Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

R

RMosack

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I'm looking to put together a doubleneck guitar with an alder body and 24.75" mahogany necks. I want to get it as close to the sound/feel of a classic Gibson EDS-1275 as possible, but wihout the set necks and mahogany body. If I could, I'd simply go with a mahogany body, but I can't.

I figure the scale length and mahogany necks cover some of the ground. But since the body will still be alder, what SD pickups do you people suggest to "Gibsonize" what amounts to an alder fat Strat?
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

Interesting project...

Routed for two humbuckers ? (Sorry it is in the title :)

Anything PAF-like won't sound too strat-like.

But who knows the sound caracter of a huge alder body ?
 
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Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

Well, any PAF-type pickups are bound to work well here: 59s, Seth Lovers, Whole Lotta Humbuckers, and even Alnico II Pros. I'd love to see in-process pics of this project, too.
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

59s work well in Alder, probably even with the shorter Gibson scale.

I'd put 59s on the 12 string side and Whole Lotta Humbuckers on the 6 string side myself. They sound fairly similar, but different enough to be worth it.
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

Thanks for the suggestions.

I guess what my question really boils down to is, what adjustment/modification/EQ/whatever is recommended if you have an alder bodied guitar instead of mahogany?

I know that, if I want to slap together a good SG with PAFs, I can find more than a few PAF type pickups to fit the bill. But if that very guitar happens to have an alder body, do I need to go a different direction with the pickups to "make up for" the difference in body wood? Do you just throw PAFs into an alder body guitar and expect it to sound like PAFs in a mahogany guitar? Or do you have to choose a different pickup to make up the difference? Or, are the two woods similar enough that it doesn't even matter and I'm asking a dumb question?

When I thin about it, all of my favorite classic SG and or EDS-1275 tones over the years were probably guitars with T-Tops and not PAFs anyway. I'm guessing pretty much any classic rock SG tone I heard through the years was very possibly a T Top. And the four pillars of classic EDS tones (Page, Felder, Lifeson, McLaughlin) all probably had '70s models with T Tops.
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

Mincer said:
Well, any PAF-type pickups are bound to work well here: 59s, Seth Lovers, Whole Lotta Humbuckers, and even Alnico II Pros. I'd love to see in-process pics of this project, too.
Click to expand...

Given those four pickups, I'd be really curious to know how each of them relatively perform when you throw them into something mainstream like a Les Paul or SG. Not so much relative to the thousand other pickups on the planet, but relative to each other.
'59s
Seth Lovers
Whole Lotta HUmbuckers
Alnico II Pros
I suppose they are supposed to be fairly vintage, PAF type pickups. But there's four of them for a reason, so they must be different in some meaningful way. FWIW, I've only actually owned one of those, a set of '59s that I had in my Les Paul.
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

Well, there are EQ and magnet differences, so I tend to have to listen to the individual sound of the guitar to see what it needs and what the pickup can 'solve'. McLaughlin tones (one of my favs) were pretty boosted and high-endy, so I would more likely go with the Whole Lotta Humbuckers, which also give a slight power boost. It is harder to pick when the guitar isn't built yet. You sorta have to pick something you know the sound of and see what it sounds like in the guitar first. If you need a tighter bass, go with the 59. If you need warmer tones with more mids, the Alnico II Pro, etc.
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

I wouldn't worry about any preconceived tonal differences that you feel exist between mahogany and alder. There can be as much tonal variation between two different pieces of mahogany (even from the very same tree!) as there is between a piece of mahogany vs a piece of alder. It's one of the reasons why a JB can sound great in one Les Paul and sound horrible in another.

Just focus on the general tonal characteristics of each pup and choose which one you think will best suit your needs. No matter which you choose, you may need to do some fine tuning after it's all built and put together anyway. (Just like Mincer said).
 
Re: Suggestions for Alder H-H Doubleneck Strat (as Gibson-ish as possible)

And you want to have the same pickups for both necks ?
Or have something different for the 12 strings ?
 
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