Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

M

Monsta-Tone

New member
I have a parts guitar/Super Strat project that I'm working on.

Neck:
25 1/2" scale
Japanese Strat neck - maple neck, walnut skunk stripe, rosewood fretboard, 12" radius, 22 frets (off of an old STR-75 Strat)

Body:
1987 Ibanez ProLine PL-1770 body - Alder, thick poly coat of paint, slightly smaller than Strat body, pickgaurd loaded pickups, H-S-S configuration
500k pots - Volume & 1 Tone
5-way selector switch
Gotoh Floyd Rose tremolo - surface mounted for now, but I will most likely recess it as deeply as my ESP's and Ibanez's, but I wanted to see what kind of sustain I could get out of it first.
Gotoh locking nut
Gotoh standard tuners

Pickups in the pickgaurd:
Older style Duncan Hot Rails - neck
Older style Duncal Lil 59 - middle

Bridge pickups I have considered:
I have a Gibson 500T (only 2 conductor wiring for some reason) out of a Flying V. I had this in an alder DK-2 and it flat out rocked! Hated the neck on that guitar, but it sounded incredible with this pickup!
I also have a PATB-1b with alnico 8 magnet that I might try. Although it might sound better with the original magnet back in it in this guitar......
Custom Custom
Custom 5
Tone Zone
Super Distortion
I was wondering what you guys would suggest.

I'm looking for an all around rock guitar that is extremely versatile. I play mostly original stuff that ranges from Hendrix type tones to Zappa to Santana to Slayer.
I'm not really into hair band tones (although I did really like Skid Row's tone)
This will be my jam guitar that I take places to just play and have fun.
I like pickups that are expressive. I am not looking for pickups that only make one sound or do not respond well to amp changes, volume swells, etc..
I do not like bright sounding guitars. I played mainly mahogany guitars for quite a few years and got used to the darker, more Santana type tones.
I'm just getting into alder guitars. I really like the ability to cut through the mix easily! I had an Ibanez JS for years that I loved to play, but it got lost with the band sometimes, I always thought it was because of the basswood body.

I do not care about split coil sounds, although I do really like positions 2 & 4 on some Strats if they are not dramatically lower in volume than the 1, 3, & 5 positions.

Here is a picture of the body:


Original wiring - Volume, Tone (push/push for coil split on bridge humbucker), and a really cool set of push buttons that allows you to turn on each pickup individually. The switches allow you to switch back and forth between them and the 5-way. This idea should have caught on better. I hated it at first because it was different. Now, much like beer and tequila....., I have grown accustomed to it and think it is really essential!



All blah, blah, blah aside....what do you guys recommend?
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

I forgot the rest of the signal chain......

Amps:
Rivera S-120 combo with Mesa/Celestion Black Shadow speakers
Rivera Knucklehead 100
Mesa .50 Caliber +

FX:
G-Major 2
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

JB. It's the rock tone in an alder body Strat.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

JB or Dimarzio AT-1 ( warmer JB )
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Nice going on the Proline body. I have a gold version which is my #1 - the pups I have in it are SSL2 x 2 and 59/Custom. For me this setup does everything well from clean to hard rock.

I also like the switching - typically I have the push buttons set to neck and the blade to bridge, so I just use my little finger to switch between them - really convenient!

If you're going to recess the trem, you'll have to recess the neck pocket as well.
 
Last edited:
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Monsta-Tone said:
Bridge pickups I have considered:
I have a Gibson 500T (only 2 conductor wiring for some reason) out of a Flying V. I had this in an alder DK-2 and it flat out rocked! Hated the neck on that guitar, but it sounded incredible with this pickup!
I also have a PATB-1b with alnico 8 magnet that I might try. Although it might sound better with the original magnet back in it in this guitar......
Custom Custom
Custom 5
Tone Zone
Super Distortion
I was wondering what you guys would suggest.

(...)

what do you guys recommend?
Click to expand...

Try to make the bits and pieces you've already got work for your purpose. Then tweak.

Try the 500T first because you liked it. Try the PATB next because it's plenty fat and still very articulate. Listen closely and judge by yourself whether you have the right mix of frequencies and dynamics or you're missing something (attack, sustain, thickness, harmonics, articulation, et cetera).

The Gotoh 1996T sounds really warm, so it's something that should make your task quite a bit easier.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

My Warmoth has an alder body and a Floyd. I put a JB in the bridge and it sounds great.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

+1 on the JB if you want an off the shelf pickup. I've had a couple in alder body guitars and I have one in a Jackson right now that is one of my main jamming guitars.

