Putting humbuckers in my strat

CianRyan

Could do with a bit of help deciding which ones to go with though.
Stacked humbeckers are a new thing to me, and im not familiar with what id bet getting from each one.

I have how ever, narrowed it down to these,
EMG-SA
Seymour Duncan SCR 1 Cool Rails for Neck/Bridge
Seymour Duncan SHR-1 Seymour DuncanHot Rails™ for Strat
DiMarzio Chopper/Fast Track/Tone Zone S

Which would be best for a Deathcore/Mathcore rhythm guitarist?

I've been thinking of putting a DiMarzio DP189W Tone Zone S in the neck, havent decided on the rest yet though.

All imput apreciated.
Sorry for the "posterbation" lately, but its all coming to me for my birthday, which is tomorrow.
haha

darrenw5094

Give us the list of gear that you are getting for your b-day.

It might be interesting reading....:)

CianRyan

Well what ever pick ups, i decide on, and from the money i get (thats what sisters and brothers and such are getting me instead of an actual gift) i'll be starting to save for a new cab and head.

What i have my eye on is an ENGL fireball and Mesa/boogie 4x12 rectifire cab, needless to say, there's some out side saving going into the amp.

And if ive anything left over, i wanna get a BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer.
Starting to put together a nice pedal board.

Doctor J

CianRyan wrote: »

Which would be best for a Deathcore/Mathcore rhythm guitarist?

Honestly, none of them. All this confusing core stuff aside, you want a strat to play Metal rhythm? I wouldn't worry about changing the neck pickup at this stage, just get a good, full sized bridge pickup. I don't believe the strat sized pickups are really up to the task of playing proper heavy Metal. I would suggest getting a new scratchplate with room for a full sized humbucker and then sticking in a proper high output pickup more suited for what you want to do. Most strats have routing which accomodate full humbuckers these days.

OK-Cancel-Apply

Doctor J wrote: »

Honestly, none of them. All this confusing core stuff aside, you want a strat to play Metal rhythm? I wouldn't worry about changing the neck pickup at this stage, just get a good, full sized bridge pickup. I don't believe the strat sized pickups are really up to the task of playing proper heavy Metal. I would suggest getting a new scratchplate with room for a full sized humbucker and then sticking in a proper high output pickup more suited for what you want to do. Most strats have routing which accomodate full humbuckers these days.

+1

Get a full sized one. A lot of people recommend the Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 - I had one in my strat, and TBH it didn't sound a whole lot different to the standard Fender humbucker. I then converted it to a HH (hack hack chisel chisel! ) and put two Peavey humbuckers in. Sounds great! Much smoother. Though that could be down to the electronics. I used to have 2 tones and 1 volume (250k) and now I have 1 volume (500k) and no tone. And a phase switch (the first thing you look for on a strat to find out if the owner has been screwing around with it!). Phase switch wasn't worth it - horrible tone when used with HH config. Hmm, you know what..I think I'll put the SH-4 back in with this new config and see how it sounds.

CianRyan

Well it will be a big difference in sound either way, i have clean single coil blues pick ups in it now.
There's no room for large humbuckers, i'd have to be chisiling out a good lump og guitar to fit them in, and tbh, im not a fan of doing that kind of stuff.
I've heard plenty of guitarists using humbuckers such as the ones i've listed for playing metal, and they sound great, im just not sure which ones are the best out of the bunch.

Thanks for the imput anyway, but can anyone help with these pick ups i have listed?

Dord

Just chuck two EMG humbuckers in there, 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck. You'll need a new pickguard though.

CianRyan

I had thought of doing that, but decided against it, fear of breaking my guitar, while its being chiseled.

OK-Cancel-Apply

Hey man, have you looked inside your strat yet? Like Doctor J says, there's usually room for at least a bridge humbucker. You could get a HSS pickguard and use single coil sized humbuckers for the neck and middle. I've heard those small humbuckers before, and they don't sound like full sized ones, as they are picking up different parts of the string. The freq 'cancellations' aren't the same, and won't sound too different to your single coils.

Fingers Mcginty

[QUOTE=OK-Cancel-Apply;57495271 I used to have 2 tones and 1 volume (250k) and now I have 1 volume (500k) and no tone. [/QUOTE]


Sorry to go a little off topic but how did you wire it up? I too have changed from a HSS style guitar to a HH guitar (have modified the scratchplate) and put in a 3 position switch but I'm intrigued by the lack of tone Pot...I never use mine either.

Dord

I don't think tone controls are very useful on humbucker guitars, but with P90 pickups it seems totally different. :eek:

If you back off the tone control on my LP Jr. it cleans up the sound a bit. Pretty cool.

