software

I'm looking for a new sound in my strat, more of a metal/heavy rock tone (coming from jazz/blues). I want a most versitile yet heavy sound. Right now I get way too muddy in the neck with distortion but a very clean bridge sound. I was wonding what type of sound I would get with Hot Rails in the bridge, a '59 in the neck, and I can't decide between a Duckbucker or the Vintage Rails for the middle. Anyone have any experience with something like this?

A set that I've installed for other people's strats that's a good all around set is the Cool Rails in the neck, Vintage Rails in the mid and a Hot Rails in the bridge.

Use a pair of 500k push/pull pots to switch the CR amp; HR from series to parallel and a third 500k push/pull to get two additional switching options (N/B amp; all 3 together). This will give you a strat that can go from country to metal, be hum free, and look wicked cool to boot.

Ya I was unsure about mixing and matching the different sets (although I see no reason why not, I've never bought pickups before). I wish my speakers were good enough to hear the samples

How radical do you wanna get?

I would say Route the neck and bridhe and put in a Alnico 2 Pro and CC, they sound great in strats. In the middle you can use a cool rail, lil 59, or go heavier if you want.

I#8217;ve never used a Duckbucker, but if I#8217;ve read reviews right, it sounds like it#8217;s basically a VR with poles instead of rails. If that#8217;s the case, the VR gets my nod for the middle.

And this isn#8217;t the first time I#8217;ve ever said this, but the CR is, IMO, the best single coil sized humbucking pickup that you can put in the neck of a strat. Smooth, warm, and clear. It sings under gain and clean.

What amp are you playing through and do you have a DS-1 or other distortion pedal? With a DS-1 and a good tube amp you can get some really great heavy tones as I discovered last weekend. Look Here My results were using 3 single coils using HB's you cold get really heavy duty. But of course, YMMV.

I am looking for a pretty radical sound. The amp I'm using is a Marshall vs100 combo, although that may change with the x-mas season. The distortion I use is the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (if anyone has a suggestion on a better distortion then let me know as well, I grow weary of this one).