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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: March 13, 2025, 01:52:19 AM »

This is just a brief update on the Fast Track 1 in the neck position.

While the pickup produces a good amount of treble it is devoid of chime regardless of which pot values you choose. I had hoped that I could partially split the pickup and combine it with an Area 58 in the middle for position 4 quack. Unfortunately it does not have enough top end to keep from sounding muffled. Favoring the red/black/north coil provides a slightly brighter tone over the white/green/south coil but it was still inadequate. So in place of neck + middle, I am combining the Fast Track 1 with the full humbucker in the bridge, which I find more useable.

I imagine position 4 would sound better using the full pickup with another Fast Track 1 in the middle, though I can’t imagine it will sound as good as a pair of Cruisers which already isn’t my cup of tea. I like the tone of the bridge Cruiser in the neck position by itself, but I don’t care for the diffuse sound that results when you combine it with another pickup. So in keeping with the context of this topic about SSS combinations, I would really only recommend the Fast Track 1 for the bridge position unless you’re willing to forego traditional Strat sounds. I still think it is a good choice if you want single coil-esque sounds that can keep up with a humbucker in an HSS or HSH configuration.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: March 07, 2025, 01:41:23 AM »

I’m diggin’ the Fast Track 1 so much that I just swapped out a VVHB2 for one in the neck of my HSS.

I’m in the midst of wiring, so nothing is final, but I’m treating it differently from the way I’m using it in the bridge in terms of loading and voicing.

Because it has so much output and treble it can be sculpted to work with weaker single coils in various ways. And because it has so much output it keeps up with the humbucker in the bridge much better than the VVHB2, saturating much more easily; and like the VVHB2 it isn’t getting muddy.

I also liberated the VV54P from the middle position so that I can use it and the VVHB2 with a Virtual Solo on a future project. The VV54P was replaced with an Area 58, wired so that only the top coil is active for the two quack positions. It is a better match for the screw coil of an A2-loaded JB, also allowing me to split the Fast Track 1 fairly aggressively, though still not completely.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: February 18, 2025, 11:50:36 AM »

The 67 is still a bit brighter than the Injector neck with these loads.

Reducing the load on the Injector neck with 500k pots won’t change its resonant frequency. I would instead consider an Area 61 and continue using 250k pots for a more traditional (less pointy) sounding response with the additional desired brightness, adjusting the heights of the pickups to help address the reduction in output if necessary. I intentionally chose the Injector for its warmer top end and output to keep up with the Fast Track 1 for distorted tones.

The exercise of swapping the pickguard for a vintage output set would be to determine whether the guitar was excessively bright, though I don’t believe it is. If it was excessively bright and I wanted the generous amount of chime provided by the vintage output set then I would use a brass block, perhaps changing out the saddles as well depending on the severity.

While the clean tones on this guitar are really nice, I’ll reach for a different guitar if I want the skinny Strat sound. As it is this guitar works well along side other guitars equipped with humbuckers. In a pinch I can plug straight in and get very useable Strat sounds without any adjustments. That’s the beauty of the Fast Track 1. It does an excellent job bridging the chasm between single coils and humbuckers. With the voicing I’ve applied and the values I’ve chosen for the tone control in position 1, it can get downright chunky with it rolled back yet still have enough output to be even with the rest of the positions, from the mid-bass through the low-treble without sounding honky.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: February 17, 2025, 01:47:07 PM »

Thanks!

Imagine an Area 61 in the middle position of an average Fender American Standard with 250k pots. I don’t think the guitar is particularly bright for what it is. The Injector Neck without the noise cancelling coil is akin to a more powerful version of the Area 61 with the noise cancelling coil. The load of three 250k pots is 83k, so in the case of position 4 consider it like having a 250k volume with a 250k tone in parallel with a 500k tone instead. This makes the position slightly brighter than with vintage Strat wiring.

I’m doing additional things to optimize each position considering the mismatches between the pickups, as well as voicing the FT1 warmer to work better with distortion, but I think just summarizing the loading is able to paint the general picture.

