Seymour Duncan Hot Rails

Pickup features: single coil humbucker
Impedence or other specs: around 17k

Model of guitar or bass: fender showmaster SSS
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Seymour duncan 5-2
Other pickups on guitar: duncans 5-2
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Metal, fusion, jazz, shred, rock
Reason for pickup change: stock bridge was too noisy and sounded bad for rhytym

Perceived output level: medium hot
Tone: bassy, middy, dark
Sonic evaluation: this pup is a little is a little sterile imo, sounds like an EMG but passive. Gives off a nice rhytym tone.....great sound for fusion leads (think greg howe). It's great for sweeps and tap or legato work...but it doesn't always cut through. nice contrast to neck single coil. Sucks for clean use. i use very low distortion btw on my marshall jtm 60 and fender deluxe reverb...the gain is around 3 or 4.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: strat lovers will hate this...

Comments: i think i would've been better off with the jb junior...o wells...too late.

Pickup features: Single Coil size Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Stratocaster, Reissue 69 (Jimi hendrix)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Single Coil vintage
Other pickups on guitar: single coil vintage
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): From Blues to Punk
Reason for pickup change: I needed more power and response, and I wanted to add bass to my sound

Perceived output level: Hotter than single coil for sure, but never like humbucker.
Tone: Bassy
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a stratocaster with a fender blues Jr guitar amp. I feel like superman...

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The powerfull sound allows me to play punk and heavy tunes, as well as blues folk sound with my vintage pick ups

Comments: Personnally I think it is too bassy for the E string and a lack of presision in this range. But the reponse of the pick up is absolutely phenomenal!

Pickup features: passive humbucker in a single coil package. it is le package total!
Impedence or other specs: ask (suddenly) seymour

Model of guitar or bass: epiphone strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock is crap on epis.
Other pickups on guitar: 2 single coils
Artists using this pickup: dunno
You musical style(s): hard rock
Reason for pickup change: this pickup is huge, loud, awesome, better than stock strat for sure.

Perceived output level: extremely hot, reminiscent of the hot ceramic hi-fi humbucker stuff.
Tone: extremely balanced and loud, cutting, but with ASS.
Sonic evaluation: marshall solid state, orange and ampeg tube amps, custom speakers, vin30s, sg style guitars with high output humbuckers. for single coil this is the only pickup i ever heard that puts my humbies to shame.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: hard rock, bridge, shred or pound the walls with your rhythms of DOOM.

Comments: pretty damn good pickup considering. rivals the duncan custom in terms of output, provides some real power to otherwise shitty strats.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Squier Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock Single coil
Other pickups on guitar: 2 stock single coils
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Punk, clasic rock, metal
Reason for pickup change: stock sounded to thin.

Perceived output level: Quite a lot higher than stock
Tone: bassy with a lot more mids.
Sonic evaluation: I am using a laney VC30 valve combo. At first it sounded a bit muddy, but this was fixed by putting in a 500K volume pot instead of 250K.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is good for most rock styles

Comments: I have been playing fo about 4 years, i also have, in addition to my strat a MIJ Fender Jaguar, a squier P-Bass and a Yamaha acoustic.

Pickup features: Single coil-sized humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Specs on their website

Model of guitar or bass: 1991 Fender Strat Plus Deluxe
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fender Lace Sensor Gold
Other pickups on guitar: Two more FLS Golds
Artists using this pickup: Dale Winton?
You musical style(s): Rock/Metal/Anything that comes out i guess
Reason for pickup change: Lace Sensor Gold's are far too low output for a good distorted sound.

Perceived output level: 16.9k resistance - pretty hot
Tone: bassy, middy and muddy with 250k pot.. brighter and more balanced with 500k pot
Sonic evaluation: I use a Marshall DSL2000 TSL100 w/JCM900 4x12 cab. Marshall Guv'nor mk1 pedal for more flexibility. I dropped this pup straight in where the FLS gold was.. no rewiring.. It works really well in parallel with the middle pup.. not quite as much strat quack but enough to keep me happy.. with a bit more midrange.. a good compromise of the two tones.. I am happy with its performance alongside the other pups. Of course there are radical differences in output between these pickups.. more than 10k.. I am thinking a Little '59 or a Cool Rails for the neck now since this pup has impressed me so much. Admittedly the muddiness with a 250k pot does annoy me slightly when playing clean.. but i just switch up to position 4 to get my treble back.. as when playing in high-gain the Hot Rails really gives a really nice thick crunch even with the 250k pot.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: It is hot - but not the same tone as a real high-output full-size pup.. I am more than happy with it none the less.. Tone purists steer clear.. buy another guitar if you want this much output.

