Metal pickups for strat

[Harry Hughes]

Alive or Just Breathing was a mini-sized humbucker, most likely a Hot Rails even. Sound like a thin tone to you?


But seriously, if you don't want to get a new PG or route or anything (might not be necessary), just get a Hot Rails or a ToneZone S.

Don't think I said anywhere that a hot rails was thin sounding dude
Just that due to the design of a stacked humbucker, it's never going to sound the same as a full size bucker.
AoJB isn't really my favorite tone or production from KSE anyway but yes I agree it's not thin.
The OP did also ask for sludgy stoner stuff and only a full size bucker ever truly does that style justice

 

[JeffTD]

If you want properly thick tone, a single coil sized humbucker wont deliver unfortunately.
If we are talking about Alder, the Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB model is a match made in heaven.
It's worth getting a full size bucker in there man, do it

That basically implies thinness.

Not to mention Alder + JB doesn't exactly = sludgy by any stretch of the imagination.

AoJB doesn't have to be your favorite anything - it's still proof that that pickup can do thick tones and do them well.

My point stands - single-sized buckers are more than a legitimate choice as far as pickups go, and saying that "only a full size bucker ever truly does that style justice" is misinformed and misleading at best.

 

[slashvanyoung]

I always thought Joel recorded most of the rhythm tracks on AOJB? Seeing as Adam was primarily the drummer back then and is "only" credited for additional guitar IIRC. I could be absolutely wrong though...

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

AoJB isn't what I'd call a "thin" tone (nor a particularly bad one), but I always thought it had a weird sorta squelch to it that sounded kinda nasty IMO (evident in the beginning of "Fixation...", for example), and I guess now I know why! My supposition is that it's because the pole pieces aren't spanning as much of the length of the strings as a full-sized 'bucker, but who knows...

Anyway, unusable no, but probably won't ever sound like a full-sizer!

 

[slashvanyoung]

I always thought Joel recorded most of the rhythm tracks on AOJB? Seeing as Adam was primarily the drummer back then and is "only" credited for additional guitar IIRC. I could be absolutely wrong though...

I was itching for an answer to this, so I dug through some older posts:

Adam didn't play on AOJB aside from the odd octave overdub here and there. It was all Joel with the 7 string Ibanez Universe with a Dimarzio Blaze pickup through a Mesa Triple Rectifier. Strings were shifted down. The two highest stings were both High E's.
There, Mystery solved

 

[JMarz]

EMG-89.

^ Listen to this fucking man.

 

[RemoWilliams]

Adam didn't play on AOJB aside from the odd octave overdub here and there. It was all Joel with the 7 string Ibanez Universe with a Dimarzio Blaze pickup through a Mesa Triple Rectifier. Strings were shifted down. The two highest stings were both High E's.

*applause*

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Hmm, guess I'm not crazy about the Blaze either!