Korinablaster: HSH Black Korina Tele

[Cactus Jack]

With my Aquamaster build on permanent hiatus, my daughter asked if we could build her a new guitar. I said sure, assuming it would be a simple build, boy was I wrong. She knew exactly what she wanted and like me, checks out Warmoth daily and had her body already picked out. She didn't like the Jazzmaster body and encouraged me to return it, now I know why. This was a total setup.

Below is the body she picked out. Chambered Black Korina, Black to Clear burst, in an HSH configuration. I'm going to use the neck and parts from my the Aquamaster build. The neck is a bit beefy for her, but she loves it, she especially loves the Moonglow side dots. I swear she's had this plan in place for a while .

I've never had an HSH guitar so we had some fun looking up electronics and pickups. I'm putting in my Suhr Thronbuckers, but currently have no idea for the middle pickup. That's where you come in, but first I need to explain the electronics a bit.

We are going to use Seymour Duncan Triple Shot rings for each humbucker. We both love toggles and switches so this seemed like an easy mod and something to make her first build super unique. However, it doesn't stop there. For controls, we are going to attempt a Brent Mason setup. Basically, traditional Tele controls with an added blender pot that controls the middle pickup. Similar to 7 way switching you can have all pickup combos but can dial in the middle pickup as desired...pretty cool. Not only that, the middle pickup pot is a push/pull to engage series/parallel for the middle pickup only. I'm up in the air about the push-pull, but if we're doing this, we might as well do it all the way. This is pretty ambitious for a rookie and 13-year-old, but it's gonna be fun.

OK, now to the middle pickup question. For series/parallel to work I'll need either a stacked single-coil or single-coil sized humbucker. I've been reading up on the Seymour Duncan site, but I'm not sure what would be a good fit with the Thornbuckers. For reference, the neck Thornbucker is Alnico V with a DC rating of 7.3, and the bridge is Alinco IV rated at 9.1. I know ratings are a single variable but for balance, I think an Alnico V pickup in the 7.5-8.5 rating range might be a good fit. Duncans have the same polarity as Suhrs so they seem like an easy (cheap) go-to for this build. Any suggestions on what I should check out? Let me know what you think...kinda leaning towards a Classic Stack or Vintage Rail...Brent Mason uses an 80's Hot Stack in his Tele. I'm open to anything, but the cheaper the better.

Here is the body she picked out (should arrive late next week):

Here is an example of the Brent Mason Controls:

Here is a link to my Aquamaster build with tons of pics of the neck:

https://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=31308.msg440257#msg440257

Like I said in the Aquamaster build thread...onward and upward. So excited to spend time with my daughter, build a cool guitar, and if we get it right hopefully she'll pass it down to her kids one day. Gonna be great!

 

[Rick]

I like how your daughter thinks.  I made almost the the same guitar.  Do a search here for Nashville under *Rick and you’ll be happily surprised.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I like how your daughter thinks.  I made almost the the same guitar.  Do a search here for Nashville under *Rick and you’ll be happily surprised.

Awesome build Rick. I just read the entire post. Our guitars are like first cousins!

 

[Cactus Jack]

She just picked her neck plate, and it's already shipped.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I love me some Black Korina, and that body is a perfect example of why. Looking forward to seeing it come together!

 

[rgand]

That's a first-rate body. It'll be great. Looking forward to progress pics.

:icon_thumright:

 

[stratamania]

Should be a cool build.

For the middle pickup to go with the Thornbuckers, try a Suhr V60LP.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Should be a cool build.

For the middle pickup to go with the Thornbuckers, try a Suhr V60LP.

That’s my current pick for the middle.

I’ve been doing some reading on the Brent Mason controls, and I’m getting mixed reviews. Some folks says it functions similar to an always on toggle but controlled with volume. Some folks say adding the extra volume increases electrical resistance which might negatively impact the tone. Any thoughts on this one?

 

[stratamania]

Should be a cool build.

For the middle pickup to go with the Thornbuckers, try a Suhr V60LP.

That’s my current pick for the middle.

I’ve been doing some reading on the Brent Mason controls, and I’m getting mixed reviews. Some folks says it functions similar to an always on toggle but controlled with volume. Some folks say adding the extra volume increases electrical resistance which might negatively impact the tone. Any thoughts on this one?

Brent Mason, of course, has terrible tone so what some folks say must be true. Of course, the last sentence is not meant to be serious. The Brent Mason wiring just blends the middle pickup to whatever else is selected and also acts a series-parallel switch for the middle pickup. (Series parallel, of course, will not work with a regular single coil)

So the wiring from the middle pickup goes to its own volume, and then to the main volume input which acts as a master volume for everything. So the only thing in terms of additional resistance is that the middle pickup goes via two pots, the other two pickups do not.

