Fat Strats

[AniML]

I am considering an H-S-S configuration, ideally with a coil tap on the humbucker with the hope of getting the "best of both worlds" (i.e. Les Paul and Strat tone)

My first priority is a thick LP tone, and second, a bluesy strat tone. Any recommendations without too much compromise?

Which body wood would be best?
Alder
Swamp Ash
Mahogany

or is it too much compromise and I will end up with a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" guitar?

Suggestions?

 

[Jimbojsr]

Re: Fat Strats

Eh, well there ain't no poll at the moment....

But a strat ain't gonna sound as beefy as a Les Paul, no matter what pups you put in it; the shatpe of the guitar, scale length and body woods all contribute to the tone. Don't get me wrong, a 'buckered strat will rock, it just won't be a clone of a Les Paul. Getting a split in there is a top idea, though.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Fat Strats

Eh, well there ain't no poll at the moment....

But a strat ain't gonna sound as beefy as a Les Paul, no matter what pups you put in it; the shatpe of the guitar, scale length and body woods all contribute to the tone. Don't get me wrong, a 'buckered strat will rock, it just won't be a clone of a Les Paul. Getting a split in there is a top idea, though.

Exactly, what I was gonna say. A Strat won't sound like a Les Paul no matter what you do. :smoker:

 

[Gamera]

Re: Fat Strats

Nor will a Les Paul sound like a Strat no matter what you do.

Having said that, an HSS "superstrat" style guitar will get you closest to what you're after. The new Fender AM DLX's also feature the S-1 switch which allows for an additional 5 pickup combinations. Some of these S-1 combinations allow for multiple pickups or even all pickups "on." These provide a nice, fat, fuller LPish tone. But it still doesn't sound exactly like an LP.

 

[PhatStrat]

Re: Fat Strats

I have a Fat Strat, and it serves the purpose of coming close to a dual HB without having to swap guitars mid-stream. Make sure you set it up with coil split on the HB so you can run three singles if you want, and also able to run the singles in series to emulate the dual HB's. Last thing to consider is pup balance. Mine came standard with Tex Mex HB and SC's. When I set up the split coils the bridge as a single was very thin compared to the mid and neck. I just replaced the Tex Mex HB with a Custom Custom and solved that problem.

As a guideline, look at the resistance on the specs of the HB, and pretty much cut it in half for when you split the coils. That's why I went with the CC, cause it is a 14.4k HB and my Tex Mex singles are about 6.3 to 6.4. When I split the HB it's at just over 7k which balances well with the SC's. When I run the SC's in series they come out to just over 12k, which makes for a nice balance with the CC HB.

The only catch is that the HB by itself is hotter than the singles, so I have to compensate when switching between those modes.

If you want a nice switch setup for a H-S-S Strat check out Deaf Eddie's Fat-O for Fatties switch.

 

[chcjunior]

Re: Fat Strats

I have a G&L Asat Deluxe, and it comes close in both departments. It has the coil tap option, and a '59/JB.

 

[nuntius]

Re: Fat Strats

If your first priority is the bucker tone, go mahogany over alder/ash. It'll get you closer, but with a 25.5 maple neck bolt on, you're not gonna nail it.

Last year I worked through summer to afford a guitar that perfectly fits your words "Jack of all trades, master of none" and now I'm not so sure about it. It sits right in between all of my other guitars sound wise and doesn't beat any of them really in any field. Henceforth from now on I'm going to make sure any other guitars I get have a defined purpose and something to excel at.

If you can afford it, get a strat type and a les paul. If you can't, since buckers are your first priority, get a les paul with coil taps. You'll get your paul tone dead on, and still have a "single coil" tone.

Next time around, get a strat with the S1 switching. You'll have a strat that's a strat that can get "humbucker" sounds.

By all means though, if this is to be your live axe, it's worth getting something that does both so that you can get close to the tones without changing guitars mid song :laugh2:

 

[philthis]

Re: Fat Strats

you know I went hum, hum, on my strat and split the humbuckers. the neck gets me that fat bluesy tone and i went with a pg in the neck so when I split the pickup its brite like a single would be and its pretty close to the single sound when i split it. the bridge sounds great and lively and when I click it to both hums on its distinctly a 2 hum sound. no it doesnt sound exactly like a les paul but no body cares or knows better anyway and I like the tones i get out of the strat so much I dont have a les paul anymore. Infact i got another hum, hum, strat with a floyd so i could do even more stuff with it. when i solo I flick between both bridge and neck and sometimes between neck and neck split. I realy like the lead tones i get out of this configeration. rythems are great too. I dont quite get the purist strat single coil tones but its close and it sounds good. all around its got pg's on it a5 pg bridge and regular a2 pg neck. with 12 inch speakers its got all the fat bluesy bass you could want without drop d tuneing to get more (wich is quite possible) and I realy like the more lively lead tones I get from the bridge. Good luck and let us know what you come up with and how it works for you. :beerchug:

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Fat Strats

well, i can tell you you'll wanna go with a hard tail, that'll beef things up more than you'd think.

also, kind of a weird idea but nonetheless, how about do a warmoth, alder body, and get a mahogany neck on it? Your tuners are gonna hafta be LIGHT and you'll pretty much hafta do graphtec...everything, maybe even go with a tele neck to get the balance right, but it'd prolly sound real good.

you may even be better off going with a tele altogether, i dunno how you feel about tele neck pickups, but in some cases i actually prefer them to strat ones for blues tones. In that case, you could pick up a used nashville tele, rout the bridge for a humbucker, and put a mini 'bucker in the middle.

you also need to consider fretboard material though, typically, bluesy fenders have a maple fretboard, and pauls, well, rosewood.

 

[Jimbojsr]

Re: Fat Strats

What does a Les Paul sound like with a 'single coil' pickup function? I find that really hard to imagine, cos I ALWAYS assoiate LPs with buckers (or p90s at the very least)....

 

[AniML]

Re: Fat Strats

What does a Les Paul sound like with a 'single coil' pickup function? I find that really hard to imagine, cos I ALWAYS assoiate LPs with buckers (or p90s at the very least)....

Jimmy Page uses custom wiring that provides a coil tap among other PUP splits / combos. If you google humbucker wiring diagrams there are some that even refer to "Jimmy Page wiring"