Ultimate Superstrat Questions

[candideijon]

Hi everybody,

I am new to forum and I am into 80s era hard rock, glam, old school metal. Here I would like to ask a few questions that puzzles me.

I used to own a Les Paul for long years and I know what to expect and not to expect from Les Pauls. After many years playing with Les Paul I tried a USA Production Model San Dimas Style 1 (Alder body, bolt-on one piece maple neck, 22 fret, JB-59 pickups, floyd rose) last year and was captivated by its snappy and responsive sound. Later I bought a used 91 Japanese made Charvel Custom ST (ash body, bolt on 22 frets maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, gotoh tremolo) and strangely I found its sound much useful than san dimas.

Custom ST has pool type cavity so I tried HSS and SSS configurations with it. And in all configurations I am getting better range of sounds than San Dimas and it has really DEFINITE, CLEAN, WARMER sound. Although I splitted the humbuckers of San Dimas it is miles away from the sound I get with Charvel Custom ST and it was for me the 1/3 price of San Dimas.

However they offer different worlds, the sound of Custom ST useful but neck of the San Dimas is unbelievable for me. It is very responsive : tapping, legatos everything is so easy but the sound is so bright or can get easily muddy (hard to control) and I am totally puzzled.

By the way I tried Alnico II in the neck of San Dimas and it was relatively better but needed this pickup for Les Paul. I tried lowering the pickups, adjusted pole pieces etc. etc.

My ultimate question is : Can I have both worlds in one guitar. I mean warm and useful sound of Custom ST (it can get easily bright too and I like the sound of singles when I need them) and super responsiveness of San Dimas ?

A few sub questions :
1- Is it ash and rosewood combination that makes Custom ST's sound useful ?
2- Is responsiveness of San Dimas is coming from build quality ? or Alder Maple combination ? or neck profile/one piece maple thing ? or everything together ?
3- Is floyd rose a parameter in this equation ?
4- Can I get similar attack and responsiveness of San Dimas with a rosewood fingerboard guitar (I am asking that because I see several discussions where people say fingerboard material doesn't affect that much where I totally disagree because I have my Les Paul with ebony fingerboard and I know how rosewood in Les Paul sounds).

Thanks for reading my extensive post and all kind of inputs are appreciated.
Cheers !

[Nagash02]

I doubt you can have all you want in a single guitar. To put it in a nutshell, I'd recommend you just to buy both ^^.

Questions :
2) Alder is a wood that is used in many metal guitars because it sounds really heavy. Therefore it might be exactly what you're looking for, my advice would be play a few Jackson Dinkys or Soloists (superstrats w/ alder body, maple neck, rosewood or ebony fingerboard) and see if you find the same tonal characteristics than in the Charvels. If so, there's a good chance that alder-maple is the config you're looking for.
3) Floyd Rose doesn't "really" affect the sound but rather the feel and the tension of the strings, so... it's a matter of taste, either you want a trem or you don't ^^. See how you like it and then go for the right guitar.
4) Ebony fingerboards give more attack than rosewood AFAIK so for metal, it's again a widely used wood. But rosewood is used on many guitars as well, the sound and what's more the feel of both woods is very different. Rosewood sounds smoother than ebony IMO and since you're not into the extreme sides of metal, rosewood might be a nice choice. Especially on a Charvel you might want to use for other styles as well if you broaden your spectrum a bit in the future.

Hope that helped... if you can afford it, I'd say take one guitar with alder-maple-ebony-floyd for a really metal sound, and one with rosewood fingerboard (floyd or not floyd) as a second tone and more versatile guitar.

[Rich#6]

Try a socal that has a tonezone. You don't get a warm tone out of a JB, very bright pickup. with the socal you can do different pickup combos too(HSH).

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I think the main difference there is the one-piece maple neck vs. the maple/rosewood neck.

Guitars with rosewood boards are just warmer, and it's a pleasant tone. However I like bright/tight too so I really like maple and ebony boards as well.

To answer your question, I think you can spend your whole life looking for one guitar that will have all the tones you want, and just when you think you've got it, you'll pick up something else and to "OK, now THAT sounds good! Why can't I get that tone with what I have now?"

But yeah, the JB in the bridge is not a pickup you want if you want a "warm" tone.

