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Post subject: Hot Bridge pick up - Lace Sensor Red vs. SD Ht Rail
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 2:41 pm
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So I have a a brand spankin' new 08 Strat American Standard, which is an awesome axe, except for the bridge pick up. The hiss is driving me nuts! My preference has always been something hot in the bridge position. I'm between two: the Fender Lace Sensor Red and the Seymour Duncan Hot Rail. Does anyone here have these pick ups and if so what's the word on them? Will it be worth it?


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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:51 pm
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I have a 98 MIA with two lace sensors - Silver in the middle and a Blue on the neck - and I love them both. You need to have a certain playing style to get a good tone out of them, which I happen to have which is why I like them, but they're not for everyone. A few of my buddies are great guitar players, but don't get a good tone out of mine at all.

I've never been a fan of the Red though, since it tended to sound harsh and too shrill for me, not full at all. I have a SD JB Jr on the bridge that I love. I have a volume fader for the inner coil of it so I can get a lot of tones out of it.

I've used a Hot Rails before and always liked them, but for harder music. They didn't sound very strat-like when you split them or clean them up as much - but you might not care about that anyway.


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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 7:19 am
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One of my heavily modded Strats has a set of silver (7K), blue (13K) and red (15K) Sensors (neck to bridge, natch). I totally love them for what I want from that guitar: a jazzy sound at the neck with the tone rolled way off, shifting through the settings to a very aggressive but still controlled attack at the bridge, tone wide open.

If someone wanted to tell you they weren't quite the most classic Strat sound I wouldn't argue - for that you'd want some vintage type Fender pups, right? The Sensors are certainly smoother than original Fender, but it is a creamy rich tone with breadth, to my ears, not just banally clean.

I'd highly recommend them: a red one at the bridge will surely improve your hiss problem, no question.

(Obviously, you need to think about the output of your other pickup to decide which Lace Sensor to go for.)


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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:21 pm
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Don't forget to check out the EMGs too.


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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:57 pm
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Done both to death. Actually have a heavily modded Strat with a RED lace humbucker in the bridge. Pound for pound, the Fat Strat by Dimarzio is in my '77 Strat & it works for me. Seymour Duncan has a couple of good choices also (any of the STK pickups do nicely).


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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 2:03 pm
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I have a Hot Rails with Custom Shop 69s in the neck and middle of my Highway One. Like you, I like my neck and middle to have a nice clean tone and something hot in the bridge. The Hot Rails is the only single coil sized humbucker I have any experience with, but I recommend it to everyone. I get some great harmonics from it too.

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Post subject: Red Lace Sensor vs. SD Hot Rail in bridge
Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:00 pm
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I have a '92 Deluxe Strat Plus that came stocked with a Blue Lace Sensor in the Neck, a Silver in the middle, and a Red in the Bridge. They are quiet pickups, with no serious hiss. They also blend nicely.

I put a Duncan Hot Rails SHR-1 in the bridge several years ago, and I didn't think it made a lot of difference. The reason I wanted the Duncan was because I thought it would give me a hotter output for heavier stuff. But I also installed a toggle switch so I could split the Duncan coils and get more tones. I followed the wiring diagram that came with the Duncan pickup, and I ended up with an "on/off" toggle switch.

Recently, I have decided to replace the Red Lace Sensor. I will be doing it in the next week. I have been playing with the Hot Rails for about eight years now, so I will notice whether there is a difference once I put the Lace Sensor back in. If there is a difference, I will post my findings here.

BTW, if anyone knows how I might wire that toggle to work correctly, please direct me to any diagrams that might be downloadable.

Thanks


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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:04 pm
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Use the Seymour Duncan website. They have pretty much every wiring diagram you need, just change the colors for the pickup wires to what you have.

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Post subject: Re: Hot Bridge pick up - Lace Sensor Red vs. SD Ht Rail
Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 8:30 am
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Fender Ben wrote:
So I have a a brand spankin' new 08 Strat American Standard, which is an awesome axe, except for the bridge pick up. The hiss is driving me nuts! My preference has always been something hot in the bridge position. I'm between two: the Fender Lace Sensor Red and the Seymour Duncan Hot Rail. Does anyone here have these pick ups and if so what's the word on them? Will it be worth it?



......and you thought this would be simple!

Also consider both the Fender Noiseless which are in the Clapton guitar (driven w/ a 25db boost), and the new SCN's which are in the American Deluxe, and the '57 Hot Rod (combined with a hotrails in the bridge slot). I have the SCN's in a 25db boost circuit and they carry the load very well.

Lace Sensors eliminate string susceptibility to magnetic pull, thus strings can be set rather low, or the pickups rather high. It's one of their advantages. Just another factor to throw into the mix.

Tell us what you eventually choose and why.

Doc.


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