The S-500+ is finished! See my Gallery for photos.

[Rodney Hamblen]

I've posted some photos of my just finished S-500+ in my gallery.

In mono mode this is a 3 humbucker guitar, with an additional connection at the connection point between each pair of coils. You can also match any bass coil with any treble coil on the guitar.

In stereo mode the bass pickups go to one amp and effects chain and the treble pickups go to a second amp and effects chain. Due to the close proximity between coils there is significant bass signal induced in the adjacent treble coil and vice versa. So the stereo operation mode isn't as convincing as my Comanche VI+ but this adds a whole new bunch of sounds with the bass or treble signal reduced by several db - giving a brighter or darker guitar based on which pickup you've selected in Comanche VI mode..

In Comanche VI mode all selected bass and treble pickups are in parallel.

The S-500+ is similar in operation to the Comanche VI+ but the sound isn't. Each S-500 coil has 2X the DCR of a Z Coil bass or treble coil.

The bass magnets are 1/8" X 1/8" N42, the treble are 1/8" X 3/32" N42. Each treble magnet has about 1/3 less energy than a bass magnet. The magnets I've selected are similar to Dimarzio"52" Strat pickups (ALNICO 5 for the bass strings, ALNICO 2 for the treble strings).

I don't have a clear plan for the pickups on the next guitar, but it will likely be another bathtub route Tribute Legacy/Comanche/S-500 with a maple fretboard and ash or sassafras body to start with.