HH Strat, Thoughts ?

What do you guys think of HH Strats ? I have a Gibson SG Special, but I just don't like the feel of it. I prefer maple fretboard, one volume knob, a neck with a curve to it. (The SG's neck is wide and flat, I find it uncomfortable.) I have the SG for trade, and I was looking for an american strat. I found a guy who builds partscasters, mostly strats. He said he could build a strat to my specs, and I give him the SG. I already have a S/HS tele (Splitable humbucker in the bridge), and an SSS strat. My original plan was to have him build me another SSS strat and use my current one for slide, but I think an HH would be pretty good. That way I still have my humbucker sound, but the feel of a Fender. What do think about HH Strats ?

BTW, pics of your HH strat would help give me some ideas as to what I want built.

some would say it's sacrilege to mess with the classic strat setup. Not me, I had a HH strat when I played more hard rock in the big 80s and loved that sucker. If it works for you it's worth it.

I, personally, prefer the HSS format.
All the classic Strat sounds of positions 2 through 5 are there AND you have the power/chunk of a humbucker in the bridge!
I was never a fan of humbucking neck pickups.....

If you're more comfortable playing a Strat and you want the HH of your SG. Get the HH Strat and don't worry about the approval of others. There was a time I wouldn't have typed that but I'm mellowing as I age.

My only other advice would be to take your time and save the money or collect the parts for your Strat. A used Strat works for this to. That way you can raise the action on the SG and have a slide monster.

A couple mij Squier strats from the '80s, one HSS, one HH, both 24 3/4 scale..the red one's got Seymour Duncans, the black one's stock...

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m216/rkbspics/SquierStrats-1.jpg

I wasn't really looking for one when I came upon mine. But it caught my eye in the store at a price that was rediculous. I have a Fender Blacktop Strat with a Floyd Rose. The cool thing about it is that the 2 and 4 positions on the 5 position switch allow for single coil tones. So it is a really versitile guitar. I have never been a Strat guy really (I don't hate them, just prefer Teles and LP's) but I find myself reaching for this guy quite a bit lately.

I put together one just to see if I'd like it, as I've been playing my LP a lot lately. DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs, 3-way switch, 1 vol & 2 tone... I'm really liking it:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh200/Hotrodrdav/My%20Gear/HHStrat.jpg

I'm pretty fond of mine, through it's been rebuilt, with splitters on both pickups...
Smokie (http://imgur.com/a/Q1BRI)

Hey Nub, how do you like those Dimarzio PAFs? Sorry for the derail, we'll be back on track shortly.

I would be nervous to have a "partscaster" built just from the resale alone. As to HH strats I have never had one, but check out Jimmy Herring -he plays one in widespread panic and makes it sound really good

some HH candy... :smile:..short lived....

I used the buckers in another build.. so this black beck is back to an SSS noiseless tort PG...

the HH chrome on black looks kinda cool though, and has lots of space,:cool:

I would be nervous to have a "partscaster" built just from the resale alone. As to HH strats I have never had one, but check out Jimmy Herring -he plays one in widespread panic and makes it sound really good

The resale doesn't worry me. I plan to have this guitar as a keeper. I love widespread panic, that's actualy where I got the idea of an HH Strat. I'm actualy having second thoughts though. I might go for a second Tele. I realy love those 52 style Teles. The HH is still a possibility though. I'll just have to talk to the guy.

Not technically HH, because the neck pup is a actually single coil. Hardtail, too. The Stets is top mounted. My favorite gweeter.

It occurs to me that if you're not already playing a guitar with two humbuckers, this one may sit around too much (if you get an HH).

My first was a Les Paul copy, and it's great to play but it's second fiddle to my single coil guitars. Make sure you're wanting it to play, and not simply because it's different. A guitar that sits too much is a terrible waste. :roll:

It occurs to me that if you're not already playing a guitar with two humbuckers, this one may sit around too much (if you get an HH).

My first was a Les Paul copy, and it's great to play but it's second fiddle to my single coil guitars. Make sure you're wanting it to play, and not simply because it's different. A guitar that sits too much is a terrible waste. :roll:

I hear you. I definetly prefer single coils. I think I'll probably end up with a Tele. I like the HH idea, but it would probably be the "extra" guitar. I don't want it to sit around.

I hear you. I definetly prefer single coils. I think I'll probably end up with a Tele. I like the HH idea, but it would probably be the "extra" guitar. I don't want it to sit around.
"I definetly prefer single coils." Hmmm... Well, Strat bodies are very comfortable being contoured the way they are. If you are looking at an HH make sure the pups are 4 wire so you can split them...

I'd suggest an HSH strat.

Why? Because you can have both the humbuckers and the Strat's 2 and 4 positions (what makes a strat a strat IMO) in one guitar.

Couple of things - the buckers need to have roughly twice the resistance of the middle single coil, and they MUST be 4 wire so you can split the coils.

