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Post by nick0 on Mar 10, 2022 10:57:00 GMT -7
Finally finished my Strat build and got it all tweaked in. I’ve got about a month of playing on it and really love it! I can’t put it down! It started life as a new 2017 American Professional SSS Stratocaster. I picked it up new from Chicago Music Exchange. Although it was a nice guitar, I always fought with the tone. The pickups just lacked a little clarity that I could never get. Like slightly muffled. So I put it down and stopped playing Strats for years. But they have always been my favorite sounding guitar. I just figured maybe they don’t work for me anymore. Way back when……. My first guitar was a black Squire SSS Strat that I crudely modified and jammed a humbucker in the bridge. I loved that guitar. It was signed by Dimebag. After he was shot, I put it away and didn’t want to play it anymore. That was the only HSS that I’ve ever had. I just recently decided that I wanted that HSS setup back! So I put the AmPro under the knife. New electronics, pick guard, bridge upgrades, new neck… basically kept the body and that’s it. The Lollar HSS setup of Vintage Blonds and Low Wind Imperial is spot on! Did some fancy (for me) wiring and it’s a really versatile setup. The single coils are mid scooped, nice detailed bottom end, and bell like top end. Just as Lollar describes them. The Low Wind Imperial has got a great openness and dynamic response to it. It’s got some “paf” mids that sound nice with overdrive, and some highs that keep it clear sounding. I was concerned that such a low output setup might not deal with gain too well. However, it does more than fine when gained up. Really happy!! Pics and specs below. Sorry about the sloppy schematic. It saw the eraser a few times before I got everything the way I wanted it. Body 2017 American Professional I Stratocaster Body Material Alder Neck Warmoth Neck Material Roasted Maple hand buffed, oil rubbed finish Neck Shape Wolfgang Radius 9.5" Fingerboard Material Ebony Frets 22, SS6115 - Wide & Tall (Stainless), hand rolled & polished Scale Length 25.5" Nut Width 1-11/16" Nut Material GraphTech White TUSQ XL Tuners Sperzel Trim-Lok Bridge Callaham American Professional Premium Upgrade Kit Neck Pickup Lollar Vintage Blonde Middle Pickup Lollar Vintage Blonde Bridge Pickup Lollar Imperial F-Space Low Wind Controls 1 x volume treble bleed, 1 x tone .022uF cap Switching Pos1 Bridge (both coils) Pos2 Bridge (slug coil) & Middle Pos3 Middle Pos4 Middle & Neck Pos5 Neck Effective volume pot resistance Pos1 500Kohm, Pos2-5 264Kohm Pickguard Warmoth Strap Couch Straplocks Schaller S Locks
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Mar 10, 2022 13:16:53 GMT -7
Very nice build. What neck did you go with?
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Post by nick0 on Mar 10, 2022 14:05:20 GMT -7
Very nice build. What neck did you go with? Thanks Todd!! She's a beauty! Neck is a Warmoth. I'm very pleased with it. I sanded and buffed the back. Rolled the fret ends. Polished the frets. Smooth and shaped the nut. Then I oiled everything with multiple coats of fretboard conditioning oil front and back. Specs below: Stratocaster® Replacement Guitar Neck Construction Vintage/Modern Shaft Wood Roasted Maple Fretboard Wood Ebony Nut Width 1-11/16" (43mm) - Modern Medium Right-Handed Neck Back Profile Wolfgang Fretboard Radius Straight 9.5" Number of Frets 22 Fret Size & Material SS6115 - Wide & Tall (Stainless) Tuner Hole Size Schaller/Modern Fender/Sperzel (25/64") Inlay Shape Premium Dots Inlay Material Mother Of Pearl Side Dots Mother Of Pearl Side Dots String Nut Standard Nut - GraphTech White TUSQ XL Mounting Holes Standard 4-Bolt Neck Heel Shape Strat® Shape Finish None
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Post by Don A on Mar 10, 2022 15:12:48 GMT -7
That looks great! I love the auto split on the bridge humbucker, the 560k resistor to change the load for the single colils, the oiled roasted maple neck, ans stainless steel frets. I have an Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass RS HSS. It's my first HSS "Strat" style guitar (I've had many SSS Strats). The humbucker doesn't split, but it has a 470k resistor to change the load for the single coils, an oiled roasted maple neck (another first for me), and stainless steel frets (first time for me on a Strat, but I have a Carvin DC150 and had a Carvin SH645 with them and love them) and the setup works really, really well!
