Pickup advice for HS Strat needed.

[Crunchtime]

I'm asking for advise on HS pickups for my Strat. Humbucker in bridge and single coil size in neck.

There will only be two knobs and a three way so, neck pickup needs to work well with 500k pots I will likely use for bridge. So, maybe a single coil size bucker in neck?

Would like bridge to be tight in low end, good harmonics and clarity. Good for metal rhythms.

Would like neck to have great cleans with fluid lead tone.

Any suggestions?

Thanks-

 

[Dave L]

Do you want a humbucker sound or a singlecoil sound in the neck? I mean, there are stacked humbuckers and side-by-side humbuckers that sound vastly different, but both fit in a singlecoil route and work with 500k pots.

 

[thenine]

Dimarzio Tone Zone and Air Norton S

 

[D-Rock]

Bridge pup magnet preference?

 

[Crunchtime]

Do you want a humbucker sound or a singlecoil sound in the neck? I mean, there are stacked humbuckers and side-by-side humbuckers that sound vastly different, but both fit in a singlecoil route and work with 500k pots.

Idk, I love single coil tone not sure I can get reasonable balance with bridge humbucker. I have mostly playrd HB guitars so I have no prob with that neck tone as long as cleans are good.

 

[Crunchtime]

Bridge pup magnet preference?

No strict preference as long as tonal requirements met. Top priorities are tight metal rhythm without being too thin from bridge and great cleans on neck.

 

[D-Rock]

I personally prefer the sound and feel of Dimarzio pickups. Suhr might be something to consider too.

 

[sleewell2]

SD pearly gates and STK 7

 

[Badronald]

My Stratocaster that gets the most use and sounds brilliant has a Suhr Aldrich at the bridge and a Dimarzio Injector at the neck. Covers everything.

2nd position on the switch taps the Aldrich to single coil. I don't use it but it does sound good.

The Dimarzio in the image is old and has been changed to the Injector.

 

[Crunchtime]

Are you using 500K with the Injector? It has my interest for sure.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Single coil sized P90. Manlius has some great ones.

I doubt youll ever LOVE metal rythyms on a neck single coil. If aiming for metal rythyms in the neck id probably try one of the dual blade pickups.

 

[Badronald]

Are you using 500K with the Injector? It has my interest for sure.

Yes, it has a 500k pot. Works great.

 

[Crunchtime]

Single coil sized P90. Manlius has some great ones.

I doubt youll ever LOVE metal rythyms on a neck single coil. If aiming for metal rythyms in the neck id probably try one of the dual blade pickups.

That's not my thing. I use bridge for rhythm 99.99 % of time.

 

[Crunchtime]

Are you using 500K with the Injector? It has my interest for sure.

Yes, it has a 500k pot. Works great.

Sounds promising. Is there a huge volume drop between Aldrich and Injector?

 

[Badronald]

Are you using 500K with the Injector? It has my interest for sure.

Yes, it has a 500k pot. Works great.

Sounds promising. Is there a huge volume drop between Aldrich and Injector?

No. The Injector hangs.

The toughest thing was to find a loud single coil (stacked) that sounded good. I just didn't like the tone of any of the rail pickups or mini side by sides.

The Injectors are loud and clear. Pile on the gain and the neck model stays clear and shreds.

 

[Crunchtime]

Are you using 500K with the Injector? It has my interest for sure.

Yes, it has a 500k pot. Works great.

Sounds promising. Is there a huge volume drop between Aldrich and Injector?

No. The Injector hangs.

The toughest thing was to find a loud single coil (stacked) that sounded good. I just didn't like the tone of any of the rail pickups or mini side by sides.

The Injectors are loud and clear. Pile on the gain and the neck model stays clear and shreds.

Sounds like a winner. I think I will go with the Injector. Thanks.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

Single coil sized P90. Manlius has some great ones.

I doubt youll ever LOVE metal rythyms on a neck single coil. If aiming for metal rythyms in the neck id probably try one of the dual blade pickups.

That's not my thing. I use bridge for rhythm 99.99 % of time.

Sorry i misread your post earlier.

 

[Lord Toneking]

AT1 bridge and a cruiser (bridge pup) in the neck

 

[stratjacket]

I just went through this with a Suhr Standard Pro. I ended up with a BKP Miracle Man bridge and Trilogy neck, Dimarzio HS4 in the middle. Just installed tonight so there is the initial love affair, but really liking it so far. I don't mess with the middle pickup much.

I like the aggressiveness of the MM and the Trilogy keeps up, no volume drop when I switch to it. There is a big drop off on the H4, it's a really low powered pickup. The Trilogy sounds really good in the basswood body for soloing.

 

[GreenRust]

For the single coil, I'd recommend a James Tyler Hot Laura 5 - it's an alnico 5 single that wound specifically for 500k pots - to be fair any Tyler single coil with '500' in the name is also wound for 500k pots, in addition to the Hot Lauras (they're available in alnico 2 and 5) and the Stingrays. The Hot Laura 5 is a ballsy single tone - think SRVish. These singles also work great with HBs.

For the bridge HB I recommend an Arcane Custom 8 HB. It's about 13.5K - harmonically rich, open and tight but not dry. Also splits well if you'd like to do that. I ordered mine from Bassexchage in Hollywood - dealt with Gary Novak. No problems whatsoever - good guy. I had been trying to get in touch with Rob at Arcane, but had no luck (like many on here). Love the Custom 8.