Nostalgic Distortion
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So this is my A.S.A.T..... I absolutely love this guitar, for me its almost the perfect H/H guitar because its essentially just a Mahogany Tele with a couple of humbuckers in it? I'm definitely a Fender guy, my first real guitar was a MIM Strat & I've been playing Stratocasters and Telecasters ever since! I suppose it's the A.S.A.T.'s scale length, the C profile neck, & body contours, they just kinda feel like home to me?
My A.S.A.T. has pretty much become my main workhorse guitar now. It may not the prettiest guitar in the world but it plays amazingly & sounds absolutely terrific!!! It sounded pretty good with the stock Paul Gagnon humbuckers in it, but with Duncan's, she's just a thing of beauty!!! Since I bought it about 2 & 1/2 years ago I've had dozens of different humbuckers in both the bridge and neck slots trying to figure out exactly what I wanted in there? Almost everything I've tried in it has sounded pretty darn great but after much deliberation I've decided that the current layout (TB-CUSTOM bridge/PHAT CAT neck) is a keeper!!!
So here's my dilemma... The guitar still has the stock harness inside. It was always pretty trashy, cheap Alpha pots, cheap caps, a push/pull tone pot that I never used, Exc, but has taken a turn for the worst? Actually, I couldn't use the P/P even if I wanted to now because it no longer pulls up! I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that I've been dropping in & ripping out pickups pretty regularly for the past few years???
Anyway I think it's finally time for a new harness made out of some quality components!!! I already have a bunch of brand new 500K & 250K Duncan potentiometers, a rather large variety of PIO, Wax, Film, & Ceramic, Exc., capacitors & I took a trip to my closet music store today, where I then spent $22 on a DiMarizo/Switchcraft 3 way toggle!!! FLIPPING BANANAS!!!
Anyhow, I think I've got everything I'll need to do the job but what's got me stuck is the manner of harness that I want? Option A is your typical 2 pickup guitar or H/H Tele harness, wherein you've got a single volume, single tone, & the 3 way toggle. This would pretty much give me what I've got now but without the stupid P/P knob and 6 miles of useless cheap shielded wire inside?
Option B would be to lose the tone knob completely? Just have two independent volume knobs for each pickup & nothing in the tone circuit.... This layout is quite appealing to me for a few reasons. First off, I almost never touch my tone knobs on any of my guitars! Really, the only time I do, is when I'm playing one of my actual Telecasters, one that's loaded with traditional Telecaster singles? Even then I don't play with them very often. I also really like the idea having independent volume controls! I's IMHO, the absolute best thing about L.P.'s & their cousins!!! I recently setup my Godin like this & its opened up a whole new world for me! Plus, I'd imagine having the option to bleed in some of that Phat Cat in switch position 2, or vise versa, could come in quite handy???
My only concern with this is that without the tone knob in the circuit the guitar will be overly bright? The ASAT does have a darker backbone to it (why I settled with a TB-5 for the bridge) so a little extra brightness could be good as long as it doesn't equate to piercing shrillness?
So what would you do if you were me????
Thanks guys!!!!
So this is my A.S.A.T..... I absolutely love this guitar, for me its almost the perfect H/H guitar because its essentially just a Mahogany Tele with a couple of humbuckers in it? I'm definitely a Fender guy, my first real guitar was a MIM Strat & I've been playing Stratocasters and Telecasters ever since! I suppose it's the A.S.A.T.'s scale length, the C profile neck, & body contours, they just kinda feel like home to me?
My A.S.A.T. has pretty much become my main workhorse guitar now. It may not the prettiest guitar in the world but it plays amazingly & sounds absolutely terrific!!! It sounded pretty good with the stock Paul Gagnon humbuckers in it, but with Duncan's, she's just a thing of beauty!!! Since I bought it about 2 & 1/2 years ago I've had dozens of different humbuckers in both the bridge and neck slots trying to figure out exactly what I wanted in there? Almost everything I've tried in it has sounded pretty darn great but after much deliberation I've decided that the current layout (TB-CUSTOM bridge/PHAT CAT neck) is a keeper!!!
So here's my dilemma... The guitar still has the stock harness inside. It was always pretty trashy, cheap Alpha pots, cheap caps, a push/pull tone pot that I never used, Exc, but has taken a turn for the worst? Actually, I couldn't use the P/P even if I wanted to now because it no longer pulls up! I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that I've been dropping in & ripping out pickups pretty regularly for the past few years???
Anyway I think it's finally time for a new harness made out of some quality components!!! I already have a bunch of brand new 500K & 250K Duncan potentiometers, a rather large variety of PIO, Wax, Film, & Ceramic, Exc., capacitors & I took a trip to my closet music store today, where I then spent $22 on a DiMarizo/Switchcraft 3 way toggle!!! FLIPPING BANANAS!!!
Anyhow, I think I've got everything I'll need to do the job but what's got me stuck is the manner of harness that I want? Option A is your typical 2 pickup guitar or H/H Tele harness, wherein you've got a single volume, single tone, & the 3 way toggle. This would pretty much give me what I've got now but without the stupid P/P knob and 6 miles of useless cheap shielded wire inside?
Option B would be to lose the tone knob completely? Just have two independent volume knobs for each pickup & nothing in the tone circuit.... This layout is quite appealing to me for a few reasons. First off, I almost never touch my tone knobs on any of my guitars! Really, the only time I do, is when I'm playing one of my actual Telecasters, one that's loaded with traditional Telecaster singles? Even then I don't play with them very often. I also really like the idea having independent volume controls! I's IMHO, the absolute best thing about L.P.'s & their cousins!!! I recently setup my Godin like this & its opened up a whole new world for me! Plus, I'd imagine having the option to bleed in some of that Phat Cat in switch position 2, or vise versa, could come in quite handy???
My only concern with this is that without the tone knob in the circuit the guitar will be overly bright? The ASAT does have a darker backbone to it (why I settled with a TB-5 for the bridge) so a little extra brightness could be good as long as it doesn't equate to piercing shrillness?
So what would you do if you were me????
Thanks guys!!!!
