Adding versatility to Hot Rail/Hot Rail/Hot Rail Strat-type

[SubversivePinko]

Hey guys. I've got a Jackson JX-10 S/S/S with three Hot Rails in it. I'm thinking about swapping out at least one of the pickups just to get some different options out of it. I love the bridge pickup soloed for metal/rock, so I'm inclined to leave that in. The problem is lately I've been playing blues almost exclusively. For that I've been using either the neck pup soloed or the neck pup with the bridge pup (I've added an individual on/off switch for the bridge) for a bit more bit. I like the clean neck tone, but there are times when I'd like a more traditional Strat tone.

I'm not sure if I like the neck tone in general, or if I actually like the Hot Rail in the neck. I'm thinking about swapping the middle pickup, which I barely use now, to a single-coil of some sort (so the guitar would essentially be H/S/H). Has anybody tried this? The other thing I'm curious about is adding a Little 59er, maybe in the neck.

Does anyone have experience mixing Hot Rails and more traditional Strat pickups, and one or both of the above with 59ers?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Robert S.]

A very popular way to go is the Hot Rail in the bridge, a Cool Rail in the neck and a Vintage Rail in the middle. If you like the HRs in the bridge and neck, just swap out the middle HR for a VR. The Cool Rail is somewhat simular to the lil59 with the lil59 being slightly hotter and warmer.

Everyone I have installed the HR/VR/CR combo into a Strat for has loved it.

[SubversivePinko]

I like the idea of a Vintage Rail in the middle so I can mellow out either of the Hotrails, but I'm still curious about an Alnico II or something like that in the middle. It seems like it would have a similar effect, but it would have the true single-coil tone (and noise).

[Jeff5]

I have a HR, VR, and JB jr. in my strat. While I like the VR tone wise, I find that the input drop off from the HR and JB to the VR is just too drastic. I'm probably going to change the VR out for something else like a Cool Rails or maybe a good high output single coil for the middle.

[edi_87]

cool rails sounds great with hr's!!

[SubversivePinko]

So based on what you guys have said I'm thinking of slapping either a Cool Rail or a Vintage Rail in between my Hot Rails. I don't have enough money to replace more than one pup right now. Thanks for the suggestions guys, and keep em coming.