Steve Vai was NOT the first! Guitar design history revisited!
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- Опубликовано: 19 сен 2019
- Steve Vai was NOT the first to do this! Guitar design history revisited!
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Are you aware of other guitar players that were doing this before Vai??? 
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A little more on Vai’s green Charvel. It was a loaner from Grover and was painted green without Grover’s consent, which annoyed him but we went with it. He guitar has a ‘sister’ guitar. The sister is The Charvel Steve Farris of Mr Mister used innthe 80’s, the one with a pale coloured burst finish. The bodies were made out of the same plank and the necks were from the same blank.
After posting this video, the following names have also come up and been verified as using HSH configuration in some way before Steve Vai (~1983 or 1984), and in addition to Dave Murray (Iron Maiden, 1980 or earlier):
-Alvin Lee (Ten Years After, late 60s)
-Bob Weir (Grateful Dead, mid 70s)
-Andy Scott (The Sweet, mid to late 70s)
-Hiram Bullock (David Letterman, etc., early 80s)
-The guitarist in the video for the song "Obsession" (Animotion, 1984/85)... sorry, I have not been able to validate who he is.
If you know of more, and can point to images or videos of the artist using such a guitar before 1987, leave a comment! :)
Dave Murray's black strat in early Maiden was killer. Especially with the chrome rings.
Yeah I think his Strat is very iconic! :)
I dont mean to be so off topic but does someone know a method to log back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly lost my password. I would love any help you can offer me!
@Zaiden Landon instablaster ;)
Spoiler alert but I kinda figured lol
Very interesting! Nice history to geek out on!!! \w/
Thanks Brian! :)
Steve vai created the 5-way split coil H-S-H configuration, which is now used all over the world. He also created the first true floating tremolo, which can go up a fifth - or even an octave - depending which note is fretted (listen to attitude song, if you don't believe me).
well, before that Gibson Victory already had a HSH with 5 way switch and as well a coil split (1981)
Up a octave?? Um that’s a no. You will break a string . Up a fifth? .. ummm nope .. good luck even getting up a second. You can however hit a note then tap a harmonic overtone up a 5th or octave .. then use trem
@@tpike32 Most (expensive) JEM's have *Ibanez Edge* as their bridge (similar to Gotoh GE1996T). Joe Satriani favors Edge, too (Ibanez JS*).
Some have mentioned a 5th (+7 semitones). I'm not sure how common/realistic that is. Or if there are some caveats.
A random JEM Jr. (no fret leveling etc.) produces about +4 semitones (a Major 3rd), when G is from 8-38 set. The limiter here is string starting to buzz against a fret. Which Vai sometimes does deliberately, to get a sound effect.
So, about 5 semitones (a 4th) with real JEM, proper setup and bit thicker G doesn't sound too crazy.
I got +3/+2/+1 semitones on G/B/E -string of Mexico Stratocaster (no routing, Vintage Style, propably 8's).
Full octave, i.e. 12 semitones, sounds too much. But perhaps even that is achievable with some serious extra-special DIY-routing and mile-high action. Might be bit scary to use, though... 😉
@@eukariootti1 I have the Ibanez Jem . And yes it has the edge trem. It is impossible to raise ( from normal position ) up a 5th . As the trem block will hit the body , preventing it from going any higher . You can however push the bar down to lower the pitch possibly a octave . As the starting point then raise pitch .
As far as Steve Vai’s sound . That is created by pulling high E string off fretboard as it hits edge of fret it produces a high pitch
The Jem had the first locking tremolo that could pull up. Alot of players had Strats with floating tremolos. Hank Marvin comes to mind.
Great video!
Davey's strat is iconic. Ive known this for the longest and I'm a drummer.
Awesome video! Also I’m gonna add the late funk/fusion player Hiram Bullock. He had a strat that was set up in this configuration that he bought used from someone in the 70s. Hiram can be seen using in a video on RUclips that’s from I think 1981. So definitely some players on that same wavelength Vai was on.
Thanks Dylan! I'm not familiar with Hiram other than he was on Letterman. I'll have to go and check him out now, so thanks for sharing that! :)
PDX Guitar Freak no problem :D
Dave’s the man! One of the most underrated player in history. I’ve always wondered if he put the humbuckers in his Strat before Eddie did.
Fantastic video very informative
Thanks Ben! :)
Nice guitar history lesson, Dave sensei!!
Hey JC, thanks bro! :)
This is a pretty cool vid! 🤘👽
Freaking a. I have always wondered where the config originated. Thank you!!
