(Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

[Taz Rules]

This is my first post, so I should introduce myself.

I am a fairly new guitarist, and I just bought a build-it-yourself kit. Rather than use the supplied pickups, I thought I would take the opportunity to build the exact guitar that I want. To that end, I have some questions as to which pickups would be the right choice. I've looked on quite a few websites, and read dozens of blogs and articles. However, nothing really takes the place of hearing from people with tons of experience.

First, a bit of background. I'm 46. I used to be a firefighter, but I suffered a head injury. Learning guitar is something that was recommended to me as a therapy as I recover from my injury. Building (well, more assembling, really) the guitar is also therapeutic, and has the added benefit of giving me a custom guitar at a fraction of the price. As I can no longer work, as you can imagine, budget is a very concerning factor.

I have an Ibanez RG with stock dual humbucker pickups. Just for fun, I've attached some photos of the paint job I airbrushed on it. I use that guitar when I play AC/DC, Ozzy, etc.

The kit I bought is a Strat kit from Reid and Sons. ($51 on eBay. After shipping and exchange to Cdn dollars, I got it on my doorstep for $91 CAD) It has an Empress Wood (Pawlonia) body, maple neck and rosewood finger board. I'm going to modify the neck to bring it down to a thinner, Jackson-style profile.

I love the bright Strat sound. I intend to use this guitar for lots of bluesy bendy stuff. I like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Healey and the like, and want to play that style on this guitar. Also some Lynyrd Skynyrd (Sweet Home Alabama, of course!) and Steve Earle (Copperhead Road). However, I also would like to make the guitar a bit more versatile, and include a humbucker at the bridge for an HSS layout. The body is routed for single pole pickups, so the humbucker would need to be single-sized. One suggestion I was given was a JB Jr.

I've been talking to a couple of players/instructors, and they all give me differing (and conflicting) advice. Originally I was thinking of going with a full set of 3 Hot Rails, with coil splitting that I could control individually for each pickup to give maximum flexibility. But one of the things I've been told is that Hot Rails won't EVER give that strat brightness, even when split. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that. Generally, the overwhelming advice is to go HSS. I'd like the bridge humbucker to maybe have a darker tone, with the other two pickups typical bright strat sounds. One suggestion was an additional 3 way switch for the humbucker, switching between split single coil, parallel, and serial wiring to control output in positions 1 and 2. The neck and middle pickups should be able to match the bridge nicely overall in output. I'd like to keep that position 2 twangy sound if possible, but I'd also like to be able to wail in the bridge (1) position. Something that picks up pinch harmonics well would be ideal. I'd like to be able to play "Wanted Dead or Alive" with the bright descending D riff and verse chords nice and clean, then jam the switch to position 1 and rock out a dirty solo full of pinch harmonics and power chords for the chorus and end of the song.

So really, I kind of know the result I want, but I don't know quite how to get there. And because of my medical/work situation, I cannot afford to experiment and try different things. This is a one-shot deal. So I'm trying to soak up all the info I can to get it right. I'd like a good, hot guitar that I will keep forever. I'll be doing custom art on it, not that that is relevant, except that it will be personalized and not salable. Therefore, I'm going to be pretty much stuck with it if it sucks. Which pickups and configuration should I use? Should I go with the Hot Rails in an HHH setup? Should I go HSS? If HSS, should I split the coils on the bucker? What do you think of that Single/Parallel/Serial wiring idea?

And finally, which actual product should I use? Should the bucker be JB Jr? Hot Rail? Hot Stack? Little 59? Or should I go Screamin' Demon or one of the Duckbuckers?
If I go HSS, what should the singles be? I'd like noise cancelling, but the classic Strat sound is more crucial to me than eliminating the hum. Or should I go with the Duckbuckers in the neck and mid positions? Also, I'm unsure of how to coordinate the output levels so that one pickup doesn't overpower the others.

Oh, and I suppose I should figure out what pots to use, as well. Though I may stick with what comes with the kit. As I understand it, these can make a difference, too. (BTW, what exactly does the Tone knob do? I can't hear a difference when I crank it one way or the other.)

As you can tell, I'm very flexible and open to suggestion. I'm also very confused. I'd love to hear some good advice and figure out my way down this path.

Oh, one final question...does Seymour Duncan ever put their pickups on sale? I'll be saving for a while for this setup, and need to get maximum value.

