Stacked Single-Coil?

[UnklMickey]

my mexican strat is about due for some mild upgrades.

i'm thinking, stacked (NOT side-by-side) HB in a standard SC size.

the standard pups are O.K., could stand to go a touch hotter (not mega-hot though) but i still would like to stay pretty close to the clean sound i have now, minus the hum in one-pup mode.

what are my choices?

Thanks,
U.M.

[Ripper]

I have installed Texas Specials in my Strat. I have tried many pups over the years and these give me by far the best sound. Once you get into Humbuckers or stacked pups you lose a little ( in my opinion ) tone, and technique which is yours and yours alone. They are a little pricey but well worth the money.

[UnklMickey]

deepblue said:

I have installed Texas Specials in my Strat. I have tried many pups over the years and these give me by far the best sound. Once you get into Humbuckers or stacked pups you lose a little ( in my opinion ) tone, and technique which is yours and yours alone. They are a little pricey but well worth the money.

well thanks for the info Deepblue, but i'm really interested in a stack. those texas specials might have about the right heat for my taste. maybe a little less would be better. but mainly i want to reduce the hum when using only one pickup. rwrp doesn't help if you are using just one pup.

so, standard SCs are not what i'm lookin' for. and a side-by-side will probably sound way too different from the standard fender SC clean.

that's why i'm hopin' someone has some knowlege of what's available in stacks.

U.M.

[GuyaGuy]

first off, most so-called stacks are actually side-by-side despite the name. how do they get 2 bobbins side-by-side in a SC slot? i dunno. smoke and mirrors probably.

i've not played any stacks but i know that Seymour Duncan makes plenty of em:

JB Junior
Hot Rail
Little '59
Vintage Stack

www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data2/

[zjokka]

Hi there,

Before I knew anything about DIY, not so long ago, I returned in my Strat at my local musicstore and asked for a new bridge pickup that would give me some extra humbucker power or something.

The tech in the store adviced me the Tom Anderson stacked humbucker SA2+ with a push pull for coil split and I just went with his advice. I DID really give me more power but I was dissapointed that my strat sounded just like before, I was hoping to get more different sounds. But maybe this is just what you're looking for. It really nails the strat single coil sound, but misses grit and fatness. It's a bit clinical in my opinion.

But it really is an expensive pickup at $129, and over here I paid even more euros. The information on TA's site is really scant and doesn't even mention clearly that it's a stacked humbucker. But if you have a TA dealer nearby you could test it in a TA guitar. Give me some time and I'll find which it is...

zj

[dunkelfalke]

unklmickey said:

the standard pups are O.K., could stand to go a touch hotter (not mega-hot though) but i still would like to stay pretty close to the clean sound i have now, minus the hum in one-pup mode.

emg sa ;D

or as a cheaper alternative schaller claim active pus (25 euros each, almost a copy of the emgs)

[UnklMickey]

guyaguy said:

first off, [glow=red,2,300]most so-called stacks are actually side-by-side despite the name.[/glow] how do they get 2 bobbins side-by-side in a SC slot? i dunno. smoke and mirrors probably.

i've not played any stacks but i know that Seymour Duncan makes plenty of em:

JB Junior
Hot Rail
Little '59
Vintage Stack

www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data2/

that's a really important bit of info!

i suspect a SC side-by-side is going to sound way different than standard SC. that's what i'm trying to avoid.

what i'm really trying to find out is, which one(s), if any are built with a second coil underneath for hum-cancelling that won't be sensing the strings.




Johan,

is that price (for the TAs) each, or for a set of 3?




Dunkelfalke,

hadn't even thought of active pups. never used them before. i'll have to give those shallers some thought.

[zjokka]

they're down to $125 (a piece), this one is a dedicated bridge stacked humbucker.
www.andersonguitars.com/tonelibpickup.cfm

[UnklMickey]

zjokka said:

they're down to $125 (a piece), this one is a dedicated bridge stacked humbucker.
www.andersonguitars.com/tonelibpickup.cfm

YIKES! i'm looking at replacing all 3 pups. i just got sticker-shock.

