Anything out there like this?

H

HomeRec

New member
My present guitar is an old Vantage Avenger I picked up used at a local music shop a while back. It's a great guitar.

I've been glancing at guitars off and on recently, and have noticed that nothing out there seems to offer the same configuration as the Avenger.

FEATURE 1: Double-humbucker with four knobs - two per pickup; one volume and one tone, and 3-way switch (pickup 1, pickup 1&2, pickup 2)

I can find this configuration (or something very similar), but only on Telecaster-shaped guitars. The Avenger is a strat-shaped guitar, which I prefer.

FEATURE 2: Snap-up tone knobs for humbucker on/off.

Okay, this feature is one that I have never seen outside of my own guitar. Basically, you can pop the tone knob up to turn off the humbucker feature on the guitar. This gets rid of some of the bass, and produces a crisper (albeit noisier) sound.

Essentially, finding a guitar with Feature 1 would be great, and finding one with Feature 2 would be amazing. Does anyone know of any guitars currently being manufactured like this?
 
Feature #1 is a basic Les Paul configuration that you can find on just about any Gibson electric (Les Paul, SG, Flying V, etc or PRS single cut, Epiphones)

Feature #2 is just a volume knob with a push/pull coil tap that "turns off" one of the coils in the humbucker, making it, in essence, a single coil pickup. It is a very easy modification to make to any guitar with humbucking pickups. You can get the push/pull volume knob for about $15, and solder it in yourself or pay someone to do it. Very simple mod.

It will be much simpler to make the mods yourself than to find someone that makes a guitar with exactly the configuration you want. That is why us guitarists spend years swapping pickups, volume knobs, capacitors, whammy bars, etc, etc, etc....

Welcome to hell.

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Aaron Cheney said:
Feature #1 is a basic Les Paul configuration that you can find on just about any Gibson electric (Les Paul, SG, Flying V, etc or PRS single cut, Epiphones)
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Hmm... haven't seen it anywhere. Double humbucker, yes. Volume and tone knobs for each pickup, no.

Feature #2 is just a volume knob with a push/pull coil tap that "turns off" one of the coils in the humbucker, making it, in essence, a single coil pickup. It is a very easy modification to make to any guitar with humbucking pickups. You can get the push/pull volume knob for about $15, and solder it in yourself or pay someone to do it. Very simple mod.
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I figured that's what pulling the switch out did, since the humbuckers always have two coils and regular pickups only have one. Makes sense.

On the Avenger, the pull-out is actually in the tone knob, not the volume. Would that be the same mod?

It will be much simpler to make the mods yourself than to find someone that makes a guitar with exactly the configuration you want. That is why us guitarists spend years swapping pickups, volume knobs, capacitors, whammy bars, etc, etc, etc....
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Fortunately, I already have the configuration I want on my current guitar. :) But good information for if/when I get a new one. Thanks.

Krystof01 - Is that a second or a contradiction to Aaron's opinion of the mod? :confused:
 
Krystof01 - Is that a second or a contradiction to Aaron's opinion of the mod? :confused: [/B]
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I was wondering the same thing. It must be a British figure of speech, sort of like "Bob's your uncle". I think it's an agreement, becuase trust me, it's easy to do.

Hmm... haven't seen it anywhere. Double humbucker, yes. Volume and tone knobs for each pickup, no.
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Any Gibson Les Paul, SG, or ES335 has two humbuckers, with a volume and tone for each, and a 3 way toggle switch to select either pick-up or both. I'm sure of it. Check out the Gibson sight to see for yourself.

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Sorry HomeRec but Aaron's VERY right. The 2 humbucker 4 knob combo is on just as many guitars as the 5 way switch. The push-pull knobs are pretty common too. The two features in one guitar, one that I know of, I'm sure there ar emore is the Ibanez JS-100. It's the Joe Satriani one, and it does all the coil tapping and had that knob configuration at one point, all though i don't believe it does anymore, the one I saw might have just been a mod'ed one. They are out there, and if they aren't it's pretty easy to make that. Your Vantage isn't too special (sorry), especially since Vantage is about as low-of-the-line as it gets.