Sometimes it gets a bad rap as being too thin or ice-picky sounding, but I think that is mostly from folks that play by themselves in their bedroom without hearing it in a live setting with the other instruments. My experience is that my JB through my EVH amp sounds great when playing with a band.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Thanks for the input guys! I have pickups, but am always curious about what other guys are using. A friend of mine has an old TB-4 (with alnico 8 magnet) that I sold him. I might buy it back from him to try in this guitar. I would probably put the A-5 back in. It's really powerful with the A-8, but is not very dynamic. Lots of incredible crunch though!

I finally got it all put together last night.
Still needs a level & dress, and I'll have to lower the nut shelf a bit.
Haven't even set intonation yet, I was just curious about the sound.......

The "Hot Rails" must be a Cool Rails. It's much lower output than my son's guitar that has a Hot Rails in it. There was no sticker on the back and it measured right between the Hot and Cool Rails pickups.....I was really hoping it would be hotter. It's really tubby sounding, but not enough output.
I'll be swapping the Lil 59 into the neck slot and the Rails into the middle slot.
These 2 positions are slanted, so the 59's pole pieces actually kind of line up under the strings.

I went with the Gibson pickup in this guitar because the PATB is in an Ibanez S2170fb right now.
The 500T sounds really good in this guitar so far! It's bright, but it's fat too, so I don't mind the extra treble.
I haven't been able to crank it yet.
I'll post some pics after I'm done setting it up.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Ashurbanipal said:
Nice going on the Proline body. I have a gold version which is my #1 - the pups I have in it are SSL2 x 2 and 59/Custom. For me this setup does everything well from clean to hard rock.

I also like the switching - typically I have the push buttons set to neck and the blade to bridge, so I just use my little finger to switch between them - really convenient!

If you're going to recess the trem, you'll have to recess the neck pocket as well.
Click to expand...

Hey! This is the sister guitar (body anyway) to the pink one that I sent you pictures of.
The neck ended up on a Perle JS body for some reason that I can't remember, and this body has just been sitting around for a year or so.
I'll probably leave the neck pocket as is and route the trem for upward movement. The Gotoh trem has a 42mm block, and it almost hangs out of the cavity, so I don't want to lower it very much.
There was a cardboard shim with an Ibanez logo on it in the neck pocket. When I pulled it out, this brought the neck pocket really close to Strat specs. It's a hair shorter, but the same width and depth.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

If its tubby and lower output, it's a Cool Rails.


Sent from my armored space station using Tapatalk on iPad
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Monsta-Tone said:
Hey! This is the sister guitar (body anyway) to the pink one that I sent you pictures of.
The neck ended up on a Perle JS body for some reason that I can't remember, and this body has just been sitting around for a year or so.
I'll probably leave the neck pocket as is and route the trem for upward movement. The Gotoh trem has a 42mm block, and it almost hangs out of the cavity, so I don't want to lower it very much.
There was a cardboard shim with an Ibanez logo on it in the neck pocket. When I pulled it out, this brought the neck pocket really close to Strat specs. It's a hair shorter, but the same width and depth.
Click to expand...

Of course, I remember our exchanges now; don't know why it didn't register when I opened this thread!

Yes, most of them are shimmed - some need it, some don't. Mine does, for instance, otherwise the trem would be too high and the setup therefore out of whack. Useful to know though that it's close to Strat spec with shim removed.

You can get shorter blocks for Gotoh Floyds nowadays but depending on how you feel about it, it can be extra hassle and $$.

You still have pinky or has it moved on?
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

I'd go with a JB. hands down. amazing sound in a strat.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

I'll see if my buddy still has that JB.

I don't have the pink one anymore. The neck had a bow in it and needed more skill than I have.
Frank Falbo traded me an incredible 540r for it. He had re-shaped the neck, installed new frets, and drilled out the centers of the inlays and added abolone dots inside the existing white ones. Plus, he installed a Custom Custom and a Hot Rails neck pickup!
I love that guitar! My son talked me out of it immediately!
I'm kinda bummed, but I have an 8 year old with the coolest guitar on the island. It was worth it!
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

Yeah, I remember when we spoke about it. Sad when a lovely guitar has such a structural issue.

Frank is the man when it comes to Ibanez, he has rehabilitated many a basket case and done some cool customs, as you know first hand ;). I wouldn't mind a Radius in my stable; hard to come by though.
 
Re: Alder Strat-ish Guitar with Floyd.....Bridge Pickup Recommendations

I traded the Japanese Strat body for my old JB-8 and an F spaced Steve's Special.
I'll probably put the A-5 back in the JB though. Not sure I like it with the A-8.

I've never tried a Steve's Special, but it was part of the deal, so I thought I would give it a whirl.
 
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