standard stratocaster or hss strat?

Question

im gonna get a new guitar and im wondering wat do u think is better. the standard strat with 3 single coil pickups or the hss with the humbucker. i kind of like the tremelo arm but im not sure cause ive heard the hss sounds better cause the pickups are crap. ur opinions?

Answer 1

I have both configurations of Strats. I would get the SSS. I play my HSS on the rhythm pup most of the time. You want a Strat to sound like a Strat.

Answer 2

The single coil pick-ups have a certain sound that is different than the humbuckers. However, it is mostly a matter of taste. I personally prefer the humbucker sound for my style of blues playing. You know that B.B.King uses a Gibson with humbuckers but then again Stevie Ray Vaughn played great blues with Fender single coil Strats.

The HHS (or Fat Strat) is a pretty good compromise. However, since it costs more than the standard you really need to try both and see if it really makes that much of a difference to your style of playing.

I have found that there are a lot of "pick-up snobs" out there that make all kinds of claims about how much one outshines another. All I know is that while there may be some subtle difference, when you use modern amplifiers and effects one guitar can be made to sound pretty much like another.

The only time it really matters is in something like Jazz where they require a very specific, mellow sound. You will not see a lot of single coil pick-ups used for that.

Hope this helps.

.

Answer 3

You need a humbucker. They rock harder than single coils. Buy the HSS strat.

Answer 4

I prefer the standard, and don't like the feel of the hss. I play rock and some blues, as well as jazz.

Answer 5

I'll take the standard any day of the week. You want humbuckers, buy a Gibson.. KTnTexas