Single coil sized humbuckers - Strat

[Thinline_slim]

Any more the cover band has been venturing out further from classic rock getting a little more heavy, which has been a lot of fun. My Tele is a rock machine honestly with some overwound Lindy Fralins but my Strat could use a little help.

Right now I have a set of Nordstrand NVS hot pickups (old music store owner recommended) which have been a great set for the last 10 years especially for the neck puckup blues/rock. But as I pull away from blues/rock I could use a little more in the bridge. Need some grit!

Does anyone have any recommendations? I put a Seymour Duncan Lil 59 in it over the weekend but it was really microphonic and wouldn't be usable at gig levels. So it's going back and I have a Seymour Duncan JB jr on the way but holy crap there are a ton of options! And that's just trying to decide between Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio!

Anything fun anyone here has tried?


**PS - HAS to be a single coil. The guitar is a rear routed SSS Warmoth Strat.

Found a really crappy pic.

[Sergeantsnowball]

Hot Rails or EMG singlecoils.

[thelatrobe33]

Check out the Dimarzio Billy Corgan pickups. BIG sound in a single coil package.

[Thinline_slim]

Hot Rails or EMG singlecoils.

I was really tempted to pull the trigger on the Hot Rails but I found a youtube vid that compared the Hot Rails and the JB jr at about the gain levels I play regularly and the JB jr sounded a little more vintage/musical where the Hot Rails sounded like the more modern melodic-shred sound.

There's so many variables though that I have no idea if the HRs would sound that way on my rig or not. That's the biggest pain in the arse when buying pickups.

Check out the Dimarzio Billy Corgan pickups. BIG sound in a single coil package.

I was really curious about these honestly. I was bouncing back and forth between the Tone Zone, the BC and the Chopper before I went for the JB jr. Can you describe how the BC pickups sound? Not a lot of information out there.

[thelatrobe33]

Check out the Dimarzio Billy Corgan pickups. BIG sound in a single coil package.

I was really curious about these honestly. I was bouncing back and forth between the Tone Zone, the BC and the Chopper before I went for the JB jr. Can you describe how the BC pickups sound? Not a lot of information out there.

The BC-2 pickups are a variation on the Tone Zones. They have a big, crystal clear clean tone and can go all the way to full on metal. Check YouTube for demos of the Billy Corgan Strat. There's quite a few demos there that should give you a good idea.

I don't own them, but the other guitarist I play with has them in his JDM strat and it sounds great both clean and dirty. I'm more a single coil guy when it comes to strats. I have a '93 Strat Plus and switch to a different guitar for humbucker tones.

[rrrajo]

Hot Rails or EMG singlecoils.

I like both. Although, I am currently using the Fender Vintage Noiseless. They are powerful and no noise.

[Wendigo]

Well I was about to recommend the lil '59, which I had in my Strat till I sold the guitar. It was one of the best pups I have ever heard in my life, equal to pretty much any full-sized humbucker. Sounds like you got a bad pup to try there. I would steer away from any emg pickup; a friend of mine bought the hotrail for his Strat, and we both agreed that it sounded like a$$.