Seymour Duncan Question

[FireBall]

I bought a wired pickguard off of eBay with a Seymour Duncan SHR-1 (bridge) and a SJBJ-1. The SHR-1 was in the brigdge position and the SJBJ-1 is in the middle position. I am going to put the pickup's in my strat kit that I am working on. What pickup would you recommend for the Bridge position and which for the Neck position? They both seem to be hot, that is why he may have had one in the middle position. Maybe I should leave the setup like it came, any opinions?


SHR-1 www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/cutting-edge/hot_rails_for_s/

SJBJ-1 www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/cutting-edge/jb_jr_sjbj1/

[andy]

I'd say that the most likely best candidate for the bridge would be the Hot Rails, primarily as it will be the hottest! It also fills out the lows and mids, often needed for many Strat bridge pickups. Whether to put the JB Jr. in the neck or middle depends on both what other pickup you plan to use, and what sort of sound you are after. The JB will sound tougher than the average single coil- so would you like to graduate back from the hot bridge, or have a harder neck sound and save the middle for clearer tones? Or something else??

As far as actual volume is concerned, with single coils vs single-coil-sized-'buckers, they should be easy to balance out in any but the most extreme variance in output. In the past I had a Strat with JB Jr. in bridge, Dimarzio Virtual Vintage 1.1 in mid, and Little '59 in neck with no trouble. Nowadays I have a Tele with very 'vintage' Twang Kings bridge and neck, with that same JB Jr. in the middle for fuller tones. The volumes balance easily, with the differences in tone making the amp/effects behave quite differently.

[FireBall]

Thanks for the reply andy...

Most all the guitars I have are bridge and neck pickup oriented. This will be the first true strat setup with all single coils that I have. I really like the neck pickup sound whether it is a single coil or humbucker. Right now I have 4 true single coils (no name brand) and the HotRails and the JB Jr. as options for this guitar project. I was wondering what the HotRail in the bridge position and the JB Jr. in the middle position would sound like played together. I would like any type pickup in the neck position. I like experimenting with sounds but seem to always go back to the neck for a blues type lead and bridge for the heaver stuff. The middle pickup will be fun to try especially with a good pickup to have there. I can't wait to get this thing finished. Of coarse if it plays like crap, then I guess I will be in the market for a good strat....LOL