Superstrat guys, please help me out!

[ledvedder]

As some of you may know, I'm still trying to dial my homemade strat in. The Wilkinson bridge is on it's way in the mail. I'm not sure how I feel about this Dimarzio Norton pickup that's in it. I know that it's bass heavy, which I thought would work well with a strat, but it's too much. It's very difficult to get those easy harmonics and squeals that I can get with my Wolfgang.

I have these pickups in a box,
Dimarzio Super D
SD JB (trembucker)
EVH Franky

But I'm not sure which to go with. I wish it was such a pain to change out pickups on a strat.

I'm also thinking about getting rid on both tone knobs, since I don't ever use them.

What say you??

 

[CaseyCor]

Try the Super Distortion first

 

[Racerxrated]

The three you have will sound great in ash or alder IMO..try em all!

 

[ledvedder]

The three you have will sound great in ash or alder IMO..try em all!

I would, if it wasn't such a pain to change them. That's why I'm asking for some opinions.

 

[Racerxrated]

I agree with the previous post..try the super D. But after you put it in, make sure you play with the pickup height...that one seems more sensitive than most. But they are very well rounded..tried and true. JBs can be hit or miss from my experience.

 

[sytharnia1560]

it really depends if you like the difference in the sound of ceramic mags v's alnico ... I know a lot of guys who hate dimarzios because of the ceramic mags (I think their wrong to ). The Super D will be "grittier" than the JB. Does the guitar have a pickguard?? because for me if there is a guard I usually try to go tone zone with alder....they just add a bit of "fat" to the tone while keeping the bite

Judging by your norton comment can I assume you were wanting a bit more bottom out of an SS than is the "norm"?? ... if thats the case then buy an A8 magnet and change the A5 out of the JB. That really balances out the mid range of the JB and adds beef without losing top end

 

[sytharnia1560]

I agree with the previous post..try the super D. But after you put it in, make sure you play with the pickup height...that one seems more sensitive than most. But they are very well rounded..tried and true. JBs can be hit or miss from my experience.

this also .... and don't be afraid to change the heights of the hex screws to as that does make a difference. As a very basic rule the higher the screw is out of the bobbin the more treble, lower = more bass....the difference is small but it all can help

 

[ledvedder]

It has a pickguard. I just finished surgery swapping out the Norton for the Super D. Still putting things back together. Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[ledvedder]

Well, I tried the Franky and the Super D. Didn't bother with the JB. I think I'm going to stick with the Super D. Only now, I have a grounding issue somewhere. I get a slight hum that goes away when I touch the screws or the metal on the 5 way switch. Ugh!

 

[Badronald]

Dimarzio Super Distortion.

I was just playing my American Stratocaster a few minutes ago through my 6505+ and the notes explode off the fretboard. Harmonics pop out effortlessly. KILLER combination.

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

All those 3 pickups are great at what they do. I have a JB in my Charvel and it KILLS!

 

[chumbucket]

Don't get rid of the tone control as it could make it sound a little clang-y. I like rolling the tone knob down on a bit on just about every bridge pickup.

 

[ledvedder]

I'm getting confused with how the wiring works. The Super D has 4 wires (red, green, black, and white). Different diagrams I'm finding have different colors as the hot, ground, and split wires.

 

[cardinal]

For Dimarzio, red is hot, green and bare wire are grounded, and the other wires are soldered together and used for coil tapping, etc. This is the standard way.

If it's out of phase with the other pickups, try switching the red and green wires.

 

[steelehead]

Have you looked at the difference in the fret wire?

The Wolfgang I had had the heavy fret wire on it. Some thing to check out besides pick ups. Good luck

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

Dimarzio Super Distortion.

 

[Braciola]

If you've got stock Strat vol/tone controls, you may want to change the value to sound better with Humbuckers.

 

[ledvedder]

I have a few spare 500k CTS pots. Do you think they'd work? How would they affect the single coils?

 

[ledvedder]

Well, I took the guitar apart yesterday and totally rewired it, using the Frankenstein. I also shielded it, using this method, http://joegiampaoli.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... e-hum.html. I originally was going to use the Super Distortion, but the screwholes in the baseplate stripped out, so I couldn't get it mounted. I wanted to have the split coil option on position 2. I can't get that with the Frankenstein because it's only 2 conductor. So, now position 2 sounds really bad and has a lot of hum. All the other positions sound good. I'm not really sure what the 2 single coils are, so I'm thinking about upgrading them in the near future.

 

[ledvedder]

Well, I took the guitar apart yesterday and totally rewired it, using the Frankenstein. I also shielded it, using this method, http://joegiampaoli.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... e-hum.html. I originally was going to use the Super Distortion, but the screwholes in the baseplate stripped out, so I couldn't get it mounted. I wanted to have the split coil option on position 2. I can't get that with the Frankenstein because it's only 2 conductor. So, now position 2 sounds really bad and has a lot of hum. All the other positions sound good. I'm not really sure what the 2 single coils are, so I'm thinking about upgrading them in the near future.