What is it with 80s Metal and H-S p/u Configs?

[Youth And Whiskey]

I'm really curious to this. After deciding on a Holy Diver bridge, I'm wondering if I should get a SC neck rather than a HB.  I mean what is it with a lot of the 80s Metal guys using neck SCs? Was it just an era where everything from rhythm to solo was done on the bridge, and the neck was only used for cleans? Or did the neck SC provide a better shred tone?

[gwEm]

i think its well worth considering a strat coil in the neck.

i often find that neck HBs don't cut through live, single coils are generally brighter and cut through better.

people say that they want a mellow neck tone, and are scared of a brighter pickup in the neck. my own experimentation this area has shown that a brighter pup still has that neck smoothness - of course its because all pickups in that position on the guitar will have this character.

but other than just the added brightness, while keeping a smooth neck pup characteristic, the tonality is quite different. a neck strat coil has one of the best lead sounds out there in my opinion. Its slightly hollow and violin-like under gain. I hesitate to say its 'better' for all shred, but it is different and indeed I think better for certain shred styles.

[Youth And Whiskey]

What would you recommend to pair with a Holy Diver then? I don't want something too vintage though. Basically something that sounds great under gain for soloing, sweeping; but sounds great clean. i was thinking of the Trilogy Suite. Any opinions?

[gwEm]

What would you recommend to pair with a Holy Diver then? I don't want something too vintage though. Basically something that sounds great under gain for soloing, sweeping; but sounds great clean. i was thinking of the Trilogy Suite. Any opinions?

That would be my choice too!

[Youth And Whiskey]

What would you recommend to pair with a Holy Diver then? I don't want something too vintage though. Basically something that sounds great under gain for soloing, sweeping; but sounds great clean. i was thinking of the Trilogy Suite. Any opinions?

That would be my choice too!

Awesomes. What are your opinions on middle single coils?

[gwEm]

What would you recommend to pair with a Holy Diver then? I don't want something too vintage though. Basically something that sounds great under gain for soloing, sweeping; but sounds great clean. i was thinking of the Trilogy Suite. Any opinions?

That would be my choice too!

Awesomes. What are your opinions on middle single coils?

some people love them. not keen on middle pickups generally myself, although making those nice strat 2&4 position tones is of course impossible without them.

[Afghan Dave]

This week I've installed a Trilogy neck into an Ash Strat & have fallen in love with it all over again.

I won't bang on about the Trilogy as well all know what a thing of beauty they are but what I will add is the unexpected effect of it's partnership with the others in my Start.

The set up is:

BKP TS / RWRP Seymour Duncan APS-1 Alnico II Staggered Vintage Single / SD Custom Custom
(The Duncans are only still in because I didn't play it much)

Well....

The 4th position TS Neck + APS-1 middle has been a revelation!

I've always had a strat tone in my head similar to Clapton's live 24 nights album. Sort of high gain "half c--ked" wah + mid boost.

http://youtu.be/WockWweMrjM

or

Jump to 5.20min for reference.
http://youtu.be/ty9U-TpYMLU

The combination of Trilogy & a low power RWRP middle has NAILED it for me!

With the tone 3/4 down on the APS-1 + amp gain, I've been wailing Pretending & Bad Love for hours!!!!

With the tone on full I get all the tradition Strat I want plus no hum.. I am over the moon with my luck.

So the upshot is try pairing the Trilogy Neck with one of the low power BKP RWRP middle singles and pile on the gain and use your tone control!

[Sancho]

The single coil gives you both clean and a different lead tone. The bridge HB takes care of the rest.
It's a good combination, yet I don't have any guitar that has it...
I think of it as a HSS set up with the useless middle single coil removed.

[hunter]

I've just been through this and ended up ordering a Trilogy Suite neck with a zinc plate added. Reason for wanting more beef is that the guitar I have has one single 500K volume pot, which can be bright with SCs. Tim recommended Trilogy Suite with Rosewood board or the Sinner if it's Maple. It's gonna be paired with a Custom 5 in the bridge. Currently there is a STK-1 in the neck (stacked Duncan single coil) and it's too harsh and scooped for my tastes.

Trilogy is in the mail, so I'll be giving my verdict next week.

[Poetic Justice]

Ya know what's weird? I've been listening to both the TS and Sinners, and the metal tone seems awesome. It seems to sound fuller compared to Humbuckers. After listening through the humbucker clips, I've noticed the single coils seem to have that really great presence in the mids. I'm actually considering getting something like the trilogy Suite set for one of my strats. Its got a universal pickup route, and I was originally going to put HSS in there, but listening to the clips, I don't see why I should tbh. I can have a malmsteen tone when wanting to, and then a metal tone when I want, and the next day, an 80s metal tone :)

[dave_mc]

HS is awesome :lol:

So are HH, HSH, H, and HSS

Just depends on what you want, really.

[Afghan Dave]

HS is awesome :lol:

So are HH, HSH, H, and HSS

Just depends on what you want, really.

Well you're not wrong!  :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: That was almost as helpful as my usual contributions  :lol: :lol: :lol:

[dave_mc]

:lol: