Looking for advice on HSS Strat pickup choices

[samgoody]

@drewfx, thanks for your advice on the third question.  It does make me wonder, though, why Tom Anderson would go to the length of making a reverse wound/polarity stack if it serves no practical purpose.  I'd be very interested in learning the science behind all this stuff.

@AutoBat, thanks for clearing up the other questions.  LOL, sometimes I wish my name was Eric Johnson - he's got some of the best guitar tones on the planet in my humble opinion.  But really, I'm not as particular as he is about tone.  Then again, I'm not even half the player he is.

Now it looks like I'm going to have to choose between the DiMarzio Area and Fender Vintage Noiseless for the neck and middle pups.

 

[Strat Avenger]

The Dimarzio Area series pickups definitely do get the "quack". Their other stack models do not.

TB-12 id the same as "F-spaced". The SH-12 is not.

 

[AutoBat]

I love my Fender Vintage Noiseless (original models) but they always get terrible reviews.  I've played the Cobalt-Samarium Fenders and thought them to be similar.
I've never played the Area series and I've heard great things about 'em.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Www.carlsenguitar.com

 

[samgoody]

I love my Fender Vintage Noiseless (original models) but they always get terrible reviews.  I've played the Cobalt-Samarium Fenders and thought them to be similar.
I've never played the Area series and I've heard great things about 'em.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the DiMarzio Area pickups, as they seem to be getting mostly positive reivews.  The only thing holding me back from pushing the order button is that, living outside the US as I am, I would have to pay $92 per pickup (according to the website linked by Kostas earlier), which is an extra $20 over the domestic US sales price :icon_scratch:.  That puts them pretty close to the slightly more boutique stuff, such as Suhr, Anderson, Rio Grande, etc.  On the other hand, I may be able to get Fender VNs for $15 to $20 less per pickup, but the reviews I've read are mixed at best - some people love 'em, most seem not to like 'em.  I guess there are worse quandaries in this world to face than deciding whether to spend $40 more than budgeted for pickups, but I still hate making that kind of choice.  Decisions, decisions!

Out of curiosity, though, how would you be able to tell the "original" VNs from the Cobalt-Samarium ones?

Www.carlsenguitar.com

Thanks for the link Tony.  I've checked out the website, and the price is fantastic considering the pickups are all hand-made to order.  I'm just looking for 60Hz hum cancellation in Strat sized pups, though.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Although some may like the sound of the "samarium-cobalt" pickups, the do not really have that vintage tone.

I paid $92 each for Dimarzio HS-3s over 20 years ago, and they don't sound nearly as good as the "Areas". The price later dropped to around $75 in the late '90s or early 2000s.

Simply put; if you like the sound of vintage single-coils, and don't want the "hum", the Areas are for you. I like the 67s because they have the most top-end, which is great for "quack" and that sparkling bell-like tone. The 58 and 61 has a bit less of the bite, and are just EQ'd slightly different.

 

[bagman67]

Although some may like the sound of the "samarium-cobalt" pickups, the do not really have that vintage tone.

I paid $92 each for Dimarzio HS-3s over 20 years ago, and they don't sound nearly as good as the "Areas". The price later dropped to around $75 in the late '90s or early 2000s.

Simply put; if you like the sound of vintage single-coils, and don't want the "hum", the Areas are for you. I like the 67s because they have the most top-end, which is great for "quack" and that sparkling bell-like tone. The 58 and 61 has a bit less of the bite, and are just EQ'd slightly different.

+1 on the Area p'ups.  I played a set of 67's at a local builder's shop recently and was very very surprised by how much of the single-coil high-end stuff was there, where it was markedly absent from the Samarium CObalts and Fender Vintage Noiseless (as well as the gamut of twin-rail pickups I have played).

 

[Cagey]

I'll pile on for the Area pickups as well. I have a set in one of my Strats and have no plans to change them. I don't know how to describe them other than to say they sound like single coils without the hum. As Bagman said, they may be eq'd a bit differently than some others, but I just attribute that to them wanting a broad(er) product line. Gotta make things a little different, so as to create controversy. People like to feel as if they're just as unique as everybody else.

 

[samgoody]

Cagey, Bagman, Street - thanks for your recommendations, you've managed to sway me in favor of the Areas.  I'm going to be placing an order for two Area 67's then!

On the bridge pickup I'm leaning more towards the Suhr SSH now than the Screamin' Demon.  Price-wise they're almost the same.  I already have an SSH+ (higher output version) in an alder bodied guitar, and it sounds good to me.  I think I can reasonably expect that the SSH would sound good in alder as well, and to be voiced similarly.  As for the Screamin' Demon, I've read lots of opinions on the web, and it seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of pickups (i.e. it's either going to sound spectacularly good, or spectacularly bad).  On paper it looks like the kind of pickup I would want - a clear, articulate medium-output humbucker.  My adventurous side wants to try it just to see if I can get different sounds than the ones I normally get, but the sensible side in me wants to stick with the Suhr because I can reasonably guess how it's going to sound. ... I think I'm over-analyzing this.  I'll probably just place an order for a Suhr SSH.