[dunkelfalke]

unklmickey said:

Dunkelfalke,

hadn't even thought of active pups. never used them before. i'll have to give those shallers some thought.

i like them - great sound and no hum. and a good rechargeable battery lasts for months.

the only thing is, i have seen those schaller claims at rockinger.com only (search there for schaller claim) as they aren't being made anymore under that label. that is also the reason for the price.

[R]

how about fender noiseless pu they are as the name suggests noiseless plus they get real close to the vintage strat sound i have them on one of my mexican strats and it real helps alot buzz wise and they run about 140 for a set at musicians friend

[UnklMickey]

sounds like another good candidate.

[Mustang]

I really like the Fender Vintage Noiseless pups that I recently installed. They are absolutely quiet in all switch positions. They have a cleaner sounds than the SCs I replaced. Plenty of 'twang' off the bridge. I don't think they are quiet as hot as the old pups but I haven't looked real close at the heights yet.

[UnklMickey]

VNs in the lead by a nose, with Shaller Claims holding tightly to second.

[simes]

I was thinking of stacked HB’s for the T-type guitar I’m intending to build. Basically, what I want is your basic Strat/Tele sounds plus the possibility of switching in a bit more crunch.

Now, bear in mind that I haven’t had the opportunity to try out what I’m about to say, but …

An SC-sized stacked HB gives more output and a thicker, darker tone than an SC, though less so than a conventional HB, right? Well, has anyone tried wiring the coils of a stack in parallel instead of splitting them? This would undoubtedly thin out and brighten up the sound, and would be hum-cancelling. To what extent would the sound be comparable to that of a standard SC?

If the sound was satisfactory you would then have the option of “S/C” sounds (parallel) or “hotter almost-S/C” (series).

[GuyaGuy]

unklmickey said:

i suspect a SC side-by-side is going to sound way different than standard SC. that's what i'm trying to avoid.

what i'm really trying to find out is, which one(s), if any are built with a second coil underneath for hum-cancelling that won't be sensing the strings.

"stacked" is the term used for HBs in a SC package.

what you want is this:

www.kinman.com/

(lots of good general PU info on the site too!)

[UnklMickey]

yikes! $260 a set. i'm back to sticker shock again.

maybe i'll just put an aux. coils under each pup. (maybe it'll pick up some of that "built-in-reverb" too.

aw $#!+, now i'm completely undecided again.

[Runewalker]

Here's a review you might find interesting.

www.kinman.com/multimedia/sosUnedited/Kinman&DimarzioPickups.htm

All the 'boutique-y" mfg are proud of their prices. Cheaper means used or fenced on Ebay.

RW

[dunkelfalke]

unklmickey said:

aw $#!+, now i'm completely undecided again.

so we are again at schaller claim, 75 euros pro set, subtract 16% vat, add shipping costs from germany ;D

[bam]

hey, Fender Gold Laces are nice stacks too ! I love'em.. 'round $45 each, $110+ for a 3-pack.

[GuyaGuy]

unklmickey said:

yikes! $260 a set. i'm back to sticker shock again.

maybe i'll just put an aux. coils under each pup. (maybe it'll pick up some of that "built-in-reverb" too.

aw $#!+, now i'm completely undecided again.

yeah. pricey but supposed to be the best.

btw, when i said stacked pu's are HBs i meant they buck hum. but one coil is a "slave" coil which is used only to quiet the beast.

speaking of which, have you done that mod? still not quiet enough?

[UnklMickey]

guyaguy said:

..btw, when i said stacked pu's are HBs i meant they buck hum. but one coil is a "slave" coil which is used only to quiet the beast.

speaking of which, have you done that mod? still not quiet enough?

the thing that really confuses the issue with HBs in a SC form factor is trying to figure out which pups are really stacked like you just described and which are "side by side".

my guess is that the ones that are vertically stacked are more likely to sound closer to the "fender stock" sound, since they don't "sense" the string in a second location.

i'm sure that even within the true stacks, there will be a wide range of difference in tonality.

i haven't done the QTB yet. i'm sure it will make some improvement, but i'm also sure it will only be a partial fix.

unk

[bam]

i'm also sure it will only be a partial fix.

it IS partial, uncle. But even though so, it helps quite a lot ;D

[simes]

I repeat:

Has anyone tried wiring a stacked or side-by-side SC-sized HB in parallel? Does it sound anything like a normal SC, or is it too thin?

