HSS set for mahogany Parker Nitefly/MIDIFly

[Piplodocus]

Hello boys and girls!

I'm after a nice HSS set for my MIDIFly (basically a Parker Nitefly with a mahogany body).  So it's a bolt on, mahogany neck and body. Carbon glass fingerboard with stainless frets. Pick guard mounted HSS. Sounds far far more straty than my all mahogany through neck fly mojo. Currently it has some custom wound for Parker diMarzios in. So darker cuz of mahogany, but mostly brighter bolt on/stainless fret start sounds?!?

So my mojo flame has a Holy Diver bridge and a mule neck. If I want to play my heaviest fat bluesy hard-rock/metal/tool-esque kinda thing then that's likely still the guitar I'll grab first. This one I want to play up its strat characteristics a little more and so I want to really be able to funk, maybe pink flood a bit with the single coils, but I still want to be able to use it for the big heavy grunge/soundgarden end of things. Since it has MIDI in I may regularly need to cover that heavier end of the spectrum a bit if I want to play a song with midi and heavier stuff in. Still, this isn't supposed to be a match for the through-neck fly mojo as I'd like something a bit less heavy-focussed in this guitar which complement each other as different, but with a slight overlap.

So, after some head scratching and looking at the recommended HSS sets I'm looking at the crawler/mothers milk set. This sounds a bit like I can really get the strat end of the spectrum with the funk and more vintage sounds, the crawler split should go nicely with them, but then doesa lot harder rocking stuff with the hum bucker mode. I have no idea if is be better off with something like an A-bomb and Irish tours though.

I'd quite like to know how these all relate to the current ones in terms of output, but there's very little info on exactly what these DiMarzios are like, other than they are custom winds for Parker and often seem to get replaced as the guitars weak link (which supposedly takes the fantastic guitar with slightly mediocre tone to an absolute gem). So I'm kinda in the dark. I'm a bit of a pickup ignoramus other than I love my BKPs in the Mojo and my only quality HSS guitar could, according to both my ears and general internet opinion, sound quite a bit better. 

Thoughts?

[darrenw5094]

For the bucker in mahogany, dark guitar, i am thinking vintage and bright, which would be Riff Raff. Extra gain on the amp would do the heavier stuff, without any Dimarzio style compression.

I have never tried the BKP SC range yet.

[Piplodocus]

I hadn't really looked into the Riff Raff as its not in any of the standard HSS sets listed. I guess I can always mix and match, but I took these as a starting point. I wonder why not?

[Piplodocus]

It's mostly quite a bright guitar with the bolt on neck and stainless frets (far brighter than my Fly Mojo at least). Would the Riff Raff not end up a bit bright in that? Dunno, maybe it's not as bright as I think. I don't have lots of guitars to compare it with.

[darrenw5094]

It's mostly quite a bright guitar with the bolt on neck and stainless frets (far brighter than my Fly Mojo at least). Would the Riff Raff not end up a bit bright in that? Dunno, maybe it's not as bright as I think. I don't have lots of guitars to compare it with.

My mistake, i thought your guitar was dark, that is why i said the RR.

Maybe the middier, smoother treble Abraxas, still in the vintage zone and could split nicely.

[Piplodocus]

Interesting. Another one not in the HSS sets. Could do with some single coil comparisons too I guess and then which would pair well with the different Humbuckers. Especially say the mothers milks vs Irish tours.

Any reason you suggest the Abraxas over the Crawler Darren? I not particularly set in that thought by any means, but the Crawler comes in an HSS set and supposedly goes nice in strats and LPs, so figured a mahogany bolt-on might be a good bet?

[Piplodocus]

While I'm on the subject 260k or 500k/what cap with a HSS config?

And which way round are zebra vs reverse zebra? May as well get that one out the way! :)

[Telerocker]

Crawler/Mother's Milk-set is a very versatile set which should fit your guitar and demands. With this inherent glassiness of your guitar you might even want to go for fuller Apaches or (more smokey/grittier and a tad hotter) Irish Tours. The IT has more bass and mids and less topend than the woodier, bright Mother's Milk.
I see no reason to suggest the Abraxas here, which you could see as hotrodded Mule or a tamer version of the Crawler. I suspect the beefy, juicy Crawler to be great in the Parker. It splits very well. You get a tele-esque tone and Fender-quack on the fourth position.

I would go for a Suhr-wiring with 500k for the bucker and 250k for the single coils.

http://s155.photobucket.com/user/sundaypunch_pics/media/hss.jpg.html

[darrenw5094]

The Crawler i have not tried yet, but it can be hit and miss in mahogany according to the forum here. But the Crawler is fuller than the Abraxas alright and might work in your guitar.

[Piplodocus]

Cheers. I read another post that said the Crawler sounds good in Parkers so that reinforces those things. Maybe I'll try the Anraxas one day on my Swamp Ash Nitefly! Thanks for the suhr wiring diagram.

So, deciding between the ITs and MMs...hmmmmm...any more thoughst on those?

Maybe I should consider what would be best later in the Swamp Ash Nitefly when I inevitable upgrade that nearer the end of the year and get the slightly hotter set for this now!?!? 

[Piplodocus]

Oop, you replied while I was Darren. I might go check some varying Crawler in Mahogany reviews then and see which may relate most or least to my Parker. Difficult to say, but my Mahogany Nitefly sounds more like my Swamp Ash Nitefly than it does my Mahogany Fly, so if guitar overall design is more important than the body wood maybe I can still draw some parallels from what Crawlers do or don't sound good in (e.g. It'll be far closer to the description of it in a mahogany strat than a mahogany LP I'm guessing).

[darrenw5094]

Well the Crawler is hit or miss in a Les Paul type, so might not be a problem in your Parker if it's nothing like a LP tonewise.

[Telerocker]

Mother's Milk: genuine early sixties F-sound. Bright, woody, snappy, think Frusciante.
Irish Tours: in fact an overwound Mother's Milk: extra mids, more lowend, less topend, a little hotter, cleans up great nearly to Mother's Milk-type of tones.

[Piplodocus]

After all this and the discussion I think I might go A-bomb with Irosh Tours, then go for the Crawler (or something) + Mother's Milks in another Swamp Ash Nitefly later! 

Think I'll look into the workings of that Suhr wiring though.

[Telerocker]

After all this and the discussion I think I might go A-bomb with Irosh Tours, then go for the Crawler (or something) + Mother's Milks in another Swamp Ash Nitefly later! 

Think I'll look into the workings of that Suhr wiring though.

The A-Bomb is very agressive in the uppermids and topend compared to the Crawler/Holy Diver. If that is what you want, go ahead.