It would have been so much more difficult to narrow down my choices without the help of everyone who posted here, as I am prone to "analysis paralysis" sometimes.  Thank you all for your input.  Now I'm off to find a suitable wiring diagram!

 

[Cagey]

It would have been so much more difficult to narrow down my choices without the help of everyone who posted here, as I am prone to "analysis paralysis" sometimes.  Thank you all for your input.  Now I'm off to find a suitable wiring diagram!

The dreaded "analysis paralysis" trap is easy to fall into with pickups because their sound is such a subjective thing. No matter what anybody says, you still don't know what they're going to sound like. So, you pays yer munny and you takes yer chance. When I put together a guitar, it's gotten to where one of my main criteria is "have I used these before?" If so, keep looking around.

I've been fortunate that everything I've installed has always sounded good except some cheap ceramics I got years ago. Unfortunately, I can't even remember who made them so I can't warn you off. But, everybody else has been great in their own way. But, just to throw a monkey wrench in things, the most outstanding of them all has been an unexpected contender, the GFS Neovins. Their goodness was unexpected because they're practically unheard of and they're also very inexpensive. Normally, inexpensive = poor quality, but that wasn't the case with these. Wonderful things.

They come in several windings for different response curves. I used the "Power Rock" set. Regardless of winding, you can get all three for less than what one costs from some suppliers, so the risk level is pretty low. They're noiseless, but of an unusual construction. Internally, they're basically side-by-side coils with "rail" poles, like Seymour Duncan's original "hot rails" design, but they add a set of single pole pieces between the rails that stick out the top to concentrate the magnetic fields and eliminate the phasing errors all side-by-side designs have, and also give them a more traditional appearance. It's very effective.

Not to put you off the Area series pickups - those are nice, too. Very single-coily, with good tone. You certainly won't be sorry going that route. But, these are half the price for at least as good a tone, if not better. That's just my ears, though. Can't rely on those. Talking about tone is like dancing about architecture - it can't be done.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Cagey, Bagman, Street - thanks for your recommendations, you've managed to sway me in favor of the Areas.  I'm going to be placing an order for two Area 67's then!

On the bridge pickup I'm leaning more towards the Suhr SSH now than the Screamin' Demon.  Price-wise they're almost the same.  I already have an SSH+ (higher output version) in an alder bodied guitar, and it sounds good to me.  I think I can reasonably expect that the SSH would sound good in alder as well, and to be voiced similarly.  As for the Screamin' Demon, I've read lots of opinions on the web, and it seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of pickups (i.e. it's either going to sound spectacularly good, or spectacularly bad).  On paper it looks like the kind of pickup I would want - a clear, articulate medium-output humbucker.  My adventurous side wants to try it just to see if I can get different sounds than the ones I normally get, but the sensible side in me wants to stick with the Suhr because I can reasonably guess how it's going to sound. ... I think I'm over-analyzing this.  I'll probably just place an order for a Suhr SSH.

It would have been so much more difficult to narrow down my choices without the help of everyone who posted here, as I am prone to "analysis paralysis" sometimes.  Thank you all for your input.  Now I'm off to find a suitable wiring diagram!

You're really not gonna go wrong on the Suhr humbucker.
Just to comment on the Screamin' Demon; have 4 guitars with the "Demon" in them, and one with a JB. The Demon is basically just a 59 that has a touch more high-end, and tiny bit more midrange, with the bass backed off slightly. I think the people who "hate" it were expecting it to be a hot, loud pickup because of the name, but the name is misleading.

I tried one, and liked it, so I wanted all my electrics to have the same output or volume when I plugged them in, without having to mess with the amp knobs everytime I switch guitars. I installed the "Demon" in all of them just for consistency. The LP style guitar came from the factory with the JB, so I just left it in there. It works for that guitar (but so would a '59).

I don't know if you've wired other H-S-S guitars or not, but if not, pay attention to the phase of the pickups. The Areas are in-phase with regular single-coils, but not with full-size humbuckers, so you'll have to switch 2 wires on the 'bucker. If you don't, the number 2 switch position with have a nasty out-of-phase honk, and no "quack". it would not affect any of the other positions with a standard 5-way switch. Switch the hot & Ground, and position 2 will be in-phase.

 

[samgoody]

Talking about tone is like dancing about architecture

Cagey, I think you have the quote of the day here!  Those GFS pickups look like a real bargain if they're anywhere near as good as advertised, but I'm sticking with the DiMarzio Areas for this project.  Here's my adventurous side taking a backseat to my sensible side again ...

I don't know if you've wired other H-S-S guitars or not, but if not, pay attention to the phase of the pickups. The Areas are in-phase with regular single-coils, but not with full-size humbuckers, so you'll have to switch 2 wires on the 'bucker. If you don't, the number 2 switch position with have a nasty out-of-phase honk, and no "quack". it would not affect any of the other positions with a standard 5-way switch. Switch the hot & Ground, and position 2 will be in-phase.

Street, thanks for the heads-up on the wiring, very much appreciated.