Matching middle pickup with SH-3 Stag Mags

[andyg_prs]

Hi,

I'm building my own strat. I've bought a pair of SH-3 stag mag humbuckers for the neck and bridge positions so that I can tap for true single coil sound.

I've now decided to use a middle pickup as well and want a good match pickup.

Looking through the SD range I think a RW/RP Alnico II Pro™ Staggered APS-1 is what I need. However any advice or alternatives would be great.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Kind regards,
Andy

PS - what are the stag mags like in humbucker mode?

[dr. ad]

i found the stag mag to be surprisingly good as a HB (series and parallel)

would suggest something other than A2 mags for your middle position; there's heaps of A2 in the SH-3s so you may want an A5 single in the middle for a bit of sting and contrast. A3 would probably balance better, but i think you may well find you can get all those tones from the SH-3s, aside from the A5 sting.

crusty philtrum's got me calling it sting. it works for me

[andyg_prs]

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Thing is, I'm looking to use the middle and middle/neck positions and am happy with the tonal quality changing as a result of the position of the pickup. In that case wouldn't an A2 do the job?

I'm a bit lost about the difference between A2, A3 and A5 magnets?

Why would the A3 balance better than an A2?

Thanks,
Andy

[dr. ad]

A5 has a harder quality to the sound, particularly the highs and lows; an A3 strat pickup wouldn't make for such a noticeable difference is all.

but never mind that, if you like the idea of having the pickups consistent and using the pickups' positions and your technique to get different tones then i guess you'd want to match the SH-3s coils as closely as possible.

i'm not sure if you'll need/want a RWRP middle single; HB's all have a 'normal' coil and a RWRP coil by design, so i would think you'd be able to get hum-cancellation in the notch positions with a regular SC as long as you split the HBs correctly on the switch... i'm not 100% on this though

[andyg_prs]

Hi, I'm worried now as I have already ordered the RW/RP version - is there a chance that this is wrong? Thanks, Andy

[dr. ad]

you'll have to pay attention to how you wire it is all
there are likely diagrams and/or posts that point out how to connect it all up on these forums already, i'd do some searches. if there's too many results, look for posts by hermetico, artietoo and zhanglinquin to narrow it down a bit

have you thought about how you're going to wire it yet? don't drill any holes until you've got this sorted

; ]

[dr. ad]

oh, and welcome!

[andyg_prs]

Thanks, I'm going on a guitar course on Thursday for a week builing a strat type guitar from scratch.

As I'll have an HSH configuration I'm planning on using a standard 5 way selector for N, N/M, M, M/B, B and then a push pull pot on the volume pot for coil tapping the humbuckers.

Cheers,
Andy

[GinoAmes]

I love the Stagmag, great pickup all around! Why does SD not offer it in white to match the color of most strat pickups?