You're awesome man! I've learned so much from watching your videos, you have a really cool personality, a few years back i learned cowboys from hell solo with your lesson. Really enjoi how you break down each section with what it is, why it is and where it possibly came from, and you're a bad ass player. Keep it up pdxguitarfreak!
Hey John, thanks for the very cool comment. I always appreciate hearing that little old me can inspire others. :)
Very good technical topic - great hearing guitar history like this
Thanks! :)
My first guitar was HSH strat I got from the store. Gave it to my bro before I really understood how they worked compared to single coils. Now I own a Steve Vai Ibanez Gem 77 and many other guitars I love them can’t own enough of them.
Actually I believe Alvin Lee at Woodstock was the first with this pickup configuration
I think we may have a winner here :) Seriously, I completely overlooked that. Thank you!
yes!
Alvin Lee was such a badass player, there's a reason he was called Fast Fingers Alvin Lee. Some of those lines in I'd Love to Change The World are just BRILLIANT, even now lyrically the song is still relevant too but his playing was extraordinary.
Hiram Bullock. 1982 on David Letterman but had his strat several years before that
No wig!!! My lawdy!! I'll watch this later (wife in the room studying)..Ahhh, Helix light is KILLER.
Hey Johnny! Glad to hear you are still digging the Helix! 🤘
Super informative. Missing the afro! ;)
LOL ...he, I mean, it, will be back !
It's not a Strat, but Alvin Lee's Gibson 335 pre-dates these guys by about 20 years as regards HSH configuration ;)
That's right! 👍 (I think he played it at Woodstock - I'm Going Home)
Interesting video.
Thanks Fuzz! :)
Dave said in an interview back in '09 when Fender released the signature Artist Series version of the black strat that he replaced the original bridge and neck pickups with a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and a Dimarzio PAF in the neck because he was looking for a heavier sound. He did say he still has the original pickups safely stored. He still has the guitar but it was retired in the late '80s.
I used to like to play around with 70s and 80s original BC Rich guitars bc they had that varitone, parallel/series, split coil everything and their mother wiring ethic. Granted a lot of it has been condensed in modern guitars bc it’s not cool to cover guitars with controls anymore. You see more of this every option deal with basses.
I used to own a BC Rich Eagle that had the half electronics kit: preamp, coil split for each p/u, varitone, and phase switch. It looked cool, but I never dug the varitone (too much tone sucked out), and the preamp was too woofy. Still, the other controls were nice, but at the end of the day it looked cooler than it was practical. I haven't owned the full electronics kit... that looks wild :)
The only thing I know for sure is that before Steve Vai I never saw tremolos being raised UP in pitch. I remember him saying he would install a Floyd Rose but he would carve out the wood so the tremolo could be raised.
That Dave Murray guitar is like my holy grail.
I think a phonecall to Dave might be in order mate!
David Lee Roth? :)
@@PDXguitarfreak Murray mate! Bloody hell!
@@bambambamVB3 LOL sorry, I had a "duh" moment obviously :)
I cant help but mentioning... the floyd rose tricks were done by Brad Gillis. Holdsworth before him; as far as floating bridge for slurring notes and vibrato. Definately pickup up Speak Of The Devil by Ozzy and I rest my case.
Yes Mr. Murray and some country guitarists. Heck Robbie Robertson was doing weird stuff with single coils
Bob Weir is another one. Im a huge Deadhead and Weir had them in his Artist and afterwards but certainly before Vai, in the early 80s.
have you ever heard of Gibson Victory ? i got one in the early '80s (i think 1981) , it had HSH before Jem for sure.
Steve Vai fue el primero que uso la configuración actual de HSH que conocemos, porque anteriormente a el usaban la configuración HSH pero sin el split coil de las posiciones 2 y 4, anteriormente a Vai se combinaba las 2 bobinas del humbucker con el simple bobina del medio. Vai fue el primero que uso las posiciones 2 y 4 con el doble bobina en modo dividido.
Vai ruined that beautiful finish and wood tone on Grover Jackson's guitar, he ultimately painted green. Liked it but thought it was bare ,like Eddie grabbing parts for his iconic guitar, boogie body ,charvel neck ? I think . But long story short ,it was neat the green but wow what a beauty before he ruined it
I have been thinking about assembling a strat or tele body like this.