The only things that might make my Cutlass better would be the wider, larger neck on your guitar, maybe the more traditional pickups. I've actually considered building a similar guitar with Warmoth parts to replace the Cutlass.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Mar 10, 2022 15:27:22 GMT -7
Stainless is the way to go if you can. Just a joy to play on.
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Post by nick0 on Mar 10, 2022 16:14:47 GMT -7
That looks great! I love the auto split on the bridge humbucker, the 560k resistor to change the load for the single colils, the oiled roasted maple neck, ans stainless steel frets. I have an Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass RS HSS. It's my first HSS "Strat" style guitar (I've had many SSS Strats). The humbucker doesn't split, but it has a 470k resistor to change the load for the single coils, an oiled roasted maple neck (another first for me), and stainless steel frets (first time for me on a Strat, but I have a Carvin DC150 and had a Carvin SH645 with them and love them) and the setup works really, really well!
The only things that might make my Cutlass better would be the wider, larger neck on your guitar, maybe the more traditional pickups. I've actually considered building a similar guitar with Warmoth parts to replace the Cutlass.
Thanks! I'm really happy with the controls. Auto split is a must. I can't do the push pull. Too many controls distract me! Lol! The position 4 sounds nice. Not exactly like a standard SSS position 4, but it has the quack and almost an acoustic like feel to it. That Cutlass sounds pretty sweet! I would recommend Warmoth for a build for sure. If you don't mind a little work, they make great stuff.
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Post by nick0 on Mar 10, 2022 16:20:16 GMT -7
Stainless is the way to go if you can. Just a joy to play on. Absolutely! Stainless steel frets have ruined a lot of guitars for me now because I never want to play on anything else! That original Fender neck had the narrow tall frets. I liked the shape. However the narrow peak started showing wear pretty early on. These frets are a very similar shape and are still perfectly polished after a month of playing. No sign, feel or visual, of wear on them!
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Post by Don A on Mar 11, 2022 6:24:33 GMT -7
That looks great! I love the auto split on the bridge humbucker, the 560k resistor to change the load for the single colils, the oiled roasted maple neck, ans stainless steel frets. I have an Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass RS HSS. It's my first HSS "Strat" style guitar (I've had many SSS Strats). The humbucker doesn't split, but it has a 470k resistor to change the load for the single coils, an oiled roasted maple neck (another first for me), and stainless steel frets (first time for me on a Strat, but I have a Carvin DC150 and had a Carvin SH645 with them and love them) and the setup works really, really well!
The only things that might make my Cutlass better would be the wider, larger neck on your guitar, maybe the more traditional pickups. I've actually considered building a similar guitar with Warmoth parts to replace the Cutlass.
Thanks! I'm really happy with the controls. Auto split is a must. I can't do the push pull. Too many controls distract me! Lol! The position 4 sounds nice. Not exactly like a standard SSS position 4, but it has the quack and almost an acoustic like feel to it. That Cutlass sounds pretty sweet! I would recommend Warmoth for a build for sure. If you don't mind a little work, they make great stuff. I have a PRS S2 Studio that's HSS and has a push/pull coil split. The push/pull pot is very hard to pull with a pick in my hand. I may change the switching in that guitar to auto split. I built 2 guitars with USACG parts. A blackguard style Tele 18 years ago (still my number one) and a '50s style Strat about 10 years ago. I wish USACG was the same as they were when Tommy was there. I've played guitars built with Warmoth and agree that they're good stuff.
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Post by Don A on Mar 11, 2022 6:28:08 GMT -7
Stainless is the way to go if you can. Just a joy to play on. Absolutely! Stainless steel frets have ruined a lot of guitars for me now because I never want to play on anything else! That original Fender neck had the narrow tall frets. I liked the shape. However the narrow peak started showing wear pretty early on. These frets are a very similar shape and are still perfectly polished after a month of playing. No sign, feel or visual, of wear on them! The stainless steel frets on my Carvin DC150 show the tiniest bit of wear and they play like new. You have to look really close to see it. The guitar is 14 years old!
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Post by nick0 on Mar 11, 2022 7:16:20 GMT -7
The stainless steel frets on my Carvin DC150 show the tiniest bit of wear and they play like new. You have to look really close to see it. The guitar is 14 years old! That's great! I hope the stainless steel frets on my Warmoth necks hold up like that!
