Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post. I've read a lot of good info on this site, and now I have a question. I'm just starting to learn guitar, been playing for a couple of months now. I currently have a MIM HHS strat, but the guitar shop near me has a real nice HH American strat. What are your opinions of them? I believe this one has the S1 switch. I'm interested in playing blues, hard rock, classic rock, some heavy stuff. I'm only playing for my own enjoyment, and I just want something that will be very versatile, it doesn't have to sound exactly like the real music I'm trying to play.

For blues you'll want HSS as there is no other way to get that middle/neck combination quack and also because a humbucker at the neck might work but it's just not the same thing as a single coil. The HH Strats are not nearly as popular as the HSS for that very reason.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Cool, thanks. I do like the HSS configuration, but I heard you could get single coil sound out of the HH.

im not sure how the S-1 works on the HH.....but im sure you can split it to make it a sigle coil.....but it wouldnt be placed where the single coil is on a SSS...therefore you could come close to the strat single coil sound...but not really have it...... at the same time that goes for the HSS....i can split mine at the bridge....but because it isnt at the strat angle or spot...it really dont sound like the bridge pick-up on a strat.

I just a built an HH project Strat with coil taps. The coil tapped humbucker does not sound like a pure single coil to me, though. That all being said, I love the thing ... lots of tonal possibilities with it. I will post a thread on it sometime soon. I love the HH configuration on Strats ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

What do most of the Blues greats play. John Lee Hooker, BB. King end the list goes on. I don't think they are HSS configured guitar. It all depends on the sound you want. Most blues guys wanted that bucker sound until the late 70's early 80's when rock and blues blended into different styles of blues.

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He also wants to play some hard rock and classic rock and heavy stuff. A bridge bucker can come in quite handy for that. He's best off with what he's already got.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

The fact of the matter is that I've seen guys play some truly great blues on all kinds of guitars. LP's, Strats, acoustics and virtually everything in between. Here's a video of a guy doing some slide blues on a guitar made from a -cigar box-;

http://www.youtube.com/user/crunchman00 ... aiAjvLSHMQ


The point is, there's no "right" or "wrong" guitar for blues. This thing we call "the blues" isn't about a guitar or an amp or any other "gear", it's about feeling and emotion. For example, a little over 2 weeks ago my mother passed away from cancer. 5 days later my wife was in a car accident. Shortly after that, I fell down in the studio...ripped open one shin, banged up both legs, twisted my back. Wednesday I had to go back to court over some really stupid crap involving my house....my list could go on quite a bit longer. In other words, as Buddy Guy once said, "Damn Right I Got The Blues!". Have I been playin'? You betcha! Mostly I've been playing the '85 MIJ Squier Strat I picked up...why this guitar? Because it's my newest toy. I could just as easily been playing my MIM with the Duncan Hot Rails (stacked hb's) and old Les Paul clone I have or my "double fat" Kramer...it doesn't matter. Lately my life has been hard and if you factor in the last 8 years or so, I've seen MORE than my share of crap...I'm simply expressing that through my music. Who really gives a rat's a** what guitar I'm doing it on?


To the OP: If you like your HSS, then play it. If you prefer that double fat and you can afford it, then get it and PLAY IT. The blues is about your heart, your hands and your soul...the gear is the least important aspect of the equation.


This is -just- my $.02 worth,
Jim

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. At this point, I think I'm going to take another look at the HH, and see how I like the sound. If I get it, and really feel that I don't like how it sounds with the single coils, then it gives me an excuse to get a sunburst SSS strat later down the road. But, if I don't like it, I always can keep the one I have, it does sound pretty good. I do play more on the humbucker pickup right now.

I bought a low powered Humbucker that sounded as clean as the single-coil it replaced, in fact, volumewise, the single coil (Mid) was louder.

I long had the bug for a double fat Strat, so I recently built one as a project Strat. It's actually very versatile, especially with the push/pull coil taps. I'd say go for the HH Strat if that's what you really think you want, and then later on add an SSS Strat to your stable ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

I personally love the 2 humbucker Strat set up. It offers some tones you just cannot get with single coils. The neck humbucker, with lots of overdrive and the tone knob backed off a little bit is pure , fat, sweet, thick lead guitar heaven. You just can't get that with a single coil neck pup. The thing I also like about humbuckers is the ability to use a 4 conductor wire from the pup to access a wide variety of sounds from 1 pickup(split, phase, tapped). That is another thing you can't do with a true single coil. Don't get me wrong,I love the "classic Strat sound", it is just different.
Another option is to go with a stacked humbucker in a single coil size. You kinda get the best of both worlds. The tone of a single coil(generally) with the wiring options of a humbucker, plus less noise. Have fun!!

I just built a H.S.H Strat using a Lace Sensor Red/Silver dually in the bridge with a push pull pot to split the coils .

A silver Lace Sensor in the middle position

A Blue/Gold dually in the neck once again with push pull pot to split the coils and a s-1 switch

All this was done on a Floyd Rose Strat.

When finished i realized this was a huge epic failure.It just had no personality..It didn't sound like a Strat our anything else for that matter although i used all high quality components..

I have now put the guitar back into a H.S.S set up and placed it on Ebay for a huge loss..Live and learn

Brother keep your HSS and buy the HH. I dig them both and use them both. Then save your money and get one in SSS.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

Don't discount the amplification gear. It's so much a part of what you hear and the sound you may be pursing. I refer you to Joe Bonamassa and his May '09 Albert Hall Concert. The tone is overwhelming. The gear as well. His guitar never seems to leave the bridge pickup. You basically have to explore, and find your own niche. Kinda like kissing a lot of frogs before you find a princess.

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