I currently only own one guitar with the HSH configuration (the one in the video). I love the tonal diversity, but any time I pick up a guitar with a middle pickup, I have to slightly adjust where I pick or be more careful (because I naturally tend to pick right at that spot, and I really dig in too LOL). :)
PDX Guitar Freak your guitar in the video looks amazing. Love the top. Do you use the middle single coil much? Maybe a tone demo is required. Great subject.
@@superweak Thanks bro, with this particular Ibanez I'm holding, I only use the middle pickup when it's combined with one of the others... so basically, in positions 2 or 4 of the five way selector, where it's the middle pickup plus the inner coil of one of the humbuckers... and only for clean tones. I'm really not a fan of using middle pickups by themselves. That said, when I pick up this Ibanez, I tend to use it mainly for it's "shred" qualities, so it's mostly the humbuckers. On a regular Strat, I'm using those positions 2 and 4 much more (for both clean and dirty playing), but again never the middle by itself. Maybe I'm missing something by not using the middle one alone, but I've just never found it useful that way :)
PDX Guitar Freak does Malmsteen exclusively use single coils (obviously in 2 & 4 at times but this isn’t really a humbucker) ?
@@superweak I'm not intimately familiar with his pickups, but understand they are hum cancelling, and use two coils (stacked on top of each other instead of side by side) but still sound like single-coils.
Why put a humbucker in the neck position?
Memanglah dia tak kata dia yg pertama design super strat ni......tp dari design guitar Jem signature dia lah Ibanez Rg ada sekarang.......
I don't want one position! I want all positions!
We want the Kama Sutra guitar! I mean bass! LOL :)
I believe the correct term is Kama Basstra.
It was never about the pickup configuration. It was the way he had it wired that was unique.
Completely understand. I was focused simply on the fact that HSH wasn't as popular before Vai and Ibanez did that.. since then, it is everywhere :)
Great video. Definitely get your geek on. Funny enough, I would like to add myself to that list. I was a big Iron Maiden fan growing up, and I loved the concept of the versatility of HSH set up. Got a used Strat, ( funny enough, that's my name, I'm Greek, it's not an uncommon name), and had it modified. That was around 83/84, I was 14. I've been doing it ever since. I even modified one and added Seymour Duncan hot rails in neck and bridge, when they first came out in 89. That's at least 10/15 earlier than even Murray did , and Fender made his newer signature. I had a Dave Murray before he did...lol. Just with a 5 way switch. I'm sure there's many Maiden fans who did that way before Vai got credited for that trend. Probably the most versatile pickup combination out there.
Ted Greene had that configuration.
I hope to God it wasn't the same guitar that DM did the Pete Townsend, crash-bang-wallop thing with in Dortmund, circa 83. My hunch is that they swapped to some bog standard squier strat, whose action alone makes you want to go to town on it. Not to mention the tremelo. Floyd Rose it was not, though crap it sure was!
But steve vai did invent the floating vibrato bridge right?
Brad Gillis (Ozzy/Night Ranger) was doing the extreme floating tailpiece back in '82 for sure, probably before that as he was one of the first guitarist to get a Floyd Rose trem. Strats had slight floats to do a vibrato effect but I believe Gillis was doing this before Vai.
Ask Dave.
I think Joe Bonamassa may have patented the word nerdville. So we have to so we have to come up with a cool name for your nerdiness Dave. As much as I love the instructional videos I equally enjoy a little history lesson too. Thanks bro
Hey thanks bro! Trying to branch out over here a bit, so I'm happy to hear people are receptive. Rock on Dave!
Hey Freak here's one for you, is Steve Vai the first player to use a "Monkey Grip" style guitar?
Yap
I'm not sure I've seen anyone use anything similar prior to Vai :) Did you have one in mind?
@@PDXguitarfreak PDX Guitar Freak A couple of months ago I came across a picture on the internet of a guitar from the early to mid 70s that had a "handle cutout" in the body, it wasn't a Strat style body either. As soon as I saw the first thing that came to mind was the Ibanez Gem and if this was where Vai got the idea for it, the cutout was more like the Bones or Tander guitar without the finger grooves. I knew I should have saved that picture but I will do my best to try and find it again, I can't remember the brand or if it was something someone did but it definitely was years ahead of anything Vai had or played.
@@dickdastardly2560 I would love to see that photo if you find it! :)
I miss your sunglasses and big wig. Why did you lose them?
LOL hey bro, honestly I kept myself in disguise for many years... initially because it was fun, and then it became a matter of just now wanting to risk anyone professionally recognizing me (but what are the odds of that? LOL). The old persona will come back occasionally :)
Did Vai say “mass produced “?