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Mar 11, 2022 7:54:52 GMT -7
Very nice. I think the 5-way superswitch and 250/500k output is one of the only good ways to deal with having single-coils & a humbucker in the same guitar. (The other way being to use something like the Seymour Duncan JB, which was reportedly designed to work best with a 250k volume pot.) My Suhr HSS is set up like this, and it sounds great.
Now... the only "bad" thing in this setup is that your amp sees a relatively weak 250k-output guitar in 4 of those pickup positions, and then kicking into the bridge pickup (position 1) is like you've just plugged in a different, much louder 500k guitar, thus necessitating some possible level adjustments.
It's a bit of a compromise either way; but I think the 250/500k switching is best, in order to get "the most" out of each pickup. Not long ago I actually had a Suhr tele-style with a HB in the neck--which brought on a similar issue but backwards! That one was tricky to resolve, too. (Eventually sold the guitar, but it was a very very nice blues machine.)
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Post by Don A on Mar 11, 2022 8:33:32 GMT -7
Very nice. I think the 5-way superswitch and 250/500k output is one of the only good ways to deal with having single-coils & a humbucker in the same guitar. Another way that I'd like to try is to use stacked 250k/500k pots like Fender does. Surprisingly, the 250k with the single coils/500k with the bridge humbucker is very well balanced and works really well on the Cutlass, even without splitting the humbucker. The Cutlass is a really well thought out guitar- it just works.
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Post by nick0 on Mar 11, 2022 10:47:57 GMT -7
Very nice. I think the 5-way superswitch and 250/500k output is one of the only good ways to deal with having single-coils & a humbucker in the same guitar. (The other way being to use something like the Seymour Duncan JB, which was reportedly designed to work best with a 250k volume pot.) My Suhr HSS is set up like this, and it sounds great. Now... the only "bad" thing in this setup is that your amp sees a relatively weak 250k-output guitar in 4 of those pickup positions, and then kicking into the bridge pickup (position 1) is like you've just plugged in a different, much louder 500k guitar, thus necessitating some possible level adjustments. It's a bit of a compromise either way; but I think the 250/500k switching is best, in order to get "the most" out of each pickup. Not long ago I actually had a Suhr tele-style with a HB in the neck--which brought on a similar issue but backwards! That one was tricky to resolve, too. (Eventually sold the guitar, but it was a very very nice blues machine.) Thank you! The Lollar Low Wind Imperial does have slightly more output than the Vintage Blonds. Going to the full 500K load on the bridge adds to that as well. So you're totally right Mark. But, it's not a huge difference. I find that in an HSS setup, the bridge bucker having a little more than the singles is a very usable attribute. I prefer it! It gets down to pickup selection for me. In an overly simplified way: Pos1 is high output hard rocking driving riffs or lead work Pos2 is quacky lower output and thin cleaner stuff Pos3 is twangy overdriven stuff, more chicken' pickin' "ish" or riffing at a lower output then pos1 Pos4 is classic SRV Lenny edge of breakup, lower output helps clean up the driven sound a bit Pos5 is straight ahead rock and blues, a great differentiation in drive and tone from pos1 I built an SH tele using the same switching technique. I agree, it is more of a struggle to get it to work because the pickup selection ideas above don't translate to that setup. I still like the SH Tele but LOVE the HSS Strat! How do you approach pickup selection? Another way that I'd like to try is to use stacked 250k/500k pots like Fender does. Surprisingly, the 250k with the single coils/500k with the bridge humbucker is very well balanced and works really well on the Cutlass, even without splitting the humbucker. The Cutlass is a really well thought out guitar- it just works. I have never messed with a stacked pot. Does this work better for blending single coils and humbuckers, or just a different way to do it? How are the pickups in the Cutlass? You said it may be an improvement with more traditional pickups. Are they higher output? It looks like a really cool guitar. I may need to check that out...