OK-Cancel-Apply

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Sorry to go a little off topic but how did you wire it up? I too have changed from a HSS style guitar to a HH guitar (have modified the scratchplate) and put in a 3 position switch but I'm intrigued by the lack of tone Pot...I never use mine either.

I just put all earth on the volume pot, wired volume to output jack and 3 way switch. I'll draw u a quick diagram of exactly what's going on and post it in a bit.

Dord

Fingers, check out the seymour duncan website. They have schematics for almost every imaginable pickup and pot configuration! :eek:

OK-Cancel-Apply

Here's what I did:



EDIT: I didn't use a Fender switch though

Dord

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Here's what I did:



EDIT: I didn't use a Fender switch though

Where does your pickup come into this?

OK-Cancel-Apply

Dord wrote: »

Where does your pickup come into this?

pickup bone is connected to the switch bone.

darrenw5094

CianRyan wrote: »

Well what ever pick ups, i decide on, and from the money i get (thats what sisters and brothers and such are getting me instead of an actual gift) i'll be starting to save for a new cab and head.

What i have my eye on is an ENGL fireball and Mesa/boogie 4x12 rectifire cab, needless to say, there's some out side saving going into the amp.

And if ive anything left over, i wanna get a BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer.
Starting to put together a nice pedal board.

That Boss Compression CS-3 is a shocker. Probably the worst of the bunch of the mid priced range. It makes the guitar sound fake and rubbish.

Try the T-Rex compessor (about €150) or the big guns use the Keeley one which is fierce expensive.

CianRyan

darrenw5094 wrote: »

That Boss Compression CS-3 is a shocker. Probably the worst of the bunch of the mid priced range. It makes the guitar sound fake and rubbish.

Try the T-Rex compessor (about €150) or the big guns use the Keeley one which is fierce expensive.

Oh really?
Nice one man, saved me a whole load of bother.

OK-Cancel-Apply wrote: »

Hey man, have you looked inside your strat yet? Like Doctor J says, there's usually room for at least a bridge humbucker. You could get a HSS pickguard and use single coil sized humbuckers for the neck and middle. I've heard those small humbuckers before, and they don't sound like full sized ones, as they are picking up different parts of the string. The freq 'cancellations' aren't the same, and won't sound too different to your single coils.

Yeah i've taken it apart plenty of times. cleaning pots and the such, its only carved out for single coil/same shaped humbuckers.

Well, i think im going to try the small humbuckers, and if i feel after a while im not liking them, i'll sell them and invest in the bigger ones.

Thanks anyway lads.
I'll let you know what i think, initially when i get them in.

68 lost souls

I would avoid the cool rails anyway. Not what you are looking for. The hotrails might be nice as would possibly a screamin deamon. Personally I only really have experience with Seymour Duncans so they are what I can comment on.

CianRyan

Yeah i was reading about the cool rails last night, probbaly going for the DiMarzio DP189W Tone Zone S in the neck, and two Seymour Duncan SHR-1 Hot Rails in the center and bridge.

CityofDawros

I have just bought a set of emg 81s and 85s and want to put them in my strat, I found a scratchplate on ebay and am just looking for some info and advice

did you end up putting full sized humbuckers in?,

CianRyan

I actually ended up with two seymour(sp) duncan hotrails in the the bridge and center and a Dimarzio chopper in the neck.
Bloody amazing sound, they cover everything like.
i'll try get a revier video up soon.

Interested to see how yours will look and sound.

BostonB

I used to have the hot rails in a tele charvel. I like'd it. Was very much an 80's hard rock/metal sound. Depends what pedal and amp you use it with though. I don't like EMG's but they are more modern metal sounding.

CityofDawros

I havent even opened up the guitar yet so I dont know how much routing I will have to do. I have a few friends who are helping me out

Did you mention using a different toggle switch?, the emg site only has a diagram for a three way switch and I'm curious if the five way switch is wired the same

CityofDawros

BostonB wrote: »

I used to have the hot rails in a tele charvel. I like'd it. Was very much an 80's hard rock/metal sound. Depends what pedal and amp you use it with though. I don't like EMG's but they are more modern metal sounding.

I rather the modern metal sound but its all an opinion at the end of the day

CityofDawros

CityofDawros wrote: »

I havent even opened up the guitar yet so I dont know how much routing I will have to do. I have a few friends who are helping me out

Did you mention using a different toggle switch?, the emg site only has a diagram for a three way switch and I'm curious if the five way switch is wired the same

Can I use the stock 5 way switch with my Zakk Wylde Set?No. Using a 5 way switch with two EMG active pickups results in dead spots in positions 2 and 4. This can result in damage occurring to the speaker cones, especially at high gain levels. You'll have to replace the 5 way switch with a 3 way blade switch instead, like the one shown in our diagrams.


Nevermind