How will this sound?

[vaeodin]

Hey guys. I'm planning on building my first strat and I'm wondering what you all think of this combo?

two piece northern ash body
maple neck w/ rosewood fingerboard
duncan invader in the bridge
1meg vol / no tone
hardtail top loading bridge

How will this sound? I'm hoping that the invader will chunk up the ash and the rosewood fingerboard will warm up the tone. i wasnt sure on whether to get a 500k or 1meg vol pot because the invader seems to be a bassy, ballsy, hot tone.

I play a lot of heavier rock styles. I admit I do a lot of punk rock power chord type stuff too.

Thanks!

 

[FuseG4]

Re: How will this sound?

welcome to the forum!
I just picked up an Am Std strat with a 2 piece northern ash body, and a maple/rosewood neck, and it's a well balanced and pretty "airy" sounding guitar. So I can say i like your choice of woods.
Once you have a good wood combination, the rest can be changed to suit you.

I'd go for a string-through bridge, though. I like the tension on the strings and the sharper, ballsier sound and longer sustain. That's up to you though.

Also, instead of no tone control, I would be more inclined to say go for a no load tone control. If you start swapping pickups, you may for instance dig the JB, and as it can get sort of bright, having a tone control may come in handy someday. Doing a single volume control just seems sort of limiting. With the no-load pot you can still always have the "no tone control" sound.

 

[vaeodin]

Re: How will this sound?

Thanks for the reply! I kind of just like aesthetic of one knob guitars and I never really use the tone control. I usually like things on full blast... call it a psychological thing. Even the vol knob I usually just have on max cause the music I play doesn't really have very much dynamics. The bridge was a touch decisions between string through and top load. I hear that string through can have a bit more sustain... but I like my strings a bit loose and easy to bend and
I hear top load has less tension for a slinkier feel. Do you think the invader will work with my wood combo? I figured the ash and the 1 meg pot / no tone will help brighten up the invader and get rid of some of the muddiness I hear people talk about with it. I figured Ash's clear and airy tone will open up the murkiness the invader can have.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: How will this sound?

I actually havent played the invader but I'm assuming that it should work OK with that wood. I'm assuming you're doing a bolt-on neck and so that should help keep things snappy enough to balance everything out. Just don't go for the really light ash bodies. The heavier ones seem to have the most focus but the least "air" and the light ones can sometimes be airy to the point that they loose clarity. Stick in the medium weight range if you can help it.

The less tension from the bridge still worries me a bit though. the slinkier feel may lead to some muddiness. I'd say that the bridge choice might affect this almost as much as the wood.
You can always try it and then get it routed for string-thru later if you don't dig it.

 

[vaeodin]

Re: How will this sound?

Yep it's going to be a bolt on. I'm debating doing a string through. I think I may try the top load for starters and if I dont like the sound or feel I'll drill for the ferrules and swap the bridge. Also, I think I may abandon the invader. I can't find too much about its sound in ash so it worries me. I hear good things about the dimarzio tone zone and super distortion in ash though. Also, I didn't know they made fender am strats with ash / rosewood. I usually only see ash / maple.

heres my current plan:
2 piece northern ash
22 fret maple/rosewood with 70s cbs headstock
pearloid pickguard
chrome hardware
sperzel locking tuners
top loading hardtail
500k vol pot
reverse zebra bridge pup (dimarzio tone zone or super d)

Thanks for the tips man! BTW... here is what I'm planning:

 

[dominus]

Re: How will this sound?

The Invader or Tone Zone *should* work in it, Super Distortion will work. Just depends on how bright the wood ends up being. I had one guitar that was so bright the only pickup that did work for me was the Tone Zone. Check out the Dimarzio website, their pickup picker is usually spot on.

 

[vaeodin]

Re: How will this sound?

The Invader or Tone Zone *should* work in it, Super Distortion will work. Just depends on how bright the wood ends up being. I had one guitar that was so bright the only pickup that did work for me was the Tone Zone. Check out the Dimarzio website, their pickup picker is usually spot on.

Thanks for the heads up! Dimarzio's super 3 looks interesting too... but i'm afraid it might too hot and compressed. I'm playing more crunchy punk versus balls out metal. The thing that worries me is that supposedly the ash / rosewood combo can be a bit "sizzley" which makes me think I need a darker humbucker. I was surprised that people say ash/rosewood can be brighter than ash/maple. i'm thinking maple probably adds mids too which fills in or rounds out the sound.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: How will this sound?

In my experience, ash and rosewood can have some top end sizzle. I had a custom shop strat and a custom Carvin, both of them were ash/rosewood. They were both bright guitars and it was a little bit of a challenge to find the perfect humbuckers for them. I traded the custom shop and eventually sold the Carvin, but before I sold it, I put an EVH Frankenstein in the bridge and a Dimarzio PAF 36th in the neck. It sounded great after that. I think a Tone Zone or Breed would be great in that guitar too.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: How will this sound?

My experience with Strats says tghat Ash bodies Strats don't like too much a Rosewood Fretboard. It actually makes the tone too ice-picky!!!
(I know, conventional wisdom says otherwise, well that's my experience anyway).

IMO an Ash body is a natural match for an all-Maple neck...

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: How will this sound?

man

this reminds me of when i was in high school and got a hair up my ass to build a strat

spec'd it out basically the same as a Tom Delonge signature model with like 3 slight differences

played it for a couple of years, realized it's not my thing, and sold it for $200ish...after sinking over $600 into the project.

if i had just bought and modded a Tom Delonge I could've sold it with hardly any loss because now that they're out of production, they're actually kind of desirable.

just my .02...i know lots of people who've done the project strat thing...i don't know many who kept it as their be-all end-all guitar and i know a lot who sold it to fund something else...including me...and i wish i had been smarter with my money.

Main reason I bring it up is the guitar you designed is basically a Tom Delonge signature model with a cool customized paint job. You could find the TD Strat, decide if you like the tone of the pup and the feel of anything, then splurge on a nice ash body to do the paintjob on and swap all the hardware over.

Then if you decide you don't like your Partscaster a few years down the road, you have a cool custom Strat body and a super-rare Tom Delonge that you can sell for about what you paid for it.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: How will this sound?

Maple neck is usually the ticket for a North Ash body. That was EVH's guitar.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: How will this sound?

I second the all maple neck with the Ash body, As much as I love the Invader I think it works best in Mahogony guitar. I would try a Distortion or a JB+..........

 

[vaeodin]

Re: How will this sound?

Yea I'm just not too fond of the look of all maple necks. I also avoided ebony cause I figured that would be too bright. I'm really surprised that the maple neck would sound less icepicky than rosewood. My only guess is it has something to do with the midrange. I'm hoping that the right pickup can tame this combo.

Also, it seems most people dislike the invader in mahogany. I'd think it would do better in a brighter wood. Also, I think the JB or Distortion would be very shrill and such in ash since they have a lot of highs.