Strat middle pickup suggestion. Jbjr bridge, five-two neck

[d-bone]

I have jb jr in the bridge and a five-two in the neck and an original fender am std in the middle. The original works well with the jb jr for the in between sound, think Bryan Adams but it is not hum canceling together with the neck pickup so I want a Duncan in the middle too Any suggestions?

I want to keep that nice in between sound with the jb jr. I have tried a five-two in the middle ages ago but the in between sound was better with the fender am std.

The guitar is a Fender american standard, alder body with rosewood finger board.

 

[Mincer]

If you want a more powerful Stratty sound, you might look at the Classic Stack. Bonus, is that it is hum-cancelling. It blends well with pickups like the JB Jr. Yes, the JB Jr is still more powerful, but it blends better than most traditional single coils.

 

[Artie]

Yeah, the STK's are sweet. But since you've already veered slightly non-traditional, maybe a Cool Rails or Hot Rails could be nice in there too. I like 'em both.

 

[d-bone]

Thanks. I have also disconnected the tone pots, highly recommended. I have no volume problems between the pickups at all. I never play with clean sound, lightly breakup (Bryan Adams or Lukather plays Little Wing) or full Marshall type high gain (from 80's hair metal to slick AOR) the wetter and moren 3D the better.
I don't like earthy or woody tones.

So stk-4 is what you recommend?

 

[Mincer]

The STK-S4 sounds great with distortion, up to metal-levels...but I am not sure anyone would use a middle pickup for metal tones. It is a great sounding pickup across a variety of styles, though.

 

[d-bone]

Thanks.
I’ll take look at the stk-s4 then.
I never use the middle pickup by itself, only in combination.

 

[Artie]

When you get this all together, I'd love to hear your critique of the Five-Two. I have one laying around somewhere, and I'm thinking of installing it.

 

[Mincer]

As far as traditional single coils go, the Five Two is my favorite.

 

[Artie]

As far as traditional single coils go, the Five Two is my favorite.

I saw you mention that before. It's what inspired me to dig it out of my catacombs.

 

[d-bone]

What about ssl-2 in the middle?

The STK-S4 sounds great with distortion, up to metal-levels...but I am not sure anyone would use a middle pickup for metal tones. It is a great sounding pickup across a variety of styles, though.

In case of stk-s4m, do I need to auto-split for humcancelling with the 5-2 in the neck?

When you get this all together, I'd love to hear your critique of the Five-Two. I have one laying around somewhere, and I'm thinking of installing it.

The 5-2 is a great neck pickup, it shines with semi distorted amp settings, responsive, punchy and sweet at the same time, just the right amount of glass for "Little Wing" stuff. It's not for dirty blues, it have more of a nicer, happier tone quality. It's a nicer sounding strat pickup that still sounds like a strat. It's a secret weapon, I don't tell my friends what's in there.
I wish it had just a little more output for high gain soloing, someday I will try the bridge version in the neck. I also wish there was a non staggered version, it have strong string pull so It need to sit lower than I want it to.

 

[Mincer]

You might consider splitting. I believe it has to be rw/rp along with the Five Two to be hum-cancelling. It won't kill the hum 100% (though it helps) because both coils don't have the same number of turns. But the Five Two w/ the STK-S4 split is a good sound that I use in one of my Strats.