa. Thanks for the opine.
 
To me, it is like a single coil pickup with a brick tied to it...very cool. The S4 is still my fav, but the S9 is the one I'd get if I wanted to rock.
 
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