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Author Topic: Custom Superstrat pickups  (Read 4492 times)

Pale Rider

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Custom Superstrat pickups
« on: December 21, 2009, 03:30:08 PM »
Hi everyone!!!!

In a few months I'm going to order my custom superstrat from RAN guitars. It's going to be a soloist copy with:

- neck-through maple neck
- ebony fretboard
- Korina (black Limba) sides
- H-H or H-S-S (I don't know exactly yet - probably H-H cause I don't need that much versatility)
- 24 frets
- Ibanez ZR tremolo

The guitar is going to be for hard rock/heavy metal.

I have the Holy Diver in 2 guitars and it's the best pickup I've tried so far.....I've tried quite a few actually (SDs, DMs, BL L500XL etc).

I like its extremely clear high gain sound, without that high frequency interference noise-like sound associated with most of the high gain sounds out there, plus its deep lead sound. It's very "professional" sounding if you will....like it's filtered or something (really cool)....very very clear distortion texture.

I'm going to use the HD one more time as I love it....How do you guys think it's going to fit in that guitar in terms of tone?
It's actually maple neck/ebony fretboard brightness/tightness, with some bass added from korina sides (a little more bass than normal alder soloists) + the HD in the bridge. I think it's alright.....Another thought is the Miracle Man but I'm more inclined to the HD because of its special characteristic sound I mentioned.

I'm thinking a H-H configuration. What neck puckups would suggest to match the HD?

Thanks!


(From Deep Purple/Whitesnake to Metallica/Megadeth sometimes some In Flames too :P)
« Last Edit: December 21, 2009, 03:56:57 PM by Heavy Axes »
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Antag

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Re: Custom Superstrat
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2009, 03:58:35 PM »
I have HD in a bolt-on strat with Korina body, as well as maple/ebony thru-neck with alder body wings. Seeing as it works great in both those guitars, I think it would be just as good in a maple/ebony thru neck with korina body wings guitar :)

The HD neck is really nice & has a wonderful clean sound - really bright, clean & clear.  The CS neck works great with all the high output BKP bridge models.  But the one I'd go for would be the VHII neck, probably my favourite BKP neck model at the moment.  It has about the same power as the CS neck (i.e. will balance well with the HD bridge), but a more "vintage" kinda vibe - sounds exactly what I understand from the term "hot PAF".  Really warm thick neck lead tones & great "chime" on the clean channel.
BKPs: HD, MM, NB, PK, CS, Ab (b&n); Am (b only); VHII, Tril (n only); IT, Slow, Sult (m&n)

Pale Rider

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2009, 04:11:02 PM »
Interesting......I guess I'll be somewhere in the middle between your two guitars...;)


Yeah, VHII sounds like a good idea as I like PAFs in neck position.....I hope it's hot enough to be sensitive in finger picking for high gain leads. I don't use a pick for leads. :P

For cleans I usually use both pickups and sometimes the neck. I might try to have separate volume controls (no tone at all) for the pickups for differently colored clean tones.
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Antag

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2009, 04:17:30 PM »
Interesting......I guess I'll be somewhere in the middle between your two guitars...;)
Yeah, that's the point I was trying to make.

FWIW, I also have HDs in a mahogany/ebony neck-thru with mahogany wings, and a Les Paul (mahogany/rosewood set neck, mahogany/maple body).  If it works in all those, I'm guessing that it will work in your combination of woods also :)
BKPs: HD, MM, NB, PK, CS, Ab (b&n); Am (b only); VHII, Tril (n only); IT, Slow, Sult (m&n)

BigB

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2009, 08:21:21 PM »

FWIW, I also have HDs in a mahogany/ebony neck-thru with mahogany wings, and a Les Paul (mahogany/rosewood set neck, mahogany/maple body).  If it works in all those, I'm guessing that it will work in your combination of woods also :)

I feel a bit like trying to teach grandma how to suck eggs, but a going-thru maple neck doesn't sound quite like a LP (and probably even less like a mahogany going-thru neck).  Not to say HD would be bad here, but from what I could understand when looking for replacement pups for my Vox Custom 24, not all pups - and specially not all hotter pups - work fine on this kind of guitars. 
Have: Crawlers, BGF 50/52s, Mules, ABomb, RiffRaff
Had : Slowhands (n&m), Trilogy (b)

Pale Rider

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2009, 02:19:39 PM »
Hey Antag, how's the tone in the korina guitar compared to alder and mahogany? I know it's different construction etc....just a rough description.
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Denim n Leather

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2009, 03:24:32 PM »
VHII neck would sound nice. A Miracle Man neck will slay in combination with the 'diver.

BigB

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2009, 06:53:44 PM »
Hey Antag, how's the tone in the korina guitar compared to alder and mahogany? I know it's different construction etc....just a rough description.

Mmm... you may want to read this FWIW:
http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/281#neckthru


Have: Crawlers, BGF 50/52s, Mules, ABomb, RiffRaff
Had : Slowhands (n&m), Trilogy (b)

Pale Rider

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2009, 07:39:00 PM »
Mmm... you may want to read this FWIW:
http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/281#neckthru

Thanks Big B, yeah I remember this link, I've seen it before when I had a high fever of searching everything around guitars etc...it helped me refresh the whole story in my mind.

Well that's good as I like the maple tone. All I want is to add some lows...I guess korina will help towards that way....rosewood would be cool too but it's going to be too expensive and too heavy. Otherwise, I hear its tone is of superb quality.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2009, 07:41:13 PM by Heavy Axes »
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Pale Rider

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Re: Custom Superstrat pickups
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2009, 07:44:42 PM »
VHII neck would sound nice. A Miracle Man neck will slay in combination with the 'diver.

Cool...but I guess I'm going to go with the PAF instead (VHII). I love PAF's deep leads.
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