Single coils to go with a Holy Diver

[Eric]

OK,

I  have my heart set on a Holy Diver for the bridge position of my Carvin Bolt T( alder body and ebony board) I want a thick but still articulate and versatile sound. Antag has sold me many times over on the Holy Diver. :lol:

But what singles should I pair with it? I like what I've heard of the Mother's Milk but I fear that my guitar with an ebony board might be too bright for the Mother's Milks. I'm not over fond of what I have heard of the Irish Tours, I'm not a fan of that pushed blues tone. The Slowhands seem like a nice choice and the Trilogy Suite pickups intrigue me. I want the traditional Strat sound but I don't want the Holy Diver to bury it or for it to sound thin or harsh. But I don't want a super high output that sounds nothing like a true Strat. Am I asking too much?

Any and all advice is much appreciated.

[Antag]

Antag has sold me many times over on the Holy Diver. :lol:

Fame at last :) Just hope it lives up to all my hyping :)

IMO you're on the right lines - if you don't like the IT, then it's a toss up between Slowhands or Trilogy.  I don't have any Slowhands, but that's what I'd buy if I got another HSS guitar

I have a Trilogy neck in a Charvel 550XL (no middle pickup) & it has more than enough grunt to hold it's own next to the HD, yet still sounds like a single (though I'm not a strat afficionado, so am probably not best placed to comment)

Also have an HD/IT set in my Korina strat, the ITs have just enough power to not get overpowered by the HD.

FWIW I put Sultans with a Miracle Man in my alder strat which is ridiculous - stupidest damn purchase I ever made (I like both pickups, they just don't work well together in the same guitar) - based on that experience, I wouldn't go near Apaches, Milks or Sultans with an HD.

Given that Tim put the HD/IT stock set together for the old spec HD, perhaps Slowhands are actually a better mix for the thicker sounding A5 "new" HD?