Ok, so all of my strats are now dual humbucker

[UberMetalDood]

Every last one of the strats in my collection now has 2 humbuckers and no single coils. I am done with single coils and single buckers and am very satisfied with them now. I have installed 3 way switches, 250k vol pots, and wired everything as simple as possible. No more fuss and I don't miss single coils yet.

Here are all of my strat configurations as they stand now:


Vintage white Strat - Dimarzio Norton/PAF Pro
Black strat - Custom Custom/Jazz
Sunburst strat - Seth Lover/Seth Lover
Charcoal grey strat - Pearly Gates/Jazz
Tungsten strat - JB/59'
Candy red strat - Dimarzio Breed neck/Air Classic neck

I don't hate the 59' like I hate the Little 59, but it wasn't my first choice. However, in some odd way it seems to agree with the JB. That's all they had at the store and I already have two jazz necks so I went ahead and got the 59' just to get all of my upgrades done.

If you notice, I'm using a Dimarzio Breed neck model in the bridge position. This was something Dimarzio suggested when I called them. They swore to me that it makes an outstanding bridge humbucker... they were right. I have only had it for a couple of days but I'm thinking that I like it a bit more than the Breed bridge. It's not as dark, not as hot, and the mids are huge, cutting and warm.

The Air Classic neck is another story. I have this love hate thing going on with it, kind of like the Duncan 59'. At times I think it's flat and kind of dull, but at other times I'll be jamming and love my tone and then I'll look down and remember that it's the Air Classic. It's one of those pickups that's great for a classic PAF Les Paul or ES335 type thing, but not exactly the kind of pickup that brings exciting neck position lead tones. I might switch it out for a PAF Joe.

I'm looking for a replacement for my 59 neck and Air Classic neck so if you have some good suggestions then let me know.

[MetalManiac]

Pics or it didn't Happen.

[ErikH]

Slash neck or Pearly Gates neck. The end.

I like dual bucker Strats myself.

[crusty philtrum]

In the interests of balance, I'm gonna assume you will fit all your Gibson-style instuments with 3 single-coils and 5-way switches.

[crguti]

[uOpt]

No pics?

[UberMetalDood]

In the interests of balance, I'm gonna assume you will fit all your Gibson-style instuments with 3 single-coils and 5-way switches.

That's what I thought would come up. Well, no one is going to get a Les Paul sound out of a strat, but I think the combination of a strat and humbuckers sounds killer. The neck pickup isn't as muddy as a Les Paul or PRS can be, and I can use bassier pickups without it sounding too dark. For instance, a Tone Zone in a strat vs a Les Paul. Also, I think the simpler wiring and switching makes it sound better somehow. I have no way to gauge that but it just seems like the tone has improved.

No pics?

Soon

[philthis]

I went thru a slew of hum neck pickups and couldnt find one I liked. Ether they farted out with too much bass or they were weak and wimpy when split. by advice I went with a full shred neck. If you check the stats on it, its bright around 8 res like a single coil would be when split and it sounds more like a single when split but full on it has a very nice clean tone but not too much bass so when I hit the full on neck with distortion it has a very nice lead tone and its clear without going all muddy and dark or muted. I dont know why its called the Full Shred neck cuz its not dark like the Full Shred bridge which I didnt like. But split or full, distorted or clean it sounds great. Again its alittle brighter then most neck humbuckers with the res peak around 8

[Andrew Lamprecht]

My avatar... 59s FTW

[jcthejester13]

You shall meet your just punishment for the crimes you have committed.

[ItsaBass]

You found something you liked, I guess! All my Strats are SSS, so I understand. Congratulations. I'd like to get a humbucker in a Strat some day, but can never bring myself to do it to a guitar that didn't come that way.

[Gypsyblue]

Makes sense. With a handle like UberMetalDood, I'd guess you're musical taste is pretty much all metal/all the time.

Don't see to many all metal/all the time guys playing single coils.

It's pretty much all humbuckers/all the time.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Makes sense. With a handle like UberMetalDood, I'd guess you're musical taste is pretty much all metal/all the time.

Don't see to many all metal/all the time guys playing single coils.

It's pretty much all humbuckers/all the time.

or ALL P90s ALL THE TIME.

[P.A.Foholic]

Soon

[CTN]

Both my strats are fully humbucker loaded.

My Fender MIJ has a stacked single in the middle position. So no true single coils anywhere. I just don't like the hum. I love the single-sized buckers in the neck position. They have the warmth of a full size bucker, but the mojo and clarity of a single coil (due to the narrow string sensing aperture, compared to full sized buckers). And they sound great in parallel too.

but the bridge buckers are the best. not as thick as in a set neck guitar or one with body-mounted pickups as opposed to pickguard mounted, but they have a really nice aliveness or vibrance to them that sometimes gets squashed a bit in those other types of guitars.

[ErikH]

The Air Classic is one of my favorite neck pickups. Once dialed in, it's super sweet and it doesn't get muddy with a lot of saturation. Give it some time, it may grow on you and stay put.

Have you ever tried a JB in parallel in the neck? Super nice sounding. Almost single-coil like but without the hum. I've got one wired up that way with a JB in the bridge wired in series. It's a cool combo.

I've gotta say again though, the Slash neck and Pearly Gates neck are hard to beat in a Strat when it comes to neck humbuckers.