Looking for a Super-Strat Guitar to do James Tyler Lead/Rhythm circuit mods

[jay_bucketzbrigade115]

Hello everyone!

I am trying to make a decision on which guitar I should purchase to be my "workhorse guitar." I have been doing a lot of research on this, but as someone who has virtually no experience with wiring configurations on guitars besides changing pickups occasionally, I wanted to detail what it is that I am looking for, so more experienced people than I can confirm if what I am searching for is possible so I can determine how to spend my money best.

I am looking for a Super Strat-style guitar that I want to be able to successfully install the James Tyler Lead/Rhythm circuit into (essentially, the Demeter Tyler preamp/Midboost, three mini toggle switches for each pickup to do series/split/parallel wiring, a neck/bridge on switch,//button and a "lead" switch/button to go to the bridge pickup in series at any time). The USA/MIJ-made Tylers that feature this setup are completely out of my price range; I am trying to look for something that is under $2000 that I can then take to a tech/luthier to modify accordingly and add these features in. From my research, I have identified two guitars that I am currently considering:

1. Ibanez Prestige AZ2407F - While this guitar is above $2000 in price normally, I have a discount through my job where I can buy Ibanez guitars at half price, which puts this well within my price range with the quality of this guitar being considerably better than comparable offerings. This would be ideal for me, as I would have one of the highest quality Ibanez guitars with some of my favorite specs - a roasted maple neck/fingerboard, 24 frets, a great Gotoh floating trem system, and a versatile configuration of DiMarzio pickups. With the way the Tyler switching works, since this is an HSH guitar, I would presumably only have to replace the Middle pickup with a Seymour Duncan Classic Stack to keep the aesthetic appeal of the guitar while still being able to do the switching I want to do (I know Tyler uses their own pickups now instead of Duncans, but i'm not sure how they do the wiring now if the pickups aren't stacks like the Duncan ones are).

I didn't want to buy any of the HSS Prestige models as they already have their dyna-Mix switching they do with the Hyperion pickups, and are their own thing. To do the Lead/Rhythm switching, I'd have to get rid of the two single-coil Hyperion pickups completely and the dyna-Mix switching, which would basically be getting rid of what makes that guitar unique. The AZ2407F, being HSH with no switching preinstalled, will have one less pickup that needs to be replaced and is more of a blank canvas for what I want to do. The only worry I have is if the body cavity would be able to fit all of the wiring components necessary, and if it would be a good idea for a tech to even mess with drilling a bunch of holes in the guitar for all of the switches/buttons that would be needed since the guitar body is kind of slim and doesn't have a pick guard like the Tylers do.

2. James Tyler JTG - This is a more obvious choice, as it is the cheapest Tyler to buy. While it is cheaper than the Ibanez stock, it would be more expensive for me because of my work discount for the Ibanez. The JTG already comes with the midboost, so I wouldn't have to buy that, but I would presumably have to replace the two single coils on the guitar with stacks to do the wiring (again, not sure how Tyler is doing it with their pickups now; any advice here for me to understand better is much appreciated).

In addition, since the midboost is preinstalled, there is already a hole in the guitar pick guard for where the midboost volume knob sits, so if I wanted to add everything else, I may have to get a custom pickguard from a third-party buyer before installing. However, I have fewer questions about whether the body cavity would be able to fit everything for the switching, as this is a Tyler and looks to be the same shape/style as the more expensive offerings. Rich Renkin has also talked about offering loaded pickguards on Tyler's site at some point for these guitars, with all the switching pre-installed, though this hasn't been done yet.


So these are the two options I am considering. I'd prefer to buy the Ibanez, but if the wiring is impossible to do in that guitar, I will probably go with the JTG. Again, I don't have any experience with wiring configurations, but I also don't have anyone in my circle who knows the answers to these questions, so I wanted to ask here before I choose what guitar I want to spend my money on and bring it to a tech/luthier, as I don't want it to go to waste. I appreciate any insight you all can give!

 

[hunter]

I have a JTG and it’s as good as anything. Not missing the humbucker sound on the neck, the mid boost can emulate that well enough.

I personally think too many switching options on a guitar are just clutter. But do what you have to.

JTG already having the mid boost and battery compartment makes it a no brainer IMO.

 

[DrewJD82]

I've heard nothing but great things about those JTG's man, to the point I'm interested in them when I know I can build a partscaster closer to my preferred specs for cheaper. No doubt you can hit up Rich Renken form Tyler Guitars and he can set you straight on what you can and can't do with the existing JTG setup. He's good people.

I believe they're all sold out right now, so that might push ya closer to the Ibanez, which will surely do just as fine of a job, but in the spirit of what you're going for, the JTG seems a bit cooler.

 

[Eagle]

The Ibanez is a good choice. Even a carefully selected premium would be fine because you will be gutting the electrics if you want the full Tyler wiring. Remember that JT made the first ones of these out of Strats, Kramers and kit parts . He totally rebuilt them. Refret , rewire, adding a Floyd.

 

[Eagle]

The wiring is not that complicated but you need someone with good soldering skills.