Comments: I will surely put one of these in my next strat.. I actually prefer the look of the single coil slots in the guitar rather than full size humbuckers.. This pickup has made the bridge position more usable for me now - before the FLS gold was far too thin for the bridge position.. especially with the TBX pot to make it even more bright. I can get a thick Pantera crunch.. roll off the volume a little and get a cleaner Maiden tone.. roll it right back and you can get a lovely sweet AC/DC-ish overdrive.. so in just seconds my guitar can go from Metallica to Jeff Buckley. Thanks Seymour Duncan.. you have solved my problem with this guitar! Pup gets an 9 due to a rather high price!

Pickup features: humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: standard strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: texas special neck and middle
Artists using this pickup: ??
You musical style(s): covers, ROCK
Reason for pickup change: singles suck with heavy o.d

Perceived output level: much hotter than singles.had to raise neck and middle to balance bridge.
Tone: toppy with usable mid cut.its not bass heavy
Sonic evaluation: am standard strat into a boogie rectoverb series 2

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: rock, top 40 covers

Comments: i intially found it easy AND awkward to use. now that i know what it does, i dont have a problem.in fact i dont know why it took so long to sus it out.i can tweak it and find the sweet spot fairy easily now.it can sound thin and little muddy if your not careful. aside from that, when its tweaked it's great.dirty leads cut with nice mid punch.dirty chords are defined. dirty bottom end is smooth and tops are not harsh. clean scratch funk tones are nice but need a little compression or a little top end roll off to take the sting out.ive got it set in the tail and havent yet tried it in the neck yet(only cause i cant be bothered!!).guna try a cool rail in the neck.im wanting sumthing in there thats not quite as hot.anyhow its a 90% improvement for those who need the dirty bite in a strat that has a single coil slot in the tail. WICKED!!

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock single coil
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation: Here is the key. You must use a 500k volume pot with this pickup. With the stock 250k volume pot this pickup is too bassey, middy, and muddy. With the 500k pot it adds more treble but is not harsh. nice and smooth. It takes away some of the mids and bass. The tone is much better, but still is lacking a bit

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: classic rock, hard rock. great pickup - with 500k pot

Comments: Its a 8 with a 500k pot. With the stock 250k pot its a 5.

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: guitar
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Jackson single coil
Other pickups on guitar: Lace Sensor Golds
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Progressive rock/fusion
Reason for pickup change: Needed a bridge humbucker for my Charvel.

Perceived output level: Hot, but not overbearing. Similer to full size humbucker.
Tone: A heavy dose of midrange with smooth, shaved highs and a tight, focused low end.
Sonic evaluation: I installed this in the bridge position of my Charvel "strat" which runs into a Tech 21 Trademark 60 combo. This is the most musical humbucker I've ever had. It is potent, but has enough head room for the use of my Pro co Ratt pedal to add even more harmonic structure. The harmonic structure of the tone is complex and smooth and delivers the most focused sound imaginable. The sound is dark, punchy and fat, but it responds to the amp's EQ very well, making a metal "scooped" sound easy to get. Through a 1x12 the sound is tight but through a 4x12 it delivers the big full range bombast you'd expect from a top-o-the-line humbucker. This PU excells at soloing when overdriven, putting the tone in the pocket and making pinched harmonics a snap - very responsive. The only possible drawback would be trying to clean it up. Moving the volume control down (on guitar) doesn't do much for the tone, and using it through the clean channel of an amp you still get a big thump - not really a bad thing.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: The Hot rails in the bridge position matches up well with the Lace Sensor Golds I use in the neck and mid slots adn would sound fine in any position depending on the style of the player. The pu would be good for any style requiring a good humbucker but I find it particularly great for the Fusion syles that I play or the ocasional heavy blues solo.

Comments: I've been using the Hot Rail for the last 15 of my 30 plus years of playing. For what it does there are few other Strat sized humbuckers that compare. It has become a staple of my sound so yes, I would replace it if it got stolen (leave me the guitar please). This pu has saved a couple of strat type guitars I've owned from getting butcherd. I have no need for a full size humbucker. Having said that, it is a pu for specific needs - a focused, heavy on the midrange charactor. This isn't a wide sounding unit with ripping highs, so if that's your thing, beware.