Sorry for all the rapid fire questions, but I'm pumped about this, and want to get it sorted before the enthusiasm wanes. :headbang:

Thanks in advance for any and all help

PICS OF MY IBANEZ

 

[TVFV]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

OK. That was a lot to take in. From what I gathered you want your strat to be a bit more traditional. So, my suggestion would be to put a 59' humbucker or a pearly gates humbucker in the bridge. As far as single coils go I need to ask you this question. Is 60's cycle hum going to bother you?

 

[Taz Rules]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

OK. That was a lot to take in.

Yeah. Sorry about that. My head spins a bit.

From what I gathered you want your strat to be a bit more traditional. So, my suggestion would be to put a 59' humbucker or a pearly gates humbucker in the bridge. As far as single coils go I need to ask you this question. Is 60's cycle hum going to bother you?

I know the 59 is available in single size (Li'l 59), but is the Pearly Gates also available in that size? I thought it was strictly a full humbucker sized pickup.

And yes, I like the traditional Strat sound, though I would like a fatter bridge tone. As for the cycle hum...if I can get noise cancelling that still sounds Strat, then GREAT!!! Best of both worlds. But if I had to choose, I'd go with the bright sound over the hum cancelling.

FWIW, I don't perform or anything like that. Its a bit late in life. I just like to noodle around and jam with some friends in the livingroom. (Much to the wife's chagrin!)

Thanks for the response!

 

[TVFV]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

The pearly gates is available through the custom shop as a single coil humbucker. I wouldn't really mess with it just from a price standpoint. Some guys believe that stacked single coils don't sound quite like single coils. While I disagree I understand where they are coming from. Here is a setup I would use for your purposes.

Neck: Stk-S4
Middle: Stk-S4
Bridge: 59 trembucker

Keep in mind, this is what I would use and not somebody else. This stuff comes down to personal preference and needs. So unfortunately I can't give more precise recommendation. What I would do is search through these forums for any other questions you might have. It has been asked millions of times how to get the sounds of the guys you mentioned and from there you might find something to your liking. Good luck

The View From Venus.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

I love the bright Strat sound.

great!

I was thinking of going with a full set of 3 Hot Rails

bad idea. Because:

Hot Rails won't EVER give that strat brightness, even when split.

same goes for all the other humbucker suggestions, whether ss sized or full sized, hot or cool.

You already have a humbucker equipped guitar. If you want to experiment with all the cool stuff that can offer then the sky is the limit with choices. (a JB and a jazz is a great choice)
Build your strat and let it be a strat. Use real strat single coil pickups and get real strat tones. SRV tones tones etc in spades. If you want the strat sound but want something thicker in the bridge, use ssl1s and get a hotter single coil such as the ssl-5. Because it is a true single, you wont have any problems with impedance mismatches with the pots etc. You will have a real strat tone, but with just enough extra grunt.

You have two axes, both of which will be able to do their respective jobs well if you let them. Use them both. No guitar can do all things well.

500k pots for the humbucker axe. 250k pots for the strat pickups. .022uf caps are good for both.

if I can get noise cancelling that still sounds Strat, then GREAT!!! Best of both worlds. But if I had to choose, I'd go with the bright sound over the hum cancelling.

That is the holy grail of pickup design. While many noiseless come close. none of them can do it 100%. Stick with real strat pups. You still have your humbucker equipped axe if noiseless ever takes priority.

 

[Max Gutnik]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

Lots of good advice here. I would agree with taking the traditional single coil route for this guitar. Lots of great choices, my personal favorites are the Antiquity Texas Hots: http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/antiquity-texas-hot-strat-set

Best of luck and have fun!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

I'd second the Texas Hots for what you are asking for. I used Duckbuckers for a long time and I like them a lot. But they won't get you all the way there to your stated goal.

 

[jonsick]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

You don't mention the sort of amp you use - or I missed it.

