Hi Group:
Building a project guitar - tribute to Grandmother. In a nutshell, I'm trying to maximize its tonal palette without being _too_ crazy. I did a 4 humbucker guitar once – 8 three way micro switches, 2,400 pickup switching combinations. Too difficult to use live… studio wise, I could get a batch of unique tones, but I couldn’t easily get the same tone twice. Learned a lot, but need something much more user-friendly.
Tried some DiMarzio’s in the prototype – have a Squire Strat as a test-bed. Currently it has three of the virtual vintage 54 Strat style and two of the PAF voiced rails pickups and a Deaf Eddie Chromacaster. The Chromacaster adds a lot of options, but its not “humbucker” enough on its own.
Anyway – I’m pretty set on a JB for the bridge in the final project – that is a sweet bridge pickup… but I’m thinking about having a custom shop piece done with some actual taps (so I can cut back the windings while remaining humbucking.)
I’m struggling with the neck pickup – I want the punchy clarity of a Tele neck pickup (which the VV 54 does fairly well) but I want to be able to switch it into Les Paul territory when I need to. To further complicate matters, I’m planning on devoting the optimum pickup position to the Fernandez Sustainer (single coil variant).
Other than losing the first single coil sized spot near the neck, the options are wide open – I don’t have to follow any format / replacement pattern and I’m not dead set on any particular brand or technology.
Planning on a Swamp Ash / chambered body with a Maple top. Haven’t decided if I want to play with a Mahogany ‘tone block’ or not.
I’m looking to cover progressive rock, classic rock and blues very well – like John Patrucci’s older tones – when he first changed over to the Music Man, but before he went too metal. Steve Morse’s old guitar set up is kind of the thing I’m looking for… lots of options, but easy to get to the basic tones. Brian May had some stellar tones too – but I realize body wood and player hands have a lot to do with the end result. More or less the goal is to do something like the PRS 513, but sounds good. (Tried a 513, didn’t like any of the tones… but loved the concept.)
Does a Little 59 sound close to a Strat or Tele when tapped? I don’t mean coil-cut, but actually adding connections mid-coil. Thinking custom shop here. I want all of the selections to be hum-cancelling if possible.
The current daydream involves the JB at the bridge with two taps on each coil – one in the typical tap location (not sure where typical is) and another for a little over-wind – so with a little 3 way switch I could choose “jangly / thin”, normal JB & “hot” outputs. Toying with something like a tapped little 59 or a mini-humbucker at the neck, then I don’t know what goes in the middle at this point.
Thinking about doing a “Megaswitch” for the neck / bridge, then adding a separate series / parallel and phase capability for the middle. Might make the middle pickup available on a separate output jack too – imagine blending in that “strat quack” with a volume pedal.
What does the forum recommend for a “built from the ground up, anything is possible” project where the goal is first getting some great classic tones, but then also adding options for other tones?
Best,
Ron
Building a project guitar - tribute to Grandmother. In a nutshell, I'm trying to maximize its tonal palette without being _too_ crazy. I did a 4 humbucker guitar once – 8 three way micro switches, 2,400 pickup switching combinations. Too difficult to use live… studio wise, I could get a batch of unique tones, but I couldn’t easily get the same tone twice. Learned a lot, but need something much more user-friendly.
Tried some DiMarzio’s in the prototype – have a Squire Strat as a test-bed. Currently it has three of the virtual vintage 54 Strat style and two of the PAF voiced rails pickups and a Deaf Eddie Chromacaster. The Chromacaster adds a lot of options, but its not “humbucker” enough on its own.
Anyway – I’m pretty set on a JB for the bridge in the final project – that is a sweet bridge pickup… but I’m thinking about having a custom shop piece done with some actual taps (so I can cut back the windings while remaining humbucking.)
I’m struggling with the neck pickup – I want the punchy clarity of a Tele neck pickup (which the VV 54 does fairly well) but I want to be able to switch it into Les Paul territory when I need to. To further complicate matters, I’m planning on devoting the optimum pickup position to the Fernandez Sustainer (single coil variant).
Other than losing the first single coil sized spot near the neck, the options are wide open – I don’t have to follow any format / replacement pattern and I’m not dead set on any particular brand or technology.
Planning on a Swamp Ash / chambered body with a Maple top. Haven’t decided if I want to play with a Mahogany ‘tone block’ or not.
I’m looking to cover progressive rock, classic rock and blues very well – like John Patrucci’s older tones – when he first changed over to the Music Man, but before he went too metal. Steve Morse’s old guitar set up is kind of the thing I’m looking for… lots of options, but easy to get to the basic tones. Brian May had some stellar tones too – but I realize body wood and player hands have a lot to do with the end result. More or less the goal is to do something like the PRS 513, but sounds good. (Tried a 513, didn’t like any of the tones… but loved the concept.)
Does a Little 59 sound close to a Strat or Tele when tapped? I don’t mean coil-cut, but actually adding connections mid-coil. Thinking custom shop here. I want all of the selections to be hum-cancelling if possible.
The current daydream involves the JB at the bridge with two taps on each coil – one in the typical tap location (not sure where typical is) and another for a little over-wind – so with a little 3 way switch I could choose “jangly / thin”, normal JB & “hot” outputs. Toying with something like a tapped little 59 or a mini-humbucker at the neck, then I don’t know what goes in the middle at this point.
Thinking about doing a “Megaswitch” for the neck / bridge, then adding a separate series / parallel and phase capability for the middle. Might make the middle pickup available on a separate output jack too – imagine blending in that “strat quack” with a volume pedal.
What does the forum recommend for a “built from the ground up, anything is possible” project where the goal is first getting some great classic tones, but then also adding options for other tones?
Best,
Ron
hehe I've been there as well, but cut down to the essentials now that I know what I want.
