Help me choose a HB for an HSS Strat?

[RussUK]

Hi,

I've been using BK pups in my standard SSS Strats for a few years now, but want to invest in a Fender HSS Strat in order to add a little diversity to my tone. So I was wondering if any of you could recommend an HB for the bridge. Any ideas regarding a middle and neck configuration that might compliment the HB would also be of real help. I'm thinking maybe the Mule/MM/MM set but would welcome any other suggestions.

Stuff i play tends to be of the Southern Rock style: Skynard, ZZ Top, etc, into a Cornford Roadhouse amp.



Thanks in advance 

[PhilKing]

I have a few HSS sets, they are

Stormy Monday/Sultan/Sultan - all A2 magnets and they sound great, however they are lower output so depending on whether you use pedals to push your amp, they might not have enough kick
Rebel Yell/MM/MM - Cooking with gas here - more push, but still a great sound, though for the music you play I would think about using a Crawler (I didn't here because I have a one in another set)
Holy Diver/Trilogy/Trilogy - OTT for what you want, but a great sound never the less.  Great for power ballads as well as most NWOBHM.
Crawler/P91/P91 - My favourite set, but you would need a guitar with a bathtub rout or do work on the body (mine are in a PRS EG4), and a new scratchplate.  However they would be perfect for what you play!

[Zaned]

Would be nice to know the woods of the HSS strat..

But anyway, I suggest a little variation on what Phil suggested:
Crawler/Mother's milk/Mother's milk

A ready HSS set from the BKP list, and no need to do any extra routing. That would be my choise!

-Zaned

[RussUK]

Would be nice to know the woods of the HSS strat..

But anyway, I suggest a little variation on what Phil suggested:
Crawler/Mother's milk/Mother's milk

A ready HSS set from the BKP list, and no need to do any extra routing. That would be my choise!

-Zaned

That does sound like a really good alternative.

Regarding the wood on the HSS, I've not got it yet. Any suggestions in this area too? Esp. given that configuration.

Thanks again.

[Zaned]

Would be nice to know the woods of the HSS strat..

But anyway, I suggest a little variation on what Phil suggested:
Crawler/Mother's milk/Mother's milk

A ready HSS set from the BKP list, and no need to do any extra routing. That would be my choise!

-Zaned

That does sound like a really good alternative.

Regarding the wood on the HSS, I've not got it yet. Any suggestions in this area too? Esp. given that configuration.

Thanks again.

..and welcome to the forum!

I don't have personal experience with the Crawler, but listening to the clips and bearing in mind that it is made to sound great BOTH in an LP and a strat, the wood choise is not very limited.

However, an alder-bodied strat would be both warm, articulate and and punchy..and aggressive when you want it to be. If someone on the forum has the Crawler coupled with e.g. a swamp ash bodied strat, that person might want to chime in  :)

An alder bodied strat is a great platform for many humbuckers anyway..Holy Diver sounds excellent in it, as does the Nailbomb (which I do have personal experience with). But anyway, given the tone you described..Crawler 8)

-Zaned

[RussUK]

I've been giving a listen to some of the soundclips and generally find most of the humbuckers simply too harsh for me. Definitely the nearest clip I found while trying out the diferent HBs was the Stormy Monday/Apache set. I'm starting to wonder if some kind of soapbar might be a better alternative. Would a Soapbar fit into the cavity of an HSS strat though? 

[38thBeatle]

There is a HB sized P90( soapbar) type pickup in the BKP range-Mississippi Queen I believe.

[RussUK]

Yes, I've listened to some clips and think the Mississippi Queen is what I'll settle for. Any idea as to which middle and neck single coils would work well with that?