Did Vai say that, or did I say that? LOL ...Not sure I understand where the question is coming from :)
HEY DAVE!!! So...Are you a "P"hyscian "DX"diagnosed Guitar Freak!!?
LOL I definitely geek out on stuff like this :)
Andy Scott.
Andy Scott from Sweet? I was never into them (obviously I know Ballroom Blitz, but that's about it), so admittedly have no clue. Have you seen photos/videos of him with one?
I hope it will works: sk.pinterest.com/pin/436567757627142801/
@@donDonau Wow, that is awesome and if the caption is correct, it is 1976. Also, looks just like Dave's! Thank you for sharing!!! :)
I believe its 76-77. That poster was my roommate that time. :) Im glad you appreciated it.
First superstrat
As far as weird guitars, Steve Morse had a self-modded Tele with 2 H's and 2 S's back in the day. It also had a Strat neck. Freakiest looking thing you ever saw. I'm sure he was the first - AND LAST - because it was so hideous.
In other words Steve Vai did give us HSH. He’s just not the first to use a neck humbucker!
I think it's safe to say that Steve and Ibanez made it massively popular... but, they weren't the first to configure a guitar that way :)
@@PDXguitarfreak as "M C" pointed out, Alvin Lee's Gibson 335 was HSH from back in the day. (It just wasn't a Strat, and didnt catch on)
Steve Vai wasn’t the first & neither was Dave Murray… Frank Zappa was running HSH stratocasters before either of them. And there’s something I see that doesn’t make sense to me… people give Eddie Van Halen credit for the first Strat with a humbucker (he’s stated many time he built _Frankenstrat_ to incorporate both Gibson & Fender tone)...That being said…the Gibson humbucker in _Frankenstrat’s_ bridge position is tilted (45° top-front slanted) to compensate for having a _Gibson (regular)_ string spacing pickup, on a Guitar with Fender string spacing. _F-Spaced_ Humbuckers & _Trembuckers_ didn’t exist in the 1970s…so why in the pictures of Murray you suspect are from the mid to late 1970 are all his humbuckers straight??
People STILL installed them this way, the "straight" alignment. Humbucker mounting rings are designed that way, routing the body to modify for a humbucker (from a single space) is easier to line up this way as well. They still work that way. Your humbucker (with standard Gibson string spaced poles) will still function fine when lined up "centered" to a wider string aperture will still function.
The problem is (and as was with EVH's reasoning for the "tilt") that SOMETIMES the outlying "E" strings will not be as close to one of the pole pieces as the rest of the strings. Sometimes the solution was to refill the mounting holes for the mounting ring and then line the pickup WITH the mounting ring so that it gets as close to the line-up of "E" strings as the player could get. Re-drill the holes and mount it so that's it's lined-up better. EVH's solution of tilting the humbucker was apparently so that EVERY STRING would cross at least ONE of the poles of the humbucker with two bobbins. The tone effect may not always be the most desirable to ALL players' tastes, but the output in millivoltage will sound more balanced with each string centered on at least one pole, regardless if it's the front or rear bobbin.
Now the issue with Zappa is an important one I believe. He was known to be a fan of the SUPER high output (and extremely sensitive and lively) DiMarzio X2N (also MY favorite humbucker in high output solid-bodies since the late 80's. I even once had a personal phone conversation with Larry DiMarzio about this). The X2N as we know has no pole pieces, but rather uses these magnetic "rails" across the string spacing. When using a "rail" pickup (even one designed for standard "G" spacing) there's not as big an issue with lining up the strings over poles due to aperture differences. The results are typically a more balanced millivoltage output across strings.
Players to this day as you know are still TILTING the bridge humbucker even though you can now get almost any humbucker with bobbins and pole pieces lined up for wider string aperture, mainly because the tonal response can often balance better and therefore sounding more desirable for some players.
*Note - The X2N has been available in "F"F spacing for many many years. The difference is that they increased the width of area that the "rails" cover so it extends slightly beyond the outer edge of both "E" strings. If you DO ever decide to install an X2N I'd still advise the purchasing of one that is indeed F-spaced for the best results, even though you COULD get away with putting in an older standard spaced X2N in a guitar that's spaced for standard single-coils or Floy Rose style bridges such as Jackson, Charvel, Kramers, Ibanez, etc.