[candideijon]

Thanks everybody

@Rich#6 : You touched to a bad memory. I was in between of SoCal and SanDimas. Then I found san dimas better trying 1 hour. Because the one I have had a better neck comparing the SoCal. Two days later I learnt that SoCal has open cavity. At that moment I noticed I made a mistake . Now I am looking for second hand SoCal (I am in Netherlands) but no luck so far. Also it is not easy to sell Charvels here and they go underpriced . Finally I am considering pickup change. I have in mind as a plan : Alnico II on neck and Duncan Custom Five in bridge. DiMarzio might be an option but I found ToneZone in SoCall is a bit bassy/round and it lacked pinch harmonics.

@MakeAJazzNoiseHere : I got your point and I know that dilemma but I should stress that I am not looking for a guitar that you can get all kind of sounds (not possible, I know). I am looking for a relatively warmer but responsive (easy tapping, hammer on etc like I have in San Dimas) superstrat. It should sound like a strat (not exactly but should not be miles away). I am not into very heavy music and if I need I can get damn heavy sound from my 1991 Ebony fingerboard Les Paul (it has kickass sound depending on the pickup you use on it). But in the end if what I am looking for is not possible at least I will freed my mind

Thanks all, and any other opinions ?

[Grim]

Swap pickups in the San Dimas for a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (B)/Seymour Duncan '59 (N) combo.

Or, Dimarzio. Tone Zone or Norton and P.A.F. 36th Anniversary neck perhaps?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

If you are looking for a Strat with a warm tone, then possibly try an Ebony or Maple board, Mahogany body. It's nice and warm. Something like a PC1 or an SL2H-MAH. Or one of the Music Zoo Naturals. Unfortunately those will be difficult for you to try out.

But before you do that, perhaps try a wamer pickup in your San Dimas, the Tone Zone is a good suggestion, there will not be that much difference in sound between the SoCal and San Dimas.

The JB is a very bright pickup, also very hot. The Tone Zone or if you like Duncans, something like the Custom 5 might sound a lot better to your ears. Anything sounds better than the JB to me, unless the JB is in something really warm, like a LP or a Mahogany-bodied Strat.

[Grim]

If you are looking for a Strat with a warm tone, then possibly try an Ebony or Maple board, Mahogany body. It's nice and warm. Something like a PC1 or an SL2H-MAH. Or one of the Music Zoo Naturals. Unfortunately those will be difficult for you to try out.

But before you do that, perhaps try a wamer pickup in your San Dimas, the Tone Zone is a good suggestion, there will not be that much difference in sound between the SoCal and San Dimas.

The JB is a very bright pickup, also very hot. The Tone Zone or if you like Duncans, something like the Custom 5 might sound a lot better to your ears. Anything sounds better than the JB to me, unless the JB is in something really warm, like a LP or a Mahogany-bodied Strat.

Remember, the JB was designed with a Les Paul in mind.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Remember, the JB was designed with a Les Paul in mind.

Don't tell me... Tell Jackson and Charvel. Practically the stupidest "default" pickup choice they could make.

[Grandturk]

Remember, the JB was designed with a Les Paul in mind.

I thought it was designed for Jeff Beck's double humbucker Tele?

[charvel750]

On the record Seymour calls it the Jazz and Blues pickup. Off the record it's Jeff Beck...

[Grim]

I thought it was designed for Jeff Beck's double humbucker Tele?

Nope, it was for a Les Paul... That's why it's bright. At least that's the way I heard it. He wanted his Les Paul to sound more like his tele. Enter the JB.

@ Jazz: I agree. Most Jackson players aren't looking for the sound that the JB gives. Oh and please, stop putting '59s in the neck on these things. Everyone knows the Jazz is better for Jackson's market.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yes! Custom/Jazz would be an improvement.

[AK47]

Not to derail the thread but Jackson needs to make strat heads with big logos a la Adrian Smith strats with fancy tops, recessed Floyds and they will destroy Suhr and Anderson when it comes to sales since it would be the "ultimate super strat".

[Grim]

Not to derail the thread but Jackson needs to make strat heads with big logos a la Adrian Smith strats with fancy tops, recessed Floyds and they will destroy Suhr and Anderson when it comes to sales since it would be the "ultimate super strat".

Not sure I quite understand the point, but I would like another strathead.