After this project I’ve come to the realization that the Fast Track 1 is the only single-sized humbucker that I like in the bridge position out of everything I’ve tried, including The Chopper. For anything hotter I prefer a full-sized humbucker.

Just for the sake of comparison I’m toying with the idea of dropping in a pickguard with an Area 67 in the neck, Area 58 in the middle and a Virtual Vintage Blues in the bridge. I’ll be sure to post about it in the event that I do. If the guitar turns out overly bright then an Area 58 in the neck with an Area 61 in the middle and the Injector Neck in the bridge might work better, though I don’t have a spare Area 61 or Injector Neck on hand. (Please disregard; as much as I would like to build another set based on an Injector Neck in the bridge, doing it for the sake of being darker than the other set listed is wrong-headed on my part).

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: February 11, 2025, 07:56:21 PM »

I ended up using a 500k/250k dual-gang, single-shaft pot for the master tone control. It was the only way I could do everything I needed to do after exhausting all four poles for positions 2 & 4 on the 5-way super switch.

The final tally for the loading:
bridge (Fast Track 1): 125k
bridge & middle: 250k
middle (Area 61): 125k
middle & neck: 100k
neck (Injector Neck): 125k

Position 2 could possibly benefit from a lighter load. A 1 Meg pot for the volume control might make a slight improvement, though I don’t think it’s worth the effort since the Fast Track 1 simply won’t achieve the same result as a single coil. As it is, position 2 sounds good and is definitely useable.

I’m satisfied with the amount of chime for all of the other positions. The Area 61 in noise cancelling mode loaded with the standard 125k was my baseline for matching positions 4 and 5. With the exception of position 2, there was still room to go brighter, so the values chosen were free from the limitation of too little pot resistance; keep in mind that the noise cancelling coils aren’t being used in positions 2 & 4, and the noise cancelling coil on the neck pickup is dependent on the outer tone control that’s only active in position 5.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: January 28, 2025, 12:28:41 PM »

I don’t like having the tone up high when playing single coils with much gain, so hum from running the Injector with a compromised dummy coil will never be an issue for me.

I’ve used the Injector Neck in all three positions in various guitars. While it is warmer than a traditional vintage single coil, I have never found it to be lifeless. Of course there are many factors involved that will influence how a pickup sounds, not the least of which being the materials used for the bridge and how you set your amp.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: January 27, 2025, 12:36:53 PM »

You’re absolutely right about using a linear taper for the volume control. I don’t like the large initial drop in volume you get with an audio taper, especially on a Strat pickguard where it sits so close to where my hand is. Because of the treble bleed, I treat the volume control as another tone control and the linear taper gives me a more precision. My rhythm tone is medium gain and I’m still able to clean up by rolling the volume back and by lightening up my touch.

The Injector definitely benefits from a lighter load, though the 250k total load from a pair of 500k pots is not enough. If I were only using two controls one would be a 500k and the other would be 250k, which is essentially what I am getting with three 500k controls (167k). The problem with reducing the load too much is that a spike begins to develop in the top end. The real key to getting an extension in frequency response with the Injector Neck lies in shunting the dummy coil. Configuring the second tone control the way I did I am able to do both. Again, the linear taper allows for more precision at the upper end of the control. I also use a series resistor with tone controls in order to prevent the cocked-wah sound.

The Fast Track 1 excels in all three positions. It’s a very versatile pickup. I first tried it in the bridge many years ago and liked the tone but it wasn’t what I wanted at the time. It’s reminiscent of the FS1, perhaps more-so than the Injector Neck which is closer to the FS1 in terms of specifications. The Injector Neck also makes an excellent bridge pickup, though I prefer the Virtual Vintage Blues for the extra sparkle.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: January 26, 2025, 05:04:43 PM »

I’m finishing up another pickguard which I think is noteworthy. This time it was built around the Fast Track 1 in the bridge.

As you may already know the Fast Track 1 sounds like a single coil with humbucker tendencies. It is dynamic with a lot of output. It’s lean with a healthy amount of treble, though it lacks the pure bell sound and top end chime of a single coil, though additional presence can be had with larger value pots without sounding brittle. It can get strident with 500k controls, however.