So we have two guitars here. Given your tonal description on the strat-style, I would actually go for a set of Fender Fat 50s. I really like this set in a strat. They're bright and snappy and respond really well to the tone controls for various different options. Here is a decent before/after video this guy did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYt-bDlN2i4

As for the Ibanez, that's a little more difficult. Given it's a basswood body in my experience they can vary pretty wildly in terms of overall tone. What's worked well in one RG has failed miserably in another. And these were higher end RGs. Basswood as a body material just varies like that. Hence I would start with this guitar as if you want to change, Seymour and DiMarzio offer exchange policies on pickups. I've never been able to make use of it myself being as I'm in the UK, but you Americans should be able to get on it.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/21-day-exchange

So personally, for RGs I generally tend to start with a go-to set of a Duncan JB and 59 and go from there. I've been playing with the JB for about a year now and I think I have it licked in terms of what the pickup can do. Then based on that, you know where to go from there or Seymour Duncan will know. How is the RG as it is? Is it too dark? Bright? Are pinch harmonics easy to pull out? I'm not too concerned about how much output the original pickups have, more the timbre of the instrument. It also doesn't sound like you want a whole lot of gain so the JB/59 is a good option.

 

[playas]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

The kit I bought is a Strat kit from Reid and Sons. ($51 on eBay. After shipping and exchange to Cdn dollars, I got it on my doorstep for $91 CAD) It has an Empress Wood (Pawlonia) body, maple neck and rosewood finger board. I'm going to modify the neck to bring it down to a thinner, Jackson-style profile.

Be careful not to sand it down too close to the truss rod routing.

 

[Markk]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

My first strat pup exchange was for a lil59. I remember the day I plugged the guitar in and switched to it...bliss

 

[Taz Rules]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

First, thanks for all the advice so far from everyone. Keep it coming. Trust me, I'm soaking it all in!

Based on advice so far, both here and in person, I'm definitely not going with three mini-buckers.
Whether I do SSS or HSS is still kind of up in the air. I can kind of see advantages in both.
I'm not sure if the string spacing is right for a Trembucker (the kit has the six-screw trem bridge), but I'm listening to all the tone samples of different setups. I'm waiting for my local store to get a hot HSS strat in (squier, Fender, whatever) so I can see and hear the sound for myself, and compare it to an SSS back to back. Same day, same amp, etc.

But definitely, keep the suggestions coming.

Regarding the SSL-1s...aren't they a vintage (low output) pup? How do they compare with the Texas Hots? Or the Fat 50s? I've never heard a guitar with those in it. At least not in person.

You don't mention the sort of amp you use - or I missed it.

I have a Fender Frontman Reverb and a V-Amp that I got basically for free. My neighbour sold it to me for essentially nothing.

As for the Ibanez, that's a little more difficult. ... How is the RG as it is? Is it too dark? Bright? Are pinch harmonics easy to pull out? I'm not too concerned about how much output the original pickups have, more the timbre of the instrument. It also doesn't sound like you want a whole lot of gain so the JB/59 is a good option.

I wasn't planning on doing anything to the Ibanez for a while. It's not bad as is, though I was thinking eventually an Invader bridge and I don't know what in the neck. Maybe some coil splitting as well, just for fun. But that's later. It doesn't pick up pinch harmonics very well at the moment, but that's more likely to be operator error than anything with the pickups. I use this one for heavier stuff, so a darker tone works. Its fairly dirty right now.

Currently budget is an issue, so I was thinking a good bridge pickup for now, be it a JB Jr, Little 59, or a single like an SSL-5, and then go with something a little less expensive like GFS singles for the middle and neck until I can upgrade to some good SD singles. (Once I sell one or two of the guitars I'm custom painting, I'll have some funds to do the upgrade.)That gives me time to find the sound with the thing, as well. Thoughts?

Be careful not to sand it down too close to the truss rod routing

Thanks. Yeah, I thought about that, but I definitely appreciate you mentioning it! That would be an expensive misstep if I forgot about it. The neck feels pretty small, so at this point I was thinking just a slight flattening of the back (I play with my thumb behind, not over the top). I may take a little off the shoulders, but I'm going to assemble it and run my fingers up and down the fretboard doing chords and scales with the neck unfinished first. Once I get a feel, I'll go from there regarding whether or not I make more changes.

 

[Taz Rules]

Re: (Newbie) Confused by an abundance of options...advice please?

Found a JB Jr. nice and cheap. Its on its way. I still may go SSS and resell it, though. Not sure. If I keep it, I'll definitely do the coil splitting thing.

Will SSL-1s (or another vintage type single) in the mid and neck work with this? I'm concerned about the HB overpowering them. Though I guess with the split they should be about even. Is that correct?
I'd really like to go all SD to keep it one company's pups, but I may still look at GFS. I am also looking at Iron Gear, but they may end up costing as much as SDs.

Thoughts?