I'm going to get a HSS set for an alder strat. Need your suggestions!

[SeedAwakener]

Hi! I don't post too much here, but I read a lot and there seems to be a lot of knowledge here! This post will be very noobish but I just wan't some straight opinions because I have a few guitars with Bareknuckles and they just sound phenomenal.

I'm going to get an HSS set for an alder warmoth-strat that I'm building. This guitar is supposed to be used for a big number of genres like funk/pop/fusion/rock. What it is not meant for is modern metal, though. I have enough guitars for that purpose.

When it comes to the single coils I love the Wayne krantz sound. Landau's tone is great as well. Any specific single coil that does this well? I'm a huge fan of mids as well.

When it comes to the bridge humbucker I'd love something that of course goes well with the Single coils. I very often use the bridge for lead work. Looking for a fairly round/warm mid-ish sound but with a lot of clarity. Scott Henderson comes to mind.

Any help is appreciated! :)

[mbchepburn]

I'd say get the Crawler/Mother's Milk HSS combo. It should solve all you're needs and provide more versatility than you'll probable need. What will you be using the singlecoils for primarily? And I suggested the Crawler because it's a great pickup that really sings and is perfect for your needs. I would've normally recommended the Holy Diver, but you said you didn't want to play metal, so the the Crawler would be the best bet :)

[Elliot]

Crawler and Irish Tours.  You can do a lot with that combo.

[mbchepburn]

Yh the Irish Tours would work great as well :)

[Telerocker]

Hi and welcome!

- I have the Crawler/Irish Tours in an swampash customstrat (MXG, made by Patrick Eggle) and this set is good for everything, except metal. The split-sounds are great, but I do use the neck-IT a lot, and also the 4 pos: neck and middle. The IT's handle gain/pedals very well, the Crawler can growl and bite (no, it doesn't lack treble) and sounds thick, but balanced. Cleans up great.
- Recently I purchased an American Series HSS-strat with an ash-body and rosewoodfretboard. At the moment a VHII and two Mother's Milk are installed. Unfortunately BK send the wrong singlecoils (not reverse wound) to match the splitted VHII, but the humbucker sounds stellar. Big and ballsy, overtones jump out. The MM's are a bit brighter then the IT's, but are great for that early sixties F-tone. Think Frusciante. I'm hoping the new pu's will be in soon, to find out if the second position delivers the funky Fender-quack. Should work.

[SeedAwakener]

Thanks guys! I think I've decided on what to get! The Mothers milk set seems to be pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. I ordered the guitar from warmoth and in the end I decided to get an S-S-S guitar. So I wont get a humbucker for it.

So before I order, this is what the guitar will be! An alder/maple-top body with a maple/ebony neck. It will have a set of mothers milk pickups with the zink plate in the bridge position. Do you think I'll regret this?

Anyway, thanks for all the awesome help! I can't wait!

Bonus pics: https://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/images/necks/medium/sn10357a.jpg
https://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/images/bodies/medium/ps5894d.jpg

[Nolly]

You definitely won't regret it, but it's also worth considering an Apache for the bridge slot. It's slightly counterintuitive because the lower output makes one think it will be brighter and weaker sounding than the MM bridge, but the AIII magnet lends it a fatness and warmth that makes it seem much hotter than it actually is. Tim uses the Apache/MM combination in his main strat and I can attest that it sounds wicked.

[Telerocker]

You definitely won't regret it, but it's also worth considering an Apache for the bridge slot. It's slightly counterintuitive because the lower output makes one think it will be brighter and weaker sounding than the MM bridge, but the AIII magnet lends it a fatness and warmth that makes it seem much hotter than it actually is. Tim uses the Apache/MM combination in his main strat and I can attest that it sounds wicked.

I read this before and I think it's a good solution since the MM's are bright in the topend. The Apache will smooth out the first postion.

[SeedAwakener]

Thanks guys! I'm ordering a MM-MM-Apache set right now. :) My guitar arrived early so I'm gonna have to wait for the pickups before I can try it out, though. :/

[Telerocker]

Congrats! Hope it works fine.