Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Dmoney on April 11, 2012, 11:43:08 PM
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So here is the strat I got. I'm pleased because it has lots of features I wanted to have on a strat, and since I don't have to mess about modding a strat to get them or going down the custom route, then this is cool enough for me! I can understand why a big strat fan might not dig it, but I was after something practical and flexible, as well as 'different' to have fun with. This is all totally stock.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00796.jpg)
Wilkinson Roller Nut. Currently strung with 10's, which is what I use, but this won't fit anything heavier.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00798.jpg)
Locking tuners
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00799.jpg)
Blue, Silver, and Red Lace Sensors, Master Vol, Tone for the Neck pup, TBX tone control for Middle and Bridge.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00802.jpg)
Neck tilt adjust on the pocket there.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00800.jpg)
Hipshot Tremsetter factory installed!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120411-00801.jpg)
Not had much change to play it yet. It's fairly weighty which I like! sounded great earlier. It also has a swimming pool route under the guard, so I'm going to load up some pick guards and chop and change when I get bored or want a new sound. Super flexible. it should be robust as far as tuning stability goes. feels like a real workhorse.
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Doesn't put me off! It's a very nice Strat Plus, with all the features for tuningstability. I'm not a big fan of the Lace Sensors, but they aren't cr@p either. Easy to change them in the future. Have fun with it.
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I like it! Do you know what year it is? I'm guessing early '90s since it has the satin-finished tuners.
Never mind the purists, I had an '89 Strat Plus Deluxe which was the best (Fender) Strat I've ever owned. And the only one I really regret selling.
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I approve of this thread.
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That looks great! Alder, right? I didn't know that Wilkinson made a rolling nut, but that combined with the locking tuners and the two point trem should make for a really stable system, not to mention the tremsetter's added help. Speaking of which, how does the tremsetter feel? Is there an obvious bump or click when returning to neutral, and how does it change the action of the trem itself?
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I've always really liked these.. I don't like natural and would want a colour though.
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I've always really liked these.. I don't like natural and would want a colour though.
I'm no big fan of natural strats either. Apart from that it looks good to me. Gongrats to you.
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Yep, that'll do nicely.
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Can't see the pics at work... but there's a few "purists" have already shown their approval, so I'm guessing I might like it too :D.
I do like natural strats, so I'm looking forward to seeing the pics...
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Looks great to me, a Strat with improvements :)
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I've always wanted one of these as well as the Strat Plus Ultra.
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Looks good to me. Very similar to my working guitar (a MIJ Charvel Strat which is basically a strat with a 100% functionality). Should be great for smooth gigging. Enjoy!
Stephan
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Actually I did sort of the same with MXG Custom Strat: Sperzels, rollernut etc. Now it stays in tune.
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thanks guys!
I like the natural finish, but on the guitars like this which are usually 70's type. Tele customs, P-bass, etc... I prefer them to have black plates rather than white.
I'm guessing since it weighs a fair bit it's Ash bodied.
The tuning stability isn't there yet as I noticed last night, but there are lots of winds around the tuners, which defeats the point of them locking, and the guy I picked it up from had never opened the trem cavity and didn't know if the tremsetter was in there, so it's going to need a bit of setting up to get that all working as it should.
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it's absolute ash.
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very nice
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i've tried one of these before and it was a 'precise' feeling instrument, and had great tone! i think this is a good score :)
if it was me, i'd change some of the plastics to black for that 70s feel. maybe the knobs and pickup covers.
love the ash.
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if it was me, i'd change some of the plastics to black for that 70s feel. maybe the knobs and pickup covers.
:o Proceed with caution - it's not easy getting the covers off Lace Sensors. I tried a couple of times and gave up.
I'd rather keep the white bits but get a black scratchplate.
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if it was me, i'd change some of the plastics to black for that 70s feel. maybe the knobs and pickup covers.
:o Proceed with caution - it's not easy getting the covers off Lace Sensors. I tried a couple of times and gave up.
I'd rather keep the white bits but get a black scratchplate.
In that case I agree with Philly ;)
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good call guys.
I'm going to get Jon at feline to hook me up with some black plates. maybe a couple, even those I won't use them all immediately.
black SSS, HS, HH i reckon.
