Opinions Sought On Colour Scheme

BillDL

I have a feeling this question will elicit some very firm opinions, but I'm sure I'll be able to draw a consensus from it that might well coincide with what I'm already leaning towards.

I recently bought a GSP Basses Tele shaped body from @PVO_Dave.; It is of Alder? with a bookmatched walnut and maple striped cap.  It's a lovely body.  It was originally built with a solid rosewood neck into which Dave inlaid his own logo in abalone, but that was unfortunately sold separately.  I now have a nice roasted maple Tele style neck with a very nice dark rosewood fretboard, so in the photos below I've left the original photo with the rosewood neck and tried (crudely) to change the headstock to look more digestive biscuity colour.  It came out looking a bit yellow, but it's just a rough and ready editing job along the lines of the Royal family's image editing skills.

The top image is of the original configuration.  Chrome bridge and tuners. black uncovered bridge humbucker in a black mounting ring, black soapbar P90 in the neck, and black metal knobs.  I have the chrome bridge that I will use, so I won't be changing it for a black or nickel one, however I have black tuners.  I am undecided about whether to install an uncovered or covered humbucker or a soapbar P90 or mini humbucker, so I've created 4 permutations of "themes" below the original for you to cast your eyes on and form your immediate opinions.  I used different images for the chrome covers and they have a different reflectance, but they would all be chrome.

Suggestions for other permutations are welcome, for example black tuners, cream open bobbin humbucker in black ring, or zebra humbucker, etc, as long as it isn't for a different bridge because that's the one I'll be using.

Please give me your opinions for 1 to 4, based purely on the aesthetics.  I have a general idea of the likely differences in sounds from mini humbucker and P90 soapbar pickups.

1. Chrome covered humbucker in black ring with chrome mini humbucker (either with or without polepieces showing) in black soapbar P90 mounting ring.

2. Same as (2) above but with black P90 soapbar.

3. Chrome covered humbucker in cream ring with chrome mini humbucker in cream soapbar P90 mounting ring, with maple knobs (badly filled in).

4. Same as (4) above, but with cream soapbar P90.

Thank you 

Nerine

Toss up between 1 and 2. 

The cream looks ghastly. 

kossofffan

No 1

pt22

#2

Tough one to nail due the different color woods, but that would be my preference. Have fun!

floeighty2

Chrome bucker, black ring, black p90 for me. Looks smart and purposeful against the wood colour. Just my 2 cents 

strtdv

Black open coil humbucker with black surround, and black P90

drofluf

1 or 2

What are you using for to make the mock-ups? I’ll be asking a similar question soon

Paul_C

1 or 2 for me too.

BillDL

Thanks so far guys.  I can see that I am going to be stuck with a hard choice from two of the options, and that will then need to be based on choice of pickup in the neck.

BillDL

drofluf said:

1 or 2

What are you using for to make the mock-ups? I’ll be asking a similar question soon

I am using an old Windows 7 laptop as a "desktop" with a copy of Corel Photo-Paint version 11.  It's just a merged together software bsed on the old Paint Shop Pro and other Corel image editing software, and I use it because I can find things quickly.  There are better ways to do it, and I could have spent more time doing "masks" with transparent backgrounds, but on the reduced size images I think it gives a reasonable enough representation of what I wanted.  I use IrfanView to do the cropping, because it's a lot quicker, but the Corel software allows me to drag and drop cropped images into an open image and immediately resize and position them.

Kurtis

I actually prefer the bottom two. Second from bottom probably out of the two.

Although I wouldn't choose those pickups, I'd want two the same. 

Tannin

Best to worst:

2
1
(daylight)
4
5
3

Sporky

You can get chrome pickup rings...

...and as previously mentioned, the cream looks ghastly.

BillDL

I should have mentioned that in general I have a preferance for a covered humbucker in the bridge on HSS Strats and HH or other variations on Teles.  I feel that the open bobbin ones leave a bit too much of a gap around them, I'm always nervous of damaging the coils (although more so with open neck pickups), and I sometimes catch the pick on the top of the bobbins.  In this case because of the low profile bridge, I think that only the very top of the bobbins would / will be above the ring.  I deliberately left out black covered humbuckers / mini humbuckers, because they tend to be of satin or matt finish.  That can look great on a mean looking dark shredding machine, but I don't think it would suit this guitar.  If anybody thinks it might look good, eg. black covered humbucker and black soapbar P90, then let me know.

BillDL

Thanks @Sporky.;; I have some flat low chrome and nickel rings that have a nice curvature to the tops.  I hadn't considered that option.

Sporky

Or direct-mount black P90s - with a P90-sized 'bucker in the bridge? Avoid the ring thing entirely.

BillDL

I think in this case I may have some experimentation to get a good match between pickups that will involve a bit of height fiddling, so I would tend to steer away from direct mount.

Sporky

Fair enough!

To answer the original question, 2nd one down looks best to me, but it's your guitar not mine.

BillDL

Ignore.  I misread something.

Tannin

There will be howls of derision ... but I reckon it would look great with gold hardware - pickup covers, bridge, tuners, the lot. Gold can go really well with wood. 

stickyfiddle

1 & 3, but wouldn't the whole thing just be better finished in burgundy mist?