[iliekwierdstrats]

Hey guys!

I've been thinking of replacing the pups in my strat to noiseless singles.
I've heard good things about a 67 in the neck and a 58 in the middle, instead of vice-versa as Dimarzio advises. I intend to wire the tone controls to neck and bridge, so middle is wide open and dropped close to to the guard for maximum quack. This way I have more control over the brighter pickup (the 67) and it gives me a greater range of tones for neck pickup (since I only use the middle pickup for quack... pretty much never by itself).

I want more vintage sounding neck and middle tones, but a little more kick and sustain in the bridge position, while retaining singlecoil-y flavour. The only thing is I hope the Solo won't overpower the neck too much (a little is ok, as it's to be expected considering its higher output, but I'm hopping to be able to get them close by raising the neck pup and dropping the Solo a touch from it`s optimal height (really hope I don`t have to do this part).

I was wondering if anyone had tried the Virtual Solo with either Area 58`s, 67`s, or a combination of them, and could give me their thoughts, advice, experiences, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[darkbluemurder]

Hi,

I have the exact same combination in one of my strats, and Area 67 neck/Area 58 middle in another strat  with a Chopper in the bridge. To your questions:

67/58 neck/middle or vice versa: I tried it both ways, and 67 in both positions, and 58 in both positions. 67 neck/58 middle emerged as my clear favorite. Did not like the 58 in the neck as much, and did not like the 67 in the middle as much.

Virtual Solo in the bridge: still sounds like a strat bridge pickup but does not have the ice-pick highs. It will not overpower the other two pickups. Not even the Chopper overpowers them in the other strat, and that pickup is a good deal hotter than the Virtual Solo. The hotter output in the bridge is beneficial because the string movement is more shallow over the bridge pickup than over the neck pickup. 

I second the idea to use separate tone controls for the neck and bridge pickups, especially the bridge pickup will benefit from that since you can warm it up further if so desired.

Cheers Stephan

[iliekwierdstrats]

Hi,

I have the exact same combination in one of my strats, and Area 67 neck/Area 58 middle in another strat  with a Chopper in the bridge. To your questions:

67/58 neck/middle or vice versa: I tried it both ways, and 67 in both positions, and 58 in both positions. 67 neck/58 middle emerged as my clear favorite. Did not like the 58 in the neck as much, and did not like the 67 in the middle as much.

Virtual Solo in the bridge: still sounds like a strat bridge pickup but does not have the ice-pick highs. It will not overpower the other two pickups. Not even the Chopper overpowers them in the other strat, and that pickup is a good deal hotter than the Virtual Solo. The hotter output in the bridge is beneficial because the string movement is more shallow over the bridge pickup than over the neck pickup. 

I second the idea to use separate tone controls for the neck and bridge pickups, especially the bridge pickup will benefit from that since you can warm it up further if so desired.

Cheers Stephan

Thank you so much for your input! I was also looking at getting a chopper, so before I pull the trigger on buying these pups, I'd like to know your experiences with the chopper vs the virtual solo, in regards to the differences, the clean sound of each, how the chopper balances with the  67 and 58, what kind of height (or distance from the strings) you have in order for them to balance well, etc. (Basically, if you can find the time to tell me your FULL experiences with each, that would be amazing, and I would love you forever )

[darkbluemurder]

Sure, you're welcome.

Differences between Chopper and Virtual Solo: think of thee Virtual Solo as a strat bridge pickup that (1) does not have the typical ice-pick and (2) is not underpowered compared to the neck and middle pickups. The Chopper is more like a PAF type humbucker in a single coil rail format. It is a bit louder than the Virtual Solo but does not overpower the neck and middle pickups.

In both strats I use 250k pots. The Virtual Solo is set quite close to the strings (almost kissing them) whereas the Chopper is close but not that close. I did not have any problems in getting a good balance between the Chopper and the other two.

So I would say if you want a vintage strat set up without the icepick in the bridge, get the Virtual Solo/58/67. If you want more something like a HSS set up where the bridge pickup still balances well with the other two and still gets a decent quack out of the bridge+middle combo, get the Chopper/58/67.

Luckily for me I have both sets already!

Cheers Stephan

[iliekwierdstrats]

Sure, you're welcome.

Differences between Chopper and Virtual Solo: think of thee Virtual Solo as a strat bridge pickup that (1) does not have the typical ice-pick and (2) is not underpowered compared to the neck and middle pickups. The Chopper is more like a PAF type humbucker in a single coil rail format. It is a bit louder than the Virtual Solo but does not overpower the neck and middle pickups.

In both strats I use 250k pots. The Virtual Solo is set quite close to the strings (almost kissing them) whereas the Chopper is close but not that close. I did not have any problems in getting a good balance between the Chopper and the other two.

So I would say if you want a vintage strat set up without the icepick in the bridge, get the Virtual Solo/58/67. If you want more something like a HSS set up where the bridge pickup still balances well with the other two and still gets a decent quack out of the bridge+middle combo, get the Chopper/58/67.

Luckily for me I have both sets already!

Cheers Stephan

Thank you so much! I'm definitely pulling the trigger on the VS/58/67. I'll probably get the chopper for another guitar somewhere down the line.