What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

[The JEM Ghost]

Hi to all!!

In my HSH guitars, I usually never use the number 3 position (single coil by itself), the single coil is only used in position 2 and 4 in combination with a split humbucker, to get Strat-like (nothed positions of a Strat that is) tone.
I was wondering what single coil (or single coil sized) you guys would recommend in the middle position of HSH guitars to get the best "quack" in positions 2 and 4??
Maybe the Duncan Vintage Strat single coil would be good for this use? Or do I need something louder? Tell me what you think would work best for my use.

Thanks in advance for any replies!! :fing2:

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Try lowering the pickups; really I feel like it's the lower the better for Strats with regard to quack, and perhaps lower the middle more than the neck. People will say it's a matter of output etc., maybe there's something to that, but I've had both vintage and high output pickups that could quack pretty well.

Brighter pickups are more conducive to quack though, I believe; have you ever noticed that it's easier to get quack between the bridge/mid vs. neck/mid position? I think a lot of that has to do with the highs being damped in the neck/mid position by having the two tone pots active, where only one tone pot is active between bridge and mid. So it helps to have brighter neck/mid pickups to "overcome" that.

EDIT: I don't know how I missed that this is for an HSH guitar... For the best balance I think you could probably use something like a Duncan SSL-5 Custom single, very low, in combination with a pickup set like the Jazzb/Jazzn... I think the pickups I would not recommend are APS or SSL-3s

 

[gregory]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

I'm guessing there's only one tone control and one volume and that both are 500k.

Anyway, SSL-2 is my knee-jerk reply. I got pretty good quack with one and a split JB (using the inner slug coil and with a reverse slant on the middle with the pole under the high-E being in the Strat middle spot, no less).

What are the humbuckers in the neck and bridge?

 

[AlexR]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Quack depends entirely on the combination of the pickup tones. So there can be no possible answer to a question on a generic HSH setup.

However the knee-jerk reply above is perhaps as good as any. At least the posi 3 should sound good.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

At least the posi 3 should sound good.

That's the 1 position I never use, lol!

I'm guessing there's only one tone control and one volume and that both are 500k.
What are the humbuckers in the neck and bridge?

Yes, 1 volume and 1 tone control and pots are indeed 500K.
I've got several HSH guitars, some have different pickup combinations, most used is the Steve's Special in the bridge and PAF Pro in the neck. I was indeed looking for a generic HSH setup, like what single coil sized pickup sounds best in combination with split humbuckers (in position 2 and 4) emulating the typical Strat quack.
Thanks for all the replies so far guys!

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

One thing to consider is going out of phase between the HBs and single; my Yamaha came with that wiring. It's not quite the same as regular Strat quack, but it quacks.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

One thing to consider is going out of phase between the HBs and single

Oh no thank you, out of phase really is not my tone, I really hate it myself!! I do respect your opinion though (and don't want to sound as a jack*ss) so thanks for your reply, but I really don't like out of phase pickups myself. Hope my post doesn't come over the wrong way mate! :beerchug:

 

[gregory]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Steve's Special in the bridge and PAF Pro in the neck.

Duncan SSL-2 or DiMarzio HS-3 in split mode (top coil only).

 

[zionstrat]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Second the JB. Beautiful 2 position. I love to use low output rail single size with a spinasplit. As u back off of the 2nd rail it gets quackier and I often use a trim pot in the cavity to keep that time dialed in. As much as I love the cool rails neck, I find a rolled off dimarzio cruiser is the perfect match with a coil from the JB

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Oh no thank you, out of phase really is not my tone, I really hate it myself!! I do respect your opinion though (and don't want to sound as a jack*ss) so thanks for your reply, but I really don't like out of phase pickups myself. Hope my post doesn't come over the wrong way mate! :beerchug:

No prob. , I'm not a huge fan of that combination either, just putting it out there It does quack, especially in a funk sort of context.

 

[Mincer]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

If you auto split the humbuckers in 2 & 4, and have the middle pickup rw/rp from whatever coils are active, you will get good quack and hum-cancelling. SSL-2 is my choice, too...or a Five Two.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: What single gives best "quack" in pos. 2 and 4 of HSH?

Unless you are completely set on HSH, you could also ask a different question: What single coils sound the most humbucker like when in series? I find that it's easier to emulate a humbucker with single coils than the other way around. A lot of times when I use the 2 and 4 it's mainly for clean tones, whereas I mainly use humbucker positions for higher gain applications and the subtleties between a hunbucker and single coils in series are lost. Plus it looks like a traditional strat. I'm currently doing it in my secondary strat with a set of fender N3's.