Super Strat neck/middle pickups...

[DirtySteve]

It's official, I'm building a strat. I know nothing about Strats (wiring/pickups, etc...) but I've been gasin' for a while now. It will have a 2008 American Standard Strat neck courtesy of Mr (Jimi) Far Rider and I'll be buying the body from Warmoth. I'm thinking a Swamp ash core, Black Korina top, Wilkinson Trem. I'll do an oil finish like on my tele (no plastic pickguard crap ) and with the rear control route I can put the knobs where I want them..

But I actually have been thinking maybe I might end up doing a solid Swamp ash body, but I'm not sure, I really like the look of that black korina with the oil finish, but an all swamp ash might sound better...???...I don't know yet.

I have an 80s vintage Dimarzio Super Distortion (thanks to Johnfv) I'm planning for the bridge, but I have no clue about the middle and neck single coils so I'm hoping you guys can school me.

 

[SonVolt]

DiMarzio "The Cruiser" bridge pickups for the neck and middle with 500k pots! You'll get your single coil feel without all the downsides to actual single coils. They'll also be a better match for your bridge humbucker. Once I yanked out my Fat 50s for the these DiMarzio blade style pickups I never looked back.

 

[DirtySteve]

Thanks SV! do they come with aged cream or black covers? never mind I'll look 'em up..

 

[johnfv]

I like the area 58 but may not match that well with the bridge pickup for neck position. There are a lot of good hum cancelling single size pickups out there, Cruiser is one of them. You are planning to go HSS?

 

[DirtySteve]

I like the area 58 but may not match that well with the bridge pickup. There are a lot of good hum cancelling single size pickups out there, Cruiser is one of them. You are planning to go HSS?

Yes HSS.. I want the neck/middle position for sure and I'm hoping for close to the #2 position with the bridge split or parallel mode.

 

[SonVolt]

Thanks SV! do they come with aged cream or black covers? never mind I'll look 'em up..

Those are actually antique (aged) white with a mint green pickguard but my camera's flash made them both look white. You can get them in lots of different colors including DiMarzio's "cream" which is even more aged looking.

 

[chadjwil]

I just dropped an SD Cool Rails in the neck of my old ESP M2. Haven't really had enough time to tweak and tinker with it yet but I don't have anything bad to say about it. Pretty clear and ballsy. That guitar has an HS setup with a 3 way switch so the neck only gets used for different flavor in solos or the occasional cleanish rhythm part, not nearly like a 5 way strat design gets used.

 

[Murray]

+1 to SonVolt & Johnfv posts above. I like sticking with the same maker of pickups all around. Match easier. Cruiser bridges in the N/M w/500k pots sounds like a good setup with the SD. Of course, the Area 58/61/67 singles are good too. As is the FS-1. On top of whatever suggestions you get, I'd call DiMarzio & ask their opinion. They'll talk to you straight up.

Having a rear access plate to the control cavity is an outstanding convenience on a Strat. Makes it sooo much easier to mess with electronic options. Sweet, from a maint or mod perspective.

Just a thought in passing too: Strat string spacing relative to that Humbucker. Most like 'F' spacing (Fender trem) vs std spacing. 'F' is like @2.1" E-E while 'S' is @1.9". Slight but possibly significant difference.

Cool project. Into the rabbit hole you go.

 

[DirtySteve]

So the consensus so far it I should stick with Dimarzio, but you guys also think I should be looking at SC size HBs? doesn't that defeat the purpose of the position 2 and 4 sound? Of course I'm probably doing that anyway with the HB bridge, but in parallel or split I should get close, no?

I can tell I have a lot of research to do. Thanks guys!

 

[DirtySteve]

...
Cool project. Into the rabbit hole you go.

Thanks, man...this isn't my first time down the rabbit hole, I kind of like it here.

 

[johnfv]

I don't like hum so I generally avoid truly single coil pickups (with some exceptions). Also, the size/shape of the pickup does impact the tone - a single size humbucker does not sound the same as the full size pickups it's modeled after. For a more traditional tone, the rails pickups can be wired in parallel (I've said many times how much I love the Hot Rails in parallel). If you want vintage Strat sound (hum canceling) the Area series is a good bet, probably the best I have tried but like I said maybe too weak to hang with that Super D. Even with full size humbuckers you can get decent 2 and 4 tones with a good middle pickup. I just added a middle to this one (DiMarzio HS-2, another pickup I like) and 2 and 4 are great. I can switch the neck pickup to parallel (mini toggle) and get pretty good Strat neck tones also.

