Hello all,
This is my first post (and rather long-winded one) as well as me and my boys’ first serious jump at learning to play electric guitar (or any guitar for that matter). I initially intended to get my 7 and 4 yr old boys a real guitar after they got hooked on guitar hero 3 and been playing it since last Christmas. Soon after my 7yr old discovered that the plastic gaming axe is nothing like the real thing and he became real curious about wanting to learn to play a real six string. About a month ago I bought a cheap Silvertone Citation and 10w amp package from local Costco. I figured I would start out kind of small and just in case both boys get too rough with it, I’m not out of pocket too much.
Well, so much for that. The first thing I discovered was I too caught the bug to wanna learn how to play. The other thing I discovered with this ‘beginner’ package was when cranking the amp for that heavy ‘dirty’ sound, there was a incredibly annoying hum that sounded like a swarm of bees. My wife doesn’t mind me and the kids “twanging” away like we think we know what we’re doing but she definitely cannot stand the hum. So I cast my first “google” fishing expedition to determine the cause of this mysterious “hum” and my initial search result netted me various discussion board talk of improving one’s amp to something more respectable to alleviate the issue. Well, “respectable” meant anywhere from $200 and up. Not an option, I’m thinking, but I learned about the Spider Line 6 series amps and if me and the boys (or who ever gets there first) ever do actually develop some skill, that may be something worth investing in down the road. So, anyway upon further internet research I discovered some things –
a) Our Silverstone has a Strat layout with a maple neck.
b) It has three single pickups, a 5-way switch, one volume and two tone knobs, vintage tremelo.
c) Single pickups can ‘pick up’ all kinds of local signals from household electrical items, thus causing "hum".
d) There is a thing called a humbucker that will remove much of that annoying hum.
e) Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio are by general consensus the top two brands in aftermarket pickups.
After some contemplating I decided “I’ll get me a humbucker!”. Well, that was my first conclusion, and then later I decided on getting two after listening to some folks play on youtube. So soon I’ll have in hand a JB for the bridge and 59 for the neck. Then I decided, “why not keep a single in the middle?” and began perusing both Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan’s site for a likely candidate.
I’m honed in on the SSL-5 Custom because I’m in Texas and I like that Texas blues rock sound. I’ve also looked into the Dimarzio virtual vintage heavy blues 2 and liked it as well from the sound samples. I understand that both are hum-cancelling as well. Does that affect the other buckers in this setup?
So I need some opinions on if either or neither will work or even what you all recommend for that middle single slot. Also, what should I look out for on wiring since I want to keep the 5-way strat style switch, 1 vol, 2 tones if that is possible. I’m not concrete on it, just want to keep it simple. I think the POTs I have in there are 250k, but went ahead and bought 3 500k and 1mg POTs to tinker with down the road. I also got a H/S/H pick guard so I don’t have to butcher the one in place (even though I’m grinning at the idea and have a Dremel and am quite willing to use it).
I don’t expect this modding project to turn into a beautiful work of art that strums heavenly chords from the mountain tops or bone crunching grinds from the depths of hell. Primary purpose is to cancel that annoying hum, but thinking while I’m doing that I might as well add flavor in various forms of pickups and learning about the inner working of an axe. In the end I basically brain dump my knowledge to my boys in their vocabulary and we all learn along the way.
It worked us when we all learned to play hockey so I figured why not playing electric guitar?
And the funny thing is, I’m balking at the cost of a $200 amp and I’m already over that amount in pickups and parts!
Oh, and if you actually got this far reading my first post all I can say is I appreciate your patience and determination. I don't know if I could do the same!
Anyway, appreciate any suggestions, info, criticism (constructive preferred), free Stars playoff hockey tickets, etc., etc.
This is my first post (and rather long-winded one) as well as me and my boys’ first serious jump at learning to play electric guitar (or any guitar for that matter). I initially intended to get my 7 and 4 yr old boys a real guitar after they got hooked on guitar hero 3 and been playing it since last Christmas. Soon after my 7yr old discovered that the plastic gaming axe is nothing like the real thing and he became real curious about wanting to learn to play a real six string. About a month ago I bought a cheap Silvertone Citation and 10w amp package from local Costco. I figured I would start out kind of small and just in case both boys get too rough with it, I’m not out of pocket too much.
Well, so much for that. The first thing I discovered was I too caught the bug to wanna learn how to play. The other thing I discovered with this ‘beginner’ package was when cranking the amp for that heavy ‘dirty’ sound, there was a incredibly annoying hum that sounded like a swarm of bees. My wife doesn’t mind me and the kids “twanging” away like we think we know what we’re doing but she definitely cannot stand the hum. So I cast my first “google” fishing expedition to determine the cause of this mysterious “hum” and my initial search result netted me various discussion board talk of improving one’s amp to something more respectable to alleviate the issue. Well, “respectable” meant anywhere from $200 and up. Not an option, I’m thinking, but I learned about the Spider Line 6 series amps and if me and the boys (or who ever gets there first) ever do actually develop some skill, that may be something worth investing in down the road. So, anyway upon further internet research I discovered some things –
a) Our Silverstone has a Strat layout with a maple neck.
b) It has three single pickups, a 5-way switch, one volume and two tone knobs, vintage tremelo.
c) Single pickups can ‘pick up’ all kinds of local signals from household electrical items, thus causing "hum".
d) There is a thing called a humbucker that will remove much of that annoying hum.
e) Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio are by general consensus the top two brands in aftermarket pickups.
After some contemplating I decided “I’ll get me a humbucker!”. Well, that was my first conclusion, and then later I decided on getting two after listening to some folks play on youtube. So soon I’ll have in hand a JB for the bridge and 59 for the neck. Then I decided, “why not keep a single in the middle?” and began perusing both Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan’s site for a likely candidate.
I’m honed in on the SSL-5 Custom because I’m in Texas and I like that Texas blues rock sound. I’ve also looked into the Dimarzio virtual vintage heavy blues 2 and liked it as well from the sound samples. I understand that both are hum-cancelling as well. Does that affect the other buckers in this setup?
So I need some opinions on if either or neither will work or even what you all recommend for that middle single slot. Also, what should I look out for on wiring since I want to keep the 5-way strat style switch, 1 vol, 2 tones if that is possible. I’m not concrete on it, just want to keep it simple. I think the POTs I have in there are 250k, but went ahead and bought 3 500k and 1mg POTs to tinker with down the road. I also got a H/S/H pick guard so I don’t have to butcher the one in place (even though I’m grinning at the idea and have a Dremel and am quite willing to use it).
I don’t expect this modding project to turn into a beautiful work of art that strums heavenly chords from the mountain tops or bone crunching grinds from the depths of hell. Primary purpose is to cancel that annoying hum, but thinking while I’m doing that I might as well add flavor in various forms of pickups and learning about the inner working of an axe. In the end I basically brain dump my knowledge to my boys in their vocabulary and we all learn along the way.
It worked us when we all learned to play hockey so I figured why not playing electric guitar?
And the funny thing is, I’m balking at the cost of a $200 amp and I’m already over that amount in pickups and parts!
Oh, and if you actually got this far reading my first post all I can say is I appreciate your patience and determination. I don't know if I could do the same!
Anyway, appreciate any suggestions, info, criticism (constructive preferred), free Stars playoff hockey tickets, etc., etc.
