Sinner neck

[Slartibartfarst42]

Hi,

AS a couple of you may have noticed, my Jackson SL3 is up for sale and this is largely because it's HSS and I'm really more of a H-H guy. At the moment it has a Miracle Man in the bridge and Trilogy Suites in the neck and middle, which is awesome.While the Trilogy Suites are easily the best single coils I've ever tried, they're not quite cutting it for me with the Rock/Metal I play on that guitar. I was after a neck tone that was thick, creamy and smooth, a bit like the Dave Murray tone but also with some modern saturation going on. In this regard, the Trilogy Suites have a couple of problems:

1) Too much of a volume drop when coming from the Miracle Man for my taste. I like the neck pup to be right up there with the bridge. In this guitar, the neck pickup will be used for leads 95% of the time with the other 5% being chords.
2) It's a bit too 'polite', twangy and single coilish for my taste.

If I sell the guitar I'll simply get a H-H guitar, transfer the MM over and buy a new humbucker for the neck but I want to look at an alternative if it doesn't sell. If that is the case, I'm inclined to remove both of the Trilogy Suites, replace the middle pickup with the original Hotrail (I never really use the middle pup anyway so I'm not sure it's worth having a BKP in there) and putting something different in the neck. If I am to stay with BKP the Sinner is the only possibility I can think of so will it do what I'm after or am I better off looking at something by another manufacturer? I've read some reports that it's quite like a humbucker in some respects yet others say it's still very like a traditional single coil. I appreciate it IS a single coil but I suppose the bottom line is, will it get me closer to where I want to be than something like say DiMarzio? My only experience of a single coil sized humbucker is the Hotrails that came in this guitar standard and frankly they're rubbish. The Hotrails are muddy and sound nothing like a single coil but aren't at all convincing as a humbucker either. If they're all like that, the Sinner might be the better 'humbucker' option if you follow my reasoning.

[JimmyMoorby]

I really like the sinner neck i've got it's completely unique.

If you want an outright Dave Murray sound Seymour Duncans are the obvious choice but the sinner neck pickup is strange (In a good way) as it's very warm and smooth and reacts to hi gain tones extremely well so its very thick and creamy by nature. Oddly enough I think its smooth enough for jazzy tones and seems as close as you can get to a humbucker whilst still giving you some single coil qualities.

Even though its a single coil its clearly for the metal guys.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The problem is that Dave Murray uses Hotrails these days and I think they must suit a Strat a lot better than a maple neck-thru. I tried them in a Pacifica and they sounded fine but in my Jackson they were horrible. If the Sinner is hot, smooth, creamy and humbucker-like it could well be the one for me.

[JimmyMoorby]

The problem is that Dave Murray uses Hotrails these days and I think they must suit a Strat a lot better than a maple neck-thru. I tried them in a Pacifica and they sounded fine but in my Jackson they were horrible. If the Sinner is hot, smooth, creamy and humbucker-like it could well be the one for me.

It's definitely all those things....no doubt about it

[Slartibartfarst42]

Well, it's the only thing I can think of in the BKP range that would suit. Some of the P90 pups sound great but unfortunately they won't fit in the gap for a single coil  :( so it's looking like I either go with the Sinner or for the first time in many years I switch to DiMarzio. The BC-1, Pro Track and Chopper all sound like decent pups but unlike BKP, I know very little about them and that makes me naturally wary.

[JimmyMoorby]

Im not really into Di Marzio's humbuckers but they make great single coils.
I think the sinner is great but im certain it will suit you better than the trilogy.

[Slartibartfarst42]

As usual, I emailed Tim and got a rather unexpected reply:

"Hi Andy,

Out of all the single coils I make the Sinner is the closest to what you're after. I'm going to break from the norm here and actually recommend using a bridge position Sinner with a baseplate in the neck position. This will easily give you enough output to keep up with your MM bridge and the tone will be extremely fat, fluid and precise.

Kindest Regards,

Tim"

Not at all what I was expecting but certainly sounds like the tone I'm after as long as it doesn't now overpower the Miracle Man!

[Slartibartfarst42]

My Trilogy Suites are now sold and I've just ordered the replacements. I've decided to replace both the neck and middle position single coils and both will be replaced with bridge position Sinners with baseplates so it should be a real monster! Tim said he got the idea from a guy who turned up at a trade fair with a bridge Sinner in the neck position and "it was absolutely bonkers, it was almost like having a sustainer in the neck." As usual, I'll post a review when I get them.