Most versitile pick up route for rear route Soloist

[WindsurfMaui]

So what is the most versatile pick up routing for a rear route Soloist? I was going to order a flat top Soloist body with a Strat Strat Humbucker configuration but then thought there may be a more versatile configuration.

My original plan was to buy a front routed Strat style body so I can prewire a number of pickguards and pop them in and out as I wanted to change the sound of the guitar but keep the same body and neck so everything feels the same no matter what pick ups I have in. But if I decide to go with a flat top Soloist is there one single coil route and one humbucker route that is the most versatile  so I can swap pickups without having to make the route bigger if needed Thanks

 

[Kostas]

...My original plan was to buy a front routed Strat style body so I can prewire a number of pickguards and pop them in and out...

There's nothing more versatile than this. Depending on what you like or what you are going to like in the future, you can change type of pickups and put P90's, Filtetrons and every odd pickup you want. With a non pickguard guitar you are stuck with HB's & strat pickups.

HSH or HSS are your options. You can split the HB's, some work really good split and some not so much. If you play clean a lot it's better to go HSS and if you want more power you can use HB's in single coil size. Keep in mind that if you have 24 frets and you go HSH the pickups will be close to each other. Some guys lower the middle one so they don't hit it with the pick as they play, others don't have a problem with it.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

I want to clarify and expand this question.

When looking at the routing options for  the rear routed guitar bodies they give a number of options for single coils and for humbucker routing. If I want to swap out pickups periodically to try different sounds is there one single coil routing that gives me more flexibility? Strat, EMG, etc? I looked at the dimensions on the website and it seems that one single coil routing option is longer and thinner and the other is shorter and fatter. I would assume the Strat routing is the better choice and if I wanted to put a single coil in that needs a longer routing I would have to widen then route by hand and maybe use a  ring to hide the after finish work. Am I right? The same with humbucker options.

In addition when ordering a front routed guitar body if I generally want to use a Strat, Strat, Strat pickguard but want to leave the option for  Strat, Strat, Humbucker or Humbucker, Strat, Humbucker pickguard I assume  should chose the Humbucker, Strat, Humbucker routing option. Am I wrong?

I see Warmoth offers the old swimming pool routing option. I forget why this routing option was abandoned by Fender. Does anyone remember what the objections to the swimming pool were/are? Thanks.

 

[Cagey]

I see Warmoth offers the old swimming pool routing option. I forget why this routing option was abandoned by Fender. Does anyone remember what the objections to the swimming pool were/are? Thanks.

Guitar players in general are the original Luddites, on steroids. If something is new and improved, it's automatically considered unacceptable and detrimental.

I don't remember what the objection(s) to the universal route were, but I'd be willing to bet dollars to donut holes the consensus was that it had a negative affect on tone.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Yes I'll have to google it and see what I can find. Since I am on a permanent quest for ever lighter guitars the swimming pool option may be the right answer.

I haven't kept up with new pickups. So I don't know if hot rails or stacked single coils would fit in the rear routed Strat routes. I hate to put metal rings on the front of non pickguard body b/c I had to expand the route after the finish was done.

 

[Fat Pete]

The EMG style single coil just don't have the extended plate where the wires connect so they will fit in the standard Strat routing, they will just leave the lower part empty. They are not longer

Hot rails/stacks etc. will fit the standard Strat pickup holes as long as that's what they're intended for. There are many other types of single coil pickups - eg Telecaster, P90s Jazzmaster, HiLo'tron - that won't fit in their original forms.

Humbucker size pickups can sometimes have different length 'legs', so if you don't want to use pickup rings you'll have to adjust for that when swapping, but otherwise the world's your lobster. As Kostas says, you can get versions of many types of pickups in this format, albeit arguably less authentic than the real things.

As for the swimming pool, some people will tell you that removing more 'tonewood' than absolutely necessary is a bad thing. Some people will tell you this is hogwash and it just makes the guitar a bit lighter. Yet more some people will tell you it's just that they don't like the chlorine.