I probably wouldn't move any of the wiring on the orginal plate.
yo. I just plugged this guitar into the VHT ish amp I built for myself. That Red Lace Sensor sounds cool! Not lacking balls at all in the slightest! Defo not a tone a would associate with single coil though. (not saying single coils lack balls, but I can see why if you wanted a single coil sound, you probably wouldn't want a red lace)
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yo. I just plugged this guitar into the VHT ish amp I built for myself. That Red Lace Sensor sounds cool! Not lacking balls at all in the slightest! Defo not a tone a would associate with single coil though. (not saying single coils lack balls, but I can see why if you wanted a single coil sound, you probably wouldn't want a red lace)
The red lace sensor was supposed to give more of a hot humbucker sound. The blue was supposed to be like a vintage humbucker, the silver a "Fat Strat" and the gold a vintage Strat.
My Strat Plus Deluxe was quite an early model, it came with a blue in the bridge and two silvers (and it had Sperzel tuners rather than Schallers). I swapped to the red/silver/blue setup but if I remember right I didn't like it as much as the blue/silver/silver.
I wish I still had that guitar! :lol:
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I like it! Do you know what year it is? I'm guessing early '90s since it has the satin-finished tuners.
Never mind the purists, I had an '89 Strat Plus Deluxe which was the best (Fender) Strat I've ever owned. And the only one I really regret selling.
This is an 89'er as well according to the serial number
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It looks a cool guitar. Not sure on Lace Sensors (I've had a few of them because I used to know Don & Jeff Lace back in the 90's). I've always preferred more traditional Strat pickups.
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I like it! Do you know what year it is? I'm guessing early '90s since it has the satin-finished tuners.
Never mind the purists, I had an '89 Strat Plus Deluxe which was the best (Fender) Strat I've ever owned. And the only one I really regret selling.
This is an 89'er as well according to the serial number
Oh, maybe mine was an '88 then - I certainly bought it in '89.
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I've always really liked these.. I don't like natural and would want a colour though.
By getting a natural one you get better choice of wood
Some of the coloured ones have a veneer hiding many pieces of wood under the colour.
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I've always really liked these.. I don't like natural and would want a colour though.
By getting a natural one you get better choice of wood
Some of the coloured ones have a veneer hiding many pieces of wood under the colour.
That's true, but I think it was happening more towards the tail end of the '90s.
The first few years of the American Standards from '87 to the mid '90s were really good, then a few years later I read an interview with one of the bosses of Fender saying they were by then using up to 5 pieces, veneered to hide the joins. And sometimes it was even poplar rather than alder.
I think at that point they must have worried about their reputation starting to decline again, because in 2000 they made a big thing of re-launching the American Standards as the American Series, with inprovements like rolled fingerboard edges, more accurate headstock shape, more pronounced body contouring.... and non-veneered two or three piece bodies.
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great guitars.the bridges are great and very comfortable , i like the 2 point trem system.i was never a fan of the hipshot trem thing. the woods of this era where the best on offer from fender. red & blue lace sensors have there own charm both being more humbuckery than the golds.
the nut sucks though, even with wd 40 it won't stay in tune with trem work but is fine if you don't use your trem. it's
very easily converted to the later roller nut (fender lsr)with a plastic adapter, feline changed mine for not much.the roller nuts(lsr) are great, the best fender system for staying in tune tremming.
i've had 3 of this era, my current IT'd one being the latest, it's as good as any strat i've played.
change the nut and you've got a keeper.
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Noice, love it! makes me think of this
http://www.schecter.co.jp/s/sst.html
I like old strats but to be honest, most of the great guitars we have these days are down to hot rodded strats, that ones not even a million miles away from being classic, just a few choice enhancing mods. Those wilkinson roller nuts are supposed to be excellent, think fender stopped using them in 89 or 90
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I think the nut does stick a bit. I strung it properly and the trem can be abused quite a bit, but its noticeable when tuning. The tremsetter has never been toached, so I need to address that. I'm about to play a gig with the amp I built myself... Worry!
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I found the nut used to occasionally rattle/buzz very loudly, usually on the high E string. Only intermittently, but it was a bit alarming when you weren't expecting it.
It seemed to be inherent in the design, because I fitted those Wilkinson nuts to two other guitars and they all buzzed.
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If the buzzing gets too annoying you can get the LSR nut which comes with the plate to easily change from the wilkinson nut.
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I'm about to get stuck into setting up the trem. I've noticed the tuning stability is better but still not spot in. Sometimes the strings stick when just tuning. How much better IS the LSR over the wilkinson? Would might be nice is a direct drop in graphtech.
EDIT: So I had to take out the tremsetter and add a spring to get the trem to sit flat on the body? The guitar goes out of tune rapidly when I mess with the trem. for now I might try soaking the nut in WD40. I don't think this guitar has seen a setup for a while. I just checked the intonation and set that up. If I can stabalise the tuning tonight, I'll gig it this weekend just to freak people out.
