the ultimate in versatility?

[dani]

i read many threads with lew recommending surfers as one of the best sounding neck pickups for a tele.

it suddenly occur to me 'what if i throw a humbucker into the mix?' what i am thinking is this.

ants tele bridge/hb neck/surfers with a 5-way switch that goes bridge, bridge/middle, middle, middle/neck, neck. the mini toggle will turn the neck pickup on and off. therefore with the switch on, the 1st position will give bridge/neck, 2nd - all pickups on, 3rd - middle and neck. 4th and 5th - same as standard switching.

it may look unorthodox but i am wondering if this will work for a really versatile guitar with the tone of a tele bridge, strat neck plus a humbucker.

opinions please gentlemen.

thanks as always,
dani

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: the ultimate in versatility?

Sounds interesting but I'm not shure with the hum cancelling capabilities for the in between positions...

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: the ultimate in versatility?

Looks interesting, but personally, I would go with a Tele bridge, strat mid, and a mini humbucker in the neck (Firebird or LP Deluxe, whatever you like best). This would give you a ton of sounds as well.

Oh yeah, add a thinline Tele body and you're all set. :burnout:

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: the ultimate in versatility?

Looks cool! Every design will have some sort of limitation somewhere, but that does look versatile. I love the neck single/humbucker combo, but bear in mind that it will never be as thick as an actual neck humbucker (atleast from my experiences).

I have an idea I may try in the future. I've been throwing around different ideas for a while and maybe a p90-SC-miniHB might be very versatile. It all comes down to what types of tones need to be dead on and what can be approximations.

Good luck with it, could be very interesting!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: the ultimate in versatility?

I wouldn't do it. I'd go: Surfer/Surfer/Ant I Tele lead or Jerry Donahue or Tapped Tele Hot.

The humbucker in the middle isn't that great sounding and it would get in the way of my picking if it was my guitar.

The Surfer neck and Surfer middle will give you killer Strat chime when they are combined and will also sound great combined with the bridge pickup.

Lew

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: the ultimate in versatility?

I wouldn't do it. I'd go: Surfer/Surfer/Ant I Tele lead or Jerry Donahue or Tapped Tele Hot.

The humbucker in the middle isn't that great sounding and it would get in the way of my picking if it was my guitar.

The Surfer neck and Surfer middle will give you killer Strat chime when they are combined and will also sound great combined with the bridge pickup.

Lew

Expect some phase issues. I'm going to guess that you'll need to make black hot and white ground with the Surfers and also that you'll have to put the RW/RP Surfer in the neck position and regular Surfer in the middle. So I would not cut any wires the first time you put it all together. You'll almost certainly have to do some experimenting to get it all perfect and so you have humcancelling when the middle Surfer is combined with the bridge pickup.