a decade on: super strat study

[PsychoCid]

Alright so. Wolfie was my first attempt at a full custom. BPD did the Danger Tele before that, which was a 24 fret HSS ash Floyd Tele with a Frankenstein pickup. It was cool but neck heavy. It also had extra extra jumbo frets which aren't even made anymore, and alas I gave that one away.

Anyway, let's talk specs.

WOLFIE
Maple neck, Fender, 1-5/8 nut
12-16" radius, vintage skinny tall frets
Maple cap, alder back body, eBay custom
1V, 1T, sustainer on switch, sustainer harmonic switch, arcade button momentary kill switch
HH config
A2, 22k (yes) bridge pickup BPD custom
Sustainer neck pickup
Floyd Rose Special hardware
Schaller strap locks I think
Neck has no skunk stripe (boo)
Locking nut is a top loader (boo)
Floyd is recessed (boo)
SureClaw heavy duty claw
2 springs (9s in E flat)

#1, or EPHESUS
Maple neck, musikraft, 1-3/4 nut!
9.5" radius, I think jumbo frets
Poplar body (*drool*), 1982/3 Kramer
1 volume
H config (*drool*)
Real Floyd Rose, giant steel block
Home made strap locks
Bill Edwards locking nut (no Allen wrench needed!!)
Machined brass claw
2 springs (9s in Eb)

[PsychoCid]

[PsychoCid]

Lessons learned:

The Wolfie has no sustain. Literally it dies in under 5 seconds. But it sounds like an ELEPHANT like a big ol mean Les Paul. When I first plug it in at somebody's house they usually go "Whoa." You really don't expect that from such a small bodied fiddle.

I blame several factors. First and foremost, the Floyd Rose Special equipment. You really need denser steel. And if you saw my other thread today, the recessed routing prevents me from installing a real Floyd.

The crazy hot 22k A2 pickup probably also kills the sustain, without having the boost of an EMG to carry it.

The SureClaw doesn't seem to do much at all. I'd rather have a traditional claw and save all that weight. It's got a trem stop thing, but it's plastic and not even touching the sustain block...so not helping either.

I no longer like the kill switch up top and pickup switch on the bottom horn. I'd reverse those. I would also consider replacing the pickup switch with another arcade style button (but not a momentary, just tap it to switch pickups)...and then probably add a "blow through" switch for turning both pickups on together.

At the end of the day, it is a good guitar. I just think it deserves some updated hardware and pickups, which will require routing.

[PsychoCid]

Ephesus on the other hand...she's got so little, and yet she's got it all!

One single 9k A2 pickup. It's a Duncan Custom Custom, one of Van Halen's many reputed pickups. It doesn't do modern high gain and it doesn't do vintage low gain. It covers 80% of the middle ground. There is nothing it won't do at least moderately well.

The magic of single pickups is there is no magnetic field from the neck pickup interfering with the strings. A single bridge pickup can totally sound soft like a neck pickup. So basically my lesson learned was, two pickups is way too many and just a waste of space.

The Floyd Rose is NOT recessed. I strongly recommend against any Floyd being recessed ever, it's just a terrible idea. Stays perfectly in tune resting on the body, traveling through 3 states west coast to east coast over 2 years. Just rock solid, despite having ZERO FINISH OF ANY KIND.

Also, the Bill Edwards nut. I don't know why Floyd Rose himself hasn't bought that. You can re-tune on the fly with just your fingers, no Allen wrench needed. Going back to a Floyd nut is extremely frustrating in comparison.

[PsychoCid]

Oh, and let's not forget the whammy bar difference in the Floyd.

The modern Floyd bar has so many problems. The shape of the bar itself sits low to the body, so you only get like an inch or two of swing. And the arm screws onto the plate, so it has zero give without moving the bridge.

Conversely #1 has the old style bar. It's held in with a bolt and nut. Which means, I can loosen the nut to make the bar hang loose. That gives me 1-3 inches of play before the bar even starts moving the bridge. AND the bar sits higher, so I have more usable swing once the dive actually kicks in.

Honestly I think for Wolfie...I should just rip the neck pickup/sustainer out, have it routed to fit a full Floyd, remove the SureClaw, and give it maybe a George Lynch pickup. I could use the AttackBucker but that seems wrong in this body.

[Pilipete_Townshend]

what size are the frets on the faded red?

[PsychoCid]

what size are the frets on the faded red?

Hm good thing you made me go back and check the original Musikraft order.

Those are not medium jumbos, those are 6000 super jumbos. And they are way easier to play over than the Wolfie's skinny-talls. Plus, really easy to make harmonics.

