Stan Hinesley Scorpion Helix Custom Set

This is a custom matched Alnico 5 humbucker set.
DC Resistance
Scorpion: 13k
Helix: 10k

The scorpion is basically the A5 version of the viper (ceramic) and the helix is the A5 version of the redline (also ceramic).

Also, I requested for all the poles to be changed to golden screw poles. At first this was for looks but after I got them I could easily balance the volume output of the strings.

I'm using a defunct Fender Floyd Rose Series Strat. It's original config was HSS but since the body is swimming pool routed all I needed to make it HSH was a pick guard change. The pick guard was custom made locally.

The scorpion goes to the bridge, and the helix to the neck. In the middle I have the original single coil pickup, which I think belongs to the american series or something.

I did the wiring myself. It's completely custom.
Position 1: Bridge in series
Position 2: Bridge split in parallel with middle
Position 3: Neck split in parallel with middle
Position 4: Neck in parallel
Position 5: Neck in series

If you haven't realised, position 2 and 3 is exactly what an SSS strat will have at position 2 and 4 respectively. I never use the middle pickup on it's own so this is perfect for me. Position 4 is to get a close approximation of a single coil neck pickup.

I used to have a viper in the bridge and a JB Jr. at the neck. Before that there was a PAF Pro in the bridge and the original american single coil in the neck, both not worth mentioning.

I went from ceramic to A5 because I found the viper too jarring and bright for me. As for the JB Jr, it was too muddy. The viper and the JB Jr. did not complement each other at all.

This set, 1 word, AMAZING. They complement each other very well. One of my friends didn't like the set because he found them sounding too similar to each other. The basic tone signature is the same, but there is the difference between the bridge and the neck, where the neck sounds more mellow and the bridge sounds brighter, but at the same time the volume output is balanced perfectly as the scorpion is slightly hotter than the helix.

They are quite loud, but not as loud as the viper.

I set my pickups to be as close to the strings as possible without any interference. They are pretty loud that way. My gain stage is as such: modified BOSS SD-1 -> MI Audio Blues Pro -> Sansamp TRI-AC.

It has a rather balanced tone, but it's edging towards being a little middy.

I play mainly Iron Maiden and occasionally stuff from Metallica or Pantera, and some occasional acoustic pieces on my electric, for fun. These pickups are perfect for maiden, but not quite so for metallica or pantera, unless you want to sound like Iron Maiden covering Metallica, which is quite wrong. For mind blowing crushing metal the viper and redline set would be better. Or maybe even the hellion.

If they ever break, I'll try out stan's other pickups. He has a winding (low, medium or high output) for all the pickup magnets available (Alnico 2, 5 and ceramic), even if it's not listed, as he will custom wind any pickup configuration to your liking.

I have been playing for 2 years, and I used to own an Ibanez RG321MH which I fitted a set of SD's JB and Jazz to it. Both are A5s too. There is no contest between the famous SD set and this set, the SDs are so much more muddy and less dynamic than this set.

Why do I love these pickups? They sound beautiful, on clean and on distortion. These pickups are wonderful as such that they will NOT be the weakest link in your tone chain. They are very well balanced pickups. I have never found them too bright or muddy, they output a healthy dose of the whole frequency range. Compared to the viper, these pickups do NOT have the typical ceramic ultra high frequency presence that you might or might not like, as they are alnico. They are slightly warmer (a little more mids, less treble) because of this aspect.

Comparing them with stan's other pickups will just show a difference in EQ. Comparing them with other off the shelf pickups, I found that stan's pickups will always sound more open. Somewhat like the kind of big sound you hear on old 80s recordings, but with modern clarity.

I wish the scorpion had slightly more output, mine was a 13k model. Currently stan's scorpion is at 13.5k, same as the viper. Back then he lowered the resistance for the scorpion as he was afraid that the A5s will cause the pickups to mud up. I might want to try a 14k scorpion some day, or maybe a ceramic set, to get that old jarring in your face hard rock sound.

I would say this set is a very safe set of pickups. You won't go wrong with this. You can play any genre of music with this set, but perhaps if you want to sound heavier you will need an extra od pedal to boost the signal slightly.