Let's talk about single coils!

[karjim]

I just bought yesterday a pair of Bkp Brownsugar for my japan Tele. I m wondering if you guys have any experience with them. My actual stock pickups (fendervintage style) are not bad, not good, just meh...no character, no bite, no crisp. My tele is maple board and ash body, and bkp says brownsugars are better for rosewood .

 

[Zhysick]

Does anyone have experience with DiMarzio Fast Tracks? I have them in my second Mustang at the moment (see my avatar, lul) but after the first impression I find them a bit too bright and I guess "hot". At first the stock pickups in my other Mustang (both guitars had the same stock pickups) paled in comparison but once I realised to crank up the input gain on my audio interface, I kinda prefer them, especially for leads. Just for future in mind, I'd like to know if there's any other single coil pickups I should try as like I said, I find the Fast Tracks a bit too treble heavy and Mustangs are pretty bright sounding guitars to begin with.

You want them humbuckers? Because true singles thicker in the mids there are a few out there but not ally the buckets are designed trying to emulate the single coil sound as much as possible so they are highs heavy except those that were designed chasing the full sized humbucker sound (JB Jr, Super Distortion S...) they are thicker but apart from that but hotter also.

Fast track 2 is thick but very very hot (hotter than most humbuckers)...

Maybe a JB Jr neck in bridge position can do the trick but you better try the route of stacked or true singles if you don't mind the him.

 

[Drew]

Does anyone have experience with DiMarzio Fast Tracks? I have them in my second Mustang at the moment (see my avatar, lul) but after the first impression I find them a bit too bright and I guess "hot". At first the stock pickups in my other Mustang (both guitars had the same stock pickups) paled in comparison but once I realised to crank up the input gain on my audio interface, I kinda prefer them, especially for leads. Just for future in mind, I'd like to know if there's any other single coil pickups I should try as like I said, I find the Fast Tracks a bit too treble heavy and Mustangs are pretty bright sounding guitars to begin with.

I had a set of Fast Track 2s, I think, in my strat for a while. They were cool, but I didn't keep them in there long - they're definitely more like bright, underwound PAFs than they are overwound singlecoils. Bright but more "treble" than "sparkle," a bit tubby and indistinct in the low end... I'd hoped I'd really like them since I loved the Cruiser bridge but found it a little too weak, but this was a little too far in the humbucker direction.

 

[Kaura]

I had a set of Fast Track 2s, I think, in my strat for a while. They were cool, but I didn't keep them in there long - they're definitely more like bright, underwound PAFs than they are overwound singlecoils. Bright but more "treble" than "sparkle," a bit tubby and indistinct in the low end... I'd hoped I'd really like them since I loved the Cruiser bridge but found it a little too weak, but this was a little too far in the humbucker direction.

Cool, I definitely get what you're talking about the low-end. It's nothing like I've ever heard and can make palm muted strikes sound very odd, sort of squishy. I probably should try the Cruiser next since it's probably hotter than the stock pups but definitely not as hot as Fast Tracks.

 

[Drew]

Cool, I definitely get what you're talking about the low-end. It's nothing like I've ever heard and can make palm muted strikes sound very odd, sort of squishy. I probably should try the Cruiser next since it's probably hotter than the stock pups but definitely not as hot as Fast Tracks.

So I went back and listened to the comparison I shot (against Areas) and my memory was a little off - it's really more the low mids, where the output makes them sound a little more muffled. The high end is definitely a little sharper, but not as bad as I remembered. Half the reason I shoot these, just so I can keep them all straight.

 

[Kaura]

So I went back and listened to the comparison I shot (against Areas) and my memory was a little off - it's really more the low mids, where the output makes them sound a little more muffled. The high end is definitely a little sharper, but not as bad as I remembered. Half the reason I shoot these, just so I can keep them all straight.

Man, that's a tasty sounding Strat. Both my Mustangs sound terrible in comparison.

 

[Drew]

Back in 1998 I had my shop order me that thing, sight-unseen, because I saw one of Clapton's strats in a Hard Rock Cafe and really wanted a silver Stratocaster with a maple fretboard. Man did I ever get lucky with her.

 

[Zado]

Nice SCs are the best thing ever.

 

[Forest of October]

I have "the chopper" in my Squier CV50 (while still keeping the original neck and middle pups). It is a great pickup, but I wouldn't say it sounds anything like a true single coil. This maybe because the volume pot is 250K.

Some bridge single coils pups I'd like to try some day are SD's Quarter Pound (SSL-4), BKP The Sinner and Entwistle XS62N.

 

[Tuned]

I largely used my former ESP Edwards with its stock HSH layout of Seymour Duncan TB6 / SSL-2RWRP / SH6 with a 5-way switch. Mostly used it for 'angry metal' stuff but for some single coil sounds as well.
Currently playing a MIJ Schecter with their proprietory TA-style large pole HSH layout, the Schecter Super Rock J/ Monster Tone / Super Rock J, also with a 5-way switch but also with a coil tap.
With both guitars, the singles options are/were additional and I only used them part-time. It always meant some discomfort, like the noise and the output gap. I think I would change the singles on each of the guitars but I don't have a source of various models to A/B nor the knowledge to look for 'this exact model'. Also , on both guitars it is not only for the dedicated singles but also the halves of the humbuckers involved. Probably quite a bit more complicated than with a SSS guitar. Probably wil try it sometime in the future once I'm tired of its stock sound, but it is ok with me for now

 

[Seabeast2000]

So anyone every try 2-3 of the EMG 7 strings singles together? I see the Maverick and that other open coil active come in sets but the S and SA do not. Also there is no position associated with the S or SA. Curious if these will do the in-between sounds or not like on a regular SSS config.