What would this P90 gtr sound like?

[zionstrat]

Folks-
Many of you have been kind enough to give input on my warmouth p90 project and I'm getting close enough that I would like your input as to how this will sound and what parts I should consider- It’s a pretty big project, so please take a look, offer ideas on any aspect you know, and help me get my specs even better before I start ordering parts!

Goals: Build a rather unusual P90 gtr to get sounds and feel I am after- I want a hum free sound that has more bite than my humbucker gtrs and is thicker than my strats. I want to get much of the mahogany tone that I got off my old p90 SG. But I also want flexibility for a number of pup combinations. And unlike most P90 options I want the feel of a 25.5, wide, think maple fboard, with med low action and .10 strings.

Other than a more traditional 3+3 headstock, this is how I expect it to look:

Summary:
-L5 mahogany flat top body for classic sound, mass, lots of room for electronics
-25.5 Mahanoy neck with maple fingerboard- Wide, thin profile
-hard tail tailpiece
-locking tuners.
-Two 5 way switches control to p90 and once dual rail sc for following combinations that Artie and others are helping me develop:

P90 Switch
1. Bridge
2. Bridge+neck parallel
3. Bridge + neck series
4. Bridge + neck series out of phase
5. Neck

SC-Twin blade's 5way switch
1. single coil that is hum complimentary to bridge P90
2. Off
3. Full SC rail with spin a split
4. P90s off, full SC rail with spin a split
5. Single coil that is hum complimentary to neck P90

Right now I'm considering set of Vintage soapbars or stacks for the p90s and either a cool rail or a Dmz cruiser for the middle. Master vol, tone, and dual rail spin a split

So here's some questions for you-
What sound would you expect this to have?

Going from vintage p90SG to more modern P90 sounds, what other pups would you consider?

What about the idea of using some sort of 'quick release' connectors so that I can switch out pups while I'm getting the right combination- Any experience with this or ideas how to do it?

Which locking tuners would you consider?

I want a hard tail strat type of tailpiece- What would you suggest

Warmouth offers angled and non-angled headstocks- Can you compare and contrast?

I want to keep straight string runs, avoid string trees and think I will go with the warmouth 3+3 headstock shape, but any comments from a 'keeping in tune' pov?

Shielding- Have read much about star grounding and expect to use foil, but do you have a definitive source? For now I’m using the ‘Guitar nuts’ directions/

Parts- Any ideas on how to double check a parts list to make sure I have all the right parts and that they work together?

Finishing- I used to refinish gtrs all the time as a kid, but it consisted of lots of spray painting, sanding, and polycoats on top- Considering I will have to seal the mahogany and have to coat the fingerboard as well, does anyone have a definitive source on best-easiest practices?

Placement of the 5 ways-
I think I want the 5 way switches about as close to each other as possible so that I can grab both and move them to the same position much of the time- But should I offset them a bit to make it easier to grab, or to see? Or if they are right next to each other will it be easiest to tell where each switch is?

 

[zionstrat]

Re: What would this P90 gtr sound like?

bump

 

[Xeromus]

Re: What would this P90 gtr sound like?

is this a tele or LP body?

oh now I see it, L6 body, oh well, did these anyway:

 

[Rusty Fingers]

Re: What would this P90 gtr sound like?

I like your L5S-caster (it looks good with a tele headstock too).

A rosewood or ebony board would be more certainly be more traditional. I've never seen or heard a maple board on a mahogany neck.

From a switch placement standpoint, how do you plan to use the switches?
If you are expecting to primarily use the two selectors switches in the same position most of the time (the 1-1, 2-2.....5-5 switch settings) then I'd suggest keeping them close together.

If you are expecting to split the switch positions a lot, (use the intermediate 2-4, 4-2, etc. settings), it might be easier to operate by keeping them a little bit apart but still parallel so they can be controlled together or individually.

Another idea would be to add a 3-position selector switch to select between the P-90s, the P-90s with SC and the SC alone. This switch could be a mini switch or a full sized 3 position selector. It would separate the pickup on/off functions from the SC coil split functions so the controls might be easier to think about and to operate.

For this option I'd make the 2, 3 and 4 positions of the SC switch the same.....Full SC with spin-a-split. When both sets of pickups are on, this would let you quickly get to the 1-1 and 5-5 positions, and plus get any of the P-90 variations with any of the SC variations without too much trouble.

For tuners, I've been happy with the Planet Waves locking tuners.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: What would this P90 gtr sound like?

Yep L5 body- Want the maghaoney mass to offset the maple fboard-Your diagrams are prettier because I couldn't get the body import to work and had to pull an l5 photo off of warmoth into paint-

OK, so far I have one good piece of info- Appareantly the strat pup will noise cancel with the P90s- But PLEASE LOOK AT THE REST OF MY QUESTIONS IF YOU GET A CHANCE-

Much thanks!

 

[zionstrat]

Re: What would this P90 gtr sound like?

Rusty-
thanks for the tip on planet waves- i didnteven know they made tuners-

as far as the position, i think ive picked the complmentary sounds, so i expect the two 5 ways to often be in the same poisition- in fact, if the best combos dont turn out to be next to each other i would probably rewire-

good point on 3 way, and might fall back on that if the 2 5 ways become to cumbersum-

Also Thanks for the name L5S-caster - that name ought to stick-