What do you think of these pickups for my Spalted Maple Guitar?...

[baimun]

I'm using photoshop to test some designs on a guitar that I'm building.

It's a chambered alder body, with a spalted maple top. The F-hole is already cut, and I'm getting ready to route the neck pocket for a 24 fret Ernie Ball Music man neck I recently received. (pictured is a warmoth neck, but the one I have is an EB with the rotary truss adjustment at the bottom, so I'll have to route accordingly.)

I already have the chrome locking tuners with pearl knobs, as well as a chrome hipshot fixed bridge.

I'm considering the Seymour Duncan SM-2 and SM-3 Mini humbuckers as I believe they would give me the sounds I need while looking a bit classier (or more jazz-blues) on this guitar than larger, uncovered pickups.

I'll use a 5 way with different tap options along the way.... What are your thoughts?

 

[Beth]

Hey Baimun,

Just out of curiosity, where'd you get that sweet neck?

-Beth

 

[baimun]

The one pictured is a warmoth one (I don't believe it will retrofit) but I bought a used Silhouette and it came with an extra Silhouette neck. They're identical.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I like the top and the f-hole and the pick-up look (although I confess I know nothing about their sound). I'm also NOT a big fan of 5-way switches. They cut up too much of the guitar face and I don't ever find much use for the in-between sounds. I prefer a 3-way with coil tap - get some real SC tones that way, with the right pick-ups. My two cents! I do dig the look of that guitar, though!

 

[baimun]

Personally, I don't care for the sound of a tapped humbucker by itself. It just doesn't sound like a real single coil to me... too thin.

I do on the otherhand, love the sound of the tapped outer coils... open like a tele, but not quite as direct... a bit more airy.

I should also add that I want a really clean look on the face of this guitar... I actually considered just using a volume knob with a push/pull, but then I couldn' t get a "both" sound.

I suppose I could do a 3-way mini-toggle with a push pull.... then I could just switch to the middle and then pull the knob up for that tapped outer coil sound (and the tapped hums by themselves would be there incase I hit my head. )

 

[beej]

Or a 4PDT switch (like in the JP) wi'll give ya H / H H (split coils for tapped outer sound) / H, and it's really useable.

Split sounds on a single humbucker are tough- I do like them on the odd pickup but find them too noisy unless I'm playing completely clean. These days I'm mostly using Bill Lawrence Q-filters (wired up as a variable inductor to reduce the inductance of a pickup) to make my humbuckers sound more like single coils. $20 and they work really well.

 

[baimun]

Or a 4PDT switch (like in the JP) wi'll give ya H / H H (split coils for tapped outer sound) / H, and it's really useable.

That's probably the best option for my use... those are the three sounds I use the most.

 

[beej]

Solid! I've seen a few (I've used the mini-toggle ones), but the only decently sized one I've found is on the JP (prob'ly Dimarzio). I'm sure you could order it direct from EB.

 

[baimun]

One thing I like about that idea is that once I have the small round holes drilled in the top, If down the road I ever decide to change the controls around, it gives me flexibility of putting a tone knob where a switch was or whatever.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Personally, I don't care for the sound of a tapped humbucker by itself. It just doesn't sound like a real single coil to me... too thin.

I do on the otherhand, love the sound of the tapped outer coils... open like a tele, but not quite as direct... a bit more airy.

I should also add that I want a really clean look on the face of this guitar... I actually considered just using a volume knob with a push/pull, but then I couldn' t get a "both" sound.

I suppose I could do a 3-way mini-toggle with a push pull.... then I could just switch to the middle and then pull the knob up for that tapped outer coil sound (and the tapped hums by themselves would be there incase I hit my head. )

I had heard guitars with tapped humbuckers, and they never sound very good to me.

 

[beej]

Some humbuckers split really well, some don't. The Morse bridge pickup is one of the good ones (mine's split with a push/pull pot). Even then, they'll never sound like a great single coil. And they'll be noisy.

 

[Colin]

I'm using photoshop to test some designs on a guitar that I'm building.

It's a chambered alder body, with a spalted maple top. The F-hole is already cut, and I'm getting ready to route the neck pocket for a 24 fret Ernie Ball Music man neck I recently received. (pictured is a warmoth neck, but the one I have is an EB with the rotary truss adjustment at the bottom, so I'll have to route accordingly.)

I already have the chrome locking tuners with pearl knobs, as well as a chrome hipshot fixed bridge.

I'm considering the Seymour Duncan SM-2 and SM-3 Mini humbuckers as I believe they would give me the sounds I need while looking a bit classier (or more jazz-blues) on this guitar than larger, uncovered pickups.

I'll use a 5 way with different tap options along the way.... What are your thoughts?

Why not go with a third Seymour Duncan?

Colin

 

[beej]

Or do a "Mr Horsepower" and stick as many together as you can fit?