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EDIT: So I had to take out the tremsetter and add a spring to get the trem to sit flat on the body? The guitar goes out of tune rapidly when I mess with the trem. for now I might try soaking the nut in WD40. I don't think this guitar has seen a setup for a while. I just checked the intonation and set that up. If I can stabalise the tuning tonight, I'll gig it this weekend just to freak people out.
I ended up putting a normal spring claw and three springs in mine. The Tremsetter definitely works, but even perfectly set up it feels a bit "funny". And there was a part of it which wore out after a while, a little rubber disc. I can't remember now exactly how it worked.
I don't think they recommended using oil or WD40 on the nut - if I remember right they suggested some kind of dry Teflon lubricant.
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...they suggested some kind of dry Teflon lubricant.
I always use a water based lubricant... (I think it's spermicidal as well) :P
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...they suggested some kind of dry Teflon lubricant.
I always use a water based lubricant... (I think it's spermicidal as well) :P
I should've known the word "lubricant" would attract you like a wasp to a jam jar. :P
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Hey chaps.
I ditched the tremsetter and stuck in a claw I had kicking about and went the 3 springs. as per Philly's move.
I popped out and got some dry teflon lube but it only helped a little. I also found an old bit of string had got wedged in the rollers, so I got that out. More than a little wiggle on the trem seems to nock it out. Maybe the rollers are sticking.
Maybe it is worth changing the nut. I know it involves drilling but its only minimal drilling right? still, shame to change it.
Would a wilkinson VS100 trem or something fit this?
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I think the VS100 is pretty much a direct replacement - might need to slightly enlarge the hole in the top of the guitar, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
I liked your earlier idea about a Graph Tech replacement nut - better than faffing about with rollers - but do they make one to replace Wilkinsons? I know you can get a graphite replacement for a Floyd locking nut, but the Wilkinson sits 1/16" closer to the first fret (as does the LSR).
There's an Earvana replacement for an LSR nut, maybe you could get one of those fitted and have Feline (or someone) fit a little piece of maple behind the nut to cover the gap left by the Wilkinson?
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wilkinson nuts don't work properly.period. lsr roller nuts DO (very well). it's a simple but very effective change if you like tremming & wan't to keep the guitar.
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I never had any problems with my wilkinson nut waaayy back when.. worked properly, but i guess everyones milage can vary. They get gunked around the bearings sometimes but you're right, not worth the hassle to take apart and clean
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When I changed the strings some of the rollers looked a bit worn. I wonder if the old rusty bit of string I found stuck in there had jammed the rollers and now they are a bit worn and not full working...
still... holds it tuning if I don't use the trem, so thats fine.
I think I'll go the LSR route after looking about. thanks for the suggestions.
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It's back! Feline has done some work.
3 ply plate added with a HS setup. Nailbomb and an Irish tour. 3 way tele switch. Volume knob in a better spot. One vol, one tone. The snaggy nut replaced with an LSR and the correct trem arm found by Jonathan. Sound like a beast. Loving the neck and middle positions.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120511-00029.jpg?t=1336767848)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/xtattybobx/IMG-20120511-00030.jpg?t=1336768025)
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YAY!
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The black scratchplate really changes the look. I like it!
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I like the black with the Ash because of these...
(http://www.devilsadvocate.tv/soifer/precision/cij1.jpg)
I think these old P Basses look awesome. That's where I took the idea from.
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Strat looks great! Btw, my the trem (three springs) on my Fender American Series strat is superstabile. Even better then my other strat with roller nut.
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well thats come out really well! looks like a serious bit of kit
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Feline made a mistake - he forgot to put the middle pickup in....
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Feline made a mistake - he forgot to put the middle pickup in....
:lol:
I was expecting to feel this, but I didn't - it looks like a very tasty instrument :D
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(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/207985_5298205517_561455517_112387_1275_n.jpg)
My Suhr Custom Classic.
I've since installed a Tremel-no and removed the blend control - I'm seriously tempted to swap out the v60LPs and put in some Mother's Milks as my Squier with MMs and an HLK wipes the floor with this.
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Looks great. Makes me think about putting a black pickguard on my Strat. Did you keep the original Lace Sensors etc?
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Thanks for the compliments.
I played about with the middle position when it had the lace sensors in but this is cool.
Obviously it sounds like a nailbomb and an irish tour, but in the middle position neither of the pickups over power each other. If anything the single coil character of the neck come through more than the bridge. It's a really cool sound I think.
It makes some cool tones.
The original pickups are still on the original pick guard with all the switches etc attached.