Stratocaster Blues

[blue]

Originally Posted by s2y

They're pretty nice. My opinions of the humbuckers are mixed. Good all rounders, but a tad harsh with heavy distortion.

A pretty standard complaint on Ibanez when they mix humbuckers and single. Going back to the 90's RTs!

I think they do a great job in general in balancing humbuckers and singles. Not an easy feat!

The switching on that thing is amazing! Does so much but I think even I could run it on stage! I'll stick to my near 30 year old RT, but if I was looking for a super-strat, that one looks like a frontrunner!

[s2y]

Originally Posted by blue

A pretty standard complaint on Ibanez when they mix humbuckers and single. Going back to the 90's RTs!

I think they do a great job in general in balancing humbuckers and singles. Not an easy feat!

The switching on that thing is amazing! Does so much but I think even I could run it on stage! I'll stick to my near 30 year old RT, but if I was looking for a super-strat, that one looks like a frontrunner!

I could be wrong, but I think my gripe with the bridge hum bucker would exist if I used the 2 hum bucker version. Not a lot of people are in love with the Seymour Duncan Hyperion pickups, which are exclusive to Ibanez and the the AZ series. They recently added a more vintage sounding Fortuna pickup.

Hyperion pickups seem to be modern voiced. I really enjoy the single coils, which are modern, but in a way that works extremely with my technique, pedals, and amp. The singles are great with low, medium, and high overdrive/distortion. The hum bucker bridge just sounds a little off when heavy distortion is used. It's enough to slightly annoy me, but not quite enough for me to switch to something else yet. If I adjust the tone on my distortion, it's a little better.

Nonetheless, good guitar and could easily be THE guitar I grab for dang near everything. I was particularly impressed with the neck+middle in series. Not a lot of neck humbuckers split well. I also like how they added the neck+bridge single coil combo. These add some really nice versatility. I'd LOVE to see this wiring added to the J Custom and/or RG line, especially if they use a locking trem and have a maple fretboard.

I'm considering ordering a Tom Anderson this fall. One nice thing Tom Anderson has is a passive boost, which can allow neck single coils to sound similar to a humbucker.

Needless to say, I'm a sucker for HSS guitars.