Looking for the right HSS set for my dream Strat build

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GreatRedDragon

GreatRedDragon

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Been planning this one for a very long time, and it's only now that it's finally coming together. The oldest records I have in my research and planning file go back ten years, to give an idea of how long I've been planning this.

This year I discovered Butala Guitars, and a quick email correspondence confirmed he could build me a neck and body to my exact specifications, with no compromise on any custom feature I want. After a few months I have the bones in hand:

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Upgrades/special requests were:
- Premium ebony fretboard
- Stainless steel frets
- Wheel-adjust truss rod
- Swimming pool pickup cavity
- Killswitch cavity
- Recessed spring cavity cover

Overall specs:
- Basswood body
- Black TusqXL nut
- Gotoh locking tuners
- HSS pickguard, with reverse slanted singles ala Jake E. Lee
- 5-way switch with auto-split
- Individual 500k volume for bridge, shared 250k volume for neck/middle
- Sanwa killswitch
- Non-fine tuner Floyd Rose with a gigantic block (just look at all the space I have for it!)
- Brushed black aluminum backplate

All finished in candy lime green with a matching headstock.

But the final question I have is...

What pickups?!

I know I want noiseless single-coils in the neck and middle positions for great cleans, and I know I want something powerful for 80s shred in the bridge, but I've got total analysis paralysis right now. Super Distortion, EVH Frankenstein, Duncan Distortion, Duncan Custom, Suhr SSH+, Full Shred, just can't pick. And for the singles I've looked at Duncans, Dimarzios, even Lace Sensors.

Anyone who can push me in the right direction will be much appreciated.
 
That is badass! Candy Green will look awesome. I can't remember what is in my Mexican Charvel in thr neck position but an amazing, twangy, clean single coil (STK-S6). I have a JB in the bridge but don't do that. Get something better, more rare, etc. Your guitar deserves something better.
 
I have an Ibanez RG3250mz with a Basswood body, I tried all kinds of pickups, including some you have listed and all just sounded dark on this RG. I currently have the Full Shred in it and seems to have helped brighten the RG a bit. Looks like you will have a nice build there, congrats.
 
Highly highly highly recommend DiMarzio Area neck pickups. I just did a guitar with a Duncan TB-4 bridge pickup and DiMarzio Area 67 and 58 in the middle and neck respectively. All 250K pots. Phenomenal tones and balance across the pup positions. The DiMarzios are the only noiseless pickups I’ve tried that don’t feel like a tonal compromise.
 
Whatever bridge pickup you choose consider the Dimarzio Cruisers for neck/middle. Andy Timmons used the bridge version in both neck/middle for years and sounded great. I think he might have switched to the neck version tho. In any case, they seem to be more compatible with bridge humbuckers while still sounding more like single coils. IME, real singles or even the Area pickups are too much of a tonal shift when using strong, higher output bridge humbuckers.
 
I like the EVH Frankenstein, but they only come in braided/two conductor. So I had Jalen build me a few in black/creme with four conductor wire and even a clear bobbin one, as I like a coil split option on most of my guitars.



 
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Cool project, I’d be curious what you end up with on singles. I’ve always struggled finding a single coil that has enough power to match my bridge and I end up going to single sized humbuckers.
 
CurlOfTheBurl said:
Highly highly highly recommend DiMarzio Area neck pickups. I just did a guitar with a Duncan TB-4 bridge pickup and DiMarzio Area 67 and 58 in the middle and neck respectively. All 250K pots. Phenomenal tones and balance across the pup positions. The DiMarzios are the only noiseless pickups I’ve tried that don’t feel like a tonal compromise.
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DiMarzio Area neck pickups are what I've really been circling around. They seem like a really quality product.

stratjacket said:
Cool project, I’d be curious what you end up with on singles. I’ve always struggled finding a single coil that has enough power to match my bridge and I end up going to single sized humbuckers.
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SpiderWars said:
Whatever bridge pickup you choose consider the Dimarzio Cruisers for neck/middle. Andy Timmons used the bridge version in both neck/middle for years and sounded great. I think he might have switched to the neck version tho. In any case, they seem to be more compatible with bridge humbuckers while still sounding more like single coils. IME, real singles or even the Area pickups are too much of a tonal shift when using strong, higher output bridge humbuckers.
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I'm not really looking for singles that can match my bridge, so much as I'm looking for singles that can contrast with my bridge. What I want out of the single coils is beautiful cleans to flip to, because I don't have a channel-switching amp. But that's also why those pickups are going to have a dedicated volume pot, so I'm not necessarily afraid of higher output. The Cruisers definitely look interesting.

