Stacked pickups questions...

[Fendersupremacy]

So, I am trying to figure out what I want for pickups for a Stratocaster I'm going to build, and people have recommended the Seymour Duncan Hot Rail stacked pickup, which after listening to some samples sounds really good. What's confusing me right now is that it is sold one at a time. Are you supposed to put stacked pickups with regular single coils? What's the best for a harder rock/metal guitars, a mix or just stacked? Suggest whatever you feel you need to at this point...

[Wyatt]

Well, prefer I rant about SD's use of Stack, we'll answer your question.

 

Consider a stacked single coil the same as a humbucker. It's just that instead of placing two coils (reverse wound to each other) side by side, they stack them one on top of the other (they share the same bobbin). This way they retain the tight focused definition of a single coil because they are all part of the "coil assembly" (if you will). Technically this is a stacked humbucker and has more than one coil.

 

Just like mixing full-size humbuckers and single coils, it's perfectly possible and acceptable top mix singles and stacked HB's or Strat-size HB's.

 

Here is one, notice the split about halfway down the bobbin...

Here's a huge pic of another...(hmm, i guess it doesn't like the massive pic)

 

Note that these are separate coils, so four conductor wiring to turn one off for less output (tapping) is available.

 

Now my rant. The Hot Rails are not stacked, they are side-by-side...see? Yet SD insists on keeping "Stacked" as part of the name.

[Fendersupremacy]

Oh, okay, so does that change the sound a lot? In what way if yes? And so Seymour Duncan just sells them more expensive cause they're higher quality...? Thanx for the helpful reply!

[Wyatt]

Oh, okay, so does that change the sound a lot? In what way if yes? And so Seymour Duncan just sells them more expensive cause they're higher quality...? Thanx for the helpful reply!

 

More expensive because they are slightly more work to make and require a special bobbin(s). One coil versus too.

 

As for changing the sound, that's aloaded question. Most "noiseless single coils" are stack humbuckers, and many find they lack the complex harmonic detail of a real single coil. But different strokes for different folks, and most are willing to compromise a little to be able to play around florescent lights and other hum problems.

 

As for a single-coil-sized, side-by-side humbucker, like the Hot Rails or Li'l '59, these are really a unique PU style that isn't trying to sound like a regualr single coil, so they have their own sound. I should add that the Hot Rails is a very, very hot PU, I find it hot to a fault, it really hard to get a cleaner sound out of it.

[ashasha]

I haven't tried every noiseless single coil on the planet, but after spending a lot of time researching I tried the Bill Lawrence noiseless pickups for my strat. I am more than happy with them. I spoke to him on the phone recently (years after buying the pickups) and he's got some really neat concepts and they are all backed up by lots of physics and math and to my ears he's got the best noiseless pickups out there.

 

And as crazy as it may seem in this day and age he has some of the best prices out there.

 

Website with prices: http://wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_NF_Singles.html

 

Description (2nd post for strats) http://guitarsbyfender.yuku.com/topic/3033

[razordave]

I think if you're playing hard rock/metal, then you would probably want to go noiseless (single coil sized humbuckers) for all positions. True single coils are known for their noise (60Hz hum) and, to me, that is just made a LOT worse when using high gain amplification. It wouldn't be noticible while playing, but may be annoying between songs or during quiet passages.

I'm not very familiar with the SD offerings, but I do know that Dimarzio has a ton of single coil-sized humbucker offerings. Their site is very good for researching their possibilities. You can just scroll through all of their options or you can select the "Pickup Picker" which is a neat little online app to help you narrow down the choices. They have some higher gain offerings and some that retain single coil sound, but are noiseless.

I chose a Fast Track 2 for the bridge, they say it's the closest to their full-sized Super Distortion. I put a Chopper in the neck, and a more traditional sounding Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 in the middle. This setup works well for me, but there are a ton of options.

I'm sure other companies have offerings that will work, I'm just pushing Dimarzio because I found their website to give me all the info I needed when I was researching this for myself.

Give it a shot it might help. They also have sound clips for a lot of the various pickups.

 

rd

[peavey_impact]

Dimarzio Tone Zone S is a badass pickup

 

[Patuney]

Just buy a pre-wired pickgard with a set of hot rails in it. Here's mine in my '90's Strat Ultra.

[Karma1]

I recently put a Duncan Little 59 in the bridge of my '69 Tele Thinline reissue and it sounds great, especially for high gain leads. I installed it with a push-pull for series/parallel switching that gives me some nice tonal variety.

It blends well with the Lace Sensor Gold single coil in the neck.

[thecornman]

Dimarzio Tone Zone S is a badass pickup

 

This is true.

[Fendersupremacy]

Thanks a lot, guys. I'll be checking out all of your suggestions. The Dimarzio site sounds intriguing, I'll give that a whirl. Thanks!