New strat idea... with pictures!

[Blue Strat]

Hey guys,

 

Here's a link to a couple of pictures of my Rogue Strat as it is and what I'm thinking of doing to it. What do you guys think?

 

http://www.geocities.com/teleman28056/rogue.html

 

Also, I'm looking to trade some white strat knobs and selector switch knob for the same in black. The knobs fit 6mm knurled shafts. I'm fairly sure that most Squier hardware would fit my guitar, as well as my hardware fitting a Squier. Any takers?

[Tedster]

Interesting idea...don't usually think of putting the humbucker in the middle...usually most folks want the "sear" of having it in the bridge position. I'd probably do it the other way...put the big bucker in the bridge with a coil tap and the mini bucker in the middle. But, what do I know?

[phaeton]

I must be toadilly weird, but i haven't played a strat yet with buckers that i liked.

 

Don't get me wrong, i loooooove the sound of searing hot pickups with a lot of gain, but there's just something about singles on a strat that i just love.

 

)

[batterypowered]

Well, if he does it that way, he's got a SD Little '59 in the bridge, which IS a humbucker. I like the sound of buckers in the neck, but that's just how my first electric was, so I probably was biased by that. It was buttery-smooth jazzy sounding.

 

I like the idea of a humbucker in the middle, I say go for it. You can always just change the pickguard out and move the pups around.

[Tedster]

My Strats are stock, too. What I would like to try is that H-S-H configuration, such as what some of the Ibanez pointy headstock guitars have...with coil taps on the buckers.

 

Yup. I want a guitar that does it all. As a matter of fact, I seriously would like to buy one of those Kramer doubleneck six-electric/six-acoustic jobs. That would fit my needs quite nicely. But, they don't make 'em anymore. They only sold for like 600 new...and you can bet anyone that wants one is going to pay more than that now on eBay. Guild made one as well, a six-electric/12 acoustic doubleneck that listed for like 3 grand.

[dougsthang]

You'll probably have to do a little routing under the pickguard. I don't think they block routed the cavity under the pickguard, at least they didn't before.

 

Humbucker in the middle, think Pete Townsend. Though his were mini-humbuckers and a full humbucker in the middle on his Les Paul's

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by dougsthang':

You'll probably have to do a little routing under the pickguard. I don't think they block routed the cavity under the pickguard, at least they didn't before.

 

Humbucker in the middle, think Pete Townsend. Though his were mini-humbuckers and a full humbucker in the middle on his Les Paul's

This particular guitar is one of those with the "swimming pool" rout; no wood under the pickguard around the pickups. I could go with three full sized 'buckers without routing if I wanted to.

 

The thought was that I could use the full sized 'bucker in the middle without having to drill new holes in the guard, which would require leaving open holes in the finished product. If I was to use it in the neck position I'd have two ugly, open screw holes up there.

 

Finding a pickguard that fits the Rogue just right isn't easy. I tried that already, and it would require filling holes and drilling new ones. I could use three Duncan Scorchers, but I'd need another $60 and I'm in debt deep right now. I've got two fullsized buckers and three single coils to mess around with.

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Interesting idea...don't usually think of putting the humbucker in the middle...usually most folks want the "sear" of having it in the bridge position. I'd probably do it the other way...put the big bucker in the bridge with a coil tap and the mini bucker in the middle. But, what do I know?

I took this particular blade style humbucker out of the bridge of my Epiphone Del Rey and replaced it with a SD Invader. I wasn't all that wild over it's tone in the bridge, so I thought I'd try it closer to the neck (I liked the OBL neck pickup in the Del Rey). I love that Duncan Scorcher in the bridge. My other option is to get some white plastic and cover the middle hole and wire it like a Mustang with two mini-buckers.

[revolead]

I like the original idea, just because its unqiue. It may be orthodox to put the HB in the bridge position, but I think placing the HB in the middle would yield some interesting tones. Now as far as the neck pickup, I would probably just try to find a hotter single-coil in black. Either that or put in a Lil' '59, as was already suggested. Personally I'd go with the Scorcher in the bridge, the OLP in the middle, and an Alnico II in the neck.