Pickup features: single coil sized humbucker (passive)
Impedence or other specs: The specs are listed on the Seymour Duncan website

Model of guitar or bass: American Standard Stratocaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Duncan JB Jr
Other pickups on guitar: Duncan little 59 (neck), Duncan Vintage Rails (middle)
Artists using this pickup: Dave Murray and... some other guys
You musical style(s): jazz, rock, punk, indie, electronic, hip-hop, classical, metal, etc.
Reason for pickup change: I liked the JB Jr. a lot but it didn't quite have the power of a real humbucker. I wanted a pickup with the crunch of a full sized humbucker.

Perceived output level: Pretty hot. Almost as hot as a full sized high-output humbucker. Almost.
Tone: Lots of bass and mids. Not a whole lot of treble. Very hard, dark sound.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using the strat with a Fender Twin and various effects pedals. While the hot rails has the power of a full sized humbucker, it has a unique kind of tone. I'm not sure what it is. I think that a single coil sized humbucker has to have the coils REALLY overwound to match a full sized hb's output, therefore, it has a very hard, focused tone. It doesn't have much warmth at all. Perhaps it's not a worse tone... maybe it's just different. Depends on your tastes I guess. However, the pickup does the job that Duncan claims; it definitely gives you a fat humbucker crunch. The rails are also nice, since they give you a very even string balance... even when bending strings (can't say the same about the JB Jr). But I kinda miss the sweet high end of the JB Jr. It's a compromise.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play all sorts of music... but obviously, the pickup isn't suitable for some styles. Definitely good for metal and hard rock. Some punk too. Anything that's loud and aggressive I suppose. I think that the pickup is suitable for both the neck and bridge positions, but I think that most people would rather have something brighter in the middle position.

Comments: It's difficult to rate pickups because it's not so much a matter of how good or bad they are. The question is: is it the right pickup for you? If you want the power of a full sized humbucker and you don't mind a harder, more focused tone... the hot rails will suit you just fine. You can try the fast track 2... but since it has a slightly higher output level, I'm willing to bet that its tone is even darker than the hot rails. To be honest, I'm convinced that no single coil sized humbucker can really replicate a full sized bucker's tone and output. It can do either, but not both. I found that the JB Jr did a good job of reproducing the JB's tone, but really lacked in power. On the other hand, the hot rails did a good job of matching the output of a hot humbucker, but not the tone.

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender US strat 2001
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: original
Other pickups on guitar: original
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): classic rock
Reason for pickup change: wanted a thicker sound without the hum

Perceived output level: not much higher than the stock pickup, maybe 25% more output
Tone: middy -way too much mids for my likes
Sonic evaluation: I am playing through a TS-9 into an ENGL screamer combo. I was very disappointed with this pickup. At first I thought it sounded like a Les Paul or an SG, that is until I plugged in my 1992 Les Paul and realised it was anywhere near it. I tried every combination on my EQ pedal to dial out some of the mids - but to no avail. I even changed the strungs - three different gauges in fact and that didn't help. There was something sterile about the sound that I couldn't get used to. I was starting to miss my strat sound. After a week, I couldn't live with it anymore - I took it out and put my original strat single coil pickup back in. Voila there was the sound I had been looking for all along - it was always there but I didn't realise it. Damn it the origianl strat pickup just sounded so much better!!. Well I guess I can thank Semour Duncan for making me realise how great a Fender strat single coil can sound. I will never replace the original pickups again. As soon as I put the original pickup back I realised how well balanced the origianl was and how off-balance the Hot rails was. The mids on the Hot rails was so damn pronounced it coloured everything - gone was that beauiful glassy top end and that clear and rich bottom end. As for being a high output pickup - well that was not my experience at all. Oh yeah, I even put a coil splitter on it - no difference to the overall tone, just a bit lower output.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock and roll, AC/DC, Zep, stones,

Comments: This pickup showed me realise how great my original Fender strat pickups really are. I made the mistake of putting in a Hot Rails - Strat owners should never do this. The strat sound is a sacred thing - if you want a thicker sound buy another guitar - but leave the strat as is.