Uhm, first of all, I'm sorry about clogging up this forum with a bunch of posts which are probably not interesting to anyone else than me, but I really appreciate your help.

So, on to the part that is only interesting to me. The questions and stuff.

I've started building my own guitar body in school, and as I'm only building the body, I need to buy the rest. So I'm wondering what to buy. And also, I'm wondering about where to place the cavity for the trem, but that depends on what type I buy, so.... Oh, well, I'll just tell you what I think you may want to know to give me the advice I need...

I play quite a lot of different types of music (not like from death metal to classic music, but any type of metal and a bit of rock), but mainly Iced Earth style music. Any ideas for suitable pickups?

The bridge... well, I want a trem, but I don't know if I should go for original Floyd, licensed Floyd, or licensed or original Kahler, and there might be more possibilities. What would you prefer (take the price into consideration)?


I also need to know where to place the cavities for these things, and how big these cavities need to be. So if anyone has a page with info about this, that would be nice. (I probably wont buy the stuff until after the body is finnished (mainly because I just spent $400 on a guitar, and that's quite a lot of money for a person in my situation), so I need to know before I buy)

If there's anything more you want to know, just ask.

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here ya go
www.warmoth.com

im building a guitar in school aswell as part of my gcse tech
good luck

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Thanks, great site.

So, anyone has any suggestions for pickups?
And Floyd or Kahler?

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EMGs for pickups, 81 and 85s, even though i've seen people doing 81 and 89s, i haven't tested that pair out yet. I'd go kahler with bridges, i hear they put floyd rose to shame.

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Yes, definetly, the Kahlers are superior to the floyds, but not cheap.

Seymour Duncan makes nice pickups too, not active, like the Dimebucker, the SA-4 and SA-1's... DiMarzio's are okay too. but if you want actives, go with EMG's, however they won't sound really good when used clean, but the distortion rules.

get good tuners too, schaller, spretzel, etc. good tuners are a MUST have.

i'd say get a EMG-HZ humbucker, and a seymour duncan humbucker. That'd be innovative. You'll still get a great distortion, cause EMG-HZ is just passive EMGs, but then when you switch to clean, you get a nice seymour duncan clean.

but i never minded the EMG clean, i like the bassyness to it.

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Ok, so Kahler is the way to go if I have the money? Does anyone know where I could buy one? Warmoth doesn't sell them, and my local music shop doesn't either.

Have you got personal experience with the Kahler system, or are you just passing on what others have said?

Emg 89 is, as far as I know, an Emg 85 which has been made "splittable" whatever that's supposed to mean. I think it means it can be used as two singlecoils or one humbucker, but I'm not sure.

I'll probably go with EMGs, even though it'll take me ages to get the money to buy them (they are $130 a piece here, and I'm "not exactly rich" so to speak).

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I've played the Haneman ESP a couple of times. And I played it long enough to tell its better then a Floyd... but a Floyd will do fine too... if you get an original. but they aren't cheap either. Kahlers are just a tad better. but also more expensive here.

EMG-hz's sound like shit to me, you're better off buying a seymour duncan dimebucker or an SA-4. there's way better passive elements out there. dont' get Hz's or duncan designed, get the original stuff only.
you don't have to get active pickups for kickass sound, the part about the emg's clean, I don't like them clean because they sound way to tight/sterile, I don't know, there's no 'warmth' in them or something.

if you get passive pickups you can combine pickups, like a good clean pickup at the neck position and a really neat distortion pickup near the bridge... anyways, you need to try them to see which pickup fits your needs... I suggest you try some before you buy anything, you might end up getting the sound you wheren't looking for.

The "original Floyd Rose" that Warmoth sells, is that an original Floyd? (Yeah I know it says it is, but it isn't much more expensive than the licensed one they sell, so I thought I'd be best of asking)

I'll probably go with a Floyd, as I haven't found a place that sells Kahlers.


I checked a few sound samples on the Saymour Duncan page, and I though all pickups (that I listened to) sounded bad in the neck position.

Any recommendations on pickups I should check out?

And thanks alot for helping me, guys!!

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Yeah it looks like the original one, the original has a steel bottom plate, the licenced has not, the difference is that the licenced one is less sturdy.

ehm, pickups, what kinda tone are you looking for? if you want an iced earth sound and you don't have money for EMG's, you'll have to get passive's anyways.
but eh, your budget really sucks... sorry.

and eh, what kinda tuners are you using, or will you be using on your custom project thingy?

I'm busy with building a custom bass myself now, just got the paintjob done, and installed the hardware, refretted the fretboard and working on the electronics now.

Budget... Well, atm, I can only buy the neck *or* the bridge, not both (unless I start using "saved money", ie money that I can't use unless my parents agree (but they do)). But I'm being fed with $100 per month. So, yeah, I don't have the money for 2 EMGs *now*, but I'll get it soon enough.

I'll get Shaller tuners.

Thanks to saunders, I'll probably be able to get EMGs for under $60 a piece (which means I can buy both right now), and a quick look at the EMG site told me all I need to know about where to find wiring info for EMGs.

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yeah, the wiring isn't the problem, the battery cavity sucks, but the EMG's fit in allmost every humbucker config thingy.

I've seen EMG's in about every guitar body possible, a fender with emgs sound pretty kickass, and I really don't like fenders!

Schaller tuners do a good job, what kinda emg's are you going to get? 81's?

The EMGs kind of depend on what I find. I had found an EMG 85 for $40 and a set of 81s for $100 which I was going to buy only one of, and combine with the 85, but both were sold. But I'm gonna keep a close watch on eBay and other such sites. I want an 81/85 combo, but if I can't find one for a reasonable price within a reasonable time, I'll go for an 81/81 combo.

The biggest problem about eBay is that many of them only ship within the US (or charge ridiculous fees for shipping to Sweden). So I'm kind of limited in what I can get. Would be cool if I could get someone in the US for them to ship the stuff to, who would then send the stuff to me, but I don't know anyone in the US well enough for that type of risk-taking.

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if ya want EMG active pickups, then try out an 89.

in humbucker mode it sounds exactly like an 85, and in split mode you have a very nice single coil tone, sounds like an SA.

i use an 89 in the bridge and an 81 in the neck, and sounds awesome. distorted or clean.

better still, i use an EMG PA2 preamp booster, which makes the 89 sound like an 81 at higher frequencies and gives the bottom end some extra volume.

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