gregory
New member
Hi,
A while back I entertained the idea of replacing the SSL-2 RW/RP and SSL-6T with DiMarzio Track pickups in my basswood, Floyd-equipped Roadstar II with rosewood fretboard but never ended up pulling the trigger. I'm revisiting this again.
I would still like good Strat-ish single coil sounds (bell and quack) for cleans and crunch in both the neck and middle. I like the SSL-6T in the neck but want something with even a bit more of a P90 or mid-focused humbucker sound for high-gain soloing or pushed cleans that is also noiseless when running at full power. In addition to bell and quack when combined with the bridge or neck (both either split, parallel, or tapped, depending), I'd also like the middle to have a PAF-style sound to be combined with a the full-sized bridge humbucker in series mode for cleans.
For the bridge I'm trying to identify a bright and fat moderate output humbucker (or hybrid) which will perform well in both parallel mode for crunchy rhythm and split mode when combined with the middle pickup (split) for quack. I'd like to have at least a little wood in the bridge position. Just as important, if not more so, I want the singles to provide the about the same amount of level when they're in humbucking mode without relying upon substantial differences in height (from there I'll likely lower the middle a bit).
At the moment I'm leaning toward the following:
JB Jr. Neck in the neck postion (update: already purchased; awaiting delivery)
Li'l Screamin' Demon Bridge in the middle position
I've considered other options such as the Cool Rails (bridge or neck models), wired in series and parallel or split, the Vintage Rails (bridge or neck models) wired in parallel and series, DiMarzio Air Norton S, Pro Track and Chopper in various positions and wiring combinations as well as an Area 67 in the middle as an anchor for good middle position and quack tone (giving up the middle + bridge humbucker option), much like I already get with my SSL-2 RW/RP.
I should mention that my middle and neck singles are angled towards the neck at the treble strings (the reverse of a right-handed Strat bridge).
My biggest concern at the moment is that the JB Jr. Neck won't sound very good by itself when split. Stratty bell tone in this position is pretty important to me as well as a fat, smooth vocal tone in humbucker mode. I'm hopeful the JB Jr. Neck will at least be able to accomplish the latter.
I'm taking it on faith that the Li'l Screamin' Demon Bridge will perform like its big brother for both series and split modes, but am somewhat anxious that it won't.
Any thoughts/experiences/suggestions?
A while back I entertained the idea of replacing the SSL-2 RW/RP and SSL-6T with DiMarzio Track pickups in my basswood, Floyd-equipped Roadstar II with rosewood fretboard but never ended up pulling the trigger. I'm revisiting this again.
I would still like good Strat-ish single coil sounds (bell and quack) for cleans and crunch in both the neck and middle. I like the SSL-6T in the neck but want something with even a bit more of a P90 or mid-focused humbucker sound for high-gain soloing or pushed cleans that is also noiseless when running at full power. In addition to bell and quack when combined with the bridge or neck (both either split, parallel, or tapped, depending), I'd also like the middle to have a PAF-style sound to be combined with a the full-sized bridge humbucker in series mode for cleans.
For the bridge I'm trying to identify a bright and fat moderate output humbucker (or hybrid) which will perform well in both parallel mode for crunchy rhythm and split mode when combined with the middle pickup (split) for quack. I'd like to have at least a little wood in the bridge position. Just as important, if not more so, I want the singles to provide the about the same amount of level when they're in humbucking mode without relying upon substantial differences in height (from there I'll likely lower the middle a bit).
At the moment I'm leaning toward the following:
JB Jr. Neck in the neck postion (update: already purchased; awaiting delivery)
Split for Strat-like sounds
Series for soloing and pushed cleans
Series for soloing and pushed cleans
Li'l Screamin' Demon Bridge in the middle position
Split to the fillister coil for Strat-like sounds
Series when combined with the bridge humbucker
Series when combined with the bridge humbucker
I've considered other options such as the Cool Rails (bridge or neck models), wired in series and parallel or split, the Vintage Rails (bridge or neck models) wired in parallel and series, DiMarzio Air Norton S, Pro Track and Chopper in various positions and wiring combinations as well as an Area 67 in the middle as an anchor for good middle position and quack tone (giving up the middle + bridge humbucker option), much like I already get with my SSL-2 RW/RP.
I should mention that my middle and neck singles are angled towards the neck at the treble strings (the reverse of a right-handed Strat bridge).
My biggest concern at the moment is that the JB Jr. Neck won't sound very good by itself when split. Stratty bell tone in this position is pretty important to me as well as a fat, smooth vocal tone in humbucker mode. I'm hopeful the JB Jr. Neck will at least be able to accomplish the latter.
I'm taking it on faith that the Li'l Screamin' Demon Bridge will perform like its big brother for both series and split modes, but am somewhat anxious that it won't.
Any thoughts/experiences/suggestions?
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