split coil LP with a strat sound?

[mrnewport]

Yes, I know this topic has been beaten to death elsewhere, but I can't find any good answers.

I've read that it's not technically a split coil, but I want to have a push/pull pot split-coil on an LP bridge humbucker. My priority is to get as close to a strat bridge pup sound as possible, but I still want to have the hb. I was considering building a Warmoth LP, walnut body and maple neck to get a good approximation of a strat body.

What I'm not sure about is what kind of hb to put in the bridge for this. I've read different things. One person said that as far as getting a strat sound from a split coil, the hotter the better, so I'd guess that means something like a DiMarzio DP102 X2N. I've also read that some people design pickups specifically for the task, like these: http://www.joebarden.com/main.php?section=Products&pageID=HB%20and%20HB%20TwoTone (By the way, if anyone knows of any other pickups like this, please post them). Everyone else seems to agree that I'm better off having two different guitars, but I want to be able to switch at a moment's notice. Does anyone have any good experiences with strat-sounding split coils?

My other option is to forgo building the Warmoth and just mod my Epiphone Les Paul Studio. But, for some reason, mine is a thinner and a lot lighter than other Studios I've played, and it's already made out of mahogany (At least, I think it is). So I'm guessing it would be impossible to get a strat sound from a split coil on my epi, no matter what hb I put in there.

Any feedback is tremendously appreciated.

 

[Orpheo]

hi,

I've tried it many times, with super-hot pickups like the x2n, medium pickups like the air norton, and also simple PAF style pickups. I found that medium output pickups give the best coilsplit sound, especially the air norton. in a les paul, its VERY strat-like. when I have the neck and the bridge coilsplit and both on, volume on bridge a bit down, tone on brdige also a bit down, it gives me a very convincing strat-sound, with a nice quacky tone too.

for a stratsound you need a coil with, at its max, 8kohms. so, a pickup with a total sum of 16k, is good. I even prefer 12k, with an alnico5 magnet, or 12k-14k with an alnico2 magnet.

the idea you have (walnut body, maple neck) is very cool. it would give you a very nice humbucker tone (full, warm, but not mushy, bright, but not piercing), and a very convincing strattone. I do recommend a carved top though. that will fatten your sound up a bit if you use 100% walnut.

for your neck, I suggest padouk, with an ebony fingerboard. that has the same properties as a full maple neck, but it feels so much better, looks better on a les paul, and it will howl more, when you use a humbucker.

these pickups are the ones I recommend:

JB. when split: bright, open sounding, on its own more like a telecaster, with the neckpickup combined its VERY like a strat (I recommend the JAZZ for that!)
air norton: tight distortion, more loose when you roll down the gain. when split, it gives you a nice warm tone, open, articulated, very like a strat with ash body, maple board
rio grande BBQ: when split: like a strat with alder body, rosewood fingerboard

the motherbucker is a VERY cool one, especially because you have a very punchy humbucker, and 4 coils you can choose from, so you can tweak even more to get the sound you need.

 

[tfarny]

You should check out Lindy Fralin's "unbucker" series, and there are a few copies of the idea out there, too. They wind one coil hotter than the other so that you could get a 5.5k screw coil with a 4k slug coil, have 9.5k in HB mode (about the same as a SD pearly gates or Gibson Burstbucker) and 5.5k in sc mode (roughly speaking, a vintage wind single coil strat level of power). He claims that in HB mode, the pups are a bit more trebly than most HBs, which makes sense and could be a good thing esp. in neck position.  I have no idea how they really sound and they are expensive though.

 

[jackthehack]

From my experience, coil tapping Seymour Duncan, Rio Grande and Lace pickups in either neck or bridge position, I've yet to get anything sound really close to a Strat SC sound. No ceegar....

 

[taez555]

I have 3 humbuckers split in two of my strat style guitars, and the only one that comes close to a strat sound is the Seymour Duncan Stag Mag I have in my Mahogany bodied Warmoth in the neck position.  I have it split with a Series/Single/Parallel switch.  Both the single and parallel sound very stratty.

erik

 

[shanejw]

I've got dimarzio dual blade pickups on my strat.  With the coils split they don't sound that great on their own but together they sound fairly stratty.  The Cruiser neck pickup I have is one of my favorite pickups in general.  Nice smooth single coil sound.

 

[mrnewport]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Right now I'm leaning towards the Fralin, but if anyone has any other suggestions, by all means.