Recommend an HSS strat

I have a few Suhr's and fenders, but i think my favourite strat HSS style guitars are defo from Luxxtone...the Sunburst one is great, flamed neck , light etc, great feeling neck, same with the purple one, that also has the neck pup blend on the tone control..those 2 are 'Choppa's
the other one is a bit of a smaller body shape, the Machette with the Morris art work
All have the great Arcane pups in them, the old school is my favourite model, but the Luxx hot is a good one as well...spec sheet supplied to show the spec etc..Love the Luxxtones...oh and yes I like floyd's , but I do have a couple with the vintage style fender bridges toospec.jpgsparkle.jpgGuitar Pic 1.jpg

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I have a few Suhr's and fenders, but i think my favourite strat HSS style guitars are defo from Luxxtone...the Sunburst one is great, flamed neck , light etc, great feeling neck, same with the purple one, that also has the neck pup blend on the tone control..those 2 are 'Choppa's
the other one is a bit of a smaller body shape, the Machette with the Morris art work
Never noticed Luxxtone! Those axes look absolutely stunning. Does he use nitro to make the relic-ing so realistic (in case you know...)?

I did see the price list online, but if you wouldn't mind sharing the cost of the sunburst Choppa S, that would be awesome!

In your experience, how long was it from placing the order to receiving the guitar?
 
Yes nitro as i understand it , necks are lovely satin finish too...Around £2k GBP in general...most of mine have come from Wes Bentley at Rebel Guitars ( great guy to deal with ) the 2 with fender bridges from world guitars in the Uk.
I only ever ordered one, the tele below ,and that was from Boxcar guitars , but that has now gone, that took about 6 months , but was sometime ago!...I just picked them up from following Luxxtone & Revel guitars Insta & snapped them up as they came up!..really must stop doing that now!!

I understood from Wes that Luxx had an issue with lack of parts through the covid thing, but not sure yet if they are back upto speed..speak to Wes at Rebel, he may have a few coming through the pipeline etc

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Ok, educate me. How is an HSS setup better/different than a 5-way HH? Im loving my Ibanez RGs with HH config and 5-way switch. Heck, I even have one that is a 3-way with bridge, neck and "quack".

The middle S is always right where I pick and I've removed the pickup and put a very low set dummy cover in many HSS RGs (eg my PGM 10th).

I hate the high-end JC and JCRGs that come in HSS, and, don't get me started on fixed vs. trem - I gave up my trem bar in the 90s.

These days, I'm commissioning custom builds from Ibanez Japan : 628mm scale RGs in HH config with a single knob (volume) where the tone knob would be. Add a PLEK and remove the bleed cap and i'm in heaven. Love 'em.

Oh, and get off my lawn!!!
 
Ok, educate me. How is an HSS setup better/different than a 5-way HH? Im loving my Ibanez RGs with HH config and 5-way switch. Heck, I even have one that is a 3-way with bridge, neck and "quack".

The middle S is always right where I pick and I've removed the pickup and put a very low set dummy cover in many HSS RGs (eg my PGM 10th).

Better is a matter of opinion. I like the HSS configuration because you get a true single coil neck pickup sound, the neck / middle single coil combination (which is one of my favorite settings to play with clean tones), and you get a nice bridge humbucker sound for when you want to play more driven parts.

While I do like the HH with five way setup, it is my opinion that the only two great sounding settings are the neck humbucker by itself and the bridge humbucker by itself. The other three settings are usually just okay sounding. A split humbucker never sounds quite as good as a true single coil pickup and the middle position with both humbuckers really needs dual volume controls in order to get what I want out of that sound. Most HH S style guitars don't have the dual volume controls.

If you love the HH / 5 way setup then more power to you. I can totally understand why you wouldn't want a middle pickup if it gets in the way of your pick.
 
Ok, educate me. How is an HSS setup better/different than a 5-way HH? Im loving my Ibanez RGs with HH config and 5-way switch. Heck, I even have one that is a 3-way with bridge, neck and "quack".

The middle S is always right where I pick and I've removed the pickup and put a very low set dummy cover in many HSS RGs (eg my PGM 10th).

I hate the high-end JC and JCRGs that come in HSS, and, don't get me started on fixed vs. trem - I gave up my trem bar in the 90s.

These days, I'm commissioning custom builds from Ibanez Japan : 628mm scale RGs in HH config with a single knob (volume) where the tone knob would be. Add a PLEK and remove the bleed cap and i'm in heaven. Love 'em.

Oh, and get off my lawn!!!