[Rollin Hand]

For the TigerWolf, how about just slapping a Floyd Rose 1984 in it? It should match the route, has a big brass block (Ed was big into brass in the early days), and the old-style arm. It should be an improvement. Heck, even just a big brass block should do some wonderful things with a Floyd special. I put a standard size Floyd block on my EVH Wolf Standard, and it helped (though I wish the 42mm L block would have fit).

[nomadh]

Very cool. You mentioned a Big Pig Dave guitar. I remember some of his wild looking cretions. Do you have a pic of that one? I wonder if anyone left here still has a BPD guitar.

[thepezident]

[mention]nomadh[/mention] I contacted BPD a few years ago and he stopped in for a couple posts...
I seem to remember maybe his wife passed and he was just in a new direction in his life...

[PsychoCid]

For the TigerWolf, how about just slapping a Floyd Rose 1984 in it? It should match the route, has a big brass block (Ed was big into brass in the early days), and the old-style arm. It should be an improvement. Heck, even just a big brass block should do some wonderful things with a Floyd special. I put a standard size Floyd block on my EVH Wolf Standard, and it helped (though I wish the 42mm L block would have fit).

To the best of my knowledge, Ed didn't have any brass blocks until maybe the EBMM. The early stuff is all steel blocks -- those came on the hand made Floyd's, not the production Schaller stuff.

On this Wolfgang in particular, I actually thought it had a big brass block based on the way it sounds. That's why I wanted to remove it for steel, to give it more focus and less fat!

A 1984 model might fit but I don't feel like spending that money. Honestly I'd rather just take a chisel to Wolfies face.

Very cool. You mentioned a Big Pig Dave guitar. I remember some of his wild looking cretions. Do you have a pic of that one? I wonder if anyone left here still has a BPD guitar.

The TigerWolf is BPD, as was the Tele I mentioned. Wonder if [mention]Tsukiyomi[/mention] or anyone else has some??

[rrobbone]

The TigerWolf is BPD, as was the Tele I mentioned. Wonder if @Tsukiyomi or anyone else has some??

I miss his build threads. He was a big inspiration for me to try to build my own.

[nomadh]

@nomadh I contacted BPD a few years ago and he stopped in for a couple posts...
I seem to remember maybe his wife passed and he was just in a new direction in his life...

Yes I remember him stopping by for a bit then disappeared again. I tried to search the old site. Google seems to know about it for now but most of the older links were dead.

[Rollin Hand]

For the TigerWolf, how about just slapping a Floyd Rose 1984 in it? It should match the route, has a big brass block (Ed was big into brass in the early days), and the old-style arm. It should be an improvement. Heck, even just a big brass block should do some wonderful things with a Floyd special. I put a standard size Floyd block on my EVH Wolf Standard, and it helped (though I wish the 42mm L block would have fit).

To the best of my knowledge, Ed didn't have any brass blocks until maybe the EBMM. The early stuff is all steel blocks -- those came on the hand made Floyd's, not the production Schaller stuff.

On this Wolfgang in particular, I actually thought it had a big brass block based on the way it sounds. That's why I wanted to remove it for steel, to give it more focus and less fat!

A 1984 model might fit but I don't feel like spending that money. Honestly I'd rather just take a chisel to Wolfies face.

Very cool. You mentioned a Big Pig Dave guitar. I remember some of his wild looking cretions. Do you have a pic of that one? I wonder if anyone left here still has a BPD guitar.

The TigerWolf is BPD, as was the Tele I mentioned. Wonder if @Tsukiyomi or anyone else has some??

Ed had a brass block on the B&W -- I can't find the pic of that, but I have seen it and he did, going as far back as when it was sunburst, IIRC. The 78 Eruption guitar has one for some reason. I believe he had brass saddles at one point too (the pic of the old guitar that I saw was grainy and it could have been rust) and know he has a brass nut. I believe the saddles on the bridge of his Destroyer were brass as well (it is hard to tell -- most of the pics are in black and white, or have his hand in the way because he is playing -- you'd know better having one in the house).



At any rate, his best period tonally had brass in play.

If the 5150 had steel and poplar...let's just say I'll take the tone on VH1 over Panama. And that is why my 5150 is made of swamp ash (different than northern ash, but you go for what is available).

[PsychoCid]

For the TigerWolf, how about just slapping a Floyd Rose 1984 in it? It should match the route, has a big brass block (Ed was big into brass in the early days), and the old-style arm. It should be an improvement. Heck, even just a big brass block should do some wonderful things with a Floyd special. I put a standard size Floyd block on my EVH Wolf Standard, and it helped (though I wish the 42mm L block would have fit).

To the best of my knowledge, Ed didn't have any brass blocks until maybe the EBMM. The early stuff is all steel blocks -- those came on the hand made Floyd's, not the production Schaller stuff.

