Need help on strat pickup selection

[tamirh67]

Hi everyone...

Thought maybe I can get some help...I own an american fender strat...

Playing hard rock/alternative, but also like very much full body clean sounds...like what a strat can do.

I did install a SD hot rails in the bridge position, for a more "bity" sound for the agressive songs.

There is a big difference in output now between this pickup and the stock middle/neck pickups.

Which BKP's would you recommend? Irish tours? Mother's milk? Apache's?

Thanks!!

[Nolly]

I wouldn't go lower output than the Irish Tours otherwise I think you will find a similar issue with the output of the middle and neck. Since the Sinners might be OTT for what you are after that leaves the Irish Tours, Slowhands and Trilogy Suites.

The ITs give a great blues-rock sound with characteristically stratty hollowness to the midrange.
Slowhands give you a noticeably increased midrange that results in a fatter voice that sounds thicker especially for single-note playing.
Trilogy Suites are a fair deal hotter but still retain a pleasantly stratty flavour albeit with reduced glassiness and a lot more bass/lower midrange than a traditional Strat pickup.

On balance the Slowhands are probably the best mix of traditional strat tone with increased output and fatter tone that will match sonically with the Hot Rails.

[Telerocker]

I love my IT's and MM's in my HSS-strats, but I think Nolly's advice is a good one. The Slowhands will provide more mids then the IT's and therefore be more on par with the SD, still retaining that vintagehot sc-character.  However my neck-IT doesn't sound whimpy at all, certainly not with my amp (Orange Rockerverb 50 head/2x12 cab).