Pickup decision...

digitalscream

I've got a Red Lace Sensor on the way, and it's occurred to me that I'm not 100% sure which guitar to put it in. My guitars are...

Washburn N4 - Nope, it's HH
Jaden Rose Driftwood Tele - Tele bridge pickup mounting (Oil City firebreathing single coil), Strat neck pickup mounting (SD '59)
Jaden Rose Lightweight Tele - Strat bridge (Hot Rails)/Strat neck (SD '59) pickup mounting
Squier Strat (in bits) - all Strat mountings, with a set of US Fender single coils waiting in the wings

Common sense says it should go in the bridge of the lightweight Tele (which is also my main guitar), mainly because the Hot Rails isn't a particularly interesting-sounding pickup. Putting it in the neck of the Driftwood Tele would be ridiculous, but the Squier Strat...many years ago, it actually had a Red in it.

Decisions, decisions. What would you do?

guitarfishbay

I'd replace the Hot Rails as I'm not a huge fan. They're hot... and that's about it. 

Richardj

What appeals to you about the Lace Sensor?  I personally really like them, I'm curious how you see them fitting into your sound.

digitalscream

Richardj said:

What appeals to you about the Lace Sensor?  I personally really like them, I'm curious how you see them fitting into your sound.

Just something a bit different. What I like about the Oil City firebreathing P90-alike in the Driftwood is that it's essentially a fat single-coil sound; what bugs me about it is the lack of hum-cancelling. The Red seems to me to be a nice compromise between those two.

I've always loved the character of a single coil with a ton of gain on top...and the one thing that the Hot Rails lacks is "character".

Richardj

I'm not entirely sure the Lace is going to do what you want. I haven't actually found them any hotter than a decent Strat bridge pickup. Despite the blurb they aren't like a fat bucker in single coil form. The Reds work best as a dually where you can split the down to a genuine single coil a like.

I would honestly suggest hunting down a Lace Blue for the neck. That would give a similar fat single coil tone that would nicely match the bridge Red. Also a TBX tone control really works well with Laces to broaden their tonal range. Even go the whole hog and put a Clapton mid boost in, combined with Laces it would be a monster.

guitarfishbay

digitalscream said:

I've always loved the character of a single coil with a ton of gain on top...and the one thing that the Hot Rails lacks is "character".

Have you considered EMGs?

It depends on what you consider as character, but I like the SLV bridge as a hot noiseless single. I was going to get another 2 to use as a set but the recently announced retroactives could be even better... you just can't buy them in the UK currently.

I've got a set of SAs too and while I like them they're a bit fatter than a typical strat sound.

I've had Dimarzio areas and wasn't impressed overall. Also had the Billy Corgan bridge which was nicer than a hotrails IMO but really quite dark. Was weird having an S/S/S looking strat with less treble than my humbucker guitars.

steamabacus

The first thing I would try is wiring the Hot Rails in parallel instead of series. Still hum-cancelling but a much more open sound and still plenty of output. I have a single Hot Rails (one of the old-style ones, I'm not sure if they sound any different) in a short scale mini-guitar wired for series/split/parallel - I can honestly say the full fat humbucker is the least used sound.

digitalscream

Well, the Lace Sensor turned up today, so I thought I'd muck about with it over lunch time. I tried wiring the Hot Rails in parallel, didn't really do much for me.

So...in goes the Lace Sensor, and while I was fiddling around I changed the strings to the NYXL set I picked up at the show. The strings are going to take a bit of getting used to, but...the Lace Sensor is *really* nice. There's still a bit of hum there, although nowhere near as much as on a true single coil. It's got just enough of that single-coil bite and attack under high gain, but still enough balls to get the heavy rock/metal chug-chug out of it with the Bogner Red.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I need to raise the pickup a little, but that'll involve a bit of futzing around (I put the springs on top of the pickup instead of underneath, like a twat).

steamabacus

Those Lace Sensors can be set very close to the strings compared to a regular single coil.

mike_l

I like the Hot Rails in my DM Strat. I suspect they're very guitar/amp/player dependant, moreso than other pickups.

digitalscream

steamabacus said:

Those Lace Sensors can be set very close to the strings compared to a regular single coil.

Yep, just discovered that - I've raised it much higher than I would a normal pickup, and it sounds just right.

mike_l said:

I like the Hot Rails in my DM Strat. I suspect they're very guitar/amp/player dependant, moreso than other pickups.

Oh, there's nothing specifically wrong with them - it did the job admirably. I just wanted something with a bit more of a single coil-ish character. Kinda like the '59 but moreso, and without the downsides (being very weak compared with the Tele bridge '59 or the Strat neck '59).

I now remember why I loved the Red Lace Sensor I had in my Squier Strat all those years ago. I may even end up getting a Blue or a Gold for the neck position.