[Blue Strat]

I just came up with a new idea that I included on that page linked to above. It's basicly a Mustang with an added middle mini-humbucker. I think I'm going to play with the pickups I've got before I do anything rash, like cutting a bigger hole in the pickguard.

[phaeton]

of course, i always liked the idea of the guitar wired so that you could turn ALL the pickups on at once, but i've never tried it, nor have i ever heard a guitar like that (excluding 2 pickup guitars, i'm talking about having say, 3 buckers going at once, all in phase)

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by phaeton:

of course, i always liked the idea of the guitar wired so that you could turn ALL the pickups on at once, but i've never tried it, nor have i ever heard a guitar like that (excluding 2 pickup guitars, i'm talking about having say, 3 buckers going at once, all in phase)

I had a guitar with three full sized humbuckers before, and it had a nice sound to it. It still got some of that Strat in-between sounds, but they were thicker. Some really meaty sounds.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Pete Townsend used to play Les Paul Deluxes (with those two "mini-humbuckers") with a full-sized humbucker installed in the middle position; I believe that an extra switch simply turned it on and off, in parallel with the other two pickups. He would turn it on to generate feedback, and use the other two "minis" for his general tone.

 

In the middle like that, your OBL 'bucker will have a very full, fat sound, but still have some definition from both the pickup position and the 25&1/2" scale-length.

 

You could wire up a separate switch of some kind, to add or subtract the full-sized 'bucker in parallel, while operating the bridge- and neck-pickups in a Tele-like configuration. Or, you could wire up one of the "super" five-way switches on the market (try Stewart-MacDonald, they carry several) to do a coil-tap in the "in-between" selector-positions.

 

As for three pickups all on simultaneously, a Strat (or similar, triple single-coil guitar) sounds absolutely Heavenly with all three on in parallel! I strongly suspect that three P-90 "soapbars" arranged this way would sound incredibly lush and beautiful; that's what I want to do with one of my Les Pauls one day- add a middle pickup and have three P-90s!

 

There was an article in Guitar Player magazine detailing a wiring-scheme using three mini-toggle switches and the usual "volume, tone, tone"-arrangment to get fourteen different series, parallel, and series-parallel combinations of three pickups, with no phase-switching or coil-taps...

[Blue Strat]

Caevan,

 

I'm thinking that I'm going to keep the three way Tele switch, wire the neck and bridge like a Tele, except use the single coils (changing out the whimpy Indonesian Squier bridge pickup for the one out of the bridge slot of my Korean Squier YES, there is a difference!) and move the Scorcher to the middle position. That older Korean single coil kicks those Indonesian pickups to the curb.

 

I'll figure out which pickup gives me hum cancelling in combination with the Korean bridge pickup and put that one in the neck. I'm not sure if I want a volume pot for the scorcher or if I'm just going to get a switch (probably the switch). I need to find a rotary on/off switch that I can put the stock Strat knob on, or one of those Radio Shack knobs that looks like what Boss uses on their stomp boxes. I like to keep it simple.

[batterypowered]

On independently switched pickups, as opposed to the 3- or 5-way, I saw a strat earlier today on eBay that had one volume pot, and 4 mini-toggles.

 

On off for each pickup, and a phase switch. That sounds like it would be fun.

[Gato]

Originally posted by batterypowered:

On independently switched pickups, as opposed to the 3- or 5-way, I saw a strat earlier today on eBay that had one volume pot, and 4 mini-toggles.

 

On off for each pickup, and a phase switch. That sounds like it would be fun.

You can try the Steve More configuration on your strat

 

http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/specs/instruments_stevemorse.html

[Gato]

http://www.ernieball.com/mmonline/techinfo/controls/cfd_stevemorse.gif

[Blue Strat]

That's a strange pickup configuration. I wonder how he came up with that?

[doc taz]

Yeah, it's strange, but once you get used to it, it does work quite well.

