Wenge Strato-335

[onedrop]

Pulled the trigger on this last week, meant to post something earlier, been moving tho.

The specs

Wenge hollow strat with unique choice rosewood top (unfinished)
Recessed TOM, HXH (planning on Joe Barden Two/Tones)
Four push-pots and a couple of toggles for coil-tapping / series-parallel / phase

Wenge warmoth neck with macassar ebony fretboard (no face dots)
59 Roundback
Copper alloy (gold) frets
Planet waves

Black hardware of course
Maybe get some custom wooden knobs and pickup rings - ebony or rosewood

Here is the artist's rendition, not exact, but close enough to cop a feel.

Now, the wait... Will post updates to this thread when she arrives...

 

[guitlouie]

Wow, man!  Please please update!  I would love to see that body, sounds absolutely killer! 

 

[DocNrock]

Killer!  Looking forward to seeing the real deal.  Are you going to take the 335 theme to f-hole(s), as well?

 

[GoDrex]

I'm just curious as to what you're going to do with 4 push/pulls and a toggle? What kind of wiring scheme do you have in mind?

 

[onedrop]

No f-holes. Hoping the chambered design lands it closer to a hollow body sound. My fave guitars over the years have been strats and 335 style guitars (epi sheraton)... But I'm not crazy about f-holes.

For the wiring, I'm planning on having the two volume push pots switch the coil tap on each pickup (single coil / humbucker sounds), the tone push pots switch each pickup series/parallel, and then a mini toggle for switching the two pickups series/parallel, and another mini toggle to switch the two pickups in/out of phase. And a standard 3-position toggle to switch neck/both/bridge pickups. Maybe a little ambitious, but I'm feeling up to it  :icon_tongue:

I bought some shielding tape, but after reading some more posts on this board, I'll probably wire it up initially with no shielding.

I'll post updates... should arrive in July sometime...

 

[GoDrex]

cool - I have the Jimmy Page wiring deal on my LP and I think it's cool. I don't think it has quite as many option as yours will have but it's got enough hehehe

btw - my LP has the hollow option, and I don't really notice it sound-wise that much - meaning it's not that much different from any other solid body, two humbucker guitar I've had. If I didn't know it was hollow I certainly wouldn't think it was based on the tone of it, so I doubt that you'll get a hollow body sound from it. I think you need the hole(s) in the body in order get that kind of self-amplified resonating tone. It is nice and light though, which is why I went for that option in the first place. Anything regarding tone that happens because of it is kind of an after thought and tough to determine. The guitar does have some very nice sustain, but I have no idea if it contributes to it or not.

 

[m4rk0]

That is because of the carved top.. same thing with my VIP.
aparently it only makes a difference for Strats and Teles (or flattops at least)

 

[GoDrex]

that makes sense - I guess there's a bit more wood on top of of the chambers.

 

[onedrop]

Here is a switching diagram I drew up last night. I haven't drawn in any of the volume or tone pots. This is based on wiring diagrams on the Joe Barden site, but should work for any 6-wire humbucker (I assume there are others). There are a total of 72 voicings, all humbucking. Some of them may not be that useful, but I like having a wide palette of colors to play with  :icon_smile:

 

[onedrop]

Ok, here is the completed wiring plan, for anyone who's interested.

This is based loosely on the Jimmy Page wiring, with a few differences.

Instead of coil-splitting, there is a switch for Barden's S-Deluxe coil tap (hum canceling single coil sound). There is also a switch to put each pickup in series or parallel. So there are 4 voicings per pickup (HB series, HB parallel, SC series, SC parallel), controlled using push-pot switches.

There is also a mini-toggle to switch the phase of the bridge pickup, and another mini-toggle to put the bridge pickup in series with the neck pickup.

When the pickups are in series, the neck and middle positions will sound slightly different, as the bridge tone control is added to the circuit in the middle position (this might only be noticeable when bridge volume is at max). Selecting the bridge pickup will kill the output.

Volume controls are decoupled, pot values as suggested on Barden's website.

Keep in mind this is a wiring PLAN - haven't tested it yet. If you notice any glaring issues, be an angel and say something  :glasses10:

 

[onedrop]

Haha, ok I'll leave the two previous posts there for interest sake, but I'm almost definitely going to be using a simpler wiring (no mini toggles) basically a modified Jimmy Page wiring, using the barden coil tap instead of coil splitting, and non-interactive volume controls. Putting a humbucker in parallel I don't find is that useful, and 72 pup combinations is just silly.

Now that that's done, I'm wondering what else there is left to change my mind on, before the parts arrive from Warmoth. Maybe the pickup rings, knobs, truss rod cover, etc.. 

 

[GoDrex]

darn! I was hoping for the 72 tone one hehehe - never ending sound clips

I've never heard coil tapping as opposed to coil splitting. I wonder how similar the sound is. I don't mind the hum from the coil splitting. With a clean tone you don't noticed it that much at all. With both pickups on it cancels a lot of the hum anyway.

Good luck with the wiring.

 

[onedrop]

Oh you never know, I might change my mind again.  :laughing11:

But I'd rather a guitar that does a few things right than one that dazzles you with options half of which may hardly get used.

Plus, I get an uneasy feeling when I think what if I drill holes for the mini toggles, then after wiring it up decide I don't like this, it's to complex, I want to KISS, and the parallel voicings suck. I'd be sitting there with a couple extra holes in my beautiful rosewood top, my heart sinking deeper than Doc's when he discovered the shielding paint had to go  :sad:

The 2/72 wiring would be better to try out first on a POS guitar, which I don't have at the moment.

 

[jackthehack]

You could always just hang the toggle out the back cavity to test out the sound; if you like it, drill  the hole, if not, desolder from harness.

 

[onedrop]

True.

I suspect I'll start out with the simpler wiring, then maybe fiddle around with the extra switches when the guitar is finished, if I'm feeling adventurous.