[jester700]

simes said:

I repeat:

Has anyone tried wiring a stacked or side-by-side SC-sized HB in parallel? Does it sound anything like a normal SC, or is it too thin?

Too thin. Tried this with Duncan Lil 59 and a Carvin twinblade. It might be usable in combination with another pickup, but alone it's thin; without the "snap" of a SC or the mids of a series bucker, it's "the worst of both worlds", IMO. Go for a real single (or even a stacked, if you need it quiet) or rout for a real bucker - you can find one of THOSE that splits to single pretty well.

The only thing SC sized buckers are good for IMO is a "series bucker" sound, and only if you have an itch to keep it SC sized.

[orcslayer]

Kinmans are closest I've found to a Strat sound in a stacked humbucker. By far.

[jester700]

A stacked "bucker" doesn't work the same as a normal one (one of the coils doesn't add to the signal; it only "loads" it), so the series/parallel connections don't do the same things.

I don't have experience with the newer stacked designs, only the older DiMarzio HS ones. These had a shield between the coils, and NO magnets or slugs in the bottom coil. Also, the bottom coil was equal to the top one. In THAT design, the output is LESS when both coils are connected, due to he loading of the bottom coil. You increase the output & brightness by disconnecting the dummy coil. A "normal" single could be brighter yet, because the stack uses AWG43 wire on essentialy small humbucker height bobbins.

[revjtode]

unklmickey said:

my mexican strat is about due for some mild upgrades.

i'm thinking, stacked (NOT side-by-side) HB in a standard SC size.

what are my choices?

Heya. I just picked up a beatup old American Strat at a pawn shop, and I'm currently in the process of making it my own. It has a Dimarzio HS-3 in the bridge, which is a stacked bucker, but the bottom coil is, I'm told, less active in some way. One guy in alt.guitar referred to it as a "dummy" coil. My wiring experiments have borne this out, as it has very little voice to it (it wasn't a phasing problem).

That being said, I was/am actually VERY impressed by the sound of this thing. The Yngwie stigma (for some, I suppose, it's the opposite of a stigma) aside, it's a great twangy little number, in this strat anyways, whether it's wired as a single coil or humbucker.

For a touchstone comparison, I had Fender Vintage Noiseless in a 79 strat once upon a time, and I hated them - no life whatsoever. I advise you to try one of these out in the bridge, anyways - I think the HS-2 is the matching mid/neck pickup for this.

I'm gonna post a wiring schematic based on a superswitch with this and the two stock strat pickups for criticism in a bit, I'm working on it right now.

Oh, by the way, hi everyone, I'm new. :>

[Runewalker]

I just traded a build for a MIJ Strat, that had a strange combination of pups: a Dimarzio X2N at the bridge (completely over the top, hats off to Wolf), a stock MIJ mid, and this oddball in the neck, that I could not figure out where it was getting its sound. It was not quite stratlike, yet was not really humbucker sounding.

Took the pickgaurd off to switch with another, and remove the covers. The Neck pup had the 2 bobbin stacked arrangement and I finally snapped. It was one of those Dimarzio stacked -hums in single coil form factor.

Being from Austin, I used to go see Eric Johnson every Fri or Sat night for $3 cover all over town, before he became a demigod. His tone was unlike any strat sound we had heard when he was cranked up. Very round and singing without that kind of warbly crackle you hear when singles are seriously overdriven.

Then I read he used Dimarzio stacked coils. Suddenly what I had in my hands had a reference point. It was Eric Johnson's sound. Oh, maybe it was my stellar playing. Naaahhhh.

So Unk, taking the perspecitive of Underdog and his comments on the GFS humbucker form factor p90s not being completely authentic, but still being musical ---- using these stacked coils that are affordable may not give you a standard strat sound, but may give you a musical tone to evolve into your signature tone.

Kinman's sound interesting but not at that price, which is more than I put into the entire guitar.

RW

[bam]

Kinman's sound interesting but not at that price, which is more than I put into the entire guitar.

i agree. definitely.