H-S-S Set up

[llJasonll]

I asked this in another thread that I started, but maybe this question deserves it's own thread.  My question concerns how certain pickups would compliment eachother.

Has anyone ever taken an H-S-S set up, and set it up like this:

H: midhigh-high output pick up (think Holy Diver, or A-Nailbomb)
Mid S: Vintage/low output pickup (Think Irish Tour)
Neck S: High output pikcup (Think Sinner)

The reason why I'm asking is I want to go for a good distorted rhythm sound in the bridge, very modern and good for metal.  In the mid position I want something vintage that will clean up nicely and give me a great clean tone.  In the neck I want something very modern with high output for my lead tone.  Does this sound alright in theory to you guys?

[Slartibartfarst42]

Theoretically I can't see why it can't be done but I've never tried so I can't be sure. On the one hand, Tim pairs a Nailbomb with Irish Tours in one of his HSS sets so I assume they must be balanced well enough and he also offers a set that pairs a Nailbomb with Trilogy Suites so I equally assume that there's enough flexibility to use hot pickups. Conversely, I remember reading a thread where someone said that a set of Slowhands weren't powerful enough to match with a Holydiver unless baseplates were fitted and that struck me as very odd as I thought the Holydiver wasn't as hot as a Nailbomb and the Slowhands were just as hot as Irish Tours. Perhaps someone with more experience of this than me can explain this apparent paradox.

[dave_mc]

i don't see why that wouldn't work- certainly if you have very specific reasons for wanting it, it should be fine. The only real problem with mixing outputs is that the in-between settings can sound weird, but it doesn't sound like you care.

Obviously check with tim or some of the forum's more knowledgeable people first.

[Telerocker]

A HD or a NB splits wonderfull with the IT. The Sinner is a bit of out of tune (dc-resistance, tonally), when combined with the IT.  But I can't see why it shouldn't work.

[llJasonll]

What does the sinner pair well with?  I really liked the clips that are on the product page, and would like to try to find a HB that pairs well with them.

[Slartibartfarst42]

If an Irish Tour can pair with a Nailbomb, I'd have thought a Sinner could pair with almost anything in the comtemporary range as long as the bridge pickup stays in humbucker mode.

[Telerocker]

I was talking about positions 2 and 4 in a strat-configuration. A splitted NB is about/sort of the same dc-resistance as the IT. The neck Sinner (15K) will be way hotter then the middle-IT (6.3K), which will emphasize the neck-pu. Doesn't mean it has to be a bad sound. Maybe it's great, but the two pickups are not really balanced.
Personally I would pare a NB or HD with two Trilogies.
I you go for Sinners, a Warpig comes to mind for the bridge.