~JSV
@@jsv438
Yeah, now that you bring that up, I always wondered about that… on places like eBay, I’ve seen the _F-Spaced_ label (so-to-speak) on DiMarzion _X2N & D Activator X_ pickups… my understanding was that _Regular Spaced_ and _F-Spaced_ (or _Trembucker_ in Seymour Duncan terms) pickups had different placement of the pole pieces to accommodate the string spacing on _Gibson_ vs. _Fender/Floyd_ string spacing but Hot Rails style pickups were never divided up that way… even in the case of a standard Stratocaster or Telecaster pickup placement (both of which have an angled single coil pickup in the bridge position, but straight pickups in the neck & middle positions)
@@lect0n7 Yeah that's about it. They've had (DiMarzio) two or three humbuckers I can remember over the years with the bobbins split having one with a "rail" and one with pole pieces (i.e., Megadrive, etc.). Those too would've had to be ordered in F-spacing for proper pole alignment. The thing with Duncan's "hotrails" style and DiMarzio's "Fast Track" rail-style singles were not ever sized that way because they're all basically single coil replacements and have a standard F-style spacing by default (and no pole pieces to line up anyway). They make the "rail" pickups in a Tele style as well with the Telecaster triangular flange base. I think I've installed about 50,000 of them in the 35 years I've been doing this work. LOL!! Yeah.. no not really 50,000--just feels like that lol!
I was also working for an Ibanez dealer and doing authorized warranty service there from the first year the JEM was released in '87. We had some great conversations w/the Ibanez reps' about the JEMs and 500/700 series in those years.
~JSV
@@jsv438
Yeah, I was born in the 1st week of September, 1985… My dad’s a (now retired) electrical engineer who put himself through engineering school with his Stratocaster (or, actually, at *THAT* time he had a Sonic Blue _Fender Music Master_ & then a Gibson _Melody Maker SG)_ he got a used 1969 Stratocaster after that, and there’s been probably 100 guitars _(not an exaggeration)_ which have come & gone between the two of us over the years since I began playing in mid-March of 1988 (which is a couple weeks before I was 2+1/2 years-old) I grew up with Stratocasters, and as an Adult I always felt more comfortable with Telecasters. When I was in college I was exposed to a couple of fellow college students who had guitars with locking tremolos & as an Engineering Student, they naturally came to me to figure out how to make them operate properly…I discovered that _’Floating’_ tremolos require tremolo stabilizers & *A LOT* of adjustment and tuning _(so-to-speak)_ in order for a floating Floyd to work properly it must be perfectly balanced which the tremolo stabilizers make easier… but it’ll also work well if you just tighten the living *F* Outta the tremolo claw, but that’ll make it *NOT* float… there’s other things I’m experimenting with now like a _Schaller Sure Claw_ combined with tremolo stabilizers; _Rockinger Black Box/FU-Tone Black Box/Göldo Back Box_ (all three are the exact same thing), _ESP Arming Adjuster/AxLabs Trem-Endus Stabilizer (again, same thing) & a generic _Double Trem-Endous/Arming Adjuster, Hipshot Tremsetter, a Generic Brass Single Stabilizer, Generic Brass Double Stabilizer_ I haven’t been able to get my hands on an _Ibanez Backstop_ but here’s what air can tell you; it’s a _Double-Stabilizer_ & double-stabilizers & multiple stabilizers must be set perfectly even, so a good single stabilizer is actually better…
@@lect0n7 I for one am a HUGE fan of full-floating trem. There ARE ways! I developed a few.. ah hem.. "tricks" that keep them very stable. Found also that the LEAST problematic of any full-floating trem is the Ibanez Edge. Second on my list is the FLOYD II style, or also known as the Schaller Floyd. That's the shorter one with more mass in the base. The older original Floyd's are very good too, but unfortunately they only make my list at #3. Still really like them though.
The stabilizers; oh man we've handled so many versions here. I'll say that the SIMPLEST that STILL gives the player a full-float "feeling" would be (hard to believe) the WD Tremolo Stabilizer! Yes! Very simple design, easy for most players with experience to even possibly install it properly themselves, not expensive, and I don't see too much need for a huge improvement since it REALLY does work that well.
