HSH Guitars

[Chistopher]

What are your thoughts on HSH guitars as a configuration? How do you think they should be wired?

I don't think they should have ridiculous over the top wiring. I think they should be simple. Bright flutey neck pickup, noiseless 50s Strat style mid pickup, and a hard hitting bridge humbucker. Sentient/STK-S4/Black Winter for example. Then throw in a 3-way switch and a volume knob. Each position has almost no overlap in application.

Neck pickup: Shredding and Blues
Middle pickup: Every single Strat sound I care to hear. Picking location is a big player here, especially teaches you to not be afraid of picking over pickups.
Bridge pickup: Everything else. Ride the volume knob as a gain control.

How do you guys like your HSHs?

 

[jeremy]

i havent had an hsh for a long time now, but did enjoy them back in the day. rg550 was my first and i kinda used it as you said.

 

[Mincer]

I like HSS more than HSH, for sure. My big beef with HSH is in the switching. In the center position, I'd like the outside 2 humbuckers. In 2 & 4, I'd like the humbuckers to be split with the single in the middle, and all positions to be humbucking.

 

[solspirit]

I like it and play it pretty much as you do. Also the switching possibilities, are plentiful practically endless

 

[MikeS]

It's been many years since I had HSH, so long in fact that I couldn't tell you how it was wired (it was a ~1996 Ibanez RG170, so unlikely to be anything fancy) and the middle single coil rout got filled in when it was converted to actives a few years after that.

If I were to get one today, I'd go superswitch on the 5-way while avoiding any other switches. Positions 1 & 5 would be the humbuckers while positions 2 & 4 would be set up as "notch" positions with autosplits for the humbuckers. I'd likely wire position 3 to split the neck and bridge humbuckers, as that's a tone I use far more regularly than the traditional position 3 on a strat or full neck and bridge buckers at the same time.

 

[nienturi]

On my HSH guitars, I usually prefer a PAF-style clone in the neck. I’m after a fluety yet articulate tone. I almost never use the middle single-coil on its own, but I frequently rely on the in-between positions with neck'n bridge humbuckers (split mode), especially when I need clean tones. At the bridge, I tend to go for medium-output and/or overwound PAF-type pickups. I want more meat in the bridge. I also use a push-pull mod that activates the neck pickup’s screw coil (the one facing the fretboard). This way, you can end up with a very versatile guitar.

 

[Artie]

What are your thoughts on HSH guitars as a configuration? How do you think they should be wired?

I don't think they should have ridiculous over the top wiring. I think they should be simple.

Given that I'm a "tech", more than a musician, I'd be the exact opposite. My wiring scheme would probably be a nightmare for anyone else to decipher. I've never owned an HSH, but I did rewire one, (old Peavey Horizon), for a friend once. He kept it stock, but I had fun imaging the wiring schemes I could do with that thing.

I may still need to add one to my stable just to play with. (As opposed to "play.")

 

[weepingminotaur]

What are your thoughts on HSH guitars as a configuration? How do you think they should be wired?

I don't think they should have ridiculous over the top wiring. I think they should be simple. Bright flutey neck pickup, noiseless 50s Strat style mid pickup, and a hard hitting bridge humbucker. Sentient/STK-S4/Black Winter for example. Then throw in a 3-way switch and a volume knob. Each position has almost no overlap in application.

Neck pickup: Shredding and Blues
Middle pickup: Every single Strat sound I care to hear. Picking location is a big player here, especially teaches you to not be afraid of picking over pickups.
Bridge pickup: Everything else. Ride the volume knob as a gain control.

How do you guys like your HSHs?

I dig this, but I'd want to be able to split the BW bridge. It splits so well!

 

[Chistopher]

I dig this, but I'd want to be able to split the BW bridge. It splits so well!

Perhaps a four way super switch?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I used to have an HSH RG570. I liked the 5-way super switch. In the in-between positions it had Strat-like tones. Those were fun. That being said, I barely used them, LOL. And the middle pickup kinda got in the way of my picking, I felt. I had to lower it a lot, and the tone of the in between positions kinda suffered because of it. There was also a huge jump in volume between the single coil tones and the humbuckers.

So I guess is in summary, yes, they're fun. I can see how someone would like that configuration. But for me, it didn't really offer anything I felt I needed enough to look past the negatives.

 

[ehdwuld]

I agree with Artie
I have one hsh
With five way and a push push tone

I have wanted to use a 4 pole super switch and triple shot rings
But I would have too many similar choices

I have a HH with TS rings and a super switch
I only use two or three of the 42 possible choices

Most sound similar or just not good

I like having a flexible all in one super strat
But I am not a gigging musician
If I want a strat sound
I grab a strat
If I want a tele sound
I grab a tele
I have almost 30 guitars waiting for my mood the gravitate that way