Bridge pickup for HSS Strat--Balanced but still ROCKS??

[bassface732]

Hey everyone!

I’m building an HSS Strat and need help picking the right bridge humbucker that’s balanced with low-output single coils but still rocks when needed.

What I’m Looking For:​

• Classic Strat tones (quacky notch positions, chimey cleans).
• Great overdriven neck pickup sounds (Hendrix, SRV, Frusciante).
• A bridge humbucker that can handle modern hard rock/alternative (think Mesa Dual Rec tones).
• Needs to coil split well for strong quack in position 2.
• Needs to stay somewhat balanced with lower-output Lollar Blondes in the neck/middle.

Pickups I’ve Considered:​

✔ Suhr Thornbucker+ – Seems ideal on paper (medium output, great coil split, clarity), but in YouTube demos it sounds a little dull or less tight than I’d hoped. Written reviews praise its articulation, so I’m unsure if poor video quality is throwing me off.

✔ Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid – Love this pickup in my Eastman T386, but it’s quite a bit hotter than the Lollars and might cause volume drop issues when switching pickups. Also not sure if it will coil split as well as the Thornbucker+.

✔ Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special – A modern PAF with more bite than the Thornbucker+, but still a bit hotter than the Lollars, and may be the worst of the 3 for coil splitting.

My Dilemma:​

I love my JB-equipped Warmoth Tele and my 59/Custom Hybrid-equipped Eastman, but I don’t want my Strat to feel redundant if I give it another modern-sounding bridge pickup. I need a humbucker that’s unique enough to justify the build, while still rocking hard when needed.

Right now, I’m leaning toward the Thornbucker+ (assuming poor demo quality is making it seem duller than it really is). But I don’t want to regret my choice if it doesn’t hit hard enough.

It's tough to make a call based on low-quality YouTube videos and written info... so I'm asking all of you!

My Questions for You:​

1. Will the Thornbucker+ rock hard enough for me? Is it clear under gain? Will it cut through a mix?
2. ...or should I go with a hotter humbucker and manage the volume differences? Any suggestions on how to do this?
3. How well do the 59/Custom Hybrid or Saturday Night Special coil split in position 2?
4. Is there another humbucker I haven’t considered that would fit my needs even better?

Thanks in advance for your input! Sorry for the long post—just wanted to give as much detail as possible. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[TBurst Std]

Look up Zhangbucker pickups. Tell Dave what you want. He can make it. You’re probably looking at his splat option.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" or "Screamin' Demon" at the bridge.
Anything hotter will overpower the neck & middle pickups.
Dimarzio "Area 61" in the middle.
Dimarzio "Area 67" at the neck.
500k Volume control. "No-load" Tone controls.
No need to split the humbucker. Position #2 will have plenty of "quack".

 

[supertruper1988]

I have a lot of HSH and HSS guitars.

I find the JB is great split. Other options are the DiMarzio AT-1 or Norton.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I have a lot of HSH and HSS guitars.

I find the JB is great split. Other options are the DiMarzio AT-1 or Norton.

And the JB & AT-1 are way louder than single coils or stacked 'buckers.

 

[bassface732]

Thanks all for the responses so far!

I have a lot of HSH and HSS guitars.

I find the JB is great split. Other options are the DiMarzio AT-1 or Norton.

Yeah, I have the JB in my other Warmoth build and I love it--sounds terrific on its own and gives plenty of snap when split. I'm concerned about the pretty significant difference in output compared to the single coils though... feels like it would really overpower the Lollars, no?

 

[bassface732]

Look up Zhangbucker pickups. Tell Dave what you want. He can make it. You’re probably looking at his splat option.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check him out! I have to say though, generally speaking I'm a bit hesitant about paying "custom" prices for a pickup no one's ever heard before I tend to be extra thorough--same reason I'm on here getting extra opinions before buying a pickup

 

[bassface732]

Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" or "Screamin' Demon" at the bridge.
Anything hotter will overpower the neck & middle pickups.

I will definitely look into these pickups, thanks for the recommendations! They do seem to be in the right output range to balance with the single coils, so definitely worth taking a look!

 

[Hodgo]

Pick your favorite humbucker, and instead of wiring the coil split to ground directly, pop a 10k trim pot inbetween the coil and ground. Dial this in once to find your perfect partial split sound.

I would also add the DiMarzio Fortitude to your list of potential hot PAF candidates. Excellent pickup.

 

[TBurst Std]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check him out! I have to say though, generally speaking I'm a bit hesitant about paying "custom" prices for a pickup no one's ever heard before I tend to be extra thorough--same reason I'm on here getting extra opinions before buying a pickup

HIs prices are reasonable. If you search LPF or TGP, you cand fin other who use his products. He stands behind them as well. You get the pup and it doesn't sound the way you want, he will rewind it.

 

[supertruper1988]

Thanks all for the responses so far!

Yeah, I have the JB in my other Warmoth build and I love it--sounds terrific on its own and gives plenty of snap when split. I'm concerned about the pretty significant difference in output compared to the single coils though... feels like it would really overpower the Lollars, no?

Over power how?

I am the first to admit that my "clean" tone isnt very clean but I am not strumming away on my clean bridge humbucker even on my low output humbucker guitars.

