VHII vs Holy Diver (My custom guitar build) UPDATED

[darkbluemurder]

And by the way - I think you made the right choice with the HD set. The VHII, especially the bridge pickup, does not have that midrange push many of the mid and late 80s tones have.

Cheers Stephan

[Mr.Coneman]

Yeah, I've asked around a few places, and it's pretty much unanimous that the HD is the way to go for this guitar :).

Can I ask a question of you guys? So I'm a total wiring nooblet, but this guitar, other than the woodwork itself, is going to be finished off by me, I'm gunna do the electrics, assembly, painting and all that with myself and my brother. I wanted this as a little project, for kicks, as well as making a sweet guitar.

So my brother is an electrics genius, but I figured I'd ask you guys, since he's never really been familiarised with the innerds of a guitar. I know as soon as he looks at a schematic he'll be good to go though.

I bought the 4 conductor wiring HD set, because that means you can coil tap 'em right?

What else do I need other than what BKP's supply in the box? I mean I know tone pots, jack input, pickup selector and all the obvious stuff, but is there anything I'm not thinking of? And do you guys have any recommendations for specific pots, or is there not too much of a difference as long as it's of decent quality?

[DavidPRS]

Yeah, I've asked around a few places, and it's pretty much unanimous that the HD is the way to go for this guitar :).

Can I ask a question of you guys? So I'm a total wiring nooblet, but this guitar, other than the woodwork itself, is going to be finished off by me, I'm gunna do the electrics, assembly, painting and all that with myself and my brother. I wanted this as a little project, for kicks, as well as making a

So my brother is an electrics genius, but I figured I'd ask you guys, since he's never really been familiarised with the innerds of a guitar. I know as soon as he looks at a schematic he'll be good to go though.

I bought the 4 conductor wiring HD set, because that means you can coil tap 'em right?

What else do I need other than what BKP's supply in the box? I mean I know tone pots, jack input, pickup selector and all the obvious stuff, but is there anything I'm not thinking of? And do you guys have any recommendations for specific pots, or is there not too much of a difference as long as it's of decent quality?

Make sure one of the pots is a 500k push/pull obviously and don't forget a capacitor. CTS pots are the industry standard.

[case report]

what if Holydiver bridge and VHII neck?

[Mr.Coneman]

Thanks for the info DavidPRS!

And a little late there case report  :lol: I did consider that for awhile though. I have a mixed set up in my Les Paul, and wanted to try a calibrated set to see how much of a difference there really was in my pickup selector in my Les Paul once I know what a matched set sounds like in this guitar :)

[Pale Rider]

For high-endy guitars the Diver is the way to go. It delivers a strong 2nd harmonic overtone that makes its highs sound brilliant and sparkling. It has a deep full tone too to my ears. Not bassy, I don't know how to say it but it sounds full like a distorted guitar should sound. But it needs a guitar with presence, and then it sounds amazing.

[darkbluemurder]

But it needs a guitar with presence, and then it sounds amazing.

+1. The Holydiver is not really at home in dark sounding guitars but it kills in bright guitars.

Cheers Stephan

[Mr.Coneman]

I thought I'd do a bit of forum necromancy to let you guys know how I'm getting on with this, I also have a question or two I hope you guys can help me with. So progress!

Firstly, the neck arrived:

So happy with the custom inlay:

Not bolted on yet, but just sitting right:

All gold hardware, including my Stetsbar :)


And that's as far as we are so far! Looking beautiful I hope you'll agree  :lol:

However, I have some questions as I said. So I ran into a problem, there was a mis-communication with the original luthier, and he used the wrong bridge routing for the stetsbar. We thought 6 holes in a line like a strat was gunna work, it's not. I need to get these holes filled in, and 4 more holes routed (in a square shape, rather than 6 in a line) by a local luthier. Before I ask any local builders, do any of you much smarter folks have any idea what kind of money that job will cost? What should I be looking to pay there?

I think I had another question...I'll ask when I remember!

[Wayne_S]

Im definitely new here but Ive been researching my own situation deeply for a few months now. Nice looking guitar there and Id vote Holy Diver as well !!