I'm hoping that after some of you read this, you may get an idea of your own, as to what you prefer, electronically. You'll also notice how much my ideas have changed from my previous ideas of 3 Vol, 3 Tone, 3 Coil Taps, etc! Take a peak, if you wish.
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Master Volume
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Master Volume is very important to guitarists (most guitarists use Master Volume. Master Volume = One Volume knob), because it prevents unwanted swelling and surges of volume increase when you change pickups, as well as give you an easier insight as to what your volume is at all times. Les Pauls use 2 volumes (and 2 tones), something I dislike very much. MIDI Volume is the same as Master Volume, so the Master Volume is "Master" for the Guitar Output, and for the MIDI output.
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Master Tone
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Much like Master Volume, this is important. You will never forget where that tone knob is, with Master Volume. When you start adding another tone knob, or two more tone knobs, It can get very confusing as to, if you switch pickups, where everything will be at. Note that the MIDI Tone knob is the same as the Guitar pickups tone knob, when I mean "master" tone, I REALLY mean Master Tone.
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Three Humbuckers
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Simple, I prefer humbuckers to single coils, and I prefer three humbuckers to two. Simple as that.
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5-way Selector Switch
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The Five Way selector switch is widely used by Fender's Stratocaster model, as well as every single rip-off of a strat, and also used by many, many companies. It is rather rare, however, to use a 5-way selector, with 3 humbuckers (The 3 way is more commonly used). The 5-way is used in the same manner with humbuckers as single coils, with the exception that in the "inbetween" positions, the coils on both humbuckers split, to form one "new" humbucker. Simply more options.
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Master Six-Way Rotary Coil Knob(looks like a Varitone knob)
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This is by far the most uncommon object used in guitars, because most people are confused by it. Basically, this is how it runs; it is basically a more complex form of Coil Splitting, with alot more options. There are 6 options, listed here:
1.) Series In Phase (Standard Humbucker)
2.) Single Coil (South) = Just the south coil alone
3.) Single Coil (North) = Just the North coil Alone
4.) Parallel In Phase = Single Coil type tone, with hum-cancelling
5.) Series-Out of Phase = makes a phased sound.
6.) Mute (or Standby)
Having one "Master Six Way Rotary Switch" allows me to choose what style of pickup I want to use, on the pickup that is already chosen. You can just imagine all the possibilies with those five sound options, and for inbetween songs, the Mute option.
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Roland MIDI Pickup
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If you haven't heard of MIDI, or haven't tried it, give it a shot, it's one of the coolest things you can add to guitar, the ability to play other instruments as well. Your guitar will soon become not just a guitar, but a whole ****ing library of music. You won't regret that choice.
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Unity Gain Buffer
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Under the cavity, that's where this neat toy lays. Basically, a Unity Gain Buffer transfers the signal from your effects, into the guitar, and registers them at full volume at all times, no matter what your guitar volume is at. This sounds confusign at first, but what you realize is that it solves the problem of "I can get great tone in my living room, but not onstage.....", because your effects will NOT change with volume! You see, with this, you have full control of your effects, right on your guitar. Plug your normal guitar into an amp, load the distortion, and tell me whether or not you hear a huge difference in tone when you roll off your tone knob. There shouldn't really be a difference, and the point is that effects have a tendency to be very unpredictable at certain volumes, and it is difficult to find the sweet spot for the effects, when they keep changing! For example, with the UGB installed on your guitar, you get 5 active and ready distortion tones out of the stompbox, instead of the normal one tone. The tones will not change (they are pre-vol and pre-tone), and you will find that your tone will be alot more recognizable when you can recall the same tones over and over again, if you wish. This will get rid of unwanted noise and unwanted feedback, because the signal is always constant, whereas the normal guitar doesn't have a constant volume. This works VERY well with Envelope Filters, because they will always be on 'full', so every note you pick will have that luscious and rare "wahh" tone that you only get by luck, otherwise.
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Dual TRS Outputs
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With Dual TRS outputs, all of the above is allowed to happen, efficiently. One Mono TRS output goes to your amplifier, the other to your Effects Processor, which allows you to effectively bypass your effects when you don't want to use them, by simply cutting the signal from the effects to your guitar, and leaving the amp to guitar one on.
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True Effects Bypass Switch
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Lets face it, guys. With all of your effects chained together, and you want a clean tone, it sucks your clean tone right out! Like I explained in the TRS section, The TRS Outputs, along with an Effects Bypass Switch, cuts the signal from the effects to your guitar, allowing nice, smooth clean tone, with no effects sucking the tone right under you! This is One simple two-way switch, either the effects are running, or they are being bypassed.
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MIDI/Guitar Bypass Switch
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This is One Simple 2-way switch (or it can be two 2 way switches, if you want to run both MIDI and Guitar through your amp at the same time...but for me, I'll use one or the other, so it is just one 2-way). Now, when you are playing 'normal guitar', your MIDI is the one being bypassed. When you say to yourself "hm.....I think I'd like to add a French Horn part to this...." , you simply switch the flip, and your MIDI is now being processed, and your guitar signal is not. This works better than those "On/Off" switches, because this way, a signal is always being run from your MIDI device, to your guitar, to an amp, it is just effectively being "Muted" when you play through a guitar signal. When you are playing MIDI, your guitar signal is simply being bypassed. This is much like the effects bypass.