To make the HSS thing work, you will have to compromise. A powerful humbucker bridge does that thing and splits well for that sultans of swing sound.

Have this in your requirements:

• A bridge humbucker that can handle modern hard rock/alternative (think Mesa Dual Rec tones).

Which is the opposite of this:

• Needs to stay somewhat balanced with lower-output Lollar Blondes in the neck/middle.

I run a compressor thats always on. It chops off the sharp attack on singles and helps the balance on HSS/HSH guitars. Try that if you havent. I recommend a nice opto comp for this. Then you will need to think about the use case for a bridge humbucker vs split vs singles. I use singles for clean and dirty and when I need or want rock, boom bridge humbucker is there. Sure its "louder" but louder into an already compressed and dirty signal path is just more rock.

Obviously opinions will vary but all knobs on 10 and using my picking hand to control the signal level into whatever level of overdrive I need at that moment works for me.

 

[rockandroller]

Kinman makes what yer looking for, but it's a big budget item...

 

[Strat Avenger]

Over power how?

Overpower as in switching from the bridge pickup to the neck or middle results in a drastic volume drop.

I do agree that the O.P.'s "requirements" are in conflict with each other, but modern amps have enough overdrive and EQ that high-output pickups really aren't necessary anyway.

 

[Rick]

Fast track 1 neck
Chopper middle
Railhammer Anvil Bridge

Haven't tried them in the same guitar but I love the dimarzios and the Anvil so that would be the set i would put together. You can always change them down the road if you're unhappy

 

[Strat Avenger]

Fast track 1 neck
Chopper middle
Railhammer Anvil Bridge

Haven't tried them in the same guitar but I love the dimarzios and the Anvil so that would be the set i would put together. You can always change them down the road if you're unhappy

Chopper sounds like mud and won't get any "quack" (ask me how I know). I would go with a Area 61 in the middle.
I have 2 guitars with a Fast Track 1 in the neck position.
What are the specs of the Anvil?

 

[Rick]

Just going by my ears ... me likey chopper better than area 61. Alot of your sound is your amp and speakers, and you don't know what you like until you try. Maybe the thing to do would be to try to go to a local guitar store, find an amp or combo like yours and plug in a variety of strats to see what you like. There's nothing wrong the area 61, to me it sounds plain, sort of meh ... it's personal preference.

My advice is experiment ... see what's out there.

 

[supertruper1988]

Overpower as in switching from the bridge pickup to the neck or middle results in a drastic volume drop.

I understand the words used but feel that they lack clarity to allow us to offer help. I see this a lot with HSS setups and the discussion of them. Are y'all really just jangling away on clean bridge humbuckers?

For me the advantage of HSS is the fact that the bridge pickup is louder and therefore will push my signal more and give me more. Then I still have lower output neck/middle for cleans.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I understand the words used but feel that they lack clarity to allow us to offer help. I see this a lot with HSS setups and the discussion of them. Are y'all really just jangling away on clean bridge humbuckers?

For me the advantage of HSS is the fact that the bridge pickup is louder and therefore will push my signal more and give me more. Then I still have lower output neck/middle for cleans.

Too much of anything is not desireable. An old PAF is gonna be louder than a single coil pickup, but a JB is too much of a volume difference. Lots of people play lead on the neck pickup with overdrive, sometimes switching back & forth between neck & bridge. I know a lot of players live with that, but there's no need to.

 

[bassface732]

Thanks again for all the replies! I’m definitely hearing what you’re all saying- I probably should have clarified this at the beginning, but I’m still a noob in many respects With regards to what I meant by “overpower,” and my apparent contradiction in my original post, Strat Avenger nailed it:

Overpower as in switching from the bridge pickup to the neck or middle results in a drastic volume drop.

I do agree that the O.P.'s "requirements" are in conflict with each other, but modern amps have enough overdrive and EQ that high-output pickups really aren't necessary anyway.

I absolutely see how trying to get the Dual Rec tones AND stay balanced with single coils seems contradictory I guess the answer I was hoping for was that an amp like that is going to do enough of the work that I can get useable tones out of a lower-output humbucker anyway, which seems to be roughly what Strat Avenger is saying if I understand correctly?

 

[bassface732]

Regarding the JB: I AM concerned about the significant volume drop when switching from bridge to elsewhere. Here’s a bit of background that might be helpful- it’s entirely possible I’m screwing something else up somewhere along the way:

I gig with a Headrush (basically an off-brand Line 6 Helix) plugged straight into the board. I basically have my different gain-stages set up as different “rigs” on the Headrush that I can toggle between- basically clean (Fender Twin), vintage gain, high-gain (the Dual Rec), and a full-on lead sound. The songs my band plays often require me to switch between these mid-song (I.e, clean funk in the verses, hard rock in the choruses, etc.). The other guitars I play are pretty well-balanced across pickups, so any differences in volume I need I already have dialed into the rigs themselves.

So basically, my concern is that if I’ve got the master volume set to where it sounds good playing clean funk in pup position 4 with the Lollars, then I switch to the Dual Rec patch AND increase my guitar’s output by more than triple when going to the JB, it’s gonna sound too loud. Am I way off base here?

Thanks all for your patience with a noob like me! I’m totally self-taught and picked up what little I know about all this on the fly…