[harmonics]

hi
maybe you wanted to find like me the best super strat ever made 

the problems for me are about the sounds with the neck pickup
if you have a band or just at home, you can't be always satisfied with a moderate vintage neck pickup without any big sustain but with hum and without the warm tones of a humbucker like a PAF

they often put a single coil pickup for the neck position without thinking to the other side: the humbucker, the PAF tones we can like for the Blues and also for the neck position

so, we have some choices: sss or hss  and that's all !
for me it's not enough

both are not perfect

so, i suppose a boost can be good, a 25 db boost like Clapton or the one that Lukather has
but Lukather plays with his ceramic pickups and  i would prefer some alnico pickups
maybe some people have a LUKE II III here ?
About the Cutlass - silhouette : not perfect too cos' no boost inside

Another solution would be to change the wirings
or to add a boost to a cutlass:) not a bad idea but it needs a luthier to add the battery

Ibanez has the az2204 but not with DImarzio pickups
and i can think about some other pickups i can not talk about here lol

[buddroyce]

I do find that versatility also depends on the amp and how much magic you have in your fingers.

I work around versatility by buying more guitars (ok I just wanted a reason to own so many)

[darkbluemurder]

The most versatile but also the most compromised in a way would be HSH. To get all the potential benefits from a HSH set up the switching gets rather complex. In the end it's all personal preference. I have just set up a HSS strat to do nine different sounds and that covers most everything I need. I can dispense of the neck humbucker tone - I find it too muddy mostly anyway.

Cheers Stephan

[harmonics]

the neck pickup muddy? > 490R  ?

So, try the paf joe  Satriani doesn't like the muddy sounds

what i don't like with the strat is the scale
i think a Gibson scale +  09 46 is a good choice  but rare to find with the strat
so> luthier

[MW-AB]

I agree that HSH is very versatile.
Two of my Strats have been converted to that configuration.
I also include a blender that fades in the neck when bridge or bridge/middle is selected for even more versatility yet.

[Guitar74]

My Big Apple Strat is the most versatile axe I have. Low to moderate output 2 bucker guitar with 5 way. Not much that can’t be played on that axe and it is by far my desert island guitar.

[harmonics]

Fender Brewster vs LUKE III hh or HSS
hard choice

[HarlowTheFish]

Luke II HSS

Still want one in the metallic blue, it's killer. Neck's very unique tho so try before you buy.

[Mew]

Music Man Luke 3 HSS.
Charvel Guthrie Govan.
Ibanez TQM 1.

I would for sure try all of this 3.