bulletproof_funk
New member
Having never tried hum-cancelling single-coil sized stacked pickups before but only rails, how do they generally compare? Would like to know your experiences and which specific pickups you liked or not.
boost
New member
I've tried old SD classic stacks, hot stacks, in strats and had a tele SD tele neck stack. I've also used Dimarzio Area's in a tele and had the 61, and 58 in a strat.
The rails I have used were SD Hot rails, JB Jr, and Lil 59 in strats and tele's.
I think the stacked ones sound closer to real single coils, but always seemed a bit dull to me. Sounded a little one dimensional to me compared to a good single coil. The Area T bridge was pretty nice and the best of the bunch I had.
Rails (or side by side type in general) to me have very little single coil character and are much more beefy sounding, yet still fall short of a full humbucker IMO. Kind of no man's land for me. Of the bunch, I liked the Lil 59 the best.
There's a ton more out there I've never tried and there may be some great ones, but this is my experience with the ones listed above. Hope this helps.
The rails I have used were SD Hot rails, JB Jr, and Lil 59 in strats and tele's.
I think the stacked ones sound closer to real single coils, but always seemed a bit dull to me. Sounded a little one dimensional to me compared to a good single coil. The Area T bridge was pretty nice and the best of the bunch I had.
Rails (or side by side type in general) to me have very little single coil character and are much more beefy sounding, yet still fall short of a full humbucker IMO. Kind of no man's land for me. Of the bunch, I liked the Lil 59 the best.
There's a ton more out there I've never tried and there may be some great ones, but this is my experience with the ones listed above. Hope this helps.
blackba
Well-known member
The stacked single coils get a lot closer to true single coils than the mini-humbuckers. It really depends on what you want.
In my MIM strat, I have 2 Bill Lawerence stacked Single L280 single coils in the neck and middle and an old Seymour duncan hot rails in the bridge. Its a good sounding guitar. The key for the mini humbuckers is to get a switch or push pull pot to be able to change the wiring from series to parallel of the 2 coils (I think boost gave me this idea a while back, it was good advice). In parallel the hot rails in the bridge sounds like a fat single coil. I first had it wired to just have one coil as the option, but that was way too thin. My buddy has a JB Jr. in his strat and it sounds great in series or parallel too.
In my MIM strat, I have 2 Bill Lawerence stacked Single L280 single coils in the neck and middle and an old Seymour duncan hot rails in the bridge. Its a good sounding guitar. The key for the mini humbuckers is to get a switch or push pull pot to be able to change the wiring from series to parallel of the 2 coils (I think boost gave me this idea a while back, it was good advice). In parallel the hot rails in the bridge sounds like a fat single coil. I first had it wired to just have one coil as the option, but that was way too thin. My buddy has a JB Jr. in his strat and it sounds great in series or parallel too.
Badronald
New member
Stacked humbuckers for me. Area, VV, Injectors.
Never liked any of the rails I've tried.
Never liked any of the rails I've tried.
Zap
Active member
You can't go wrong with DiMarzio for noiseless singles. From what I've heard, their customer service is awesome when it comes to helping prospective buyers find what they are looking for.
JTyson
Well-known member
I think the hotrails is fatter due to its picking up signal from 2 spots instead of 1. The stacked SC's seem to have more bite for the reverse reason
rupe
Active member
Everybody has summed it up pretty well. The biggest difference between the two designs is that a stacked single still only reads the string in one place like a true single coil, thereby giving it more of the sound and feel typically associated with a single. The rail style reads a wider portion of the string which gives it a fatter tone and is consequently not nearly as sweet/"single coil" sounding. I have and use both depending on the application. Bottom line though is that rails/mini-buckers simply won't retain any semblance of single coil sound or feel so you need to decide if your willing to sacrifice that for more power, crunch, and grind.
FWIW, Kinman makes the best stacked singles that I've ever come across. The Dimarzio Area pickups are as good as it gets for mass produced stuff.
FWIW, Kinman makes the best stacked singles that I've ever come across. The Dimarzio Area pickups are as good as it gets for mass produced stuff.
bulletproof_funk
New member
Thanks for the responses, some good variety of answers here.
