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Posted by: Mudbone Sep 5 2011, 08:58 PM

Hey Ivan I noticed you have a Strat with a humbucker in the bridge, did that come stock or did you install it at a later time? I plan on installing a humbucker and new single coils in my Strat, and was hoping you could offer some insight. I have a Seymour Duncan JB in a lawsuit Les Paul that I'm going to install in the Strat, but I'm not sure if its going to fit. Its the SH-4 variety, which is narrower than the TB-4. From what I understand the TB-4 is meant for guitars equipped with a Floyd Rose trem, but I'm not sure if its also for all tremolo equipped guitars. Have you had any experience installing a regular spaced SD pickup in a Strat?

My goal for this guitar is to make it versatile for many styles, such as metal, blues, and cleans. It will have a moderately hot bridge humbucker for metal stuff and low output single coils for bluesy stuff and cleans. Imbalanced? Yes, but thats kinda the way I want it Also, do you have any experience with shielding the guitar cavity?

Anybody else that has some experience with this, please feel free to chime in

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 6 2011, 04:46 PM

Hey mate,

If you have the SH4 version, then not sure what you can do really. You can try to put it into a strat, but the pole pieces won't match the strings. This should alter the tone a bit. How much? Dunno really, one way to find out Be sure that you can match the screw holes on the pickup plate with the screw holes on the pickguard.

If you want to convert to HSS, you will need a HSS mask first. You can modify your SSS mask, although I recommend buying HSS one. Be careful when buying, because not all HSS masks are the same. If you can afford original Fender HSS mask, do it. If not you can try with some other masks. I bought a Chinese HSS black mask, and had to modify the "H" hole quite a bit, and to do shielding with a copper foil. It's not hard to do the shielding, but if you get fender one, you can be sure that it is shielded and that it has proper dimensions and holes in it.

I think that combo will work quite nicely, despite the output difference. You will just need to set the pole distances properly. Should note that humbucker in the strat on bridge position will never sound "big". It will inherit some of the twangy strat vibe, and it will sound mid-focused. Low end is lacking. Anyway, it's definitely better to have hum in the bridge, then single, so if you can do it - do it. You can do it yourself if you want, or you can take it to a guitar tech. Usually they can do it for very little money these days, and do it professionally. I did it myself, but did very clumsy job compared to a professional soldering job


No experience in shielding a guitar cavity, just did a pickguard shielding job, but there are tons of tutorials out there, it's not hard. If you have the will to do it, and can find proper materials, it can be nice experience

Posted by: Mudbone Sep 6 2011, 06:35 PM

I should've thought of this before, but I just measured the pole pieces on the JB, and it almost matches up with the strings, I think it will be off by just a little bit. So you're probably right, it could alter the tone a little bit, we'll see



I actually have a friend thats going to give me an original fender pickguard in exchange for a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale, so thats taken care of




This is exactly the kinda feedback I was looking for I actually want it to still have that Strat twang, just a beefy twang with no hum. I also want it to have a strong midrange, so these are good things to hear. As far as the lack of bottom end thump, I have another guitar thats mahogany with EMG's for that type of stuff Its funny how a Strat will always sound like a Strat, my buddy put an EMG 81 in his Strat and it still had that twang going on lool

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 6 2011, 09:34 PM

Hahha, that seems like a fair deal


Then you're all set mate, the strat is waiting to get reborn EMG in strat? That should sound weird I've seen couple of these, but never had the chance to play it. Well, the twang is a construction thing, so it's always there. But with a nice amp, it will always rock no doubt

Good luck mate, let us know how it turn out, maybe post some pics