The Ultimate HSS Strat Humbucker. HELP!

[Ajrtucker]

Hi All

I'm on a quest for the ultimate in vintage output humbucker for a HSS strat. I thought i'd found the golden combination with a pair of SD SSL-1's and a Pearly Gates Trembucker. However, my strat's aesthetic is quite specific and i would need a black and white zebra pickup as opposed to black and cream which isn't readily available.

SD can make me a custom one but the price is just way more than I want to fork out, plus it got me to thinking that people must have at some point designed a humbucker specifically to accomodate a strat since HSS models are so popular. Which led me to look around, learn more about my strat's EQ makeup and then lead me to BKP.

Here's what i'm after in this humbucker:

- Vintage PAF like sound and output (Say around 9/10k). I enjoy playing a clean bridge humbucker occassionally
- No big volume jumps between single coils and bucker (SSL-1's 6.4k)
- Access to black and white zebra and trembucker spacing
- Decent split so that I can auto-split in position 2 for Strat Quack (Not identical, just not so weak that it's unusable without a compresser or boost)
- I'm not really looking for 'supa-hot' Van Halen, more a faux Les Paul. My previous Pearly gates humbucker always had me thinking of Jimmy Page and Joe Perry. (I understand a strat is not a les paul, but on a gig, the audience never notice)

I've spoken to Ben alot already (amazing customer service) and his recommendation was the Abraxas. Apparently, it's a popular choice for Strats. The output is also higher (14K?) but this is due to thinner wire. This would also help with the split. I've seen other people on this forum say they have BKP Black Dogs that sound hotter than the Abraxas, irregardless of output. Still volume jump is concerning me. Plus the added output seems to be mostly in bass and mids which would be welcome in my Alder/Maple/Rosewood strat.

Other ones i've looked at are The Mule (Too weak?) and the Crawler (Too strong?) Any others you guys can recommend from other companies? The Suhr SSV was an interest also but no black/white option. Suhr seems to get the hum/single blend with their S style guitars spot on!

Sorry about the ramble. Hope you guys can help!

[Dave Sloven]

Ben's recommendation sounds very sensible to me.

[PK]

Until this weekend I had a Black Dog in my strat.
Wasnt the best match, still a very good pickup.
Just not my idea of a great SSH bridge pickup in a strat:
https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=34175.0

[Ajrtucker]

Black Dog was a consideration. Why wasn't it a great match? How did you find it in the bridge/middle 2nd position? Was it split in that position? I'm thinking more low/medium gain than high gain. What's interesting is everyone's view of what's best for a strat humbucker specifically is different. Thanks both for your replies

[lonestarrevival]

I can share my experience with Abraxas on strats.  I tried it on two different, and quite differently voiced American Stratocasters hss, and I had apparently similar sound interests to yours, wanted a Les Paulish tone. First off, in neither guitar I could recognize a Les Paul vibe at all.  I tried Dimarzio Breed and AT-1 on one of these, and Pro-track (among a few others) on the other before Abraxas,  the Abraxas blows these away in sheer feel of quality and organic sound, but it didnt take me in any Les Paul direction. It sounds vintagy but not with not a lot of body and depth to the sound a la Les Paul.  Does the Van Halen type 80s glam-metal/rock sound better in  my opinion, it can get quite bity and easily gives harmonics.  I got  very good - for my taste - results out of it on a Gibson Les Paul, and ultimately I think it is more of a Les Paul pickup than a strat one - it is a bit too bright for the latter for my ears.  I am certain most will disagree though.  I cant tell what else could be the fix for you from the Bare Knuckle line, but I will soon try Crawler and possibly also Holy Diver on my strats, I believe they will be more fitting pups than Abraxas for strat-type guitars.  That obviously doesn't mean they will sound 'stratty' in my book.   Suhr SSV and DSV are also interesting since they were designed with strats in view if I am not mistaken.

[Dave Sloven]

I would have said the Crawler would be okay (and better for splitting) but it would most likely overpower the neck and middle pickups that are currently in there

[Ajrtucker]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. From my research, the Crawler was designed for more of that purpose also, but it's hotter again. Did you find the pickup broke up easily on a clean sound? That's another thing i'm not really keen on happening if i can help it. I'm still interested but at this rate, I might have to start a les paul fund 

[Ajrtucker]

I agree with you Dave, I think the crawler would overpower. If i'm going with the idea that to get a good single coil split, the humbucker should be double the value, A 7k split from a 14k bucker would be probably as hot as i would go since my single coils are 6.4k. Would even consider going a little bit less hot than the Abraxas. I wonder if i could ask the folks at bkp to leave a couple of winds off of an Abraxas to get the sound?