The "Back Stop" from Ibanez; I STILL have two older Ibanez guitars w/those in them (not always set up though since I favor the full-float set-up) and they were my all time fav's EXCEPT for the fact that they stopped production WAY too soon. Should've remained offering those as a factory option or at least continued them on either the 540 series (Saber, Power, Radius) OR at least on the continued S-series bodies. I also scored a couple years ago from Ibanez while still working for a dealer. I HAD ONE on this 550 you'll see on the screen shot presentation of this clip, but later used it for something else. (LOL I even had one I used as a keychain back then!!)
ruclips.net/video/bVhAwKpjcE0/видео.html
I preferred having all my modified 550's with full-float set-up and still do. I need that "flutter" effect and a few other far-out tricks a stabilized trem WON'T allow the player. Nothing flutters like these Edge trems too. ONE of the tricks.. is to have the plane of the bridge to sit BACK so the top is almost LEVEL, NOT sloped up like they suggested in the service manuals. I found that out real early and set ALL my customers Ibanez up that way. Had THE best results. Continuing that same philosophy with Schaller and original Floyd's--set the level of the bridge base BACK about a millimeter.. BAM! More stability and better flutter, a bit more sustain we've noticed too over the years. There are a couple other tricks we use here but I've said too much already lol...
Schaller sure claw was a fabulous replacement for the older crappy claws we all still use. As much as I DO like them and love the materials, worm gear adjustment, and balanced stability, I STILL CAN'T get that "flutter" off my bar flicking-n-tricking. So in guitars I need that hyper response..? Alas I have relegated myself to the g00d ol' standard so the springs can still be angled in the center of the claw. Really though that's only necessary if you need that extreme option. You can't use the WD Stabilizer with the Sure-Claw, but that one is really for the true floaters, and fans of the Stabilizer will see the older style claws are fully compensated with the WD Stabilizer installed inside the Low-E side spring.
ruclips.net/video/bVhAwKpjcE0/видео.html
ps- on this clip btw, I played most of the tracks I was hired to play on a Reebok ad (if I can remember correctly) with that first-run issue RG550DY that has a custom pickguard with a single fast track in the neck and an X2N in the bridge, with a full scalloped neck. You'll see I also cut the oval handles in my 550's as well. A couple of the solo tracks were played on a 1987 540 Saber with scalloping from 12-up due to it being a rosewood board. Ha! I STILL have that yellow 550 but another one of mine, a '92, had become my main 550 about 15 or so years ago. That one too has the H-S-S set up w/a fully scalloped maple neck and the oval handle as well. I even reshaped (slightly) the back profile of these 550's when I scallop them.
~JSV
Except i think Dave murray his wiring was different just 3 way instead of 5 way like Steve
Yes, that is my understanding too. I mention that toward the end of the video :)
I think that whether Vai came up with the idea first or not, or who was first is irrelevant. All of the early users were users that modified a different set-up to have a HSH arrangement and of course the way each were used could be different. Dave Murray foe example could of been H, H+S, S, S+H, H rather than splitting the humbucker to Single coil when used with the Single in the middle - the way Ibanez still does to this day.
The only thing that does matter really us who released that combination in a mass produced product. Gibson wasn't the first Electric guitar company to make a 'Les Paul' shape guitar - Bigsby did for Merle Travis although that had a very Fender shaped headstock. Ibanez maybe the first to mass produce a HSH guitar despite offers modding their guitars to the pickup layout. I doubt Dave Murray's fender Strat you showed was 'stock'!!!
Hey thanks for the comment. Dave's guitar was definitely not stock, given it was a '57 Strat. As for the pickup wiring, as I said in the video I'm willing to bet it was...
Position one: bridge humbucker
Position two: single coil
Position three: neck humbucker
Since original Strats had a 3 way selector (and not a 5 way), I'm factoring that in too. Of course, he could have added a 5 way selector and configured the wiring as you described... that's a possibility. However, Dave's signature HSH Strats that came many years later were configured the way I described (3 position... H, S, H), so I'm also factoring that into my assumption that Dave's guitar in question was the same. :)
@@PDXguitarfreak the reason I made a point about Murray's guitar was more about the fact that it was a modification and not factory spec. Vai/Ibamez can still be considered first because they were the first to bring out a guitar built with this set-up.
Its like Paul Reed Smith who was making guitars before he started his factory and the 'first' PRS is the one that was ready to ship first in 1985. Earlier models aren't part of the history of the brand although part of the history of the man behind the brand.
It seems that bringing something to market is what matters here. Most in terms of 'firsts' and who was the first to actually mod a guitar in this way may get no recognition at all unless it was Vai back in his Zappa days. It could be some unknown person whose HSH is in an attic or worse, lost foe all time. The only reason we know 1 or 2 modded guitars before the Jem released is because of their fame and the photographic evidence.
@@BAMozzy69 I hear what you are saying. The point of the video was because I was most interested in finding out which players were using them prior to Vai. Similar to discussions wherein people want to know who finger-tapped before Van Halen. I just find it very interesting :)