On this Wolfgang in particular, I actually thought it had a big brass block based on the way it sounds. That's why I wanted to remove it for steel, to give it more focus and less fat!

A 1984 model might fit but I don't feel like spending that money. Honestly I'd rather just take a chisel to Wolfies face.

Very cool. You mentioned a Big Pig Dave guitar. I remember some of his wild looking cretions. Do you have a pic of that one? I wonder if anyone left here still has a BPD guitar.

The TigerWolf is BPD, as was the Tele I mentioned. Wonder if @Tsukiyomi or anyone else has some??

Ed had a brass block on the B&W -- I can't find the pic of that, but I have seen it and he did, going as far back as when it was sunburst, IIRC. The 78 Eruption guitar has one for some reason. I believe he had brass saddles at one point too (the pic of the old guitar that I saw was grainy and it could have been rust) and know he has a brass nut. I believe the saddles on the bridge of his Destroyer were brass as well (it is hard to tell -- most of the pics are in black and white, or have his hand in the way because he is playing -- you'd know better having one in the house).



At any rate, his best period tonally had brass in play.

If the 5150 had steel and poplar...let's just say I'll take the tone on VH1 over Panama. And that is why my 5150 is made of swamp ash (different than northern ash, but you go for what is available).

Aha yes, yes. For clarity there weren't brass blocks on the Floyd's to my knowledge. Good call out!

For a regular Strat bridge yeah that's already thinner sounding, brass makes sense there.

[Rollin Hand]

To the best of my knowledge, Ed didn't have any brass blocks until maybe the EBMM. The early stuff is all steel blocks -- those came on the hand made Floyd's, not the production Schaller stuff.

On this Wolfgang in particular, I actually thought it had a big brass block based on the way it sounds. That's why I wanted to remove it for steel, to give it more focus and less fat!

A 1984 model might fit but I don't feel like spending that money. Honestly I'd rather just take a chisel to Wolfies face.



The TigerWolf is BPD, as was the Tele I mentioned. Wonder if @Tsukiyomi or anyone else has some??

Ed had a brass block on the B&W -- I can't find the pic of that, but I have seen it and he did, going as far back as when it was sunburst, IIRC. The 78 Eruption guitar has one for some reason. I believe he had brass saddles at one point too (the pic of the old guitar that I saw was grainy and it could have been rust) and know he has a brass nut. I believe the saddles on the bridge of his Destroyer were brass as well (it is hard to tell -- most of the pics are in black and white, or have his hand in the way because he is playing -- you'd know better having one in the house).



At any rate, his best period tonally had brass in play.

If the 5150 had steel and poplar...let's just say I'll take the tone on VH1 over Panama. And that is why my 5150 is made of swamp ash (different than northern ash, but you go for what is available).

Aha yes, yes. For clarity there weren't brass blocks on the Floyd's to my knowledge. Good call out!

For a regular Strat bridge yeah that's already thinner sounding, brass makes sense there.

Does the bridge on your Destroyer have steel or brass saddles? Is it the Gibraltar or the more standard TOM on Ed's? Just curious -- it sounds wonderful no matter what.

[PsychoCid]

Ed had a brass block on the B&W -- I can't find the pic of that, but I have seen it and he did, going as far back as when it was sunburst, IIRC. The 78 Eruption guitar has one for some reason. I believe he had brass saddles at one point too (the pic of the old guitar that I saw was grainy and it could have been rust) and know he has a brass nut. I believe the saddles on the bridge of his Destroyer were brass as well (it is hard to tell -- most of the pics are in black and white, or have his hand in the way because he is playing -- you'd know better having one in the house).



At any rate, his best period tonally had brass in play.

If the 5150 had steel and poplar...let's just say I'll take the tone on VH1 over Panama. And that is why my 5150 is made of swamp ash (different than northern ash, but you go for what is available).

Aha yes, yes. For clarity there weren't brass blocks on the Floyd's to my knowledge. Good call out!

For a regular Strat bridge yeah that's already thinner sounding, brass makes sense there.

Does the bridge on your Destroyer have steel or brass saddles? Is it the Gibraltar or the more standard TOM on Ed's? Just curious -- it sounds wonderful no matter what.

Mine has a junk bridge on it that rattles and needs replacing. Even with that the guitar has just killer tone. But you being up a good debate, that smaller brass bridge or the big harmonica looking thing ...!

[Rollin Hand]

Frig, yours sounds great. If it ain't broke....

[PsychoCid]

Wooooow. Okay, had a killer session with the amp today. I've been using rather reserved settings, which were more for the pedalboard.

Today I put the little Fender Champ 12 through it's paces with gain, treble, and reverb maxed. Bass zero'd. Good lord'n'butter does everything sing.