Jake
 
jrlemonz said:
Sorry HomeRec but Aaron's VERY right. The 2 humbucker 4 knob combo is on just as many guitars as the 5 way switch. The push-pull knobs are pretty common too. The two features in one guitar, one that I know of, I'm sure there ar emore is the Ibanez JS-100. It's the Joe Satriani one, and it does all the coil tapping and had that knob configuration at one point, all though i don't believe it does anymore, the one I saw might have just been a mod'ed one. They are out there, and if they aren't it's pretty easy to make that. Your Vantage isn't too special (sorry), especially since Vantage is about as low-of-the-line as it gets.

Jake
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Trust me, I didn't harbor any illusions that I had a rare, one-of-a-kind classic collector's item, especially considering it cost me $179 used. However, finding all of those features new with the body style that I like has just not happened, so I wanted to see if there was anything out there like it that I could pick up off of the shelf. Up until this post, with the information I had, it could have been a configuration that just isn't done any more. Obviously, that is not the case.

As for the DH/4K configuration, I have seen it... just not on the body style I prefer. It very well could be the places I've looked (keep in mind I haven't been scouring stores for a new guitar, as I'm not seriously looking), but the only guitars I've run across with DH/4K have been the "classic" full-bodied kind of guitar, with the closed top. There are a lot of guitars with DH/2K in any number of styles.

I did look at the Satriani a little while ago. It didn't have the coil configuration but, to be honest with you, that guitar felt good enough that I would still seriously consider it if it was only a single-coil. ;)

<soapbox>As far as Vantage being "as low-of-the-line as it gets", that may be the case, but I wouldn't sell mine. And as for "special", the manufacturer has nothing to do with it; it's the only guitar I've seen with that configuration off the shelf. My Avenger may not have cost $x,000.00, but it has a sound and feel that I like and am comfortable with.</soapbox> :D

Trust me, I am not disputing what Aaron said. I just haven't seen what he has described, at least not yet.
 
If you're happy more power to you. The Satriani however does have coil tapping built in. The knobs are push-pull. Maybe oyu played a different Ibanez. That guitar does play unbelievable, but the new ones have that ratty POS 2 piece Wizard neck. I have an old SV-420FM, one piece neck. So much of a difference then my old S470, with it's 2 piece that the Satriani has.

Jake
 
gibs said:
they're everywhere, they're everywhere......................gibs


http://www.fender.com/electricguitars/otherinstruments/toronado.html
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DH/4K, but wrong body shape.

http://www.guildguitars.com/repository/product.php?partno=3507600
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DH/4K, but this is exactly what I see all the time - the classic guitar look. Once again, wrong body shape.

A really good example of the style I prefer is the Ibanez JS100.

In fact, jrlemonz, that guitar is the Satriani I tried, not another Ibanez model. The "Joe Satriani" on the fretboard was a bit of a giveaway. Note that the Satriani has a DH/2K configuration. Still a killer guitar, though. :)

Other examples of the basic body shape I prefer:

Ibanez

Fender
 
gibs said:
hmmm...strat type style.......probably custom only for ya........dean makes one that's close, though...............gibs

http://www.deanguitars.com/content/imagelib/electrics/hardtail/index.html
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That's what I thought. And yes, strat type style:

Originally posted by HomeRec
FEATURE 1: Double-humbucker with four knobs - two per pickup; one volume and one tone, and 3-way switch (pickup 1, pickup 1&2, pickup 2)

I can find this configuration (or something very similar), but only on Telecaster-shaped guitars. The Avenger is a strat-shaped guitar, which I prefer.
Click to expand...

My terminology glitch was "Telecaster-style". When I mentioned it, I was actually thinking of the Guild guitar that you mentioned before. :p

The configuration of the knobs and switch on the Dean is almost exactly the same as the Vantage Avenger's, and the knobs actually look look like the exact same knobs that are on the Vantage as well. That is close. Not quite there, but about as close as I've seen.

All told, it's amusing that I even ended up with the configuration I did on the style of guitar I did. But at least I know where I stand for the next guitar, if/when I get one.

Thanks for the help and advice, all. :)
 
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