Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

vscaletta

vscaletta

New member
I'm building an HSH Strat with a maple neck and mahogany body. Wilkinson bridge. I'm going for very clear tone that breaks up well with Plexi amps, like a PAF in a Les Paul. I play mostly hard rock, but want something versatile and organic ("airy") sounding.

1) What pickups would suit this build and tone? I was considering the Saturday Night Special but I'm not sure if I'd need a trembucker with the Wilkinson or not.

2) What wiring should I go for? I want to coil split in the neck and bridge. (FYI I am thinking I will go with 1 volume and 2 tone pots).

3) What should the pots be? 250K, 500K?

Many thanks for the help. This is my first build, and I greatly appreciate any advice I can get. Cheers :)
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

Not a fan of splitting too many humbuckers but I'll give you a recommendation for an all-Seymour Duncan HSH...


The pickups:

  • Bridge: TB-16 59/Custom Hybrid
  • Middle: SSL-1 Standard polarity model
  • Neck: SH-10N Full Shred

I would wire it as such using a Fender 5-Way Super Switch and a push pull on the volume pot:

  1. Bridge in Series
  2. Bridge split to slug coil in parallel with the middle single coil
  3. Bridge + Neck (push/pull to split to inner coils)
  4. Neck split to outer coil in parallel with the middle single coil
  5. Neck in Series
By flipping the magnet and reversing the wires in the neck humbucker all positions will be hum-cancelling. I would only have the push/pull affect position 3, though it could be made to work for positions 1 and 5 as well.
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

I'd go L500XL bridge, L250 middle and L500C in the neck are my first choices, but going with SD, I'd say 59/C bridge, SSL-1, and Sentient neck.

I'd wire it with a standard 5-way switch and a tone for the neck and middle pickups and then another one for the bridge. Then I'd put a master series/parallel switch in (probably on an S1 switch). This way you'd get extreme versatility without all the complicated switching that other people use. It's just one switch to select pickups and what is essentially a "thin" switch. All positions are noiseless too.
 
Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

From Dimarzio I'd go with something like this...


The pickups:

  • Bridge: Air Norton*
  • Middle: True Velvet Middle
  • Neck: Bluesbucker

Wiring would be the a little different this time:

  1. Bridge in Series
  2. Bridge split to slug coil in parallel with the middle single coil
  3. Bridge + Neck
  4. Neck split to screw coil in parallel with the middle single coil
  5. Neck in Series (push pull to switch between series and parallel, only active in this position)
Flip the magnet and reverse the wires on the Air Norton for all positions to be hum cancelling.



(*) Other DiMarzio pickups to consider for the bridge spot, depending on your taste:

  • AT-1
  • The Breed Neck
  • Gravity Storm Neck
  • Transition Neck
Contact DiMarzio about what medium output pickup pair with a Bluesbucker in the neck. They are extremely responsive.
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

Chistopher said:
extreme versatility without all the complicated switching
Click to expand...
Like you, I despise complicated switching; to the point that I normally dedicate each switch to just one position when possible. I find many switching combinations to be unusable, and have been told that I lack imagination and have no taste because of it.

Chistopher said:
I'd go L500XL bridge, L250 middle and L500C in the neck are my first choices
Click to expand...
I see the Bill Lawrence bug is going around (I recommended one early yesterday morning).

Chistopher said:
All positions are noiseless too.
Click to expand...
...in the case of the Lawrence pickups. ;)
 
Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

Chistopher said:
Not if you use an STK-S4, the noiseless version of the SSL-1.
Click to expand...
If the point is to quack without splitting in positions 2 and 4, then the Area 67 is probably a better choice.

I prefer both humbuckers in position 3 far and above the middle single by itself.


I would drop the SSL-1 in the middle spot a bit lower than the humbuckers for my Duncan recommendation. The DiMarzio the True Velvet Neck will sit a little bit higher and will likely sound better as a result. As another option, the True Velvet bridge model is more or less interchangeable with the SSL-1, unless you're a cork-sniffing single coil snob. ;)

A Fender CS69 will also work well in the middle depending on how bright you want your quack. The closest noiseless equivalent to the CS69 that I know of is the Area 67.
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

gregory said:
Not a fan of splitting too many humbuckers but I'll give you a recommendation for an all-Seymour Duncan HSH...


