goncalo/ ebony/ ash hardtail Strat build, Am I in for a world of treble?

[ecdarby]

Hi there, first time poster, long time lurker here. I finally pulled the trigger on a Warmoth Strat project and I could not be happier with what they sent me (so far). While it is gorgeous in appearance, Im worried about an over abundance of treble once I get everything together, and Im hoping you folks might give some advice on my pickup combination and wiring scheme.

I'm planning on putting SC sized HB's in all three positions: B) Dimarzio Pro-Track, M) SD Vintage Rails, N) SD Hot Rails. Not going to mess with any additional switches, at least initially, as I am trying out some Bournes 95 series pots. I had initially planned to go with a 500k as a master volume since they are all humbuckers, with a 250k/ .047uf tone on the vintage rails, and 250k/ .022uf tone for the pro track. The hotrails would probably be tied to the pro track tone control.

This is all kind of an arbitrary starting point based on what I think the guitar will sound like when it's together, but I anticipate having to tweak some things. My question whether this sounds close with those pickups, given the wood combination is goncalo/ ebony neck, ash body and a hardtail vintage style bridge. Is the 500k volume pot going to make it too ice picky or should it be alright based on your experience?

 

[stratamania]

Its easy enough to cut treble at the tone controls or amp for example.

But who knows what it will sound like till it's built.

I'd suggest just try it. You can always swap a 500 K pot for a 330 K or even a 250 K.

What works on one guitar may not on another etc.

Take your time putting it together and do a good job and you could have a really good instrument on your hands.

 

[Timmsie95]

My uncle has a strat copy that has a solid maple body, maple neck, and ebony fretboard with SD Hot Rails, Vintage Rails, and Cool Rails pickups, and it has a very nice tone. it isn't too treble-y or anything. I's describe it as more of a "tight" tone.

 

[ecdarby]

Interesting. I'm hoping to have the evening free from interruptions so I'll give it a go with the 500k pot. Still need to drill the pick guard holes and finish mounting the tuners so it may be a day or two before I can report back. Thanks for the comments.

 

[treyhaislip]

I think the Hotrails are a great choice for a potentially treble-y guitar, some people complain of them being too dark/muddy so that should be a great choice here. (My personal favorite combo is the SD JB plus the Hot Rails in the neck and mid in Alder with a Rosewood board.)

I've never used that DiMarzio (have never jelled with DiMarzios in the bridge, love them in the neck and middle positions) but I'd say at least give the setup a shot to see what you think.

Looking forward to the progress on this guitar, best of luck!

 

[ecdarby]

The pickups were some I had on hand that Ive been meaning to try out for a few years now but have just never gotten around to them. I really dont have much of an idea what to expect except for what Ive heard from youtube clips and the specs from the manufacturers sites. But, I rarely come across any equipment that doesnt have at least one cool trick up its sleeve, very excited to get this one together and try something new. The neck, I have to say, beats any other strat neck Ive eve slid my hand across. First bare neck Ive ever (almost, but not quite yet) played.

So I got the pickguard wired up over the weekend but havent yet wired a jack to it and tested it for output. I went ahead and added a couple of toggle switches to the bridge and neck for series/split/parallel wiring and made a modification to the volume circuit you guys might be interested in.

I used a 500k audio taper pot, nothing too fancy... The left side is wired for standard 500k volume rolloff, but I put a 470k resistor in parallel with the right half of the pot (between the wiper and the pin that normally goes to ground). This effectivly drops that half of the pot down to 240k-ish at full resistance. Then I drilled a very tiny hole through the pickguard and epoxied a 270k trimmer pot behind it, to the back of the pickguard. Then I wired two legs of the trimmer between the third leg of the volume pot and ground.

The hole in the pickguard is just big enough to allow the trimmer to be adjusted with a tiny flathead screwdriver. This should allow me to fine adjust the overall resonance peak between what a 250k and 500k-ish pot would provide, although in hindsight I should have used an 800k trimmer to allow it up to the equivalent of a 1meg pot. This while keeping the volume attenuation constant @ 500k across the sweep. Cant wait to hear what audible effect it has.

Does that make sense?

 

[stratamania]

It sounds like a cunning plan of tonal exploration...

 

[ecdarby]

This is my guitar. There are many like it but this one is mine...

Alright, finally had some more time to sit down and put some work into the guitar. Ive checked the output of the circuit with a multimeter, reading for continuity/ dc resistance and everything looked good, with the switches working as expected. So I went ahead and wired the jack in and assembled everything.

Havent plugged it into an amp yet so the question on my mind right now is whether I got the polarity right on the middle pickup. Its an older Seymour Duncan with two conductors and a bare ground. I wired the red lead to the switch and the white one to ground, but I think that might be backwards. Will know soon enough I guess....