When I suggested the V60LP for some reason even though you mentioned it about the split parallel which of course won't work with it this had slipped my mind. Maybe just go with a similar pickup used by Brent Mason.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/hot-stack-strat-neck?__uuid_ref=5dfe655946f3a?__uuid_ref=5dfe655946f76

 

[Cactus Jack]

I'm kicking around a few pickup wiring ideas. The one constant is I want to give the Triple Shots a shot.

- Brent Mason style with the Thronbuckers and a Duncan Cool rail/Vintage Rail/Hot Stack.

- Brent Mason style with P-Rails and a middle from above. I keep the Thornbuckers for my next project .

- Brent Mason style, but replace the middle push pull pot with a standard volume pot and add a V60LP to the middle

Again, triple shots stay, and my daughter wants 3 "knobs" because they look "lit"...

Thoughts?

 

[ragamuffin]

My choice would be your third idea. To me that would give plenty of options between the tripleshots and blend knob without going to crazy.

Also, I had P-rails in one of my guitars: I liked the idea of the versatility, but to me the sounded "just ok" in all configurations and I was never quite satisfied with them personally.

 

[Cactus Jack]

My choice would be your third idea. To me that would give plenty of options between the tripleshots and blend knob without going to crazy.

Also, I had P-rails in one of my guitars: I liked the idea of the versatility, but to me the sounded "just ok" in all configurations and I was never quite satisfied with them personally.

Thanks for the insight. I'm kinda leaning that way too. I'm also kinda thinking I just wire it up with a 5 way switch, throw in a blender pot, and call it a day. However, I'm very intrigued of blending the middle pup in and prefer 3 way switches. I'm gonna put a stake in the ground tonight so I can order the rest of the parts so I appreciate your response.

For reference, below is a simple schematic of the basic Brent Mason wiring:

 

[Rick]

I’m liking all thorn buckers.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I emailed Suhr for their recommendation and John replied in 30 seconds. He said his favorite middle pickup for Thornbuckers is the standard V60. He said they are the most traditional and “quackiest” pups they make.

Done deal. V60 is on order.

 

[Cactus Jack]

So much for this being a cost effective build. We just ordered our bridge and saddles...cost is racking up quick .

We didn't want a run of the mill Tele bridge. After scouring the web for something unique I ran into Schroeder Guitar Hardware. Never heard of these guys before, but they sure make a pretty bridge. I picked this one up:

For saddles I always go Callaham. I absolutely love them. I especially love their enhanced Tele saddles, which are the only saddles I've ever gotten perfect intonation with. I have several sets of brass and steel, and opted for steel for this build. While both are great, my steel sets produce a unique vibrations that make the guitar feel alive in my hands. The tone is also a bit brighter which I hope will offset mellow nature of the tone woods. Also, I think they'll look awesome in the chrome bridge .

We're officially set with hardware, now we need to solidify our controls, and get them mocked up before the body arrives. 

 

[Cagey]

My only comment would be that you need to be aware that the "triple shot" mounting rings aren't meant for live/stage use. Those switches are just little "option setting" dip switches, and aren't very robust. They won't take any kind of regular use - they're for configuration more than anything else. Kind of a "set it and forget it" kind of thing.

 

[Cactus Jack]

My only comment would be that you need to be aware that the "triple shot" mounting rings aren't meant for live/stage use. Those switches are just little "option setting" dip switches, and aren't very robust. They won't take any kind of regular use - they're for configuration more than anything else. Kind of a "set it and forget it" kind of thing.

We have a pretty rocking family band, but no live gigging for us. Definitely not for me, but I'm pretty sure all my kids will be in their own rock bands in a few years.

I hear you on the Triple Shots. We want to build something versatile, but I'm not a fan of push/pulls or push/push pots. I do love me some mini toggles though. However, adding a few to a Tele plate might be a bit tight for my current soldering skills .

Hmmm...maybe I need to think about this a bit. I have a few toggles from the Aquamaster build...heading to the drawing board....

 

[Cagey]

I'm not a fan of multiple switches/knobs/etc. on a guitar either. When you forgo simplicity, you can get into option overload pretty easily, lose your place in real time, invite maintenance issues, and perhaps not find your thrill after all. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a real thing with some guitars.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I'm not a fan of multiple switches/knobs/etc. on a guitar either. When you forgo simplicity, you can get into option overload pretty easily, lose your place in real time, invite maintenance issues, and perhaps not find your thrill after all. "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a real thing with some guitars.

Would you recommend a 5 way auto split switch with a master volume and tone? Do you have a preferred HSH configuration I should consider?

 

[Cagey]

Not really. I'm sure it's just me, but I've never had any good luck trying to make single coils sound good in combination with humbuckers. Sounds like fun in theory, but just doesn't seem to work out as a practical sound. Auto-split can be made to work with a pair of humbuckers, if you don't mind the sound of a split humbucker, but that seems to be as good as it gets.

I suspect that's part of the reason you see so many players with multiple guitars, and why P-Rails have never gained the popularity you'd think they would.