Can an HSS Strat...

[Purplepanda]

Hey i have an hss strat and i put a tb-6 in the bridge and i hate it so very much. its switching guitars. what my question is, is with an HSS Strat (Without changing pick guards) Could i have 4 single coils? basically put two ones in the bridge. and i mean two different ones like one ssl-1 and one hotrail

[Purplepanda]

sorry i wasn't clear, but could i just put in a coil tap to switch between the two single coils? i don't really care about having them both together i just want to have two different tones in the bridge.

[jeremy]

welcome to the forum!

youd have to modify the pickguard to put two single coils in, not a heck of alot but it wont fit without a little work.

if you wanted to do it and didnt care about having the two bridge pups on together i would wire up the guitar with master volume and master tone, a normal 5way switch (b/bm/m/mn/n) then put a mini switch in where the 2nd tone was that picked which bridge pup was active.

of course the tb6 is like switching guitars compared to single coils. its a beast of a bridge pup! some people like that. i dont. i much prefer a pearly gates humbucker when mixing single coils and buckers in a guitar

you could always put a switch in to put the bridge pup in parallel or to split the coil which would lessen the output of the tb6 and still give you the option for the full series output

[Purplepanda]

wow thanks for the response! i really dislike the maple fretboard+Tb-6 when i don't play metal on my strat big mistake. but i don't care how my strat looks ($550 Mexican Strat) so i think i'll be fine with a little bit of change in the pick guard. i would really miss having two tone knobs though... could i just drill a hole in the pick guard and put a toggle miniswitch somewhere on the guitar like david gilmore?

[jeremy]

yup. a switch is a switch, dont matter where you put it

[marvelous_seven]

Which pot do you use for your Duncan Distortion?
Many like it with 300kOhm pot instead 500k,especially with maple board strat.

[Purplepanda]

i have 250k i think. i will most likely put in a switch that i have to drill for. i might try the ssl-1 i really like that lead sound and rhythm sound off of learning to fly live delicate sound of thunder

[IanBallard]

You can do any combination of pickups that is physically workable with switches and control pots. You can hard-mount pups, or rout wood to fit others.... you can do anything you want to, so long as you have the ability.

FWIW, I never understood the typical Fender use of normal single coils and a ridiculously hot bridge pickup. Personally, I'd opt for something PAF-like, such as a '59 or '78, that way the pickups blend well when you switch to various positions. At one point, I had a stock Squier single coil, a Tone Zone S in the middle position (not as hot as you'd think) and a 'TB59 in the bridge and it was a great combination. A stock '59 CAN take hi-gain amps or pedals well, if you have to "metalize" your sound.

[Purplepanda]

i am definatly not going for a metal tone this time. i have an ibanez and a peavey custom for that... i will probably go four single coils. i really love the sound of a single coil in the bridge.