I am looking to swap pickups on my MIM Strat from SSS setup into a HSS or a HSH. I would, ideally, like to put a SD Dimebucker in the bridge, have to choose a middle pickup, and a SD Jazz in the neck. I love the punchy, harsh sound of the dimebucker, and the smooth,warm sound of the Jazz pickup. I play pantera, metallica, van halen, among many others. Any suggestions ?

Are the Hotrails as good as having a humbucker in the neck position ?

Could i achieve a HSH sound by getting Dual rail, single coil-sized pixkups, such as little 59's, hotrails, cool rails ?

My buddy has a hotrail in his strat, bridge position, sounds good enough, but not quite the growl of a true humbucker.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

would the crunch be enough for metallica stuff ? its easiest for me to get similar pickups to hotrails (no cavity routing, same pickguard)

Yeah, we really don't play that type of music, but his hotrail screams allrigh with distortion, doesn't sound weak to me, benefit is you only have to replace the pickup, not the entire pick guard, think he has a duncan. We have different setups as far as amps, and effects, but I don't think my HSS strat is "HOLY SH*T" better sounding than his with the hotrail.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

i am definitely going to look into getting a hotrails, lil 59', ect. I dont need like any downtuning or anything like that, just want more crunch. Thanks for the help

Do you think the Hotrails would let me do good pinch harmonics ?

Heck yeah, I have a Squier Hot Rails Stratocaster and it has Seymour Duncan Designed Hot Rails that are made in Indonesia, and they scream pinch harmonics more than my guitar teachers Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB in his Gibson Les Paul. The actual stock Seymour Duncans are even hotter, so you wont be let down. Go for it, Hot Rails are the bomb.

For kick-in-the-butt rock 'n roll like Metallica I swear by the DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position. It's quite hot but it's also very beefy with lots of grunt on the bottom and the harmonics on sustained notes when played at gig volume blossom nicely into a musical and controllable howl. It also comes in a single-coil size format for those who do want HSS but don't want to change the scratch-plate.

I do like the the Duncan Jazz at the neck idea. It's a light output pup with a wide frequency response. Makes for a versatile guitar. In the neck position those pups are happiest with light to moderate overdrive. They are less happy when played completely clean or with a ton of gain. IMO.

I am not a fan of EMG pickups at all. I've never tried one that I liked although I still have not tried the DG setup and it does sound interesting but that's not side by each humbuckers, it's stacked. Different animal.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

In my opinion you'd be better off with DiMarzios for what you described, i find they have more clarity, whereas SDs are great for muddiness. Obviously there are loads of models available but I would always go DiMarzio for metal, probably an Evolution or Super Distortion.

But that's just me.

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Black Fender Jaguar HH Special
3x Black Squier Affinity Strat
Black Partscaster
Sunburst Jim Deacon JDST57
Tobacco Burst Westfield E4000
Redburst Hondo H180A
White Ibanez JEM 555
Brown Ibanez SX60
Black Encore Superstrat

Thanks for all the help guys!

I personally do not like EMG's at all. I loooove how stock duncan's sound. the Dean ML 79 sounds amazing all stock

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPcy2qdkd4I ) for reference. I absolutely love that tone.

I wouldn't rule out a JB Jr. -- ceramic like the Hot Rails, but more even top to bottom. Then use an EQ pedal and a noise gate to really lock things down. In fact, if you aren't already using those, you should probably get them ahead of new pups.

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2010 AmDeluxe HSS
2008 Jackson Pro Series DK2M (w/ 5-way SuperSwitch)
2005 Band of Gypsies Tie Dye Strat