For me: Strictly to have a low output single in the neck. The split coiled humbucker just doesn't do it for me. I did a Warmoth build with two HB's and did a split for the neck and it's just not the same. But I do make use of it for clean sounds. I have a 5 way in it and had it wired per the Pete Thorn signature Suhr. Mr. Suhr was cool enough to email me the diagram after I DM'd him on the GearPage forum. Basically the 5th position is the neck HB, split coil. The 4th is full HB neck.
 
That's so awesome; I had no idea they made anything custom at all!

I understand that they don't build a custom to your specs. I believe that with Custom Shop they refer to some unique and very expensive models that they built for the 50th anniversary of the US distributor

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/index.html

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/images/pdf/Where-to-Purchase.pdf

My favorite from that list, the Amethyst LACS11, has not been sold yet. It is $13,999 and it looks like my RG550LTD but with a neck-thru, mahogany, quilted maple and purple finish.
 
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I understand that they don't build a custom to your specs. I believe that with Custom Shop they refer to some unique and very expensive models that they built for the 50th anniversary of the US distributor

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/50-guitars.html

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/japan-custom-shop.html

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/images/pdf/Where-to-Purchase.pdf

My favorite from that list, the Amethyst LACS11, has not been sold yet. It is $13,999 and it looks like my RG550LTD but with a neck-thru, mahogany, quilted maple and a purple finish
I bought this one and they were kind enough to build me 2 more with only one knob in the "tone" position. Expensive...

https://www.ibanez.com/jp/special/jcustom/2014/JCRG1403-WNB.html
 
Ok, educate me. How is an HSS setup better/different than a 5-way HH? Im loving my Ibanez RGs with HH config and 5-way switch. Heck, I even have one that is a 3-way with bridge, neck and "quack".

The middle S is always right where I pick and I've removed the pickup and put a very low set dummy cover in many HSS RGs (eg my PGM 10th).

I hate the high-end JC and JCRGs that come in HSS, and, don't get me started on fixed vs. trem - I gave up my trem bar in the 90s.

These days, I'm commissioning custom builds from Ibanez Japan : 628mm scale RGs in HH config with a single knob (volume) where the tone knob would be. Add a PLEK and remove the bleed cap and i'm in heaven. Love 'em.

Oh, and get off my lawn!!!

There is a slution for that. I had a HSS RG2560EZX and I replaced the neck pickup with a single-coil sized Dimarzio Air Norton S DP180 humbucker. The result was great. I've read that it sounds sweeter than a full-sized Air Norton on that position, but I cannot verify that.

I installed a push-pull coil to split it. But the SC tone was not spectacular when splitted

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I've also converted a RGT 320Q and JCRG 11M-DRR to fixed bridge. They both weigh a ton. I prefer the WNBs and my JCRG 1902. Although, I haven't yet bonded with the active pickups on the 1902.
There is a slution for that. I had a HSS RG2560EZX and I replaced the neck pickup with a single-coil sized Dimarzio Air Norton S DP180. The result was great. I've read that it sounds sweeter than a full-sized Air Norton on that position, but I cannot verify that.

I installed a push-pull coil to split it, but the SC tone was not so good when splitted, though.

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That guitar is a beauty and you grabbed one with an excellent book matched top. I'm a stickler for an unobtrusive seam.

The middle pickup and encroaching volume pot would still aggravate me. I have a Strat and 7/8 wormoth build with stacked humbuckers and they sound great. I chose the Injector set for my Warmoth and the strat has the stock N3s.
 
I understand that they don't build a custom to your specs. I believe that with Custom Shop they refer to some unique and very expensive models that they built for the 50th anniversary of the US distributor

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/50-guitars.html

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/japan-custom-shop.html

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/special/50th_Anniversary/images/pdf/Where-to-Purchase.pdf

My favorite from that list, the Amethyst LACS11, has not been sold yet. It is $13,999 and it looks like my RG550LTD but with a neck-thru, mahogany, quilted maple and purple finish.
Wow!!! Just Wow!!
 
Yes nitro as i understand it , necks are lovely satin finish too...Around £2k GBP in general...most of mine have come from Wes Bentley at Rebel Guitars ( great guy to deal with ) the 2 with fender bridges from world guitars in the Uk.
I only ever ordered one, the tele below ,and that was from Boxcar guitars , but that has now gone, that took about 6 months , but was sometime ago!...I just picked them up from following Luxxtone & Revel guitars Insta & snapped them up as they came up!..really must stop doing that now!!

I understood from Wes that Luxx had an issue with lack of parts through the covid thing, but not sure yet if they are back upto speed..speak to Wes at Rebel, he may have a few coming through the pipeline etc

View attachment 102014

Do you still own this guitar? Luxxtone makes some amazing instruments.
 
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