 

Steve Morse came up with that around the mid-late 1970's. He hacked one of his old Teles to come up with that wiring scheme.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

"Yeah, it's strange, but once you get used to it, it does work quite well."

 

"Steve Morse came up with that around the mid-late 1970's. He hacked one of his old Teles to come up with that wiring scheme."

That Tele belongs in a museum! Or, of course, in Steve Morse's able hands. I always loved the look of that beautiful old "stripped" Tele, not to mention the sound! Those might all be "vintage" pickups in it, too; anybody know specifically what's under the hood in the original?

 

Anyways, Stewart-MacDonald carries a whole load of guitar-oriented switches and pots, including some that look and operate "simple" and "vintage" while providing all kinds of options. And, for wiring-scheme ideas, you should PM (Craig) Anderton, one of our Forum Moderators; he's very well-versed in that stuff, and wrote many an article and column for Guitar Player magazine on that subject over the years. He is to that stuff what Myles is to amps'n'tubes! (And, no slouch with amp-, tube-, and effects-circuits, either!)

[Blue Strat]

I put the Scorcher in the middle slot; just switched the middle and bridge pickups around. The series neck and middle are now series neck and bridge. It sounds a lot like a regular humbucker that way. Before, it sounded a lot like the regular Strat neck & middle setting.

 

The Scorcher still sounds as good as it ever did in the middle slot, but it's a little more rounded now. It's a got a great lead tone; not too muddy and not shrill either. Of course, it's 3am here, so I can't really give it a workout until tomorrow. I'm going to re-wire the two single coils as a Tele tomorrow and see what that sounds like.

[Gato]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

That's a strange pickup configuration.

Don't be freak, it works ¡¡¡

[Gabriel E.]

You know, you might be on to something. I've never cared for the sound of the middle pickup on a strat by itself - always liked it better in combination with the other pickups.

 

Might improve tremendusly with a hummer there.

[Blue Strat]

said in Chevy Chase voice...

HA, ha, ha, ha, HA! I like it!

 

I took the two single coils and wired them up Tele style with the 3-way switch and a master volume and tone, and then wired the Scorcher in the middle with it's own 1M volume control.

 

It sounds like a Tele when the Scorcher is off, like a Strat with the Scorcher on and either the bridge or neck pickup on, and like the middle switch position on a LP when the Scorcher is on by itself.

[Guitar Geezer]

So when the 3 way is in the middle-is it kicking in the scorcher-or do you just activate it with the volume pot?

 

Sounds great - and SIMPLE - all this talk about coil taps and switches makes my feeble head hurt

http://www.geocities.com/teleman28056/pictures/roguestang.jpg

Where is the Scorcher pot now?

 

LynnG

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by guitar geezer:

So when the 3 way is in the middle-is it kicking in the scorcher-or do you just activate it with the volume pot?

 

Sounds great - and SIMPLE - all this talk about coil taps and switches makes my feeble head hurt

 

Where is the Scorcher pot now?

 

LynnG

The Scorcher is turned on with the pot. The 3 way switch just controls the two single coils. It would be like taking a Telecaster and routing under the pickguard and installing a Scorcher in the middle slot, then adding a 1M volume control for that pickup alone. The tone control effects all the pickups. The Scorcher's volume pot is the one closest to the bridge pickup.

 

PS. If you try and link to pictures on Geocities, they won't last long. Geocities monitors that closely and severs the links so that you have to visit the site to see the pictures, and see their advertisments.

[Guitar Geezer]

Oooops...my bad

forgot bout geocities

 

Really like that setup....maybe one of these days

 

LynnG

[Blue Strat]

Now I'm thinking about getting rid of that pesky tone pot. I think it's messing with the Scorcher's tone.

[BlueZet]

after years of swearing (silently) at barowners who have TL's on during gigs making my guitar buzz like a drunk mosquiiito, I put 3 Seymour Duncan Little 59's in --> no more hum, fatter sound, but still the 'Strat' in between joy...

[Blue Strat]

Well, back to square one. The Scorcher doesn't stand out like it did when it's mixed in with the other two pickups. But I did get this guitar to experiment with, so....