The pickups:

Bridge: TB-16 59/Custom Hybrid
Middle: SSL-1 Standard polarity model
Neck: SH-10N Full Shred​


I would wire it as such using a Fender 5-Way Super Switch and a push pull on the volume pot:

1: Bridge in Series
2: Bridge split to slug coil in parallel with the middle single coil
3: Bridge + Neck (push/pull to split to inner coils)
4: Neck split to outer coil in parallel with the middle single coil
5: Neck in Series​

By flipping the magnet and reversing the wires in the neck humbucker all positions will be hum-cancelling. I would only have the push/pull affect position 3, though it could be made to work for positions 1 and 5 as well.
Click to expand...

Does splitting humbuckers degrade the sound quality?

Also, call me crazy but I've toyed with the idea of putting a lipstick pickup in the middle to get a "jangly" sound. Just would need to make sure it doesn't drop the output too much.

I guess I'm on the fence. I'm just looking to get fat, clear tones like a Gibby paired with a Marshall but with a sort of snappiness and jangle to it (considering its a Mahogany/Maple Strat with a trem). Like classic rock meets indie rock. I liked what I heard from the Dimarzio suggestions. Would those achieve this? Hope my silly adjectives are somewhat understandable to the tone I'm trying to achieve. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for the very helpful replies
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

vscaletta said:
Does splitting humbuckers degrade the sound quality?
Click to expand...
Not if you like the way they sound. Do they sound like single coils? No way. Do they provide a usable quack tone when combined with a single coil? Depending on the humbucker, single coil and placement, they can for me.

vscaletta said:
Also, call me crazy but I've toyed with the idea of putting a lipstick pickup in the middle to get a "jangly" sound. Just would need to make sure it doesn't drop the output too much.
Click to expand...
If you like it then it's not crazy. Go with a vintage-output or otherwise under-wound sounding humbucker, which can include neck models. I'm a fan of the Screamin' Demon with singles, personally. Pearly Gates bridge is another. Others can provide recommendations for vintage output neck pickups. I would look at what DiMarzio has to offer from their vintage output line including the Air Classic Neck and brighter EJ Custom Bridge.

vscaletta said:
I'm just looking to get fat, clear tones like a Gibby paired with a Marshall but with a sort of snappiness and jangle to it (considering its a Mahogany/Maple Strat with a trem). I liked what I heard from the Dimarzio suggestions. Would those achieve this?
Click to expand...
Of the ones I listed, I'd say the Gravity Storm Neck and Transition Neck. Double-check with DiMarzio.

BTW, I wouldn't hesitate mixing and matching between brands.
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

Thanks. I've considered Seth Lover's for lower output PAFs. Not sure how the sound would translate to a mahogany and maple neck strat but it's been a contender.

Also - What's a good ratio between Neck and Bridge output to Middle output? So the volume is consistent between switching? And what K pots should I use for Vol Tone Tone?
 
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Re: Building HSH Strat. Pickup and wiring suggestions?

It depends if you want to split or not, though I'm not sure what you mean by ratio. Don't rely on DC resistance, if that's what you're thinking.

For the bridge, I know of no other split Duncan (true humbucker, which excludes the Stag Mag) that sounds better by itself or combines better with a single coil than the slug coil of a JB. Split coils in the neck are more forgiving, but I don't think anything from Duncan can compete with the DiMarzio Bluesbucker. The Bluesbucker will also work in the bridge, but I prefer my bridge pickup to be hotter than my neck pickup.

Seths are great, but I don't know that I would call them snappy, even with the covers removed(!). I think you'd be better off with EJ Customs.

...but I'm a hard rock lead player with melodic tendencies. Unlike others I don't just go around plugging my pet favorites, but if your tastes align musically, pet favorite recommendations can be extremely useful from people so long as they have similar gear.
 
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