[Telerocker]

Ok, here's a Crawler-in-a-HSS-strat-user for a long time.

1. No, the Crawler is not extreme hot at all. Just a tad more output than say a VHII. Balance with the neck-Irish Tour is no problem for me. The volumejump is moderate, not big.
2. Clean the Crawler sounds gorgeous, yet not whimpy. It does a reasonable Brian Setzer-imitation (add some slapback).
3. The splits are great, together with the middle-Irish Tour. Also the Crawler splitted solo is like having a telecaster under your fingertips.
4. The AV-magnet helps to cut. The topend is a little more round compared to a Mule, but there's enough treble.
5. This pickup cleans up very good.
6. It has a lot of PAF-pedigree, yet with a nice dosis extra mids. A good thing in strats.
7. Soloing above the 12th fret is a joy, cause tones stay fat and clear.
8. The Crawler has a unique growl when pushed.
9. It can do all kind of styles, but the pickup operates more on the vintageside of the spectrum. But hardrock is no problem. Tight metal is not the best feature of this pickup.
10. It's $%&#ing great on all kind of amps.

Amen

(But, the Abraxas would do too, just a bit more direction Mule, with more mids and less treble than a Mule.)

[Ajrtucker]

Oh man! What a game changer of a comment. Guess the Crawler is back in the race. Thanks Telerocker!

I stumbled upon another forum in which Dave and Lonestar also gave great comments. I believe regarding Lonestar's strat with slow hands and abraxas. The magnets in my SSL-1's are also Alnico V and they're also 6.5k output. Identical features to the slow hands. If that's the case, would the crawler actually be ok? I can always adjust the height and slug screws to get them closer. The option of a tele on tap is also a great shout. Might even try series/parallel switching first.

Ironically, the last thing I need for my strat is more treble. A rounded top end is actually what I would prefer. I love how the current creamery humbucker catches the treble with distortion and controls it. The crawler is also Alnico V like the Suhr SSV which is what i'm basing my search on.

[Telerocker]

Oh man! What a game changer of a comment. Guess the Crawler is back in the race. Thanks Telerocker!

I stumbled upon another forum in which Dave and Lonestar also gave great comments. I believe regarding Lonestar's strat with slow hands and abraxas. The magnets in my SSL-1's are also Alnico V and they're also 6.5k output. Identical features to the slow hands. If that's the case, would the crawler actually be ok? I can always adjust the height and slug screws to get them closer. The option of a tele on tap is also a great shout. Might even try series/parallel switching first.

Ironically, the last thing I need for my strat is more treble. A rounded top end is actually what I would prefer. I love how the current creamery humbucker catches the treble with distortion and controls it. The crawler is also Alnico V like the Suhr SSV which is what i'm basing my search on.

The Crawler and a bright strat is a happy marriage. Just to know: the height is important, as scatterwound pickups are sensitive and every mm makes a difference. I have set the Crawler relatively low.

[PK]

Black Dog was a consideration. Why wasn't it a great match? How did you find it in the bridge/middle 2nd position? Was it split in that position? I'm thinking more low/medium gain than high gain. What's interesting is everyone's view of what's best for a strat humbucker specifically is different. Thanks both for your replies

The reason the BD didnt work is that is has a lot of mids, even for a humbucker. Compared to single coils it seems to have even more mids. So it didnt really work out with EQing my amps.
When I tuned to drop C for instance, the BD does an amazing job at keeping things tight and crunchy.
The split in position 2 with the 63 worked just fine, nice quacky sound, a little on the thin side compared to a real single coil, but nice enough.

For now I've converted my strat back to SSS, since I have too many humbucker based guitars en not enough single coils (just a tele and this strat)

[Ajrtucker]

Hold everything. Slow Hands and Crawler in a video. I think i've found it. Take a look for yourselves here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeQOjZ_jOpo

[lonestarrevival]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwTylTb1m8U
I posted this elsewhere before, best Crawler demo Ive seen for anyone interested... I am just concerned that he could be playing the neck throughout the sound is very peculiar.

[Telerocker]

Mind you that the Slowhands are quite middy and are a step away from the classic vintage single coils sounds. I went for Irish Tours, because I also wanted to cover RHCP, Hendrix, Rory and SRV. That won't be so easy with Slowhands.