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Post by Don A on Mar 11, 2022 15:05:44 GMT -7
Very nice. I think the 5-way superswitch and 250/500k output is one of the only good ways to deal with having single-coils & a humbucker in the same guitar. (The other way being to use something like the Seymour Duncan JB, which was reportedly designed to work best with a 250k volume pot.) My Suhr HSS is set up like this, and it sounds great. Now... the only "bad" thing in this setup is that your amp sees a relatively weak 250k-output guitar in 4 of those pickup positions, and then kicking into the bridge pickup (position 1) is like you've just plugged in a different, much louder 500k guitar, thus necessitating some possible level adjustments. It's a bit of a compromise either way; but I think the 250/500k switching is best, in order to get "the most" out of each pickup. Not long ago I actually had a Suhr tele-style with a HB in the neck--which brought on a similar issue but backwards! That one was tricky to resolve, too. (Eventually sold the guitar, but it was a very very nice blues machine.) Thank you! The Lollar Low Wind Imperial does have slightly more output than the Vintage Blonds. Going to the full 500K load on the bridge adds to that as well. So you're totally right Mark. But, it's not a huge difference. I find that in an HSS setup, the bridge bucker having a little more than the singles is a very usable attribute. I prefer it! It gets down to pickup selection for me. In an overly simplified way: Pos1 is high output hard rocking driving riffs or lead work Pos2 is quacky lower output and thin cleaner stuff Pos3 is twangy overdriven stuff, more chicken' pickin' "ish" or riffing at a lower output then pos1 Pos4 is classic SRV Lenny edge of breakup, lower output helps clean up the driven sound a bit Pos5 is straight ahead rock and blues, a great differentiation in drive and tone from pos1 I built an SH tele using the same switching technique. I agree, it is more of a struggle to get it to work because the pickup selection ideas above don't translate to that setup. I still like the SH Tele but LOVE the HSS Strat! How do you approach pickup selection? Another way that I'd like to try is to use stacked 250k/500k pots like Fender does. Surprisingly, the 250k with the single coils/500k with the bridge humbucker is very well balanced and works really well on the Cutlass, even without splitting the humbucker. The Cutlass is a really well thought out guitar- it just works. I have never messed with a stacked pot. Does this work better for blending single coils and humbuckers, or just a different way to do it? How are the pickups in the Cutlass? You said it may be an improvement with more traditional pickups. Are they higher output? It looks like a really cool guitar. I may need to check that out... It's just a different way to do it- the bridge humbucker uses the 500k side of the pots and the single coils use the 250k side.
The Cutlass single coils won't make a player happy if they're playing alone and going for a vintage Strat sound. They'd be particularly disappointing to SRV fans who play alone. The sound might be called dry, sterile, clinical... But... they sound really good with a band, cutting better than a typical Strat, and because the guitar has a buffer, the tone control works way better than you're used to and can fatten up the sound.
The biggest drawback that I find with the Cure is that I love germanium Fuzz Faces, and its buffer does not play well with them.
I was put off by these "issues" until I used the guitar with a band and found myself playing things that I didn't know I could play and expressing myself in ways that I hadn't before. It was weird- you play guitar for over 40 years and think you know what you like then try something different and like it even more!
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Mar 11, 2022 18:17:44 GMT -7
Thank you! The Lollar Low Wind Imperial does have slightly more output than the Vintage Blonds. Going to the full 500K load on the bridge adds to that as well. So you're totally right Mark. But, it's not a huge difference. I find that in an HSS setup, the bridge bucker having a little more than the singles is a very usable attribute. I prefer it! It gets down to pickup selection for me. In an overly simplified way: Pos1 is high output hard rocking driving riffs or lead work Pos2 is quacky lower output and thin cleaner stuff Pos3 is twangy overdriven stuff, more chicken' pickin' "ish" or riffing at a lower output then pos1 Pos4 is classic SRV Lenny edge of breakup, lower output helps clean up the driven sound a bit Pos5 is straight ahead rock and blues, a great differentiation in drive and tone from pos1 I built an SH tele using the same switching technique. I agree, it is more of a struggle to get it to work because the pickup selection ideas above don't translate to that setup. I still like the SH Tele but LOVE the HSS Strat! How do you approach pickup selection? Actually, I think I approach the pickup selection in the same way that you do. I like all 5 positions of my HSS--there's something unique about each of the 5. And yes, you're right--I forgot to consider that having the bridge pickup's 500k output a little more powerful at the bridge position is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of guitars could use more power in that position. (It was my tele-style with the more-powerful neck pickup that was problematic to try and balance out.)
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Post by nick0 on Mar 11, 2022 22:46:08 GMT -7
It was weird- you play guitar for over 40 years and think you know what you like then try something different and like it even more! That really highlights how a tone can work completely different depending on the situation, mix, room, band size, etc. One of the reasons that I love guitar so much, it's a never ending journey!
