Jimi Hendrix was my first guitar hero, so I've always been trying to figure out how to nail down that "Voodoo Sound." He had some things going on when he flipped that right-handed over to be left-handed that a regular right-handed player just can't capture with stock guitars on the market. When I decided to go down this rabbit hole, I just dug out my notes on all the pickups that I've gotten to examine from that era, along with information I researched on the net and some input from some trusted tone freak friends.
TQR: Why the name Izabella?
As the story goes, Jimi named that white Strat Izabella, so that was the natural choice for the loaded pickguard.
TQR: These are Alnico 5s? How do they measure in general, and do you age the magnets?
Yes, Alnico 5s. In my research, for 1968, the lowest reading pickup that I have examined, or have found on the net was around 5.2, and the highest was about 6.3. I decided, with that range to choose from, the goal was to develop a calibrated set that met all of those parameters. By calibrated, I mean from neck to bridge the pickups increase resistance incrementally. Yes, they are definitely Stocktone custom aged magnets.
TQR: The way you have aged the many sets we've had here is beyond stellar. What pots and capacitors, values, and switches and why? Why did you make the bridge tone knob so subtle?
I took some liberties with the wiring diagram on this one and did some of my favorite mods. We are doing these loaded guards with Bourns pots, because they glide so easily, and they are well made. We decided to put a 5-way Oak Grigsby instead of the traditional 3-way. The neck and middle have their own tone knob with a .047 cap. The bridge has its own tone knob, and I'm going to offer it in either a .0015 cap, which you can tweak in for a subtle humbucker type tone, or a .022 cap, which will operate in a little more familiar territory.
TQR: How did you make those super cool aged gray bottoms?
Staying true to the '68 motif, I had a friend of mine cut the flatwork out of some gray vintage era period correct forbon.
TQR: What guitars do these fit in, upside down Strats or with a wide bridge route? Explain...
To achieve that true "Voodoo Sound," your bridge pickup needs to slant the opposite direction, like when Jimi flipped that right-handed guitar upside down. So, these guards will fit in any Strat with either the boat route or a humbucker route in the bridge position.
TQR: Anything else we need to know?
Another aspect of the "Voodoo Sound" that needed to be captured was when Jimi flipped the guitar upside down, it flipped the pickup pole staggering upside down. This put the short B-String pole under the A-String. That, along with the slanting of the bridge pickup, essentially mellowed out the bass response of the guitar slightly and boosted the lead. Being a working musician myself, I wanted to make an affordable option to take a Mexican made Stratocaster to the next level, or to just finish out your favorite standard. With the tonal options that this setup will get a guy, you should be able to navigate between rock, blues, country, all the way to the South Saturn Delta recordings.
Stocktone Izabella Review
We threw these in a cherished sunburst hardtail Strat with a giant maple neck done by Cody at Gleason Finish & Aging, that has been here by the couch for a year or so. These pickups are all there. Straight out of the blocks we were pleased with how woody, round, and truly Strat city they are. The Izabellas are very responsive when you lean into them and absolutely love fuzz pedals, because of the perfectly tailored and aged winds. Aesthetically, the gorgeous vintage style gray bottoms were a bonus, and the set has beautiful capacitors. That said, we did change out the .0015 for a .022 in the bridge tone pot, and that seemed far more traditional to us, which we opted to keep. The Izabellas have an overall beautiful fullness of body, rounded clarity, and are just plain very absurdly sweet. What a fine, fine, superfine custom Sherman Stockton creation and concept. Yes, so good. Quest forth... TQ—Riverhorse