(Not really) a Strat

[drewfx]

Here's my new Strat that's not really a Strat:

Specs:
(Irresistible) Showcase body: Nicely figured Swamp Ash On Swamp Ash, chambered, honeyburst/honeyburst finish
Showcase Neck: Warmoth Pro Angled, Indian Rosewood, Ebony (Macassar) Fretboard, 1 11/16" Nut Width, 59 roundback, SS6105 frets, GraphTech Black TUSQ XL nut
Bridge: Wilkinson trem with Hipshot tremsetter
Tuners: Schaller mini locking
Bridge PU: GFS Soapbar 180 vintage wound
Middle PU: Gibson P-90 with coil tap
Neck PU: Zhangbucker Mini-PAF vintage wound
Push/Pull Master Volume
5-way switch: works like a standard Strat switch with volume switch in down position, works as a 5-way blend of Bridge and Neck PU's with volume switch in
up position
Push/Pull Master Tone: switches between the full coil (~9.3k) when up and tapped coil of (~6.6k) when down for the Gibson P-90 PU
Artec BCU - Band Control Unit - active midrange shaping when in up position (bypassed when down)

 

[stratamania]

Very tasteful combination of woods and an interesting wiring scheme.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

That sure is a sweet looking axe  :icon_thumright:

 

[Ddbltrbl]

Very tasteful combination of woods and an interesting wiring scheme.

What he said!!! :icon_thumright:

 

[drewfx]

Thanks! It's one of those where I had the body and then the neck popped up in the Showcase (and it was raw and a '59 roundback) and I kind of said "Hmm, that might work...".

 

[Great Ape]

Very fine...I love it!! Cool pickup choices! :icon_thumright:

 

[bagman67]

That's a very handsome axe, drewfx!  I remember that body from a while back - glad it went to a forumite.  You made a very purity bunch of decisions there.


What is this Zhangbucker you installed in the neck position?  Never heard of 'em but then I've never heard of a lot of things - I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of the fringe activities going on in the guitar universe.

 

[drewfx]

The Zhangbucker is something I found when I went looking for a mini HB, because that's what I wanted in the neck. As you might know, the cover is an integral part of the construction of a mini, but I definitely didn't want a chrome or gold one so I went looking for other options and somewhere someone recommended Zhangbucker.

It's sort of an unusual PU, constructed like a PAF but scaled down to mini HB size:

http://www.zhangbucker.com/mini-humbuckers.html

He seems to do some interesting things with his PU's.

 

[LushTone]

I dig it. Nice neck woods and awesome pickup choice (and uniqueness)!

:headbang:

 

[drewfx]

Thanks! Anything unique or different I do at this point might be another way of saying, "Drew has too many guitars".  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[klangster]

looks amazing, that face is sweeeeet!

 

[drewfx]

Thanks - I don't normally think of ash as a particularly "showy" wood, but this body changed my mind. And the nice thing is it was quite a bit cheaper than maple (or whatever).  :icon_thumright:

 

[DocNrock]

Awesome non-Strat!  Very unique and killer looking woods!  :headbang1:

 

[swarfrat]

I know the builder says "representative", but dang... it doesn't do that finish anything close to justice. Not that I'm giving advice on how to render those, cause I'm pretty sure it's stinking hard.

 

[drewfx]

Some finishes vary a lot with different woods and in different lighting. This one seems a bit more vivid than some other honeybursts I've seen for whatever reason, and my pictures were taken using lighting to try and maximize things - it can be a bit mellower looking under different lighting conditions.

And I'd guess they'd want to err on the conservative side in the builder too.

 

[line6man]

That Swamp Ash almost looks like Bubinga, under the finish.

 

[JCizzle]

Looks way over my head but very very sexy!

 

[eugene-ej]

What an amazing look of the rosewood neck and the ash top is awesome! How does this wood combination work together? What is it like tonewise?

 

[drewfx]

It actually came out surprisingly bright sounding. Much of that is obviously the PU's, but it was brighter than I expected.

And since the PU's are a bit unusual, it's kind of hard to find a reference point - i.e. it doesn't sound quite like a strat or a tele or an LP or much of anything else, with the exception of the P90 in the middle (when it isn't tapped) which not surprisingly sounds like a P90. In general I would say it seems to really love to play rhythm guitar and arpeggios more than, say, fat sounding leads (without relying on the amp for the fat part). It's definitely different sounding, which was part of the idea in the first place.