[Mew]

Hi. ^^
I need pickup recommendation for HSS Stratocaster.
I decided to go with Satch Track neck and Fast Track 1 middle.

For bridge I have the biggest question:
I like really really ballanced versatile rock and roll humbucker.

I had chance to hear:
Tone Zone, AT-1, Air Zone - good, but too dark.
PAF Pro - good, but too bright.

I kinda do want something like:
AT-1 rock and roll character, with that big rock sound, but with tiny bit brightness of a PAF Pro.

I got recommendation for:
Breed Neck, Satchur8 and Norton.

I really really like also nice splitted tone, with overall versatility of bridge humbucker.

Which one from this 3? Thanks.

[greenlion]

If you didn't like the Air Zone because it was "dark" you probably won't like the Breed bridge either. The Norton is different from all those others, but I would say most similar to the AT-1. The EQ on the norton reminds me of a Duncan Custom Custom except with more presence and harmonics. More mids than highs/lows, but the lows are still tight, unlike the Duncan CC. The EVO2 might also work for you. Never tried the Satchur8. Did you change out all the pots in your strat to 500k pots? If you didn't, that might be causing some of the pickups to sound too dark when they actually aren't.

[Mew]

Pots will be 500k.
So ... I can forget about Breed Neck.
Ok ....
So Satchur8 or Norton.

[Mew]

Yeah, sry also .... I tried some EVO pickup. I'm not sure which one and which position.
But the EQ of pickup, and frequencies were just waaaay tooo strange for me. -.- Just strange pickup, I've never heard something like it before. I quess it's not balaced in highs, mids and lows like other pickups. But really the sound was super strange.
I think it was EVO bridge, with PAF Pro neck.
I'm avoiding EVO since then. :/

PS.

Now I see, EVO has alike EQ like Norton.
Didn't noticed that issue with Norton clips from a colleague from other forum which I use.

And I'm not sure where problem with that particular EVO was, ... was it like body wood or something. I just noticed that sounded strange. -.- Not sure why.

[Mew]

I'm pretty sure I had this issue last time I tried EVO ... I think it was combo of woods and weight. I'm pretty sure I had this issue. -.- Sry, I have really bad experience with EVOs, even thru on paper, they seem nice.

From other forums:

" Great pickup in a heavier guitar. In a light guitar the boosted upper mids and treble may spike your ears. "

" Sounds good in Vai's Jems but it didn't sound too good in my s -series. Wixedmords is right, in a light-bodied FR equipped guitar it sounded very bright and crisp, bass was very very tight, great for chugga-chugga riffs but not spongy enough. Definitely not a classic sounding pickup, but yet still very distinctive. "

It sounded pretty much like lifeless PAF Pro in the bridge, with worst possible EQ you could think of. XD

So yeah, sry. EVO - had a super bad experience.

PS.

And yeah, it was a rock solid midrange guitar, not the cheapest Squier.

So ... we are down to:

Satchur8 vs Norton, which one and why? Thanks.

[HarlowTheFish]

I'd go Norton personally. I'd just say to also consider the Evo neck in the bridge position. The Evo 1 and 2 bridge are really hot and have a really distinctive character, but the neck pickup in the bridge is a little more "normal" with some of the good qualities of the bridge pickups.

[greenlion]

Wait. My bad. I didn't see that you said Breed NECK. That one would probably not be too dark. I was thinking Breed Bridge.

[greenlion]

Evo bridge and Evo2 bridge are very different pickups. I did not like the regular Evo, but love the Evo2. Let me ask, if you are looking for, as you say, a "big rock sound" why are you interested in putting neck models in your bridge position? Have you considered the Fred?

[HarlowTheFish]

ehh I wouldn't say the FRED is a particularly big-sounding pickup. If you go listen to any of the FRED-era Satch stuff, it does this interesting single-coily thing under gain that's really cool, but more precise and dynamic than big.
OP also mentioned they found the PAF Pro too bright, and the FRED is pretty noticeably brighter to my ears.

[Mew]

I heard that Breed Neck in bridge is fatter and bigger PAF Pro, which I really really like the sound of in theory. DiMarzio tech mail guy said the same also. He gave me this 3 to choose from when I described my sound.

He also said from the 3, he personally would go with Satchur8.

I got one vote for Norton. XD

Btw. I would say the same, PAF Pro was way too bright in alder/ash guitar, so FRED wouldn't help either.

I tried PAF Pro on bright wood guitar - no thanks.

[Mew]

And big rock sound = Imagine if AT-1 and PAF Pro had a baby, who has AT-1 pure rock and roll character, with a tiny bit more brightness of PAF Pro. That would be my perfect pickup.

PAF Pro for me is also, could be classic rock pickup guitar, but for mahogany. And AT-1 is really tiny tiny bit too dark for me. Even with bright wood and 500k pots.

[BluesJam]

The Satch Track is rated 245 output and the Fast Track is rated output is 191.  The neck pickup is more powerful than the middle, so you’re going to lower the neck pickup and raise the middle to balance the output.  I would opt to getting a new pick guard and get 3 rails.  First, they are all mini humbuckers and it will give you more room to pick.  I don’t like it when pickups get in the way because it limits where I can play along the string.   How about Satch neck 245,  Chopper middle 260 , and Super Distortion S bridge 325.   Then you can wire them in parallel/series switching to get full and Strattier sounds.  You also get more focused tone because the magnetic window is smaller than on a full size humbucker.  In any case, that’s a mighty Strat set.

[Mew]

I was thinking to have more like classic HSH guitar, in HSS format.
My second option in that case is: unknown-bridge, and two Satch Tracks.
But I prefer Straty middle pickup, and the Fast Track 1 is the biggest I could think of.
Btw Vinnie Moore has Virtual Vintage middle, Fast Track 1 on neck, it did work out for him.
Same issue, Fast Track 1 has bigger output then Virtual Vintage.
If Fast Track 1 will not work in middle, my second option is - 2x Satch Track.

[Mew]

And yeah, I had in mind that. Split for all 3 pickups, and add bridge + neck, and all 3.
And I really like Satch Track neck. And I would prefer to have Fast Track in middle, but Satch Track would work also.
And I prefer one of 3 mentioned above for bridge.

PS.

If I had Satchur8 bridge, and 2x Satch Track. I would be more then okey with it.

And I pick in between neck and middle, so I'm okey with HSS.

I would rather have more my-sound-suited-bridge-pickup, then more-space-free-pickup.

[HarlowTheFish]

If you want something more HSH-y, I would say whatever bridge hum you want (Breed Neck seems like it might work for you), something like a True Velvet or FS1 (but dropped all the way to the pickguard), and a Pro Track in the neck. It's (as far as I gather from the literature and word-of-mouth) a rails take on the PAF Pro. You might find it bright in the bridge, but in the neck it will get you a little more clarity and brightness that can be really welcome with a neck humbucker.