Perplexed and need help.

[Metron]

I'm trying to decide between two pickups for the bridge on the TAG I want to have built but am having a very hard time. It's difficult for a few reasons that I'll explain coming up. Before that though, I'll tell you that I'm trying to decide between an SF3 or M2. And in all honesty, I'm interested in the SA pickups too.

The first monkey in the wrench is try as I might, pickguards and I do not get along. My pick hits them (yeah, that's what they're designed for) and it throws my playing off. I also don't dig the fact that it covers so much of the guitar. Ruins the finish for me. So I'm looking very hard at a Pro Am but I can't seem to bring myself to put a single coil in the bridge because it seems as though there's no going back on that one. I'm thinking the compromise is an M but I don't want to lose the wonderful clarity and articulation of a single coil/stacked humbucker.

So I'm confused. I don't know which way to go. Add on top of this that I play mostly high gain and metal. I've been using a Mexican Strat since last June and that guitar destroys my two Jackson Soloists tonally. I've become pretty anti-humbucker lately. With that being said though, for almost 15 of the 16 1/2 years I've been playing guitar, I was a humbucker in the bridge guy ONLY. Hated single coils there. Now though, I'm getting the BEST tones I have ever gotten using one and dialing in the rest of my gear accordingly.

So what say you? Try an M hoping it works or bite the bullet and go with a single coil in the bridge of a non pickguard guitar?

[tom]

that's a fairly tough question. if the bridge pickup in the strat is stock, you have some room to get a bigger tone if you need it with the sf3 or even the sf2. not all the way to a hb, but close to an m2.
have you player our pg guitars? there is usually a bit more space between the pg and the strings than on most fenders. worth investigating.

[dano]

I felt pretty much the same way when I speced out one of my Andersons a few years back. Paid extra for an upgraded top and didn't want to cover it up with a pickguard. So, I went with a Hollow Drop Top T to give me a little of that pickguard open feel. I went with 3 stacked single coils and put a TD3+ (tele bridge pickup) in the bridge because I feel strat single coils in the bridge are a little weak. This guitar is the best strat style guitar I've ever owned. Everyone who plays it just raves about it. The TD3+ handles high gain perfectly. Plus it's a real looker.

I also tried an M pickup in the bridge (the M that fits in a tele bridge route) when the Ms first came out. The M didn't do it for me it that guitar but it might be great in another guitar. So the tele bridge pickup might be something to consider.

My 2 cents.

[Metron]

Thanks for the responses.

Dano, can you compare your hollow Drop Top T to a non hollow one? What is the tonal difference?

Tom,

I've played a couple of Classics and I really can't remember if my pick was hitting the pickguard. What I do remember was loving the tones and the neck. You ever make a Classic with a clear pickguard and a Bowling Ball finish? If not, would you like to?

[tom]

no we don't do clear pickguards. as tidy as we are with the wiring, it still wouldn't look pretty from the outside.

[dano]

You may not want my opinion on this. Some say the hollow guitars have a softer attack. IMHO I think guitars with pickguards have a little softness to the attack. There is a good bit of wood cut out in a pickguard route. Since I went without a pickguard I decieded to go hollow to get that pickguard "feel". I don't think my particular guitar suffers from a lack of attack.

That is my opinion and most everyone will probably not agree with me on that.

[Metron]

Tom,

Is there a size difference between the bridge humbucker routing for a Classic compared to the same routing for a Pro Am? I just had a little brain storm and may have found a solution for my dilemma.

[tom]

the classic is a bit different so it will fit any of the pickups we make. the pro am is hb size with a ring. if you're considering getting it with a hb so that you could fabricate a ring top that would be single coil size, i have seen that before.

[Metron]

Yeah that's basically what I was thinking. My only concern is that I'd like the sf slanted like a typical bridge single coil and was wondering if the smaller routing would prevent that.

A friend of mine years ago put a Dimarzio HS2 in the bridge of his humbucker routed guitar and it was cool but he mounted it straight.

[tom]

the regular strat bottom plate would have big clearance issues, but a tele lead would be easier to sneak in with a little modification to the bottom plate for angle mount. if straight is ok, you could probably be happy with a hotter humbucking that you could run split or parallel.

[tom]

i'm finding lots of uses for my HC2 in parallel. works great as a rock tele lead tone.