I have two guitars with rails in the neck that toggle between series and parallel wiring, SD Cool Rails and DiMarzio Air Norton S. It could be the guitars but in parallel, neither pickup quite has that chimey true single coil top end or as much of the airy quality, so I was curious about the stacks. How do stacks sound wired in parallel? I'm going to expect thinner and less output, which may not necessarily be good if the pickup has single coil output levels to start. Would a hotter stack in parallel have the single coil top end without sounding too thin, yet have enough output in series for high gain soloing?
I have two guitars with rails in the neck that toggle between series and parallel wiring, SD Cool Rails and DiMarzio Air Norton S. It could be the guitars but in parallel, neither pickup quite has that chimey true single coil top end or as much of the airy quality, so I was curious about the stacks. How do stacks sound wired in parallel? I'm going to expect thinner and less output, which may not necessarily be good if the pickup has single coil output levels to start. Would a hotter stack in parallel have the single coil top end without sounding too thin, yet have enough output in series for high gain soloing?
blackba
Well-known member
bulletproof_funk":mejdaiig said:
Many of the stacked single coils I have seen don't give you access to the individual coils to modify the wiring, so just keep that in mind. I think Dimarzio does, but Bill Lawerence and Fender typically don't, you just get 2 wires.
C
C1-ocaster
New member
bulletproof_funk":1a3oiuqo said:
I was going through the same questions a very short while ago, and was thinking of trying stacks or actual side by side humbuckers.
Then it hit me that I want to keep my Strat sounding like a Strat, and for the fat and thicker humbucker sound get a guitar that was designed for that sound.
My Schecter C1 Classic is a full on humbucker guitar. But it's let down by seriously lacking electronics/pots that have nearly 0 effect until about the last 10% or range, and then everything happens all at once. It SUCKS.
I was toying with the idea of fixing that with new and better electronics and maybe new pup's.
Then it hit me again, I've wanted a Les Paul for a while now, so a new LP Standard in desert burst is on my Christmas list.
Unless something hits me again (now my head hurts) that I might get better playability and still have great humbuck tone, and save some money, with an ESP Eclipse II in a quilted amber cherry burst. SWEET color. It's right up there with the flamed desert burst LP for awesome color and wood.
So what am I saying?
I'm saying, if you like a Strat and that snappy single coil brilliance, then keep it that way, and get another guitar made for that thick and luscious humbuck tone.
The guitar god's will then smile upon you.
Of course, then you'll be back asking which single coil pups are best in the Strat and which HB's are best in the other guitar.
BTW, I know some Strat players who get rails or stacks because they are trying to quiet down the noise some singles put out.
Luckily these days we have single coil choices that can be rather quiet.
I prefer Lace sensors. VERY very close to an original single coil sound but with a lot less noise.
D
DrugDM
Member
I have tried the following:
1. Dimarzio Chopper- awesome. A bit fatter than a normal single coil but really capable of being versatile. I believe this is the best rail pickup Dimarzio makes....
2. Dimarzio Cruiser- not a huge fan. I heard Andy Timmons and I so wanted to get his single coil sound. Even tried the bridge in neck position ala Timmons and something didn't work for me. Maybe because I am not Timmons or have his talent
3. Dimarzio Transitions from L3- great pickups and supposedly based on the Dimarzio Injector.
All in all, I think what you are playing through and what sound you are hoping to attain will have the biggest factor since all of these pickups are just different takes on a similar theme.
Good luck tone hunting.
1. Dimarzio Chopper- awesome. A bit fatter than a normal single coil but really capable of being versatile. I believe this is the best rail pickup Dimarzio makes....
2. Dimarzio Cruiser- not a huge fan. I heard Andy Timmons and I so wanted to get his single coil sound. Even tried the bridge in neck position ala Timmons and something didn't work for me. Maybe because I am not Timmons or have his talent
3. Dimarzio Transitions from L3- great pickups and supposedly based on the Dimarzio Injector.
All in all, I think what you are playing through and what sound you are hoping to attain will have the biggest factor since all of these pickups are just different takes on a similar theme.
Good luck tone hunting.
AmpliFIRE
Well-known member
Regular SC pickups for me. Try some Quarter Pounders if you need high output...
Mudder
Active member
There are a lot of flavors of stacked singles and rails depending on what you want. If you want humbucker sounds you won't get single coil tones. If you want silent singles you don't get humbucker tones. I haven't found a stacked single or rail that does both well.