[TooMuchGear]

Hi all,

I have a Strat specifically for when I want to get my 80’s hair rock tones on.  In the bridge is a Super Distortion and in the neck is a PAF Pro.  They work great but I clearly have the wrong pickup in the middle position with a Duncan Alnico 2 Pro for Strat.  I thought it would warm things up for positions 2 and 4 but the output is way too low.

I’m leaning towards either an SDS-1 as it won’t have an issue keeping up and the hex heads would match and look cool.  It might be a little too hot though.  The other one is the FS-1 but with a resistance of 15K I’m really unsure in this one.

Any experience out there?

[buddroyce]

I haven't tried using an SDS-1 in the middle but I can see it working out. You can always lower the pickup to reduce the output if you find that it's too hot.

[darkbluemurder]

It depends on what you use the middle pickup for and what you want to achieve with it.

Do you use it together with either of the humbuckers split (e.g. for clean)? Your existing pickup could probably do it. If the output is too low, Injector neck, Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 or even Injector bridge could work.

Do you use it alone e.g. for an alternate lead tone and want it to keep up with either of the humbuckers? In that case SDS-1 would do it.

"Hair rock tones" insofar is too general as description since in many hair rock songs, there are clean tones done with #2 or #4 settings of a strat (so on Whitesnake's "1987" album).

Cheers Stephan

[DonP]

I went with a cheap quick pickup (GFS, A2 magnet, 6K, not sure which model) between the Super D and PAF in my Murray strat. The output was low, so I experimented with pickup heights and found an OK setting. I still have an issue of the GFS being out of phase with the Super D (but seems ok with the PAF - go figure).

When I re-wire, I may go with a Duncan SSL-1 I just picked up. This may be good or an SSL-5 might be good. I'm still learning DiMarzio singles.

[buddroyce]

Strange that it's out of phase with the Super D but not the PAF. Sounds like either one of the humbuckers might be reverse wound or the PAF is also out of phase but you just don't notice it as much.

I'd say try flipping the wiring on the GFS single to see if that fixes the everything. Whether it would be better than the Duncan SSL-1 is hard to say but if flipping the wires on the GFS improves the sound, you'd give it a fair chance when comparing.

[darkbluemurder]

Try flipping the hot and ground connections of the Super D and see if the problem persists.

[Guitar74]

"Do you use it together with either of the humbuckers split (e.g. for clean)? Your existing pickup could probably do it. If the output is too low, Injector neck, Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 or even Injector bridge could work."

I second this one. I just recently put a hb2 in the mid position on my RG and it is plenty healthy to keep up with the humbuckers, still sounds like a single coil, and has less magnetic pull than the A5 true single that was in it. Also, at least to my ears, the hb2 likes a 500k pot.

[BluesJam]

 Some people use a very hot single coil and lower it down to give some space to pick.  The Vai single coil models could work too, since they are designed for HSH wiring.

[Guitar74]

Some people use a very hot single coil and lower it down to give some space to pick.  The Vai single coil models could work too, since they are designed for HSH wiring.

Hear Hear! Good suggestion. Didn't even think about those at all.

[Slartibartfarst]

How about a Virtual Solo? It should be hot enough to keep up reasonably well and maintains more of a proper singlecoil tone. I used it in the bridge position of a Strat and I was very impressed. I could see it working well as a middle pickup with those two humbuckers.