If you're a serious traditional Strat player, you probably won't want to know about pickups with side-by-side coils. But if you're the player who's up for something more modern with no 60-cycle hum, string drop-outs or sustain-killing magnet pull, DiMarzio designed the DP186 The Cruiser for you. Harmonic overtones are right where you expect them to be from a "true" single-coil, and the mid-range is open and vocal-sounding. It's hotter than the traditional single-coil, and the bass strings have a bit more chunk; this is an excellent pickup to combine with medium-output humbuckers, and it maintains its tonal identity with high-gain amps and multiple effects.

Recommended for All Positions

Neck position with DP187, or neck and middle with higher output bridge pickup or full-size humbucker.

Tech Talk

The obvious question about The Cruiser is "How does it compare to a single-coil sound"? Their feeling is that the unwound strings (E, B, and G) are very close, and the wound strings (D, A, and low E) are a little fatter-sounding than a true single-coil. This is really effective for getting open-sounding chords, because high and low strings sound more spread out from each other. Having a total magnet pull that's about 40% less than standard single-coils also means The Cruiser can be adjusted much closer to the strings for more power than stock pickups can achieve.