Welcome back CC. You probably already know but check the pup heights, and try some cleaner on your tone pots. I've always been able to dial in a decent grind with the pups on my MIA strats.

[quote="Invader].....I'm a 30 year player that plays in a traveling band..We play Casino's,County Fairs ,Motor sports races and rally's and things along that line..
If you're ever going to find yourself in the NYC-metro area let us know.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Invader- remember you might want something that won't hum- have you looked into a set of hot gold Lace Sensors or Emerald Lace Sensors? I remember you used to use sensors didn't you?

http://www.lacemusic.com/Hot_Golds.php

http://www.lacemusic.com/sensors.php

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Howdy!

I have a set of Fender Hot Noiseless and would recommend them for your requirements listed above.



They come as stock with the Jeff Beck Artist Strat so you may well be able to try before you buy.

If the FHN are what your after you'll need to check your pup cavity depth before purchase as they are a bit deeper than you standard single coil pup.



The FHN are 25mm deep compared to a standard single coil which is about 18mm. They were too deep for my CP60's Strat cavity...





I'd also 2nd Blertles recommendations for a set of Lace Hot Golds. Great pups, well made and very versatile. They sound slightly more traditional than the Red, Blue & Silver Sensors IMO.

Hope this helps.

Andy

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Pending Greatness

At the risk of sounding facetious, this is why I usually don't respond to posts like this for after 3 pages (so far), is the OP any further ahead?

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Does turn out a group learning experience though, and anything you have to contribute would be solid gold regardless, so why not jump in the pool

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"Another day in paradise!"

Well then, as I've always said (and practice what I preach), in a single coil for the OP's requirements, a Duncan SSL-3.

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I happen to like the American Vintage Custom pickups from the American Vintage '62 Telecaster for that Blues Tone. Not sure they are available by themselves, I have gotten a couple of sets off of eBay and absolutely love the tone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMv8kPzz5Hw

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Bob

Fender CD280S NAT, Recording King RO-127
Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster BSB
American Special/Highway One Telecaster hybrid Partscaster
Fender 60th Anv Am Std Telecaster, Natural/Rosewood
http://community.webshots.com/user/rjstaaf

ZZDoc

I'm not certain where the new contract will take us but we on occasion will play in Atlantic city or Vegas thats about as far away as we go from home..Most of our shows stay within a 500 mile radius of our home base of St Louis ..
The last time i played in the NYC area was back in the early 2000's when i was visiting friends who had made some headway in your area and asked me to do some session work with them..
Now with all that said due to the passing of our lead guitar player Rudy Amois we are actively looking to fill his shoe's which will be a hard thing to do because not only was he a great guitar player but a great friend and father..
There is a certain guitar player in your area i want badly..He has been out of the touring scene for sometime but has played in several mid level blues groups and some big names in the Blues scene that are not common to others besides dedicated blues fan's..
I also want to see Poppa Chubby play in some local clubs up your way ..So sometime this winter i will be in the NYC metro area with my guitar and peaking my head about in the local music scene and would really like to have someone with local knowledge make some suggestions on the ins and outs of the area..

Martian

I personally am glade you did comment as your opinion is one that i value highly as well as a few other of the leaders of this forum..
Not that i don't consider everyone's input but like with everything else there is some people you listen to more than others..

As of now i have it narrowed down to these set ups..

Duncan SSL-3 Neck
SSL-2 Mid
SSL-3 Bridge

Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues Neck
Standard Vintage Blues Mid
Virtual Vintage Blues Heavy Bridge

Lace sensor .. Gold with a Hot Gold in the Bridge

Fralin... Split Rails Blues

Fralin ....Blues specials with a overwound in Blues special in the Bridge..

Kinman ...Blues set

Kinman...Woodstocks

As like normal i may go through all of these and have none of them work or i may get lucky and hit it on my first shot...

I thank you for your compliment!

Seeing that you (kind of) asked, here's my two cents:

I see you are concerned about quack combos where you've selected the weakest pickup(s) for the middle. Keeping this in mind:

The SSL-3 may sound a bit 'farty' in the neck. I recommend an SSL-6 instead. The same with the DiMarzio Heavy Blues. I'd use the 'regular' Blues for the neck. Now for the middle, the 'regular' Blues wouldn't give you a nice, snappy quack. Here, I'd use an Area 61 which would also keep the output balance.

The Laces are alright but they tend to have a more 'modern' tonality vs. all the others.

The Fralins are a bit pricey and the Duncans will achieve the same thing.

As to the Kinmans, you're really going to extremes, both price and tonality wise. As a point of reference, the Blues set sounds like humbucking Texas Specials whereas the Woodstock set sounds like humbucking CS 69s. Granted, both sets have a louder bridge pickup.

So, in this particular situation, I'd zero in on either the Duncans or the DiMarzios.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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69 customs are nice but they dont have the reverse wound middle so a little noisy just crank the amp they jam

You could always install a calibrated dummy coil.

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You suggested using a SSL-6 in the neck with a SSL-3 in the bridge should i stay with the SSL-2 in the Mid position..

I'm really leaning towards the Duncans over the Dimarzio as i have always had better luck with them in the past...

Yes and again, under the premise that you are concerned about the 'quack' in positions #2 and #4 of the pickup selector switch. See, in my guitar, I have the SSL-3 in the bridge, the SSL-6 in the middle and the SSL-2 in the neck. This makes the output and the tonality balanced across the spectrum and although I still have plenty of 'quack', it is not a focal point with me.

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