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Onboard MIDI Numeric Pad
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I'm not a fan of Foot-Controllers, not at ALL. I hate them with a passion, because there is always a bigger chance that you'll screw up with your feet than with your hands. (We don't write with our feet, and there is a reason for that). Alot of these add-ons help me out because of my hatred for footcontrollers. A MIDI footcontroller was out of the question, right from the start. 500 Available Sounds, 10 Banks with 10 Presets with 5 sounds in each preset? no! Instead, I am going to have something similar to this MIDI Numeric Pad
and considering that MIDI is numbered, it's just a simple matter of remembering the numbers of the ones I use, and pushing the buttons. Note that the Shadow version of the Numeric Pad has it's own Volume and Dynamic control. Mine, already being routed to my guitar's tone and vol, will not need the extra vol and tone.
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Do not Try this at home :D
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Okay, guys; If I sparked anyone's interest in any subject, take notice that doing these modifications to your guitar is possible, but certain things are not recommended on your standard guitar. For exmaple, The Unity Gain Buffer (which is a preamp, and uses a battery), must be under the surface, and putting one of those on a Stratocaster is not recommended, due to the light weight of the instrument. Wood would (homonyms...haha) need hollowing out, etc. However, EMG has created it's own version of the UGB, called the JG-1, and the JG-2 (named after Jerry Garcia), which was made almost specifically for Stratocasters.
Keep in mind that you can add a certain amount of these modifications to your guitar yourself, but when something is internal, and put in while the guitar is being made, problems are less likely to occur, because there will be no soldering, no hollowing, and everything will be set up to your liking. If any of you will be getting custom guitars in the future, and would like to use any of these Mod's, go right ahead, but I warn you to choose heavier woods, due to the amount of wood being hollowed out (that is, if you are having the mods in the guts, which i would recommend over externally).
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What pickups will I be using?
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Dimarzio Super-Distortion 2's. 3 Humbuckers, all wired for the Rotary Knob.
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Isn't that going to make it harder onstage?
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Look at it this way, it gives you more options, and you can use those options how you wish. Your tone will not suffer because you have these options available, in fact, some of these options increase your tone, and get rid of many problems that occur at different volumes. If you want, you could have all of the options I have shown you, on your guitar, and simply use Master Tone, master volume, and the pickup selector. You don't need to use the Rotary Coil Knob, it just gives you more options! And if you are like me, more options on the guitar means I'll spend more time mastering the options on the guitar, mastering the guitars electronics themselves, so when it comes time to gig, the sound will be consistently good, with a constant signal, etc, which beats out the unpredictability of normal guitars any day, in my opinion.
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Q & A:
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Q : I like that tone I get from my tube amp when its at 2 or 3 (very smooth tone), But I can't seem to get that same tone
during gigs, when it's at 7 or 8. What can I do to get the same consistency in my amp, after I learned how to get consistency in my effects, after reading your post?"
A : It is quite simple, you use your Tube Amp as a Pre-Amp, remove the tubes, send it to a Power Amp (MacIntosh 2300 works well, though expensive), and run the Power Amp into a speaker cabinet. You will have the tone of your amp at Volume 2, but the sound will be loud enough that you could fill a small to large auditorium. This solves your "My amp sounds great in my room....but when i turn the volume up....it changes". The McIntosh 2300 simply takes the tone coming into it, and makes it LOUDER, no change in tone. You'll never be stuck with bad coloring of your guitar amplifier at certain volumes.
Q: How important are cables, in your sound?
A : Very important! I use Belden Cables with Neutrik Plugs, which are not mass-produced for guitars, but Belden is known for it's excellence in cabling (Belden did Woodstock '69), and Neutrik plugs are used on many types of cables. What is surprising is that Belden Cable does not cost very much money, yet the Sound is as good/better than $150 Monster Cables that are mass-produced.
Q : I play Metal Music, and I don't see why your Electronics Layout would help me.
A : You are partially right, Metal Man, because this Electronics Layout limits Feedback, because of the constant signal. You probably have no use for MIDI, and probably have no use for Clean Tones. And considering the amount of Distortion you use, you have no use for single coils either, so this might not be for you.
Q : What about MidRange boosts? Are they any good?
A : Not many people know this, but Eric Clapton uses an Active MidRange Boost, in replace of one of his tone knobs, which is one reason why he gets such a thick tone. Eric uses Master Tone and Master Volume on most of his guitars. They are excellent, but don't mix a Mid-Range Boost on a guitar with the UGB (The UGB is a no boost preamp, constant signal. Boosting the Mid-Range Boost is not, and contradicts the UGB system. Sounds goofy.).
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For those Still not convinced
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One of the many advice tips are "You may get great tone in your bedroom, but getting great tone in a band is a whole different ballgame". By getting your guitar wired in the ways I have told you, you are killing that piece of advice. Literally, there is no need, because your tone will not change from small bedrooms to large auditoriums to whatever, if you follow my Electronics Layout, as well as the Preamp into McIntosh 2300 into Speakers.
Finally, you'll notice the amount of knobs and buttons on a guitar with my electronics layout, there aren't as many as you'd think many. Lets take a look;
1 Master Volume
1 Master Tone
1 Master Six-Way Rotary Knob
1 Five-Way Pickup Selector
1 Effects Bypass
1 Guitar/MIDI Bypass
1 MIDI numerical pad
and thats it. That equals Seven Knobs/buttons, etc, including the pickup selector. Lets take a look at your Gibson Les Paul-
2 Volumes
2 Tone
1 Pickup Selector
That is Five, so consider that this idea, considering how many more options you can get, is just two more knobs/buttons/etc than your Gibson Les Paul. Amazing, isn't it?
~Incidents
