software

In true SD Forum style, can I hear from you guys who have successfully used pickups such as Hot Rails / Cool Rails / Fast Track 1/2 etc etc in the NECK position of a guitar.

FYI, the guitar has a floyd rose II in the bridge, 24 frets and has a JB Jr. in the neck that sounds WAAAAY too thin and non-humbucker sounding.

Good neck humbucker tones that I like - A2P in the neck of my les Paul, Paf Pros in the neck of old Ibanez Jems, and Air Norton in the JPM Ibanez models.

I (try to) play shred ala Vai and Malmsteen. This guitar is going to be my 'shred/thrash' guitar and should should sound appropriately thick, yet cutting...

Any brands considered...

I myself am going to put a hot rails in the neck of my strat(and prob my bridge).I have heard that it has a good tone in the neck.I havnt played with it yet so I am just as curious as you.I dont know about using a quot;fast track 2quot; in the neck it seems to suit the bridge more(i could be wrong).Then everyone has mixed reactions on the cool rails,it seems there kinda quot;love 'em or hate 'emquot;.

I've got the Hot Rails in the neck and a Cool Rails in the mid of my Charvel 650xl. THe 650xl has the same construction as your 550xl, just different electronics. If you want a PAF type tone, go with the Cool Rails. If you want to shred, go with the Hot Rails. Obviously you could do either with either pickup, it'll just take a little creativity on your amp settings. The only thing about the Hot Rails is that it can get a little muddy in the lower range if you don't eq it just right. I never use it for rhythms so it doesn't matter to me anyway. Just be aware that if you get a Hot Rails, you'll need to trim the lip to get it to fit into the neck route of the 550xl. I just did this for one of my other Charvels. Plus, I hear that the new Hot Rails do not have the lip, so you could always buy one of those.

No experience with the DiMarzios, sorry.

Travis, Does your 650XL have 24 frets or 22? Do you find that the Hot rails appropriately compensate for the less bassy response of the 24?

Im have a bunch of RM10 pups from the Reb Beach model Ibanez. They look like this:They have wide open tone that feels like you could walk through it. Very clear and just powerfull enough. I think frankfalbo at Jemsite has one he'll sell...

I have 4 and I would buy more if I had more guitars that need a single sized neck pup...

If you would like, PM me and I'll record something with it for you.

Anyone tried Dimarzio single coil hummers?

I was talking to someone here in the forum that had a fast track 2 in their bridge. They also had a hot rails in their neck. I cant remember who it was but they said they prefered the sound of the fast track 2 for their bridge but a hot rails for the neck was the best sound they played with for a single coil.

For a PAF type tone I think either the lil' 59 or the cool rails are both great options. Never used the lil 59, but I absolutly love the voice of the Cool Rails. I do have some concerns about using the CR as a shred pickup. It's got a very full tone to my ears that could make very fast runs sound a bit unclear.

I doubt you would find either one of those pickups thin.