An Injector Neck was fitted in the neck position which I believe is an excellent match, both in terms of output as well as frequency response. Like with the Fast Track 1 it can benefit from larger pots and can produce some really nice chime in split mode.

The middle position was fitted with an Area 61 which compliments the other two pickups nicely, both in terms of frequency response as well as dynamics. It’s a tad lean but well worth it since it’s able to deliver nice quack with the Injector when both are split. I reversed the polarity of the Area 61 with neodymium rod magnets so that hum is cancelled in positions 2 & 4.

The volume control is a B500k with a treble bleed that is 220pF in series with 20k. The middle control is currently an A500k with a 22nF cap acting as a master tone control. The outer control is a B500k with an 820pF cap acting as a presence control. It is only active in position 5 (neck only), where it is combined with the master tone control. I’ve configured the other end of the control so that it begins shunting the noise cancelling coil of the Injector around 8, fully shorting it when on 10. The active coil of the Area 61 is currently hard-wired with a 240k shunt resistor and the Fast Track 1 is currently shunted with a 510k resistor in position 1 (bridge only).

EDIT: The master tone control will later change as will the loading.

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« on: November 22, 2024, 02:10:54 PM »

Are PAF Masters fairly dark, or just in comparison to single coil Start pickups?

I've read that they actually are fairly bright, but maybe when compared/contrasted with other humbuckers?

There isn’t enough wire to make the PAF Masters particularly dark, though a dense wind can make a bit of a difference. Rather, it is primarily a function of the magnet. The A4 has a flatter, more acoustic type of sound that doesn’t emphasize treble like an A5. I imagine the PAF Masters would work well with single coils, particularly those on the warmer side.

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The Pickup Place / Re: My EVO2 Review

« on: October 22, 2024, 07:32:38 PM »

Nice review.

Have you ever considered demoing the EVO Neck in the bridge position, possibly in an HSS configuration?

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« on: July 14, 2024, 06:37:36 PM »

Full shred set, most definitely.

[…]

You'll not be happy with them until you boost the bass at your amp a bit.  Doing this makes them thump and be super tight as the same time.

Like the JB and other “bright” higher output pickups, the Full Shed doesn’t present as all that bright until the tone starts to saturate. It isn’t particularly bright at the cleaner end of the spectrum compared to a pickup with less wire which appears more in line with the original poster’s needs.

Good cleans and overdrives, some distortion tones.

The Full Shred is nothing more than a Seymour Duncan Custom with an A5 magnet and two screw coils populated with Allen bolts. Between the two, the Custom is the brighter pickup; much brighter than the Full Shred when played clean or crunchy.

Now if the aim is a hotter-than-vintage Seymour Duncan with an aggressive top end, the Perpetual Burn is a better choice for the amount of gain the OP is describing, though I will still point to the leaner, lower-output Screamin’ Demon. The Custom (and its variants), the Perpetual Burn, and the Screamin’ Demon are all 43AWG.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« on: July 06, 2024, 05:47:33 PM »

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« on: July 05, 2024, 11:50:53 AM »

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

With that in mind I’m willing to believe that the PATB-3 is warmer than the SH-1 (and the TB-59 as well). I can’t believe it is less suitable than a Full Shred, however, especially considering the OP is interested in the cleaner end of the spectrum.

The magnet, wire, and wind are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« on: July 04, 2024, 01:12:05 PM »

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« on: July 01, 2024, 07:34:57 PM »

Bridge EJ seems to be nearly identical specs and EQ of neck AC according to Dimarzio website, aside from being brighter, so was wondering how both would work together, but neck EJ probably does sound like a natural fit.

The EJs were designed to sound like Filtertrons but in a humbucker route. The neck and bridge are the same basic recipe, just calibrated for each respective position. Personally, I would not look to the EJ Custom if I wanted the sound of a full-size humbucker, at least not in the bridge position. If you’re happy with the Air Classic Neck in the bridge I would stick with that.

It was mentioned that a 1M tone pot can be useful in getting more brightness out of a pickup. Choosing a smaller tone cap can also make a marked difference, even with a 500k pot turned all the way up, I would try 15nF or 10nF.