Why is my Hot Rhythm louder than my STK-3b?

I'm assuming Hot Rhythm is the name of your neck pickup?
Is it the Hot For Tele neck model?

Even when two pickups have identical output, the neck position will be substantially louder.
It's because a string's vibration has greater amplitude at the center than near the ends.
This is why the bridge pickup in modern 'calibrated' setsis more powerful than the neck pickup.

In your case, you're using a vintage output bridge humbucker and a hot overwound neck.
Lowering the neck pickup a lot and raising the bridge a bit might get them closer.
But it's not an equal pairing.

Remember, even if the DCRs are fairly similar, two different pickups can be quite disparate in output, especially if one is a humbucker and the other is a singlecoil.

Humbuckers have their magnet positioned underneath. Singles have a much stronger magnetic effect on the strings, not only because of six magnets vs one but also since the end of each rod mag is very close to the string.
 
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eclecticsynergy said:
Remember, even if the DCRs are fairly similar, two different pickups can be quite disparate in output, especially if one is a humbucker and the other is a singlecoil.
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Not to mention that bottom coils in stacks cancel the hum but provide no signal: on the contrary, they weaken the signal coils, hence a clear decorrelation between DCR and output... That's why DiMarzio rate at 93mV their 23.72k HS-3 while their 6.21k "True Velvet Neck" is rated at 130mV... Only "advanced" stack designs with a low DCR noise sensor get around this downside. :-)
 
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Because the heights are not adjusted properly for the output. Raise the bridge pickup, lower the neck.
 
Agree, try adjusting pup heights to help balance them. However, you may need to replace either the neck or bridge pup to get what you want.
 
Aceman said:
Because the heights are not adjusted properly for the output. Raise the bridge pickup, lower the neck.
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Neck STR-2 is 1/8" bass and 3/32" treb, strings fretted at highest. Bridge STK-3b is same. I just tried raising the bridge by say 1/16" each and there was a degradation in tone and volume.

This pickup combo provides a bassy Tele tone but also works only with Celestion speaker. With Jensen it's too clacky.
 
freefrog said:
Not to mention that bottom coils in stacks cancel the hum but provide no signal: on the contrary, they weaken the signal coils, hence a clear decorrelation between DCR and output... That's why DiMarzio rate at 93mV their 23.72k HS-3 while their 6.21k "True Velvet Neck" is rated at 130mV... Only "advanced" stack designs with a low DCR noise sensor get around this downside. :-)
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What I can say is my '69 RI Thinline stock absolutely batters these Duncan 'hot' pickups. The former Hot Rails in this used Tele sounded so bad I had no choice but to replace it. I thought my old 90s STR-2 would be a fatter, chewier tone, but it's just loud glung-gunk, I suppose anything is better than a V-Mod I set, but I think Fender pickups belong in a Fender Tele.

EDIT: One thing to check before complaining about pickups: PATCH CABLE.
 
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68Kustom said:
What I can say is my '69 RI Thinline stock absolutely batters these Duncan 'hot' pickups. The former Hot Rails in this used Tele sounded so bad I had no choice but to replace it. I thought my old 90s STR-2 would be a fatter, chewier tone, but it's just loud glung-gunk, I suppose anything is better than a V-Mod I set, but I think Fender pickups belong in a Fender Tele.

EDIT: One thing to check before complaining about pickups: PATCH CABLE.
Click to expand...

Well, noiseless and/or "hot" pickups are voiced for distortion so, if you play clean, they won't fit your needs...

FWIW, a good way to obtain a more classic Tele vibe from a Hot Rails is to wire it in parallel: it gives it the inductance of a single coil and the related sound.

The V-Mod set is fine to me, as are many Fender stock PU's.

Regarding cables: they are important in general and not only as patch links, IME/IMHO.YMMV.
 
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