 

[littlebadboy]

You may not be considering unknown brands but this affordable EART guitar model just popped in my mind when you mentioned about your modd project. It already has stainless frets and decent hardware ready to be paired with your JT electronics mods. I tried out their headless model before, and the build quality was good.

With your budget, you may have a lot of leftovers for a pickup upgrade, bridge upgrade like the Vegatrem, etc, if needed.

Not same model...

 

[Eagle]

You may not be considering unknown brands but this affordable EART guitar model just popped in my mind when you mentioned about your modd project. It already has stainless frets and decent hardware ready to be paired with your JT electronics mods. I tried out their headless model before, and the build quality was good.

With your budget, you may have a lot of leftovers for a pickup upgrade, bridge upgrade like the Vegatrem, etc, if needed.

Not same model...

That may be ok if you replace all the electrics , all the hardware and fret dress it.

 

[jay_bucketzbrigade115]

I've heard nothing but great things about those JTG's man, to the point I'm interested in them when I know I can build a partscaster closer to my preferred specs for cheaper. No doubt you can hit up Rich Renken form Tyler Guitars and he can set you straight on what you can and can't do with the existing JTG setup. He's good people.

I believe they're all sold out right now, so that might push ya closer to the Ibanez, which will surely do just as fine of a job, but in the spirit of what you're going for, the JTG seems a bit cooler.

I've heard nothing but great things about those JTG's man, to the point I'm interested in them when I know I can build a partscaster closer to my preferred specs for cheaper. No doubt you can hit up Rich Renken from Tyler Guitars and he can set you straight on what you can and can't do with the existing JTG setup. He's good people.

I believe they're all sold out right now, so that might push ya closer to the Ibanez, which will surely do just as fine of a job, but in the spirit of what you're going for, the JTG seems a bit cooler.

Yeah, the JTG would be a no-brainer pick if I didn't have the opportunity to get the Ibanez at such a good price. It just seems like such a good guitar. If I got the Ibanez now, I would still probably make it a goal of mine to own one of the higher end James Tyler guitars some day. Numerous people are selling them on Reverb, so availability isn't a significant concern for me when comparing the two. The switching is important to me just because of the variety of tones you are able to get from one guitar, and some of the Tyler parallel tones being essential to many '80s hit songs. The switch going to the bridge in series would be the one I could do without, as it's more for convenience, but it's still nice to have. I have also considered reaching out to Rich about this, and I'll probably do that. I've heard similar things.

The Ibanez is a good choice. Even a carefully selected premium would be fine because you will be gutting the electrics if you want the full Tyler wiring. Remember that JT made the first ones of these out of Strats, Kramers and kit parts . He totally rebuilt them. Refret , rewire, adding a Floyd.

I was hoping you'd comment, Eagle; thanks for sharing your insight. That's good to hear and makes me a lot more confident in my decision. I was considering just getting a cheaper Strat-style guitar and modding that because of what you said about JT modding old Strats, but I figured if I want to do this and for this to truly be a workhorse guitar, I should choose something where everything else on the guitar wouldn't need to be upgraded besides all the electronics. The Ibanez and obviously the JTG seemed like perfect options here.

You may not be considering unknown brands but this affordable EART guitar model just popped in my mind when you mentioned about your modd project. It already has stainless frets and decent hardware ready to be paired with your JT electronics mods. I tried out their headless model before, and the build quality was good.

With your budget, you may have a lot of leftovers for a pickup upgrade, bridge upgrade like the Vegatrem, etc, if needed.

While I probably wouldn't consider this guitar with what I'm looking for, this guitar looks awesome for the price, and was not on my radar, so thank you for sharing it! This seems like a really strong competitor to the Ibanez AZ Standard models that just came out, and the style looks more vintage than those Ibanez models, which is cool.

 

[DrewJD82]

The Ibanez is a good choice. Even a carefully selected premium would be fine because you will be gutting the electrics if you want the full Tyler wiring. Remember that JT made the first ones of these out of Strats, Kramers and kit parts . He totally rebuilt them. Refret , rewire, adding a Floyd.

You know, I played about 8 Premiums a couple weeks ago and was pretty damn impressed. HUGE improvements in comparison to their last several years of output. I had them written off after the first year they were released and now I'm looking at snagging one of these if I can find one cheaper than a Solar-

Not a bit of fret sprout on a single one I played and they didn't have that odd cheap/plastic feeling finish on them. I actually snapped a bunch of pics of the fretwork specifically to post them here but ended up deleting them so I could take video of my dog being a dog. I was really happy to experience that, I had Ibanez written off for the last several years due to the quality of the mid-priced guitars and the pricing of their top-end.

 

[Eagle]

You know, I played about 8 Premiums a couple weeks ago and was pretty damn impressed. HUGE improvements in comparison to their last several years of output. I had them written off after the first year they were released and now I'm looking at snagging one of these if I can find one cheaper than a Solar-

Not a bit of fret sprout on a single one I played and they didn't have that odd cheap/plastic feeling finish on them. I actually snapped a bunch of pics of the fretwork specifically to post them here but ended up deleting them so I could take video of my dog being a dog. I was really happy to experience that, I had Ibanez written off for the last several years due to the quality of the mid-priced guitars and the pricing of their top-end.

Generally speaking I only see good things from Ibanez across the board.