I just bought a Gibson abomination

[d1dsj]

I think it looks great! For the middle pick up haters, how about a white bucker set really low so it doesn't get in the way?

[lyonk55]

Don't usually like 3 humbucker guitars, but this looks alright. I came here expecting a Firebird X or something from the title.

[Philly Q]

MQ in the middle could be good.... but then you'd also need covers for the neck and bridge humbuckers or it would look weird.

[HTH AMPS]

I do like the look of three-pickup Gibsons, but the string pull off three humbuckers is gonna kill the natural sustain.  The middle humbucker never sounds very good anyway, take it out now or I shall call a constable.

MQ neck, riff raff bridge - done  8)

[gwEm]

I do like the look of three-pickup Gibsons, but the string pull off three humbuckers is gonna kill the natural sustain.  The middle humbucker never sounds very good anyway, take it out now or I shall call a constable.

MQ neck, riff raff bridge - done  8)

you have taste HTH ;)

don't worry - the middle humbucker is going..

[Philly Q]

I understand the objections to the middle pickup, but if you go HH it'll be "just another V"..... I hope to see at least one single-coil on there when it's done!  :P

[gwEm]

I understand the objections to the middle pickup, but if you go HH it'll be "just another V"..... I hope to see at least one single-coil on there when it's done!  :P

well, thats a possibility - or maybe a mini-hb.

she should arrive monday.

[AndyR]

It's funny, when I saw the first post a few days ago, I just couldn't figure out what the "abomination" part was... yeah it had three pickups, but I didn't realise that's what you meant... I was looking at the pic to see if the dimensions were odd or something... :lol:

Personally (although I've never tried one), I can't see much use for a middle humbucker, but I some folks seem to like it so I've got nothing against it.

On the looks, one thing I learnt about pickups years ago (and this might just about apply to a middle pickup) - I had a Hot Rails in the bridge of my gigging strat. I needed it for the sound in that band but I absolutely HATED what it looked like. I agonised over what to do, I would have called it an abomination at the time. Then one day, sat round the table after a gig cleaning the guitar in question, a girlfriend said "what are you on about?" and I explained my dilemma. She went "but we can't even see it, your hand covers it most of the time, besides we're watching you, not the guitar..." ... and then a guitarist at the table, who was much into gear, came to see us a fair bit, and was always asking me stuff, woke up and went "Hey! Have you got a hotrails there? Cool! Never noticed it... when did you do that?" :roll:

It's a bit like the girl with the "huge" spot she's worried about, and we never noticed it cos we were concentrating on something else... and even after she's pointed it out we'd need a magnifying glass to see it.

Go for sound and utility first, obviously pay attention to looks, it affects how you feel about it... but really it's only us anoraks who spot some of this stuff :lol:

I quite like the look of that Yngwie thing - but I'd be continually trying to get it to sound/respond like a strat... so'd there'd be no point in me doing it, might as well pick up a strat instead!

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out - you always seem to end up doing something tasteful and usable when you start hacking :D

[gwEm]

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out - you always seem to end up doing something tasteful and usable when you start hacking :D

yeah, i love the modifications i guess :)

Vs naturally have quite a loose sound and feel i think, which is part of the attraction of the model, but difficult to put in the context of the music i make - which absolutely needs to sit in the mix very precisely. (i'm not saying like surgically tight br00tals, i'm more of a classic metal man as you know - vintage style will do me fine)

when i first got into strats, i sort of believed the 25.5" scale length was what gave the tightness, and i think thats partly true, but not the only thing - the wood choice and single coils clearly have a massive effect too.

i got a V - the V90, which had a maple neck and also the 25.5" scale - it looks great and sounds tight as hell. the problem with the V90 is its a bit too nice take out for a show. also i'd like it to have a neck pickup and be white. but more or less its a very special instrument. i think about playing it every show, but its a bit too nice you know..

with the mahogany strat i was looking to bring some of the warmth back into the sound, and it was still tight sounding, but more rich and easier to work with. no doubt its my idea of the perfect strat sound. comparing it to my tele-strat is interesting. i thought the wimpy strat bridge pickup caused the wimpy strat bridge sound - but its not quite true. i'd say the sultan in the mahogany strat sounds maybe even a touch more full than the blackguard in the tele-strat. though probably the baseplate on the sultans makes a difference.

when i started playing the yamaha a few weeks back i noticed how much i was really missing the loose feeling 24 3/4" scale length. the yamaha has a maple neck and alder body, and i think the maple neck was giving it a tighter sound. strange since i was playing Vs and the Wez firebird in parallel with all these, but the yamaha really reminded me of what i liked about the slightly shorter scale. whacking in some dimarzio strat pickups, the perfect weight balance of the instrument has given what i think is the most practical gigging guitar i have so far. it always cuts through the mix live - and its controllable, volume and tonewise, with little drama.

but, well its not a white V ;) i'm a bit attached to my other Vs, so I needed something cheap to hack around with. we'll see how it goes - i'm not wedded to anything yet - except a strat positioned volume control and removing the middle pickup.

anyway - whats all this post say? tone is important, its affected by lots of things and is unpredictable ;) or more like i don't know exactly what i'm talking about, but i'm learning on the job :D the only think i do know that is my favourite is an ebony fingerboard.. but i learnt that one early on.

V-wise, the Johnny Winter is still my favourite, and with the pickup mod, and some work Jonathan did on it its still my number one!

well, i'm sure my tastes will change again soon, but i will say i never found a series wired neck humbucker that cut through my mix live.

[HTH AMPS]

when i first got into strats, i sort of believed the 25.5" scale length was what gave the tightness

Thats an interesting point.  All things being equal, what tonal effect does changing the scale length have (I'm talking the difference between Gibson and Fender scale lengths here, not baritones) ????

[Catalyst77]

Middle pickups can work well, and give you a host of new sounds if done right. 

Personally i seldom need or use them, but i do have a les paul custom with 3 in.  I have coil split on the neck and bridge pickup and a master volume on the middle so i can blend in a middle humbucker into both or either of the other spit or unsplit humbuckers.

Always seems to sound a bit latin for some reason.

[FELINEGUITARS]

when i first got into strats, i sort of believed the 25.5" scale length was what gave the tightness

Thats an interesting point.  All things being equal, what tonal effect does changing the scale length have (I'm talking the difference between Gibson and Fender scale lengths here, not baritones) ????

Ask Johnny Mac - the Lion(LP) I made him with the MIDI was 25.5" scale - the same as his Charvel

[Brow]

MQ neck, riff raff bridge - done  8)

+1

That's what I have in my V and it's a great combo.

[gwEm]

its here. the rosewood on the fingerboard is decent - which was my main concern.

the finish looks shite though - looks like someones attacked a thin white finish with some coarse sand paper (which they probably have). worst aging job i've seen in my live. but it might just be right for a punk rock looking V..

[Loomer]

I had one of those some time ago, just in black. It was a wonderful little axe, definitely. The neck was perfect and the resonance was staggering!