On your 5-way switch it goes:

1. Bridge HB
2. Bridge HB first coil and middle single coil
3. Bridge and neck HB
4. Middle single coil and neck HB last coil
5. Neck HB

Hey Nub, how do you like those Dimarzio PAFs? Sorry for the derail, we'll be back on track shortly.

I love 'em. They have great clarity & snap in the Strat, sound great clean (and with my ODs!). I like the tones I'm getting from it enough that I'm not missing the 2 & 4 positions at all... for me, the setup is a keeper. Btw, I dig the DiMarzios so much that I just picked up another set for my LP. :mrgreen:

I'm a huge Strat fan and I IMO an HH strat doesn't look right, or any humbuckers in a strat for that matter. I mean when's the last time you saw a SSS Les Paul or SG? Yeah. But I won't tell people that they shouldn't have HH strats I'm just never going to own one.

I currently own two all black HH strats. I know it's blasphemy and I really live SSS love the single coils. But the HH strats sound great and feel better then and SG to me. They don't sound like a LP which is good. I have my CrazyCats in one and P51's in the other because I like a little more power in a Strat and an SG bucker the LP's I can go either way with which style humbucker.
I am working on a humbucker with two dual blade set up.

I love 'em. They have great clarity & snap in the Strat, sound great clean (and with my ODs!). I like the tones I'm getting from it enough that I'm not missing the 2 & 4 positions at all... for me, the setup is a keeper. Btw, I dig the DiMarzios so much that I just picked up another set for my LP. :mrgreen:

I'll be VERY intrested in your opinions about these pickups in a LP. What are they replacing?

My thoughts:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r180/DrewB68/Guitars/Rawkupload.jpg

HAHA CARGO SHORTS! I wear cargo shorts all summer, and a simple t shirt like yours... then I look to see where you are from... Missouri! Must be our uniform.

My thoughts:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r180/DrewB68/Guitars/Rawkupload.jpg

Well you guys are verging very close to this....

http://www.ibanezrg.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/-101272206510999480.jpg

WHich was my first ever guitar and a GREAT one at that. I don't get the bad rep they have around here. After all it is just a HsH strat with a stay in tune tremolo system.....

Flame away! :rolleyes:

HAHA CARGO SHORTS! I wear cargo shorts all summer, and a simple t shirt like yours... then I look to see where you are from... Missouri! Must be our uniform.

My wife bought 'em for me, but what I would've picked for myself wouldn't be radically different, admittedly. For the record, jorts are off limits, as are wifebeaters! That's my scumbag neighbor's combo of choice.

A couple mij Squier strats from the '80s, one HSS, one HH, both 24 3/4 scale..the red one's got Seymour Duncans, the black one's stock...

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m216/rkbspics/SquierStrats-1.jpg

Are you as crazy about your HH Squier as I am about mine? The answer is "maybe." :lol: Mine is actually my 2nd black one just like that - the first was my first good electric that I had from '86-'88. I have a Duncan JB in the bridge position of my new one. Gotta love that 24.75" scale for a bolt-on change-up!

I'm in the process of assemblying a partscaster -- I've got lots of tele's but no strat, and I don't like taking my Gibson R8 out to the clubs (and while I prefer single coils, I need humbuckers for some tunes). So, I'm planning on doing an HSH strat using two Barden Two-Tone and a Barden S-Style middle pup. That way, I've got two "real" humbuckers (of course opinions vary on Bardens) and three true single coils when the Two-Tones are "split" (see the prior parenthetical). I worry that a traditional spilt-coil bucker just isn't going to sound like a true single coil.

And if the Bardens don't work, my second choice is two Lindy Fralin's Unbuckers (a significantly unbalanced humbucker) and a Fralin Split Blade.

Wish me luck....

Well you guys are verging very close to this....

http://www.ibanezrg.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/-101272206510999480.jpg

WHich was my first ever guitar and a GREAT one at that. I don't get the bad rep they have around here. After all it is just a HsH strat with a stay in tune tremolo system.....

Flame away! :rolleyes:

That's the super strat config I was suggesting. Position 2 and 4 of the strat, and humbuckers.

I'll be VERY intrested in your opinions about these pickups in a LP. What are they replacing?

I've got the stock Burstbucker Pros in my LP (a 60s neck Standard), and I really like them... have even used them in a couple other projects, and they've always sounded great.

I picked up the DiMarzios for an Ibanez AS80 I got in a trade, but have grown to like the Super 58 pickups that are in it, so the DiMarzios have just been sitting on the bench. I think they'll sound great in the LP... I'll let you know when I get 'em installed.

Are you as crazy about your HH Squier as I am about mine? Gotta love that 24.75" scale for a bolt-on change-up!

Absolutely!...this HH squier's one of my all time favorites, got a better neck than any USA strat I've seen, is just totally playable, and the scale makes for one wicked quitar. Duncan sh-11 in the bridge, 59 in the neck.

The HSS has a totally different neck, very skinny, but just as nice and playable in its own way. And the humbuckers that came on these guitars are/were great...I just changed them because I like the SDs too, and the covers looked cool..

