True single coil that is loud but still bright?

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Offline RayBarbeeMusic

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True single coil that is loud but still bright?
« on: June 20, 2015, 12:09:11 AM »
I just picked up an EBMM Silhouette Special, and I'm liking it.  Neck is very much like my early 90s G&Ls. 

It has the "Silent single" system, which works about as well as the Suhr/Ilytch SSC thing did, maybe better actually, but I'm not thrilled with the stock singles.  They sound ok with gain but clean they are rather wimpy.   I want to see if I can find some true singles that will work better. 

I tried a ton of them back when I had an SSC but its been a while.   What I'm looking for is something loud but still fairly glassy (think Injector neck w/500k pots), and preferably Alnico 3 or 2 because the string pull from the alnico 5 slugs is no fun. 

Any suggestions?

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Offline tonejam

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Re: True single coil that is loud but still bright?
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2015, 11:12:51 PM »
Ray, if you can tolerate the alnico 5 string pull, I'd try a HS-2 wired single coil. As Dimarzio says, one of the best vintage Strat sounds around. Mine reads around 8.2 and I have it in mid position. Lovely crisp sound.
Bonus is you can often pick them up very cheap second hand, as folks think they're old technology (which I guess they are in hum-cancelling mode).

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Offline HeyNorton!

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Re: True single coil that is loud but still bright?
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2015, 03:19:17 PM »
Loud and still bright sounds like harmonic design vintage plus.  They are as loud as a standard output bucker.  They add some bass and mids to the usual strat bright.

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Offline RayBarbeeMusic

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Re: True single coil that is loud but still bright?
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2015, 03:48:39 PM »
What kind of volume do you get out of the HS-2 split?  They are quite anemic in hum cancelling mode due to the old technology used.  They'd have to be a lot louder when split. 

Seems like I heard the single coils used in middle position on the Ibanez JEMs were basically the HS-2 top coil.  Anyone know for sure?

RE the harmonic designs, I want to avoid a lot of added low end, I don't want to lose the tightness.  I just want more volume, more mids is ok. 

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Offline tonejam

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Re: True single coil that is loud but still bright?
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2015, 09:45:48 PM »
Ray, I've tried a lot of PUPS in mid position, basically trying to get a good quack combined with the bridge or neck.
The HS-2 single coil is absolutely great for that, because its really crisp. Its also the only middle PUP I've found to be usable on its own. Others have been too midrangey and indefinite.I have an AT-1 in bridge, and of course, it doesn't really compete with that, but I use the AT-1 split a lot of the time, and they balance well. I have a Seymour Duncan "Hot For Tele", with cover removed in neck position, and the HS-2 balances well with that, too. I've got it set pretty high, but string pull hasn't been an issue.
Hope this gives you some idea.