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Post by nick0 on Mar 11, 2022 22:49:26 GMT -7
(It was my tele-style with the more-powerful neck pickup that was problematic to try and balance out.) I agree! This setup is much more tricky to deal with.
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Post by Ridgeback on Mar 12, 2022 9:24:59 GMT -7
Nice build. Lollar Blondes are probably my favorite aftermarket Strat pups. I have a set in one of my S-types (Grosh). I have the LW Imperials in two of my 2 HB guitars. Not sure if they are my all time favorite HBs but they are very nice. I've never had much luck with guitars that mix types of pickups. I always seem to wind up fighting them instead of enjoying them. Sounds like your wiring scheme might address the issue.
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Post by nick0 on Mar 12, 2022 9:39:51 GMT -7
Nice build. Lollar Blondes are probably my favorite aftermarket Strat pups. I have a set in one of my S-types (Grosh). I have the LW Imperials in two of my 2 HB guitars. Not sure if they are my all time favorite HBs but they are very nice. I've never had much luck with guitars that mix types of pickups. I always seem to wind up fighting them instead of enjoying them. Sounds like your wiring scheme might address the issue. Thank you! It's definitely working for me. The Blonds and LW Imperial play very nice together. I've had the guitar jamming at home through a bunch of Z amps with and without effects, jamming with the Rock garage band with a pedal board and Jetta, and in a live worship setting with the Helix. It's done exceptional in all situations! Here's what Lollar has to say about the set and I can't agree more!
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Post by tgpbeatnik on Mar 19, 2022 13:50:02 GMT -7
That is an awesome pickup set! I put that set in my summer Warmoth build, the Global Pineapple. That LW Imperial loves fuzz. It retains so much clarity but at the same time just snarls. So much fun! Here is my baby. http://instagram.com/p/CXjgvq2ukfP
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Post by nick0 on Mar 19, 2022 14:57:59 GMT -7
That is an awesome pickup set! I put that set in my summer Warmoth build, the Global Pineapple. That LW Imperial loves fuzz. It retains so much clarity but at the same time just snarls. So much fun! That's great to hear because I love fuzz! I just realized that I haven't tried any fuzz pedals with this guitar yet. Good reminder! What pedal do you find works best? That's a beautiful guitar! Thanks for posting.
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Post by tgpbeatnik on Mar 21, 2022 9:22:52 GMT -7
I’m a fuzz neophyte and I picked up the JHS muffuletta. I am usually pretty busy when I’m working with the fuzz so I kind of set it and forget it. But I do remember the triangle fuzz and the jhs mod fuzz settings on the box work really good.
I wish I had time to taste test a bunch of fuzz pedals through my rig.
Have fun and let me know what you think!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Mar 21, 2022 12:13:54 GMT -7
That's great work. I've got a '92 Am. Std. Strat with the swimming pool route, and I have an H-S-S pickguard & a superswitch that I haven't put to use yet. I've got some Lindy Fralin single coils and several humbuckers but I've got to check to see which ones are splittable. Right now the guitar has the Fralins with an SP43 at the bridge and it sounds pretty darn good...but I've always wanted a humbucker at the bridge. Thanks for posting that schematic, it may be just the kick in the backside that I need to start the project!
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Post by nick0 on Mar 21, 2022 17:40:21 GMT -7
I’m a fuzz neophyte and I picked up the JHS muffuletta. I am usually pretty busy when I’m working with the fuzz so I kind of set it and forget it. But I do remember the triangle fuzz and the jhs mod fuzz settings on the box work really good. I wish I had time to taste test a bunch of fuzz pedals through my rig. Have fun and let me know what you think! I'll definitely give it a go and let you know what I think!
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Post by nick0 on Mar 21, 2022 17:44:10 GMT -7
That's great work. I've got a '92 Am. Std. Strat with the swimming pool route, and I have an H-S-S pickguard & a superswitch that I haven't put to use yet. I've got some Lindy Fralin single coils and several humbuckers but I've got to check to see which ones are splittable. Right now the guitar has the Fralins with an SP43 at the bridge and it sounds pretty darn good...but I've always wanted a humbucker at the bridge. Thanks for posting that schematic, it may be just the kick in the backside that I need to start the project! I've never tried Fralins but have heard many good things. If you can find the right pickups that'll work together, HSS is a fantastic setup! You're welcome for the schematic! I hope your project turns out great! Keep me posted if you do move forward with it.
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