Thanks for the nice comments, guys. The pickup selection was out of need. I like the warm/round, yet present tone the front pickup provides - still 'singlecoil-ish', but far more of a PAF tone than a std Strat p'up would be. The rear pickup was chosen for two things: 1) high-gain rock/fusion solo tones and 2) when clean with a compressor, yields a nicely convincing pedal steel tone (especially with the low pass filter engaged) - I don't play pedal steel licks (but I do play C&W sometimes) and LOVE the midrange-heavy sweet, steely, bright-yet-round tone that this combo gives.
The midrange pickup was by far the hardest to choose - what was needed was something that would blend with the sonic fingerprint of the bridge and neck models to yield tones (positions 2 and 4) that were most like a regular Strat. I realize that this is not a 'regular' Strat, but I get plenty of quack and whatnot from positions 2 and 4.
I have worked in many different groups over the years and love to play straight ahead jazz, but mostly I work in the realm of 'pop' music (that would include just about anything you would hear on a commercial radio station - true pop, R&B, C&W, rock, blues, etc).
The lowpass filter is my version of a PRS Sweet Switch - in fact, this is exactly where I got the idea - many years ago, I was checking out a PRS and dug the switch. I came up with a combination that works well for my needs. When engaged, it removes all highs above a certain frequency, which gives the appearance of a small midrange boost - there is in fact zero boost, it's just that those mid-freqs are made more apparent by removing the highs, etc. Great for lots of uses - I can go from a spanky/bright funk/rhythm tone to a much fatter/warmer/punchier tone by the flick of this switch.
Robert - the amp is my '66 Bassman in a JD Newell cabinet - I had it built the size of a Fender Twin w/2 12" Reverend All-Tones - killer amp.
Thanks.
Gotta a love an old Bassman!
