Strat Rebuild

[egearhart]

I am doing a Strat rebuild. I want to play Rock + TX Blues material. I want to make it a versatile guitar. I am thinking of going hot rails in the bridge, middle hot rails, and neck split rails. From what I can gather is the Cool Rails has a Jazzy tone. So I do not think that would be a good neck pick up. Or shoould I look at different pickups???
Any thoughts would be helpful, thank you!

 

[Mincer]

With 2 Hot Rails pickups, it probably is more geared toward heavier, thicker distortion than versatility. And Cool Rails, sounds somewhat like the Jazz humbucker, which isn't really 'jazzy', it is just the name. It has a clean and clear sound.

 

[egearhart]

So probably the better set up would be Hot in the bridge, Vintage in the middle, and Cool in the neck??

 

[Mincer]

For versatility, yes.

 

[Sam SG]

Probably best to determine the exact tone you want from this strat and how you want to use it in the context of what you play and with your rig.
Dont mean you need a set either.
Im not the big expert on what to put in. But if you have tone examples of what you want from say the bridge..mid..neck positions guys here can steer you to pickups that will give you what you want.
What made you decide on the ones you mentioned?

 

[egearhart]

Probably best to determine the exact tone you want from this strat and how you want to use it in the context of what you play and with your rig.
Dont mean you need a set either.
Im not the big expert on what to put in. But if you have tone examples of what you want from say the bridge..mid..neck positions guys here can steer you to pickups that will give you what you want.
What made you decide on the ones you mentioned?

Listening to different clips on YouTube. I wanted something versatile and that can play Rock, and TX style blues.

 

[egearhart]

Listening to different clips on YouTube. I wanted something versatile and that can play Rock, and TX style blues.

I have a PRS with Seymour Duncans JB4 in the Bridge and Pearly Gates in the neck. Great sound!

 

[Sam SG]

Listening to different clips on YouTube. I wanted something versatile and that can play Rock, and TX style blues.

That helps.
I Find allot of times youtube clips can be misleading though.
Worth a shot to get suggestions here.
I had been using the same bridge HB in my main axe 10yrs thought it couldnt get better...after taking some advice here I much prefer the Duncan I bought. Some guys here know the ins and outs of pickups..
Inductance resonant peaks etc...

 

[jeremy]

as i mentioned in my message, i think a hot rails bridge, classic stack+ middle, and cool rails neck would be a versatile and great sounding setup. using a dpdt to switch the hot rails between series and parallel would be a good option as well to get better clean sounds from the bridge and bridge/middle selections if you go with a normal 5 way

 

[egearhart]

Would the Vintage Rails not be a good option for the middle compared to the classic stack???

 

[jeremy]

i much prefer the tone of the classic stack+ it wont match the look of the rails, but i sounds like a good strat pup, just noiseless. the vintage rails is a fine sounding pup, very low output though

 

[egearhart]

Would a Red Devil for a middle pick up, would also be a potential option??? Or do you still prefer the Classic stack??

 

[jeremy]

i prefer the classic stack+, but i do like the red devil set. i also have those pups wired to series/split/parallel switches. series is fat and juicy, parallel is much more clear and sounds great clean

 

[justFred]

IMO with single coil Strats prefer sets of over mix and match. Far more important with single coils to have each position “tuned” by the pros.