What do you guys think of HH Strats ?

Love them. I have a few. Two red 85 Squiers like roadkillbill's above (one with Duncans, I see great minds think alike!), one black like DrewB's. They are 24.75" scale. I also have an HSS strat, 25.5" scale, that is the best sounding electric guitar I've ever heard.

In a three-piece I use the long scale, any more instruments and I go to the Squiers. I swear those guitars are the best Fenders ever made.

Loving the Japanese Squier contingent represented on this thread.

I have this Ash HH from SX that only cost $120. Nice guitar but I plan on putting a P90 in the the bridge. I do like a humbucker in the neck.

I've got the stock Burstbucker Pros in my LP (a 60s neck Standard), and I really like them... have even used them in a couple other projects, and they've always sounded great.

I picked up the DiMarzios for an Ibanez AS80 I got in a trade, but have grown to like the Super 58 pickups that are in it, so the DiMarzios have just been sitting on the bench. I think they'll sound great in the LP... I'll let you know when I get 'em installed.

Look forward to hearing your opinions :cool:

Just a thought, if you already have a strat, it might well be routed for humbuckers already. Just get a new pickguard and put in the sg's humbuckers (string spacing won't quite be right, but close enough...). If you like it, buy some humbuckers with the correct spacing.

This is a Chandler body ($25 off of ebay), the neck is a Warmoth boatneck. It has a SD Screamin Demon in the bridge and a SD Pearly Gates in the neck. It's set up for slide so I took out the super switch I originally had in it. I wanted to keep it simple so I put a 3 way Tele switch in it. It's a strange setup but it works for me.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i59/mtal46/CanonTest056A.jpg

Lindy Fralin has a HH strat that kills,the p'ups are P-92's. What impressed me (besides the typical Fralin excellence) is the ability to tweak between PAF/WRHB(kinda sorta) winds. The strat can do HB grunt and still sound Fendery. No need for splitting, just roll off a little volume or pick attack. The same p'up wound differently in a V type sounds Gibson all day.

Youve come to the right guy , I played SGs in a live band for years , great instruments whether P90d or HBd , I now play a selection of 335 , tele , Vintage dc and am building a HH strat , In my humble opinion , a double bucker strat is a better compromise than a double bucker tele if you want to bridge the SG Fender chasm , it just seems to work so much better and to me anyway gives a similar experience to playing the SG 143786

I have a blacked-out Strat w/GFS RETROTRON Liverpools.Ver nice,full sound,I don't regret
the switch from TEXMEX single coils(which also sounded very nice).Just my 2 cents.

Squier standard H-H here, don't know too much about them but it's rear routed, has a two point trem and duncan designed pups, made in 2004 as I recall. I got it to fulfill the Charvel itch but it doesn't get a lot of play with an SG and a Corvette in the house.

I love 'em. They have great clarity & snap in the Strat, sound great clean (and with my ODs!). I like the tones I'm getting from it enough that I'm not missing the 2 & 4 positions at all... for me, the setup is a keeper. Btw, I dig the DiMarzios so much that I just picked up another set for my LP. :mrgreen:

Good info I was wondering myself and almost ordered a set on a whim.


Is it the same pup N and B, or the 223 in the bridge?

I put this together once.... but used the PG on another guitar... and put 3 singles back on it...

looked ok...:wink:

I have a blacked-out Strat w/GFS RETROTRON Liverpools.Ver nice,full sound,I don't regret
the switch from TEXMEX single coils(which also sounded very nice).Just my 2 cents.

I had a GFS Liverpool in the neck of a Tele. I liked it also.

I put this together once.... but used the PG on another guitar... and put 3 singles back on it...

looked ok...:wink:

Black on Black or w/Chrome or Tuxedo always looks good to me. Why did you wire it with a Master Tone and leave a hole?

Love 'em. For me, the best of both worlds. I love humbuckers, and I love the shape and contours of the strat. The perfect combination.
And for those that say a strat doesn't look right with anything but a single coil, that may have been true once upon a time. But since the 80s the strat body style has been the platform for all sorts of pickup combos. There are so many out there now, and it's so common to see, that that ship sailed a long time ago. I for one was glad to see it go.
This guitar will be with me until the day I die.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IR0g9O_oUyI/TqsVU9DfIlI/AAAAAAAAAhw/XD1cmI4V944/s640/100_0255.JPG

I have one identical to Trev,except mine has the trem bridge.Love it,but I have to sell in
order to raise cash for other projects(see my add in guitars for sale)

I had the same problem you had. I loved playing my LP, but hated the neck. That's when I built this. It looks like an HSH, but isn't really used like on. I've got a 3 way switch controlling the 2 humbuckers, and then a mini switch to turn on the middle pup whenever I need it. 9 times outta 10, the middle will be off. So I consider it an HH.

Black on Black or w/Chrome or Tuxedo always looks good to me. Why did you wire it with a Master Tone and leave a hole?


simply... to get rid of the V knob so close to the "action"..... ..:wink:

the hole didn't bother me...