For example, this live garage recording is my friend Brian playing a Cruiser equipped Strat style Hamer. Sounds pretty much like a Strat to me...
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/?p=401
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Big-Log-tweaks-12-22-14-v3.mp3

 

[DirtySteve]

I don't like hum so I generally avoid truly single coil pickups (with some exceptions). Also, the size/shape of the pickup does impact the tone - a single size humbucker does not sound the same as the full size pickups it's modeled after. For a more traditional tone, the rails pickups can be wired in parallel (I've said many times how much I love the Hot Rails in parallel). If you want vintage Strat sound (hum canceling) the Area series is a good bet, probably the best I have tried but like I said maybe too weak to hang with that Super D. Even with full size humbuckers you can get decent 2 and 4 tones with a good middle pickup. I just added a middle to this one (DiMarzio HS-2, another pickup I like) and 2 and 4 are great. I can switch the neck pickup to parallel (mini toggle) and get pretty good Strat neck tones also.

For example, this live garage recording is my friend Brian playing a Cruiser equipped Strat style Hamer. Sounds pretty much like a Strat to me...
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/?p=401
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Big-Log-tweaks-12-22-14-v3.mp3

Cool, thanks John!

 

[SonVolt]

Even though the Cruisers are SC humbuckers they still sound and feel like single coils. Plenty of quack in 2 & 4 positions - enough for me anyway. You just get more output to match your bridge, no hum and way better performance under higher gain settings. If your ears are accustomed to humbuckers then true single coils may feel a little hollow, thin, wimpy.

 

[DirtySteve]

My only SC experience are with Tele pickups. I assume a strat is different. Even with my Tele I went with boutique overwound SCs from Zhangbucker so I really don't know about regular single coils in any form.

 

[paul-e-mann]

Whatever you get go with noiseless otherwise the cycle hum will annoy the crap out of you if you play with any gain what so ever. I've been eyeballing the Dimarzio Area 58 to put in my Strat neck position.

 

[johnfv]

Whatever you get go with noiseless otherwise the cycle hum will annoy the crap out of you if you play with any gain what so ever...

 

[Murray]

Another +1 to the above. Tele & Strat singles are the same basic design...just different sized parts. Bobbins, magnet slugs, coil & baseplate.

Strat std singles are going to be ALNICO 2,3,4,5 or 8 or ceramic magnets. Most makers give resistance #'s which tells you jack about the pickup sound but gets a real rough estimate of output. Singles come in 'classic' stagger pole, custom & flat config. In theory the 'classic' stagger was designed for Fender 7-1/4" radius necks using a wound G. Accepted by a lot of folks is staggered works for 7-10" & flat for 10 up...but that's a matter of preference. Singles used to just live in the 5-7k range (average). Today you can get really hot winds that will match or better that DiMarzio SD. The curse of HSS Strats is finding a balance between the SC/HB vs pos 2 & 4 quack. Definately a compromise.

Jason Lollar, Lindy Fralin, Seymour Duncan (nice pickup selector section), DiMarzio, Suhr & a host of others...all have a ton of info on their sites regarding the construction & properties of singles. Even eyeballing their 'sets' gets you an idea as to what they think works well together. Lots of great winders out there. David Allen makes a killer HSS set. Nothing wrong with mix & match of different makers. Just easier to me to keep it in one family so that everybody gets along.

All depends on what sounds you are after. The 'rails' type pups get you a good balance & a lot of versatility, particularly given the vast wiring options available to Strat users.

 

[dptone5]

I really like the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues II in the neck of my Jackson. It should pair well with the Super D. I have an Injector Neck in the middle position that I really like as well, but it is thinner than the VVHB II.

Here are two clips for you.....if you go to YouTube, the details will let you know what I'm running in each video.

Hope this helps!

DP

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSfHQO6MeMU[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsNgTzBNGWI[/ame]

 

[DirtySteve]

I really like the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues II in the neck of my Jackson. It should pair well with the Super D. I have an Injector Neck in the middle position that I really like as well, but it is thinner than the VVHB II.

Here are two clips for you.....if you go to YouTube, the details will let you know what I'm running in each video.

Hope this helps!

DP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSfHQO6MeMU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsNgTzBNGWI

Hell yes it helps, thanks DP...that sounded great!

 

[dptone5]

Hell yes it helps, thanks DP...that sounded great!

You're most certainly welcome Steve!! If I had to do it over again, I'd probably just go with the Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues II in both the neck and the middle.

I did change the Tone Zone that I had in the bridge with a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom (TB-11). The CC is more pleasing to the ear and it pairs up great with the DiMarzios.

But with a Super Distortion, I believe the VVHBII's will pair up great and they have pretty good output.

Please let me know what you decide!

DP