SD Little 59 vs. Hot Rails (bridge)

[arispect]

Just got a '52 vintage hot rod deluxe, which I love, expect for the bridge pickup. I'm planning to use the guitar in a band setting (myspace.com/thesmyrk), and need a lot more balls from the bridge. I've listened to the samples on the Duncan website, but it only gives a hint of the tones.

Does anyone have experience with one or both of these pickups? I noticed that Mike Stern has a Hot Rails in his Yamaha, and I've always liked his sound a lot. I definitely don't want that EMG chunkiness, I just want something more bucker-like.

Suggestions?

 

[teleyouk]

I have played the little 59, some years ago, on a hollow mahogany tele body.
First of all, it's a pickup essentially designed to be played in distortion mode.
Don't expect to a great sound, played clean.
With distortion, it has a smooth character that can evocate a vintage output humbucker. That's why it's called "little 59". Definitely not an aggressive or nasty sound (I guess that's can be the main difference with the hot Rails, but I haven't played this one).
Coupled with the mini humbucker of the hot rod 52, that can be a good sweet-oriented combination, with a well-balanced result. (I believe it would be interesting to experiment with 500K pots)

 

[stayintune]

Coincidetally, I am choosing between those two as well. I was set on the Hot Rails (matched with a LF Blues Special in the neck) but a couple of techs I talked to said the HR might be a little too much. One guy described the HR as a steak that just a little over cooked. I asked what he reccomended and he said the lil 59.

 

[arispect]

I'm leaning towards the 59 as well. Any other brands to check out? I've never liked Dimarzios and I can't find any boutique options.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

The Lil '59 sounds good clean or dirty, but as mentioned, likes dirt more.

The Lil '59 can get a tad dark, which can be slightly remedied by 500k pots and running it in parallel mode instead of series mode.

I haven't used a Hot Rails in a long long time, so my memory may not be of much help there. I remember it really being kinda hot, which was cool at the time. A lot of output, a compressed sound, with enough Treble (again, from my foggy memory).

The Lil '59 will sound "chunky," it sorta has a slightly fattened midrange to my ears.

 

[kingink]

I actually prefer the Hot Rails. It's super crunchy, but I think it has more "character," whatever that means. It has more percussive bite. I think the L'il '59 is just too dark. It's not exactly mellow, but it's mellower than the HR. Also, someone once told me that he much prefers the HR when split, which kind of makes sense. Half of the HR is like 8K, so it's like a hot Tele single coil.

I have a friend who gets an absolutely terrific, raunchy tone from a Dimarzio Chopper T. It's not as over the top as the HR, but it likewise has a mean, percussive bite. He uses .009 gauge strings and gets a bright, almost-twangy tone from his top-loading, Squire Tele.

This is my second post. Hope it helps.

 

[straightface]

I have a friend who gets an absolutely terrific, raunchy tone from a Dimarzio Chopper T. It's not as over the top as the HR, but it likewise has a mean, percussive bite. He uses .009 gauge strings and gets a bright, almost-twangy tone from his top-loading, Squire Tele.

I know you said you didn't like Dimarzios, but you should check out the Chopper T. To get an idea of what it can do check out some Black Keys stuff where he plays the tele. That's what he has in the bridge.

 

[modern]

The Little '59 does a very good job of sounding like a classic humbucker. I have used it and the Hot Rails and I preferred the sound of the Little '59.

The Hot Rails does not sound as nice clean and I found its mids too exaggerated. It seemed tailored for high gain use.

 

[OaklandA]

Just to throw a wrench here...

The Harmonic Design Super 90 is an awesome slightly higher output pickup that would match well with that mini-bucker and still have some nice bite to it. The '59 and the HR are a little dark to my ears and are not as good clean.

The Super 90 is designed to sound a lot like a P-90, which it does somewhat. Mostly what you get get is a fat, punchy, ballsey bridge pickup with bite.

 

[stayintune]

I got my Tele back. I went with a Lil 59 in the bridge and the Fralin Blues in the neck. So far I am very happy with it. I find the 59 to be similar to a full size humbucker. I have 250K pots with the 59, but to me it does not sound dark. I am only playing through a practice amp now, as my main rig is in the studio. I hope to experiment more next weekend.
If you're looking for a humbucker sound, that's not really heavy distorted, I don't think the Lil 59 will disappoint.

BTW, the Fralin BS is really nice sounding, kind of "buttery", but with a little bite to it.

 

[Scaletto]

I am right at the point deciding between a Little 59 or a HD Super 90 for the bridge of a Tele that has a SD Antiquity Firebird Mini Humbucker at the neck. It currently has a 2% Fralin Blues Special on the bridge which is not working for me for slide at the bridge. I've narrowed it down to those two, mostly for a blues slide guitar, tone towards Johnny Winter/Allman Bros.

BTW, the Fralin is going into another more traditional non slide Tele with a matched neck Fralin. I really like the Fralins for non slide playing. Very round and full, yet very Tele.

Somebody said on another board to be careful mixing a Ceramic pup with an Alnico Pup. Anybody ever hear this? I haven't.

 

[capt pearl]

I'll throw one more opine and one more question into the mix.
Opine - I had a hot rails in my strat and it was great for pinch harmonics and screaming HB, but I always felt it was a bit harsh.
Question - the GFS Lil' Screamer in the "modern" 10k flavor? I'm looking to be able to do Led Zep, AC/DC, ZZ Tops, Guns-n-Roses and then clean-up to match the rest of my Strat's pickups. The SD '59 is out of my budget.

Anyone? Anyone?

-capt pearl

 

[MoreK]

Can anyone tell which one of these pickups comes closer to original tele twang when playing clean? After reading some articles, I've understood that best clean sound can be achieved with parallel wiring, splitting tends to make the sound thin.

Are there any other decent bridge pickup options that could give me both clean-twang and humbucker high-gain? I was also checking twin-pickup setup called Twangblocker, that looked like an interesting option!

All comments welcome!

 

[JCSouthpawtele]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/97364-sd-little-59-vs-hot-rails-bridge.html


Also known as the Pearly Gates™ Esquire® pickup, this brute was built for maximum output and hum-cancellation. This is one of the Custom Shop's most popular Tele™ replacement pickups. Note: because this is a Stack, make sure your guitar's pickup cavity has at least .83" clearance.

 

[iblastoff]

i'm throwing sd hot rails into my tele mainly meant for high gain usage. i'd personally never use hot rails for clean tone. from the sounds i hear on that myspace page, it seems the lil 59 is more suited for you.

 

[MoreK]

Thanks guys! BG-1400 (Pearly Gatews Esquire) seem to be not available in Europe. However I found quite good reviews about DiMarzio Area Hot T pickup, so I'll give it a try.

 

[Robbied_216]

I absolutely love my Little 59 in my USA Tele. Wouldn't consider changing it for anything at this point. I play in church mainly and it works great for the style of music we play at my church.

Good luck