Wolfie has a very different voice than Eph, but I'd really like to hear them in a band together. Will have to see about at least some phone recordings soon.

Changes my mind about the pickup swap. But some day I would like a steel Floyd in there, and then will decide on brass v steel block.

My other observation is...wow is Eph forgiving. With 1-3/4 nut width and giant 6000 frets...it makes you feel like a wizard. You've got miles of error space, and honestly mistakes just make it sound better with the gain up.

I can see now where Ed was taking the late stage Wolfie necks. This is Fender era, after Peavey. The skinny tall frets obligate you to play with proper form and precision. Had a blast setting the amp to clean (still, treble maxed) and forcing myself to eliminate every last discrepancy.

BPD knew what he was doing. He had a good ear for balancing pickups. And it was his idea purely for the 22k A2 BPG pickup. It really does still sing on cleans, somehow beating out the 9k Duncan. And then it gets super fat as you turn the gain up.

I'll get clips soon somehow, really hoping some of this will show through a junky phone recording...

[Pilipete_Townshend]

what size are the frets on the faded red?

Hm good thing you made me go back and check the original Musikraft order.

Those are not medium jumbos, those are 6000 super jumbos. And they are way easier to play over than the Wolfie's skinny-talls. Plus, really easy to make harmonics.

Sometimes you get lucky on picking up the right neck with the right fret size. That fret is huge and looks about the same size that I got recently which is a Dunlop 6150. They do play nice. best of luck with your axe...

[Tsukiyomi]

@nomadh I contacted BPD a few years ago and he stopped in for a couple posts...
I seem to remember maybe his wife passed and he was just in a new direction in his life...

Yes I remember him stopping by for a bit then disappeared again. I tried to search the old site. Google seems to know about it for now but most of the older links were dead.

Dave popped back into the old AGF about a month before MoFo killed it. He'd been lurking and messaged me under a new name, but I don't remember what it was He started playing a little again, but I think he took a break from all things guitary for a few years. Unfortunately I don't own any of his guitars but he had a real talent for both builds and general setups.

[PsychoCid]

@nomadh I contacted BPD a few years ago and he stopped in for a couple posts...
I seem to remember maybe his wife passed and he was just in a new direction in his life...

Yes I remember him stopping by for a bit then disappeared again. I tried to search the old site. Google seems to know about it for now but most of the older links were dead.

Dave popped back into the old AGF about a month before MoFo killed it. He'd been lurking and messaged me under a new name, but I don't remember what it was He started playing a little again, but I think he took a break from all things guitary for a few years. Unfortunately I don't own any of his guitars but he had a real talent for both builds and general setups.

When I popped in during the great calamity, I saw that name and knew who it was.

If you're in touch, please tell Dave he is always a beloved part of the AGF fam. And I'm still rocking his gear, hahaha

[Chad]

what size are the frets on the faded red?

Hm good thing you made me go back and check the original Musikraft order.

Those are not medium jumbos, those are 6000 super jumbos. And they are way easier to play over than the Wolfie's skinny-talls. Plus, really easy to make harmonics.

I dont know if you remember one of my older threads from over at AGF before the Momo takeover, but I think you just might have given me the answer to what I was wondering. I asked why some guitars can do pinch harmonics better than others and now I have a feeling that could be caused by the fret wire used. Different sized fretwire might have an affect on that from guitar to guitar... thanks for the unintended insight, it was like a lightbulb in the old noggin kicked off so thank you for that. Sorry to derail your thread.

[PsychoCid]

what size are the frets on the faded red?

Hm good thing you made me go back and check the original Musikraft order.

Those are not medium jumbos, those are 6000 super jumbos. And they are way easier to play over than the Wolfie's skinny-talls. Plus, really easy to make harmonics.

I dont know if you remember one of my older threads from over at AGF before the Momo takeover, but I think you just might have given me the answer to what I was wondering. I asked why some guitars can do pinch harmonics better than others and now I have a feeling that could be caused by the fret wire used. Different sized fretwire might have an affect on that from guitar to guitar... thanks for the unintended insight, it was like a lightbulb in the old noggin kicked off so thank you for that. Sorry to derail your thread.

That's no derail, sharing and discussing is the whole point!

All that extra space helps to be able to nail the tap cleanly, lol. The pickups make a big difference too, and intonation!

[PsychoCid]

Update: Yeah, super jumbos are the right size frets. Its just so much easier than the Les Paul shorties or the Wolfgang skinnies. I wouldn't be surprised if fret size contributes to tone, just like a heavier bridge & nut.

Also, there was a time I thought a compound radius board was important as Wolf's are 12-16. Now...yeah, no, just give me 9.5. I'm still eager to play a 7.25 Tele too cause I have a sneaking suspicion I'd love it.