Building a Warmoth Soloist (which they should call an 8/8 Dinky- since, having a bolt-on neck, it is by definition NOT a soloist...but anyway).
Alder body
Wilkinson trem (non-locking nut)
Non-slanted headstock- no string trees
Mahogany neck
Ebony fingerboard
If there were one word I had to use to describe what I want out of this guitar, it's fusion. But NOT in the sense of fusion jazz (though I'd want to be able to play that on this guitar if need be).
Obviously it's basically a rock guitar. But not a straight-up metal guitar. I wanted better tone than I can get out of a locking trem (if you want to have that argument let's do it elsewhere), a fatter sound, and to that end used a mahogany neck rather than a maple neck which would land this guitar squarely in the shred/metal camp.
In short, I need it to do everything but country, with my main emphases being classic/southern rock (think Black Crowes more than Bad Company) and metal (Think Sabbath through Dio through Opeth rather than Lamb of God or Black Dahlia Murder).
I've been reading about the Transitions, and the official DM Lukather video hugely piqued my interest. They sound huge. I'm into huge.
Most players around here seem obsessed with "clarity." That's not a huge issue for me as I play through a vintage style Fender 75 amp, and usually feel more slighted by the lack of upper mids than the lack of "clarity."
PUPS I LIKE:
Tone Zone- beautiful, organic, detailed (I LOVE DETAIL and HARMONICS) tone. Lack of presence/upper mids and high end bite bugs me.
Norton- awesome presence...but cheesy upper mid honk. Probably rocks in basswood; too up-front in my main guitar (mahogany, but a strangely bright and extremely present mahogany neck-through (basically) mahogany doublecut).
AT-1- Strangely stiff in my main guitar, but great (GREAT) in my Alder Samick Blues Saraceno signature TV-20.
PAF Pro- what's not to like. Classic with just a hair of that DiMarzio "blippiness" that the Air Norton takes too far (in the neck position that is)
Liquifire- Would be perfect if not for the overly compressed and somewhat overly push-y upper mids. Would like some more bass out of it. Still very nice.
Seymour Duncan Custom (not Custom-Custom). Rockin, in your face with loads of bite and harmonics and tight bass...just a little too compressed for me.
As you can see I have an opinion about everything. Looking for ideas of all kinds.
Thinking:
Seymour Duncan 59/Custom bridge (sorry DiMarzio forum, I know)
Transition set
Crunch Lab/Liquifire set
Gravity Storm set (though the talk of the neck being single-coil like turns me off- I like FAT neck tones)
SD Perpetual Burn (bridge)
Talk to me people!
