[darkbluemurder]

Surprised that there is no thread on that one - given it was introduced in 2006.

I put it in the neck position of a maple neck/maple board/ash body partscaster strat. Middle pickup is the Injector neck (which was in the neck position before), bridge pickup is a Bareknuckle Holydiver (the closest DiMarzio would probably the AT-1). In #2, the bridge pickup goes to parallel. 500k pots, tone cap is currently a 0.0033uf Orange Drop (subject to change).

Since there is already a detailed thread on the Injector neck I will focus on the difference between that and the HB2.

Output is roughly the same - 170mV vs. 160mV does not matter much really. The balance with the bridge pickup is fine since I like the bridge humbucker to have a bit more output in a HSS set up.
 
The tone charts (B/M/T) are similar: IN 6/6.5/7, HB2 6/7/6.5, and in that case I would agree that the pickups do not sound vastly different from each other. What is noticeable though is that the HB2 has a bit less highs than the IN and significantly more midrange content. I really like this for overdriven solo tones as it makes the guitar sing better and provides for a good tonal balance with the bridge pickup. It does work well for clean tones, too, provided you can accept that it is warmer than a typical low output vintage strat type pickup - these are really bright, and the HB2 won't give you that sound. The Area 67 would be a better choice in that case. 

Now - how does it quack together with the IN in the middle? It does quack well but it's a middier quack, not that super hollow clucky quack of low output singles. Again if you want that, get two Area 67s or an Area 67 for the neck and an Area 58 for the middle.

I have not yet tested the HB2 together with the bridge pickup since the wiring set up in that guitar currently does not provide for that combination. But since I got a spare tone pot that's doing nothing at the moment I may wire it up as a blend control so I can give you an idea of how that works.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

500k pots, tone cap is currently a 0.0033uf Orange Drop (subject to change).

Replaced the tone cap with a 0.0069uf Xicon MPP (a 0.0047uf and a 0.0022uf in parallel) and like that better in all positions except for the bridge humbucker. Wired the second tone pot for the bridge pickup with a 0.001uf cap but either I messed up the wiring or it does not have any audible effect. I will probably up that to 0.0015uf or even 0.0022uf.

With the tone pot down the HB2 sounds exceptionally smooth now.

Cheers Stephan

[aizenx]

Great pickup!  Sounds amazing in the neck position of a bright guitar! (I call it the Tone Zone for the neck)

[darkbluemurder]

Wired the second tone pot for the bridge pickup with a 0.001uf cap but either I messed up the wiring or it does not have any audible effect. I will probably up that to 0.0015uf or even 0.0022uf.

Turns out I did not mess up the wiring but the 0.001uf cap was indeed too small. 0.0015uf gave me the expected result.

[Guitar74]

Bump. I REALLY dig this pickup in the neck of my maple/maple/maple guitar. Just SCREAMS with a hot single coil tone. I could not be happier with this pickup for just about anything, great for sweeps alternate picked runs, legato, and does bluesier stuff very well. My first one, and will probably be my go to neck single coil.

[madmarcus1960]

Put in between a Crunchlab and Liquifire set in a Ibanez RG470AHM. Had to run it in reverse polarity to the HB's to get in phase. One I did, it worked quite well. The output hangs with the Petrucci set, while still sounding Stratty in POS's 2-4.

[Guitar74]

It has become my go to for a single. If you have a guitar with a neck single slot, you should try it there. It sounds great in the neck slot with distortion. Actually, just sounds great in the neck period.

[darkbluemurder]

It sounds great in the neck slot with distortion. Actually, just sounds great in the neck period.

Right you are
As you will see from my original post, it is in the guitar for 5 years now and still going strong (and not anywhere).

Cheers Stephan

[Guitar74]

I have it wired to be with the bridge pup on my axe and LOVE it with the humbucker. Like you said, it still has the "notch" position tone, just with more mids. I don't mind it myself, as it replaced an HS-3. It's also in a maple body/maple neck guitar so the brightness of that particular guitar sort of "evens" things out a bit. You can DEFINITELY nail that "Hiroshima Mon Amour" neck pickup tone of a certain Swede virtuoso with this one which is what I love. Articulate but fluid with enough output to hang with a dual coil in the bridge without the noise. It going in the middle position of my RG as well.

[darkbluemurder]

Meanwhile I put it in the bridge position of one of my strats. The other pickups are my go tos Area 67 neck, Area 58 middle. Volume balance is excellent. But even though it is hotter than a vintage style strat pickup it still screams "STRAT BRIDGE" very loudly - certainly nothing humbuckerish or P90ish about it. It is a good tone even though a bit bright but not in an obnoxious way. I think I will drop the load on it a bit and then I should be there for that guitar.

[Guitar74]

I have a HWY 1 Strat with a JB jr. in the bridge that is getting the HB2 in the middle and neck. I think the extra midrange content will blend well the the tiny JB. I am also going to try it in my Splattercaster in the bridge.

[darkbluemurder]

I managed to buy a used Injector bridge and replaced the Heavy Blues 2 with it. In direct comparison the Injector bridge is a bit less bright,  has a similar midrange color but substantially more low end, which is beneficial for the bridge position in a strat. The HB 2 will got to the neck position of a different guitar.