My next pickup build - A humbucker specifically designed for HSS. Opinions wanted.

Alegree

I'm going to try a different approach for this one.

I know my next build is going to be a humbucker specifically designed for the bridge position of a fat Strat (while waiting for stuff to arrive to continue my other ongoing builds). 

I'd like to know exactly what you fat Strat users out there think would be the absolute perfect humbucker for this would be (or is, if you've already found it).

I hear a lot of complaints about the EQ difference that leads to an inherently muddy bridge when the amp settings are dialled for the single coils, so my idea is to do something that sounds and feels more like a single coil, but still retains some of the contrast that is desired from an HSS. Probably looking at something in the medium output region. 

I'd love to know your views on the subject before I embark on this build

Bennyboy-UK

I built a strat last year using an early 90s Japanese HRR as the base because I wanted to build a guitar that was fun, and one which I wouldn't be heartbroken if it got damaged or stolen if I ever go out playing.

That guitar came with a PAF Pro plus a couple of SCs - and a Floyd - which was a bonus for me, but I wanted to make something that looked a bit like a Fender Custom Shop ltd edition I took a fancy to.

i obtained a couple of Fender Noiseless SCs, and also made use of a spare pickup I had lying around, an old non logod SD PATB1, which is one of my favourite HBs, and if nothing else... It looks very cool. I ordered up some dirty looking old cream pickup covers, knobs and switch tip.

I contacted Jacks Instument Services to make a fresh scratchplate for me, along with doing the wiring, as my soldering is not great, and circuit diagrams aren't my thing especially as I had plans for this guitar.

i wanted to have a lot of control over the bridge humbucker and at the same time not add any other visible switching above what was already there.

Working with Jack, we ended up with master vol, master tone for all 3 pickups, and in the second volume pot position we put in a 4 way rotary switch under a standard tone knob.

the rotary 4 way switch goes from
1. humbucker both coils in series - so full beans.
2. bridge facing coil of HB in isolation
3. Neck facing coil of HB in isolation
4. both coils of HB in parallel

the 5 way works in the usual way, so I can have loads of options for mixing the middle sc with the bridge pickup in whatever config I want, or I can have full on HB, and then 3 lower output variations each with different characteristics in the bridge position.

Inspiration...


Starting Point...


Pickup Planing - I used the configurator tools on the Warmoth site to play with how this might look and annotated the picture with more info and ideas - probably some technical inaccuracies as well 


And here is the finished item...





This works very well and achieved exactly what I had hoped.


I'd like to do another one - but this time I'm thinking Tele or Esquire.

Bennyboy-UK

Incidentally, I had a Rio grand HB that was initially going to go in the bridge, as it was recommend as having very good coil splitting characteristics. I can't recall which model it is. .. It didn't get used in the end, I wanted something less polite

rpr

A HB that worked with 250K pots, would be useful....

Alegree

rpr said:

A HB that worked with 250K pots, would be useful....

Excellent shout - that'll certainly be a requirement.

Kebabkid

A recent Tim Pierce and Pete Thorn video showed one of the latter's Suhr HSS and I suppose this is more to do with the wiring and electrics but the humbucker (? a Thornbucker, SSV, SSH - not a high output pickup) could be put in parallel or series via the 2nd tone knob (push/push) and this was also a pickup blend. The 1st tone knob also had a push/push feature to coil-tap the humbucker.

If your humbucker, and I'd go with low output (under 10k) was able to incorporate/work well with those sort of things along with a 250K pot (I think the Fender Shawbucker approach with the matched value pots worked), that might be something good.

Good luck

Bennyboy-UK

I think i misunderstood what you were after - sorry! - good practice for posting pictures pointlessly though!

Alegree

Bennyboy-UK said:

I think i misunderstood what you were after - sorry! - good practice for posting pictures pointlessly though!

No worries, seeing what you like in your HSS is useful information.

Alegree

Update: built the first prototype today.

Way too high output. General feel and tone is what I had in mind though. I've had to get it right into the pickguard to balance with my Texan Hailstorm neck/middle, which are hot vintage output strat singles.

So far the design is wound to the output of a hot PAF, alnico 5 rods in one bobbin and slugs in the other with an alnico 5 bar underneath. The alnico rods really boost the output a lot, so I'll have to wind it lower, and I might look into using weaker magnets for both the slugs (which I think I'll be swapping to screws to soften the treble that will now increase) and the bar magnet for the next one. The coils are going to be unbalanced to make the alnico rodded coil the dominant one, which I'm expecting to open up the mids and make it respond to pick dynamics more like a single. 

I feel like I'm redesigning the wide range.

I'll be doing a full write up with pretty pictures and stuff as I progress onto the next prototype.

johnhe

I've never managed to get an HSS setup I'm happy with, but I think that's not really the pickups fault. I'm looking for something which sounds like a McCarty or LP in the bridge position. Obviously a strat will never sound like a LP, but nice, fat roundness and chunk.

I'm assuming that a super switch and a stacked 250/500k pot is essential. It makes it more awkward that I like a PRS style 180pf cap on my volume pot for buckers, but dislike treble bleeds on single coils.

But Its never worked for me in practice (I've never had the full superswitch/Landau setup). Either  the bucker sounds great and the SCs are anemic, or vice versa.

Roland

Holy grail of pickup switching: Strat single coil to Gibson humbucker

Alegree

johnhe said:

I've never managed to get an HSS setup I'm happy with, but I think that's not really the pickups fault. I'm looking for something which sounds like a McCarty or LP in the bridge position. Obviously a strat will never sound like a LP, but nice, fat roundness and chunk.

I'm assuming that a super switch and a stacked 250/500k pot is essential. It makes it more awkward that I like a PRS style 180pf cap on my volume pot for buckers, but dislike treble bleeds on single coils.

But Its never worked for me in practice (I've never had the full superswitch/Landau setup). Either  the bucker sounds great and the SCs are anemic, or vice versa.

Sounds exactly like a pickup problem to me.
If you can't get good tones out of both the singles and the bucker on the same amp settings then that's got to be the EQ difference at work. If the bucker is closer in EQ to the singles, that when the amp settings are set for good single tones ideally then you'd get a good LP bridge tone. 

Schnozz

Roland said:

Holy grail of pickup switching: Strat single coil to Gibson humbucker

Yep - This is why I've hated the HSS Config so far.

mudslide73

Alnico II and about 14k that also works with 250k pots for me. I like HSS fwiw but I reckon a hot single can be just as good if you're not going completely metally.

Alegree

Ok, next question for HSS users - have you switched the wiring for tone control usage on the bridge? 
If not, the pickup is seeing 250k to ground, the same as a normal LP anyway. If the majority is yes, then I'll have to compensate for this.