What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

G

Ghwar

New member
5 way switch with auto split.

If I wanted to get true single coil tones on the splits. Strat-mojo in nature .. I'm into the idea of an APS-1, cause I just think an alnico 2 vintage strat pickup would add some serious mojo to the guitar. But worried about volume dropoff in the split positions. Would ssl-5 actually be better with this set instead ? I know they'll both sound awesome but having a hard time choosing


Bonus question : do I buy a reverse wound pickup for my middle with splits or just a regular one ?


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Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

hi there Ghwar,

I have been using the Full Shred set with a middle pickup for almost a decade now in an Ibanez RG350DXZ. It's wired with a simple volume and tone setup but with a 5-way super switch for nice split tones in positions 2 and 4 and my middle pickup of choice has been a Hot Rails (neck model). I currently own about 20 or so guitars, a few of them being strats and teles by Fender and Squier loaded with different varieties of single coils; as far as I am concerned the Hot Rails does a really convincing job, making my RG a very versatile guitar. I know that the Hot Rails is a single coil-sized humbucker, and that the pickups you listed are true single coils; but I can't say that I have experience with them in a guitar that's also loaded with Full Shreds. If it's down to the two pickups that you have listed, I would personally choose whichever pickup I think sounds best by itself first, then go from there. I've always been an alnico pickup person as I have always found them to be more suited to my tastes. I know this doesn't answer all of your questions but I happened to see this when scrolling by and thought I'd provide my bit of insight.

Hope it helps somewhat, if at all,

Shred Star
 
Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

Shred Star said:
hi there Ghwar,

I have been using the Full Shred set with a middle pickup for almost a decade now in an Ibanez RG350DXZ. It's wired with a simple volume and tone setup but with a 5-way super switch for nice split tones in positions 2 and 4 and my middle pickup of choice has been a Hot Rails (neck model). I currently own about 20 or so guitars, a few of them being strats and teles by Fender and Squier loaded with different varieties of single coils; as far as I am concerned the Hot Rails does a really convincing job, making my RG a very versatile guitar. I know that the Hot Rails is a single coil-sized humbucker, and that the pickups you listed are true single coils; but I can't say that I have experience with them in a guitar that's also loaded with Full Shreds. If it's down to the two pickups that you have listed, I would personally choose whichever pickup I think sounds best by itself first, then go from there. I've always been an alnico pickup person as I have always found them to be more suited to my tastes. I know this doesn't answer all of your questions but I happened to see this when scrolling by and thought I'd provide my bit of insight.

Hope it helps somewhat, if at all,

Shred Star
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll consider trying it. Mind if I ask you some more questions ? So the 2 and 4 positions you have split using one coil of the full shreds and one of the hot rails ? And it makes a pretty convincing Strat sound ?

You using the neck or bridge model ? The neck looks like it's right around the DC I want (10k) so it might actually be what I'm looking for. And I have to admit, superficially, I like the look of the hot rail a lot better. I have a Stratocaster with antiquity surfers anyway, so I have the "true Strat" sound if I need it(I can only use that for certain situations.. I suck at playing Strat necks ) but I want this guitar (basswood Ibanez) to be a sort of switchblade of many tones, to record a sort of shred/hip-hop fusion album I'm cooking up (among other projects I'll be involved in this year) . I need versatility, but don't get me wrong, it needs to rock hard most of the time, it's just that I'd love to have some quasi-strat chopped up tones for those breakdown parts that need a little special something y'know ? The stock pickups in the Ibanez already do this quite well, but I know it could be so much better with duncans.

Do you have your position 3 hooked up to be just the hot rails ? If so , how would that sound ? My imagining is that it wouldn't sound very good or be as useful as a true single in that situation, however, if I did go with hot rails, then I would probably prefer my position 3 to actually just be the 2 full shreds working together , as that's a position I actually use quite a lot on most of my 2 hum guitars.. thanks for the advice

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Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

I changed my SoCal Charvel from HH to HSH, put a Full Shred neck and a regular SSL-1 in the middle and I like the quack sound I get in notch position 4 with the FSn. I don't worry that much about volume drops because I stay in the same channel of my amp all the time with gain cranked so I use my guitar's volume knob to reduce the gain and play clean, if I need a touch more volume it is at reach in the guitar.

I think you should be fine with any regular true single coil from Seymour Duncan and just use the split diagrams for humbuckers, that will use the inner (slug) coil and will be hum cancelling for sure.
 
Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

Shred Star said:
hi there Ghwar,

I have been using the Full Shred set with a middle pickup for almost a decade now in an Ibanez RG350DXZ. It's wired with a simple volume and tone setup but with a 5-way super switch for nice split tones in positions 2 and 4 and my middle pickup of choice has been a Hot Rails (neck model). I currently own about 20 or so guitars, a few of them being strats and teles by Fender and Squier loaded with different varieties of single coils; as far as I am concerned the Hot Rails does a really convincing job, making my RG a very versatile guitar. I know that the Hot Rails is a single coil-sized humbucker, and that the pickups you listed are true single coils; but I can't say that I have experience with them in a guitar that's also loaded with Full Shreds. If it's down to the two pickups that you have listed, I would personally choose whichever pickup I think sounds best by itself first, then go from there. I've always been an alnico pickup person as I have always found them to be more suited to my tastes. I know this doesn't answer all of your questions but I happened to see this when scrolling by and thought I'd provide my bit of insight.

Hope it helps somewhat, if at all,

Shred Star
Click to expand...

I'd second the Hot Rails neck in the middle position.
 
Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

a0adio0 said:
I'd second the Hot Rails neck in the middle position.
Click to expand...
How come ? Just curious , I'm very intrigued by this option I must admit. It'd be something different for me and that'd be cool I'm just not sure what makes it such a good option?

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Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

Ghwar said:
How come ? Just curious , I'm very intrigued by this option I must admit. It'd be something different for me and that'd be cool I'm just not sure what makes it such a good option?

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Click to expand...

Personally, I just like the heaviness of a Hot Rails single (the neck version) in the middle position. But I tend to go for an inordinate amount of low-end in my sound, even on Strats.
 
Re: What would be a good middle pickup for a Full Shred set?

The parallel axis single seems like it would go with the vibe of the full shreds.
 
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