Comparing HS-2 to Blue Lace Sensors

[longbow]

Im looking for a slightly thicker tone as compared to the normal strat pickups. Have been contemplating between the two.. Could any1 here give me some advice?

 

[embryo]

Im looking for a slightly thicker tone as compared to the normal strat pickups. Have been contemplating between the two.. Could any1 here give me some advice?

Hi Longbow,
The HS2 is actually a slight notch up from the very classic low output sparkly sounding single coil sound. As it's a stack humbucker it also resolves the hum problem often associated with single coils. Eric Johnson himself uses a HS2 on the bridge for one of his fav Strats. He uses half the coils instead of the full stacked humbucker. I've tried this myself and have to admit it does sound really "vintagy" if you know what I mean.

I would suggest trying out the HS3 instead. It's a serious notch up in the mids with less top end and has an output to match classic humbuckers while still maintaining the Strat character. Anything more than the HS3 you'd be going for Humbuckers in Strat packages like the JB Junior, Lace Sensor Red, Chopper etc.

Hope it's been helpful

 

[thor666]

i think neither pickup are meant to sound thicker than a strat. Both of the pups were designed twith strat pups in mind but with a slight touch of better EQ. the best way would be to get a humbucker, whether full sized or single-sized.

i suppose for a thicker tone, you can always try the hotter pickup offerings from the major brands... dimarzio HS3, duncan hot stacks (note a improved version is coming out soon). lace sensors i didn't have much luck with the golds, but i suppose you could look into the hot golds.

 

[Fruitwine]

i'm not too sure about u guys, but i've heard that while lace sensors give a great clean tone, they kinda stink at overdrive. the HS3 though, sounds pretty good in both functions. personally, i'd say go for the HS3s, then maybe add a coil tap switch as mentioned above, so u get even greater versatility.

 

[longbow]

Thanx for e replies guys!

hmm..hs3.. to those of u who have tried it, does it sound very yngwie-ish with drive? Coz tts what im afraid of see...

 

[thor666]

i'm not too sure about u guys, but i've heard that while lace sensors give a great clean tone, they kinda stink at overdrive. the HS3 though, sounds pretty good in both functions. personally, i'd say go for the HS3s, then maybe add a coil tap switch as mentioned above, so u get even greater versatility.

i had the golds before... agree with u the overdrive is kinda "too defined", and not anywhere near crunchy sounding.

longbow - the HS3 alone doesn't sound Yngwish. Yngwie's tone mainly comes from his technique, his amp and the amount of gain he dials on them. You'll probably NOT sound like him at all if your style is different from Yngwie.

 

[Fruitwine]

+1.

imho, the HS3s and HS2s are pretty vintage sounding pickups, and if u coil split em, as mentioned above, its even more so. as thor said, it depends on ur effects, playing style, genre of music etc. anyhow, i'd suggest coil tapping and maybe even one more switch/push pull knob for series/parallel wiring, giving u lots of possibilities.

 

[nebo1981]

tried both hs2 & hs3 ...

the hs2 sounded very thin and trebly even in the neck position ...
kinda weak ...
and when you add drive .. it's ..... ok...
but if you intending to use heavy distortion ... not very good.
you do get a nice "twangy" sound tho ...

the hs3 on the other hand ...
WOW ~! i love the tone ~!
works well both clean and with drive
i put them in the neck and middle ....
neck: very thick, full and warm
middle: slightly twangy, but still sounds good clean and with drive

Actually the hs2 has it's qualities ...
i recond it'd be better as a middle pickup...