Seymour DuncanSHR-1b Hot Rails Strat Bridge Humbucker Pickup for Electric Guitar - Black

Ok I realize tone is pretty subjective. Ive been playing guitar for almost 30 years now, and mostly played Gibson guitars with Humbuckers. Like most guitar players, its fun to get different gear, to tone chase and try to get that sound in your head etc…In the last couple of years I have been able to pick up a couple of nice Strats, despite feeling they were for blues or classic rock for most of my adult life. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the action and the way they played. But, I always had a tough time with the bridge pickup sound. I liked the clarity, but i feel they need more sustain and harmonics. Plus they always have that inherent high end single-coilness, which I personally do not prefer. I have routed out some less expensive guitars/pickguards and installed various other humbuckers. But I didn’t want to go that route with my more expensive strats. I play mostly 80’s rock through modern metal. I have about 17 guitars, pickups in them are stock Fender, stock Gibson, EMG’s, and about 4 guitars with some Dimarzio humbuckers. Choosing pickups nowadays can be a little daunting, manufacturers have so many different models. Youtube videos help, but sometimes its hard to tell with all of the different effects chains, amps, video processing, different types of guitars etc.. But I decided to give Seymour Duncan pickups a try. I know I’m late to the game, but I am kind if a creature of habit with a if it’s not broke, don’t fix it type of mentality. Long story long, I installed the hot rail pickup in the bridge of a guitar I liked, but now I love. Harmonic’s and sustain are much more lively, with a clarity that I really like over many of my other guitars. Shipping was fast, instillation was very easy, and since installing the hot rail, I have literally ordered a bunch of other Seymour Duncan pickups to install in my other guitars. I now have a Slash set, Yngwie Malmsteen set, 2 JB’s and a JB jr… and while I like all of these pickups for their different tones, I think the Hot Rail and the JB are my favorite for everyday use. It’s kind of funny, because I used to think that Hot Rails were kind of gimmicky, old 80’s style pickup’s etc. that couldn’t be as good as a full sized humbucker, right? Nope, I was wrong.

There’s a reason we buy SD. Good value , easy to install, well built, and perfect functionality. I can’t speak so much for the tone as I’m a tech versus a player. But my customers love the tone options.Ships with mounting hardware, plenty of lead wire, and wiring diagrams

well, i swore by my st blues blindsider (similar to an american strat) with the dimarzio rail in the bridge. this pickup, i put into the bridge of my MIM strat and the st blues has gotten quite a nice and well deserved rest. directions are a bit iffy but mainly due to different wiring options; and i am experienced in replacing these things. just follow the directions i think you'll be fine. theres a couple different wiring options, make sure to use the right one. my dimarzios always come with the 2 necessary wires soldered together for standard humbucker. this one didn't come that way, and i cant remember, but it wasn't the colors i am used to soldering together. anyway GET IT, (google is your friend for the wiring) you'll thank me later.UPDATE: THIS PICKUP SEEMED TO SCOOP MY MIDS ONCE I SWITCHED TO A VOX VALVETRONICS AMP AND STARTED PLAYING WITH A LIVE BAND. I COULDN'T CUT THROUGH THE MIX WITHOUT BUYING AN EQ. ADJUSTMENT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. REMOVED THIS FROM THE BRIDGE AND INSTALLED IN THE MIDDLE POSITION WHERE A LITTLE DARKER SOUND WOULD BE NICE. PUT THE DiMarzio DP218 IN THE BRIDGE. BEAUTIFUL CLEAN HIGHS ARE BACK! I DON'T SCOOP MY MIDS... EW THE HORROR...

Very happy with this pickup. I recently decided to change out the bridge pickup on my strat. I have one of these on my traveler guitar and I love the way this pickup makes that little guitar sound. So, when it came time for a change in my strat, I chose this. It was a very good decision. The pickup is very easy to install and the tone is great. It has now doubled the versatility of my strat because I actually use the bridge pickup now. It is a great compliment to the neck and middle pickups. 100% love it and will be upgrading my other strat with the same pickup.

Quacky, well-rounded sound. High output powerhouse. It sounds super rich through a Metal Zone pedal & an eq.

Good tone. Really woke up my squire strat.

We got this to replace the stock pickup in a Dean Lap-steel. It was the right choice. It sounds fat, smooth and clean.

Seems like it's a noisy pickup. Sounds really good while I'm playing. But when I stop playing. In between riffs it's noisy.