Basswood Soloist Build

[brandonhuntmusic]

Hi everybody,
New to the threads here. I built a warmoth Strat several years ago and loved it. I still have a roasted maple neck with a rosewood board on another Strat that plays wonderfully. I’m looking to build a Soloist model and was curious about some specs.

I’m looking at the following:
Basswood body with flame maple top (Satin finish)
22 fret Roasted maple neck with Pau Ferro board, 6150 stainless steel frets
HSH configuration
Gotoh 510 Tremolo

I’m very interested in the Duncan P-Rails for the neck position, open to suggestions on the middle pup, and the JB in the bridge. To keep wiring and phase/polarity simple, I’d like to stay within the Seymour Duncan family for pickups.

Does anybody have experience with the P-Rails? I’m curious as to which direction to orient the neck pup, whether I want the P-90 or single coil rail closer to the neck. I tend to lean towards warmer, single coil tones in the neck on my other guitars and I’ve never had P90s before. It also has full humbucker capability, so that’s neat too.

I’ve never owned a Pau Ferro board, but I LOVE roasted maple necks. Not a huge fan of maple fingerboards, and I’m not sure I want something as bright as ebony. Pau Ferro seems to be a nice compromise?

Curious as to people’s thoughts, and tips for a build like this!

 

[JacobJames]

Pau Ferro is a good option and looks great on Roasted Maple in my opinion. Have fun with your build!

 

[u.9]

I'm also interested in P-Rails. There's a showcase body I nearly bit and these were the pups I'd planned for it (but decided to finish my current build first).

I believe the recommended orientation is rails inward... [:|] [|:] but the guy in either this video or this video (think it's the first link) has the neck reversed and explains why somewhere in the vid (it gave a truer Strat single-coil sound in his guitar, and maybe a bit more quack in the P-90 setting).

When I build my electric 12-string, it'll get P-Rails for sure with the Triple-shot mounting rings!

 

[brandonhuntmusic]

I'm also interested in P-Rails. There's a showcase body I nearly bit and these were the pups I'd planned for it (but decided to finish my current build first).

I believe the recommended orientation is rails inward... [:|] [|:] but the guy in either this video or this video (think it's the first link) has the neck reversed and explains why somewhere in the vid (it gave a truer Strat single-coil sound in his guitar, and maybe a bit more quack in the P-90 setting).

When I build my electric 12-string, it'll get P-Rails for sure with the Triple-shot mounting rings!

Oh yes, the Triple Shot mounting rings seem interesting. Any experience with those??

 

[supertruper1988]

This is ticking a lot of my experience boxes. I like your plan of a P-rail in the neck it will sound great. I run my P-rails with both blades towards the neck. The rail sound in this configuration is much better and the P90 sound is about the same.

I also love HSH and have looked at doing exactly what you are doing in my own build but havent had the free coin to take the plunge.

I would recommend a Duncan Alnico 2 Pro middle strat pickup. Its warm without being dark and works well with the humbuckers and 500k pots for splitting coils.

I also use a super switch in all of my HSH builds to get the middle position to be split neck + split bridge for a very tele type tone. If you are interested I could probably be easily persuaded to finish my wiring diagram for that setup.

 

[u.9]

Oh yes, the Triple Shot mounting rings seem interesting. Any experience with those??

None yet. But the videos I posted make their use easy to understand. I haven't decided yet though if I'll use their rings or wire it into separate switches that are more robust.

 

[brandonhuntmusic]

This is ticking a lot of my experience boxes. I like your plan of a P-rail in the neck it will sound great. I run my P-rails with both blades towards the neck. The rail sound in this configuration is much better and the P90 sound is about the same.

I also love HSH and have looked at doing exactly what you are doing in my own build but havent had the free coin to take the plunge.

I would recommend a Duncan Alnico 2 Pro middle strat pickup. Its warm without being dark and works well with the humbuckers and 500k pots for splitting coils.

I also use a super switch in all of my HSH builds to get the middle position to be split neck + split bridge for a very tele type tone. If you are interested I could probably be easily persuaded to finish my wiring diagram for that setup.

That sounds great, much appreciated. The middle position will be a combination of the neck and bridge pups, I’ve never been a fan of the single coil middle pup on its own. I’m inclined to install a three-way mini switch to access the rail, P90 and humbucker option for the P-Rails. Curious how to split the 2nd and 4th position, as I use the neck/middle pup combo a lot on my strats

 

[rockandroller]

My recent Basswood-bodied, roasted-maple-necked, ebony-fretboard Warmoth 7/8 strat SuperStrat turned out MAGNIFICENT.
Rich tone, sustain for days, sweet, sweet guitar that has really exceeded my expectations.
On the subject of pups: I once put a set of P-rails in a 2013 SG, really enjoyed the available tone color palette!

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

I’ve never owned a Pau Ferro board, but I LOVE roasted maple necks. Not a huge fan of maple fingerboards, and I’m not sure I want something as bright as ebony. Pau Ferro seems to be a nice compromise?

Curious as to people’s thoughts, and tips for a build like this!

Pau ferro is a good choice for a fretboard combined with roasted maple. IMO, pau ferro will give a warmer and more resonant tone than an ebony fretboard. To me it is noticeable on a neck with Warmoth vintage/modern construction. Zircote is probably the next step closer to Ebony, but most people will say there is no noticeable difference.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Fretboard material has zero effect on electric guitar tone. If the neck core material is maple, it's gonna sound like maple.
If the core material is mahogany, it's gonna sound like mahogany. And the body has more of an effect on tone than the neck. I don't care what anyone has read in a guitar magazine or internet forum; this has been proven through extensive testing in the real world. Get whatever fretboard material looks the best to you.
I happen to like maple, rosewood, ebony, and pau fero. They are all good.