Maple Neck Strat Bridge Humbucker?

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deke99

Member
Messages
33
Hey all,

I'm looking to get some more versatility out of my '99 American Strat. Alder body, maple neck. It currently has 3 texas specials. I'm looking for a humbucker for the bridge position and I'll likely do the Suhr wiring of a super switch so that the humbucker sees 500K and the neck/middle see 250K at the volume pot (and position 2 splits the bridge humbucker to blend with the middle).

I'm looking for thoughts/experiences with a similar setup. The main reason that I'm going to do this is that I currently play a Les Paul with coil taps on both pickups. So I get all of the tones I need out of the Paul, but I now have a singer who can't quite hit the notes (in standard tuning) on the detuned stuff. So I need a guitar that's tuned down 1/2 step for some songs that can get some bridge position humbucker crunch that is close to the Paul.

I'm considering a Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbucker. How will this blend with the texas specials? Unfortunately I can't afford to do a lot of trial and error, I need to get this right the first time. I'll be playing Seether, GnR, Van Halen, etc. and I'm looking for a classic rock based bridge tone. Nothing super high gain, my amp can take care of the hot rodding :)

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!!

Derek
 
W

Wayne Alexander

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
1,437
The Barden duo-tone is great for that application in a strat, but I'd also suggest the Bardens in the other two positions if you go for that.
 
D

deke99

Member
Messages
33
Thanks for the input folks . . . I'll do some research on those pickups. Suhr would seem to be an obvious choice given that I'm planning to use his wiring scheme :)

Would the SSV or SSV+ go best with the texas specials?
 
K-Line

K-Line

Vendor
Messages
8,173
Lollar Imperial, F-Spaced with or without cover. You may even consider the high wind bridge if you really want to smack it. If you want to retain a bit of quack in the 2 position, maybe stick with a regular wind.
 
2HBStrat

2HBStrat

Member
Messages
41,283
deke99 said:
.... I'll likely do the Suhr wiring of a super switch so that the humbucker sees 500K and the neck/middle see 250K at the volume pot....
Click to expand...
How does that work? Do you have a schematic for that? Sounds interesting!
 
treedroppings

treedroppings

Member
Messages
2,227
peter florance '59 humbucker voodoopickups.com

I have the '57 in an ash body and the 'air' is nice

you can call him up 570-253-5571 and ask him any questions
 
KGWagner

KGWagner

Member
Messages
3,244
The latest love of my life has a maple neck with an ebony fingerboard and stainless steel frets, which you would expect to be pretty bright, but it's attached to a chambered alder body with a curly maple top that's pretty resonant...



I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge position, and it romps and stomps. Highly recommended.
 
D

deke99

Member
Messages
33
So how does the hot rail compare to a regular humbucker. I've generally heard/read that a single sized bucker can't carry the weight of a full blown humbucker. That's why I'm looking at full sized. My '99 strat is already routed for it, so I figured why skimp.
 
KGWagner

KGWagner

Member
Messages
3,244
They have all output of a full-size humbucker, they're just a little more articulate. Traditional 'bucks tend to knock out some of the highs and presence, which are maintained in the stacked or narrow styles. I'm not sure that was part of the original design intent, which was to kill hum in single coil spaces, it was just a happy side effect. Personally, I think it's a better sound in that you get the best of several worlds - high output, good tone and clarity. It's a useful combination.
 
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