Electric Guitars

[3volved]

I dug out my very first guitar the other day, an HSS Samick, and thought I'd make her playable again with some upgrades. I have a Duncan SH-4 ready to go in the bridge, what do you guys recommend for neck and middle pickups? I'm looking for something smooth and low/medium output I can use for my worship group.

[cokekolev]

Cool rails or a lil '59 type of thingy?

[Radar-Love]

Originally Posted by 3volved

...what do you guys recommend for neck and middle pickups? I'm looking for something smooth and low/medium output I can use for my worship group.

You can probably get by with the current middle and neck single coils by simply lowering them down until they sound right for your application.

[bjcarl]

If you're looking for true single coils, I'm really fond of Fender's Texas Specials...they're kinda hot, though.

[billybilly]

I'm going to sound like a hater here but a JB in a strat, IMO, is a mistake. They have way tooo much upper midrange/treble response in a strat. Just my 2 cents.

There are so many good single coils out there these days its just a matter of getting some decent ones. This is a great page with clips. http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Picku...Clips-W60.aspx

[reverberlayed]

I like my Fender CS '69 or '54 pickups.

[undergod12]

Vintage Rails all the way. The bridge model in the neck and middle mates up wonderfully with the output of a bridge HB.

[bjcarl]

Just a quick thought...Vintage Rails kicks ass! As do Hot Rails AND the lil '59.

Anddddd...I'm probably high again or missing something, but I'm kinda thinking that they're HUMBUCKERS!

[3volved]

Originally Posted by billybilly

I'm going to sound like a hater here but a JB in a strat, IMO, is a mistake. They have way tooo much upper midrange/treble response in a strat. Just my 2 cents.

There are so many good single coils out there these days its just a matter of getting some decent ones. This is a great page with clips. http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Picku...Clips-W60.aspx

Interesting point on the Duncan...maybe a GFS Dream 90 as an alternative? I'll have to give that some thought.

[wagdog]

Just put a set of rose pickups "belle's" in my strat - and they are very, very stratty. Super nice, clear sounding pickup.

Will post some clips soon, maybe tomorrow.

[koiwoi]

What kind of music and what type of amp?

[3volved]

What do you guys think of the GFS noise cancelling single coil pickups? Since this is my first rebuild, I've realized I don't want to put anything too 'high-end' in it and the GFS stuff seems pretty decent for the price. I was thinking the 5.5k noise cancelling single coil for the neck, the 6k for the middle and their Classic II humbucker (8.2k) for the bridge. Thoughts?

This is primarily going to be for my worship group, so very mellow and won't need to cut through the mix. I have my PRS and Les Paul to take care of the stuff I like to play.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by bjcarl

If you're looking for true single coils, I'm really fond of Fender's Texas Specials...they're kinda hot, though.

That's what I was going to recommend too. They're not really that hot though, especially compared to a JB, but they are higher output for strat p'ups and therefore might mesh well with the SH-4.

But yeah, that's what I'd do. It would give the guitar some fairly cool versatility. Be nice if you could coil split that JB too.

[Pine Apple Slim]

If you can afford it, put in three Wylde L-45s. Low output. Dead quiet. Will make any sound you want, depending on your tone control and amp.

[dparr]

P-90

[kayd_mon]

Originally Posted by bjcarl

If you're looking for true single coils, I'm really fond of Fender's Texas Specials...they're kinda hot, though.

I like these, too. They pair well with a JB Jr. in a Strat (I have this setup), so maybe they'll do well with a full-sized JB. I think that the JB can work in a Strat as long as you have a dedicated tone control for the pickup. The JB works much better with the tone rolled back halfway. That takes out some of the characteristics that people dislike the JB for. Also, they do a great job of driving amps, if you want that.

[3volved]

Well, I've been looking all day and I think I'm going to go a Duncan Vintage Rail in the neck, a Duncan Little '59 in the middle and the SH-4 in the bridge. I appreciate all the feedback; I enjoyed researching all your suggestions.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by 3volved

Well, I've been looking all day and I think I'm going to go a Duncan Vintage Rail in the neck, a Duncan Little '59 in the middle and the SH-4 in the bridge. I appreciate all the feedback; I enjoyed researching all your suggestions.

Curious about the thinking behind a '59 in the middle. Seems like I most often see people thinking about a '59 in the bridge when they want a bit more "phat" from the bridge or in the neck when they want to get a PAF tone from a single coil rout, but the middle (?). Not saying I know that's wrong, it just seems a bit off the beaten track.

[billybilly]

Originally Posted by 3volved

Well, I've been looking all day and I think I'm going to go a Duncan Vintage Rail in the neck, a Duncan Little '59 in the middle and the SH-4 in the bridge. I appreciate all the feedback; I enjoyed researching all your suggestions.

Where are the single coils? It will probably sound good, just funny you went with buckers for each pickup.

Personally, I'd put the vintage rails in the middle and the 59 in the neck.

[GAS Man]

One thing I often do for "Pickup Suggestions" is look to what the manufacturers do. They've got all the resources to install, yank, install, yank, etc. until they find the mix that works for them. Like I might look at some Jackson HSS guitar specs for ideas if that's the tonal direction you're heading. If not, look at another HSS branded model.