High gain strat pickups?

axisus

OK, I fancy trying some screaming strat pickups for a change. Any suggestions?

To work for me they must:
All occupy single coil space
all look like regular strat pickups eg no rails etc
ideally sound more like a regular strat when the volume is rolled off.

Does anything fit that bill?

Philly_Q

https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickup/strat/the-sinner-single-coil

p90fool

I have a Seymour Duncan SSL-6 going spare if that's any use? It still sounds like a Strat when you roll it back, but with no brittleness.

Stevepage

Only thing I found with the Sinner pickup was that it's very compressed for clean tones. Sounds amazing with distortion though.

MrBump

I had a BKP Trilogy Suite set.  Briefly.  Absolutely hated them, couldn't get anything that I liked out of them.  Definitely not Stratty, if they ever make the list.

ICBM

Try the DiMarzio hum-cancelling series that look exactly like Strat pickups - not the rails ones - eg the Injector or Virtual Solo. I haven’t yet, but the lower-output ones sound fantastic, much better than any other stacked humbuckers I’ve tried.

guitars4you

Hi-Gain is not my personal scene - But the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails as always been a popular option for many - Again hum cancelling with tap options as required

Funkfingers

p90fool said:

Seymour Duncan SSL-6

axisus said:

sound more like a regular strat when the volume is rolled off.

The SSL-6T has a coil tap. This enables it to revert to "vintage" output when required.

In similar vein, the Oil City Pickups Diamond Geezer. 

The Duncan tap is 50%. The OCP DG is more like 75%.

ICBM said:

DiMarzio ... Injector ... sound fantastic, much better than any other stacked humbuckers I’ve tried.

They certainly work well with overdrive/distortion pedals.

guitarmangler

After being on the pickup merry go round for many years, my conclusion is have regular strat pickups and just use a tubescreamer/whatever boost or eq pedal and a noise gate for heavier sounds and then switch it off for the quiet stuff. The loud or hum canceling stuff never sounds quite like a true is single. 
Tho, if you don’t care about the true single sound, get the Duncan Yngwie’s of DiMarzio injectors.

fretmeister

I've got 2 Injectors (Bridge and Neck) and an Area 67 in the middle.

Works very well. 

drwiddly

The Irongear Smoke Stack II are very good. They're stacked single coils so a bit ballsier than standard sc's and they split well too.

FX_Munkee

drwiddly said:

The Irongear Smoke Stack II are very good. They're stacked single coils so a bit ballsier than standard sc's and they split well too.

I've just fitted a set of these and TBH I'm not exactly loving them, can't seem to get a decent balance in tone (get tapped sounding right, both coils on sounds wrong and visa versa). Will persevere a bit longer with them to see if I can get it right.

Obviously YMMV.

stimpsonslostson

I had a set of Injectors with an Area 51(?) in the middle position. They were a bit more middy than a standard strat, but with adjustment of the amp eq I really liked them. 

drwiddly

FX_Munkee said:

drwiddly said:

The Irongear Smoke Stack II are very good. They're stacked single coils so a bit ballsier than standard sc's and they split well too.

I've just fitted a set of these and TBH I'm not exactly loving them, can't seem to get a decent balance in tone (get tapped sounding right, both coils on sounds wrong and visa versa). Will persevere a bit longer with them to see if I can get it right.

Obviously YMMV.

I got them to balance well but found the bridge pickup was a bit underpowered for my needs so swapped it out for a hot rails. The OP seems to want a fatter Strat sound and they'll do that.

It sounds as though they don't sound how you want so maybe they're not right for you?

Alex2678

https://www.alchemypickups.co.uk/product-page/hemlock

I’ve got one of these in the bridge position, absolutely rips with high gain, still stratty when needed. Think it reads 16k. Made in U.K., great returns policy if they’re not to taste. Pretty quick turnaround in my experience, think the site says 10 days but was less in my case.

put a video on Instagram when I installed it if you’ll excuse the quality of both the playing and the video : 
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3KQGRTHjf7/?igshid=f5uth91zkzoi

paulnb57

I like Sinners, but have never had a full set, A sinner Bridge pickup is OK with Standard middle and neck but a Sinner neck at the bridge is IMHO sublime!

thermionic

Radishop's ID Evolution are worth a look.

CasperCaster

For a fairly tight bright (but not shrill) bridge pickup sound the Seymour Duncan SSL5/ SSL6 or Oil City Diamond Geezer do a great job. For a big warm furry bridge pickup sound try a Dimarzio SDS1 if your pickup cavity is deep enough. If you like strong mids with a sort of cocked wah sound try a Dimarzio FS1 (I didn't like the FS1 but I bet some people would love it).

There are also other quality pickups built with steel poles and magnets on the base (similar to the SDS1) , from Harmonic Design, Fralin and probably others - not all pickups built that way sound as bad as those from a Fender Mexican Standard! 

thegummy

Funkfingers said:

In similar vein, the Oil City Pickups Diamond Geezer. 

Couldn't recommend this one enough, though I think it might only be available for the bridge position.

noisepolluter

thegummy said:

Funkfingers said:

In similar vein, the Oil City Pickups Diamond Geezer. 

Couldn't recommend this one enough, though I think it might only be available for the bridge position.

Another recommendation for the Diamond Geezer. 

I’m sure Ash could make a full tapped set if you asked him. 

gordiji

p90fool said:

I have a Seymour Duncan SSL-6 going spare if that's any use? It still sounds like a Strat when you roll it back, but with no brittleness.

I've just put one in mine. V.good in that it still sounds stratty without overpowering the other two pups . You lose a little bit of twang at the bottom which is to be expected.