Opinions - Seymour Duncan Hot Rail Bridge Vs Standard Strat Pick Ups

deanbutler

Opinions - Seymour Duncan Hot Rail Bridge Vs Standard Strat Pick Ups

Hi Everyone. Just purchased a vintage 70s Fender Stratocaster that has had some modding done and worked out has some standard modern US Strat pickups in.

Havnt had the chance to play it through the amp yet but already have my concerns it may be a little weak.

Just like to see who would put a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail in Bridge or if anyone who stick with the Modern US Standard Strat Pick ups?

Guess there is no wrong answer but be interesting to see.

bwets

They sound completely different. Depends if you want a single coil or humbucker(ish) sound.

deanbutler

bwets said:

They sound completely different. Depends if you want a single coil or humbucker(ish) sound.

Good point. I'm not entirely sure. Be good to try both to see. I'm just worried after using an Ibanez humbucker on the back of my Fender Cyclone II so long that a single coil may sound really weedy?

guitars4you

Hot Rails is a kick ass pick-up that sounds great with loads of gain, but won't deliver you a traditional 'Strat snap' type of voice on less gain and clean amp settings - If you traditional Hank Marvin, Gilmour, Hendrix and SRV style of voices you'll want to keep it traditional - If you require more guts and output then Hot Rails - That is an overall simple answer - The finer nuances of the difference voice probably requires a host of adjectives that can't always be defined

deanbutler

guitars4you said:

Hot Rails is a kick ass pick-up that sounds great with loads of gain, but won't deliver you a traditional 'Strat snap' type of voice on less gain and clean amp settings - If you traditional Hank Marvin, Gilmour, Hendrix and SRV style of voices you'll want to keep it traditional - If you require more guts and output then Hot Rails - That is an overall simple answer - The finer nuances of the difference voice probably requires a host of adjectives that can't always be defined

To be honest. A bit of both. We do covers of Hendrix, Smashing Pumpkins, Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Steppenwolf, Kula Shaker, Radiohead, TRex, The Who, Pearl Jam etc

guitars4you

deanbutler said:

guitars4you said:

Hot Rails is a kick ass pick-up that sounds great with loads of gain, but won't deliver you a traditional 'Strat snap' type of voice on less gain and clean amp settings - If you traditional Hank Marvin, Gilmour, Hendrix and SRV style of voices you'll want to keep it traditional - If you require more guts and output then Hot Rails - That is an overall simple answer - The finer nuances of the difference voice probably requires a host of adjectives that can't always be defined

To be honest. A bit of both. We do covers of Hendrix, Smashing Pumpkins, Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Steppenwolf, Kula Shaker, Radiohead, TRex, The Who, Pearl Jam etc

the JB Jnr is  a bit more 'tame' than the Hotrails and IMO a better option - The Hotrails is just Kick Arse

ICBM

Try it. It doesn't involve routing the guitar, and all other aspects of "originality" that would be compromised by it in the eyes of purists are long gone. The worst that can happen is that you don't like it.

It's actually a good choice for people who want a 'set to stun' sound in the bridge position, if they never normally use the Strat bridge pickup. The only snag is that it compromises the second position sound as well, so if that's important to you, you may need to think about splitting it in that position. The good news is that with a single tone setup, half of the switch is not being used so you can have it auto-split in the second position.

mudslide73

The SSL5 is a good option for more mids and power but retaining the single coil vibe and look. 

antifash

Hot Rails was great for Pumpkins fuzz, but terrible for anything requiring dynamics like Hendrix. Best to get another Strat so you can switch between ‘em.  

sixwheeltyrrel

I would stick with three single coils.

Hot rails and others like them are some way short of conventional humbuckers and the bridge/middle sound would be lost.

That said, I don't like mixing pickup types on the same guitar. The fundamental character of the sound changes too much for me.

Clarky

I have a 78 Strat with a Hot Rail and left the other pups standard
I also fitted a Floyd Rose and had a 22nd fret added
all this was to make it into a typical super-Strat with a HSS pup layout

as previously pointed out, the 2 pup selections involving the Hot Rail [bridge and bridge + middle] no longer sound anything like a Strat.. which for my needs is perfect..

interestingly, I actually prefer the 'bridge + middle' tone with the Hot Rail
it's not as pretty as the original tone and loses a some of that hollow / fragile quality
but it is superb for funk because it drives the amp a little harder and cuts through better whilst still being nice and bright..
I had a coil-tap fitted [via a push pull tone control] and despite this, that Gilmore 'bridge + middle' tone though is not the same..
it's a little thinner.. a coil-tapped humbucker will always be something less than a real single coil..
that don't worry me though.. it's not a tone I'd use for anything other than fun...

the Hot Rail is powerful, has good definition and I really like it a lot..
for my needs [rock / metal / prog rock / funk tones] it works brilliantly

if you really want that bright / spanky single coil tone typical of a Strat, a Hot Rail will be a mistake..
however, if you want a hot super-Strat, it's superb

deanbutler

This is really difficult. I can see benefits in both. Not sure what to think this second. Really be great to try both out but before sticking with one.

Clarky

deanbutler said:

This is really difficult. I can see benefits in both. Not sure what to think this second. Really be great to try both out but before sticking with one.

think about what you mainly want to use it for
what tone requirements are most used if this is to be a main guitar or most needed if this is filling a gap in your collection

mark_jwedge

Would sticking with the single coils but adding a switchable mid boost circuit - like on the Eric Clapton stray - be an option? Could then have the single coil sound but beef it up with the mid boost when needed?

or maybe a tapable output pickup? I'm sure I have seen some available from Oil City Pickups? @TheGuitarWeasel ;

deanbutler

Clarky said:

deanbutler said:

This is really difficult. I can see benefits in both. Not sure what to think this second. Really be great to try both out but before sticking with one.

think about what you mainly want to use it for
what tone requirements are most used if this is to be a main guitar or most needed if this is filling a gap in your collection

Would like this as main guitar for sure and put my Fender 2002 Cyclone II with Ibanez Humbucker as a back up if string goes.

deanbutler

mark_jwedge said:

Would sticking with the single coils but adding a switchable mid boost circuit - like on the Eric Clapton stray - be an option? Could then have the single coil sound but beef it up with the mid boost when needed?

or maybe a tapable output pickup? I'm sure I have seen some available from Oil City Pickups? @TheGuitarWeasel ;

Hey Mark, TBH sounds like a good recommendation but sound a bit messing around for me personally. Not sure I would know how and when to use it to the best of its ability.

deanbutler

This is the songs we doing so far. I'm on the lead, would people say this was a single coil mainly set or Hot Rail to give it some?

1.     Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf    

2.     The Bends - Radiohead    

3.     Ziggy Stardust - Bowie

4.     Live Forever - Oasis    

5.     Children of the Revolution - T-Rex

6.     Hush - Kula Shaker

7.     Tonight Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins

8.     My Hero - Foo Fighters    

9.     Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

10.     Stand Inside Your Love - Smashing Pumpkins    

11.     Jeremy - Pearl Jam

12.     All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople

13.     All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

14.     Love Reign O’er Me - The Who