Christos rock said:
Charvel Jake E Lee So-Cal HSS PW:

Pickups: 1 Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 humbucker
(bridge) and 2 DiMarzio SDS-1 DP111 (middle and neck). But alder body wood.
That is, if you're going for this type of sound.
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I'm not a fan of the JB, but I have consider the SDS-1s. My only hesitation is they're a true single coil, rather than a stacked/rail/noiseless design.
 
GreatRedDragon said:
I'm not really looking for singles that can match my bridge, so much as I'm looking for singles that can contrast with my bridge. What I want out of the single coils is beautiful cleans to flip to, because I don't have a channel-switching amp. But that's also why those pickups are going to have a dedicated volume pot, so I'm not necessarily afraid of higher output. The Cruisers definitely look interesting.
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Yeah I get it and it sounds good 'on paper'. I just found that true singles and medium high output humbuckers make it seem like you need to re-adjust the amp everytime you switch pickups. The Cruisers are still low output, not much more than true singles but they just seem to be more compatible tonally.
 
That looks awesome dude! I'm building a HSS Strat right now as well on this body from USACG/MJT. Have you considered going to a boutique pickup builder to get something that matches your style? I have pickups inbound from Sean at Pariah. he made me a Poundcake bridge which is his version of the EVH MusicMan bridge pickup and a set of custom single coils for neck/middle to match the output and voicing.
 

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Got a couple small parts in today: My killswitch options.

I bought four Sanwa 24mm arcade buttons and did a little mix and match to come up with three custom options that I think look spiffy.

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SpiderWars said:
Yeah I get it and it sounds good 'on paper'. I just found that true singles and medium high output humbuckers make it seem like you need to re-adjust the amp everytime you switch pickups. The Cruisers are still low output, not much more than true singles but they just seem to be more compatible tonally.
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I hadn't really considered DiMarzio's rail singles before but I'm definitely interested now. The Fast Track 1 seems like a good contender.

firegate said:
That looks awesome dude! I'm building a HSS Strat right now as well on this body from USACG/MJT. Have you considered going to a boutique pickup builder to get something that matches your style? I have pickups inbound from Sean at Pariah. he made me a Poundcake bridge which is his version of the EVH MusicMan bridge pickup and a set of custom single coils for neck/middle to match the output and voicing.
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I've thought about it for sure. But it seems like stacked/noiseless options aren't so prevalent among the boutique winders.
 
The Andy Timmons setup is really good. I hate bathtub Strat bodies, though.
 
Kelly said:
The Andy Timmons setup is really good. I hate bathtub Strat bodies, though.
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I'm not a giant fan either but the bathtub was a necessity with the reverse angle singles. I didn't want to risk the cavity on the body not lining up with the Warmoth pickguard.
 
I had a Strat build a while back with some similar specs like the Ebony board and Basswood body and Floyd etc.
Wish I had done the Jake E Lee reverse slant pickups though, I'm definitely a fan of that idea.
I had a SH-5 Duncan Custom in the bridge and two Vintage Hot Stack Plus single coils.
Initially I had a JB in the bridge but while it works for me in some guitars, in this one it didn't click.
The Duncan Custom was perfect though. Not too much output but not weak, really versatile and seemed to be the perfect fit for that body wood.
Provided a nice contrast with the Hot Stack single coils but overall balanced out nicely.
Wish I had kept that guitar, definitely one of the more versatile guitars I've had in recent years.
 
GreatRedDragon said:
I'm not a giant fan either but the bathtub was a necessity with the reverse angle singles. I didn't want to risk the cavity on the body not lining up with the Warmoth pickguard.
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I found out the hard way that not all of these companies place the pickups in the same place. Warmoth generally places the bridge pickup further away from the bridge...further away than WD Music pickguards place it that is. I had bought a WD Music HH pickguard to be the template for routing an SSS body to HH. Years later I bought a Warmoth HH pickguard to replace the WD and the bridge pickup did not line up.

If you find you're not loving the tone of the bridge pickup with the Warmoth pg you might consider a WD pg. I found that I generally like it placed closer to the bridge...like a Les Paul.
 
And what color pg on that candy lime green body? WD might have more options. I have found that some of the cheap off-brand pg have shitty colors. Two examples are their parchment will have some green to it and their mint green will be minty green (as opposed to snotty green which sounds bad but looks good). WD colors are good.
 
SpiderWars said:
And what color pg on that candy lime green body? WD might have more options. I have found that some of the cheap off-brand pg have shitty colors. Two examples are their parchment will have some green to it and their mint green will be minty green (as opposed to snotty green which sounds bad but looks good). WD colors are good.
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Single ply black.

Black plastics, black hardware, even a black nut. The exceptions are the killswitch (black rim, transparent green plunger), switch (lime green tip) and knobs (black with the white lettering tinted green).
 
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