Irish tours?

[PPPMAT]

Hi guys

My main gigging guitar (and my only strat) is a roadworn 60's with tex mex pickups. I love the neck and the whole vibe and sound of the guitar - they really are great (if you find a good one).

anyway, I am looking to get basically another strat of the custom shop variety but one that produces the same sort of tones that my road worn does. Fender do not )to my knowledge) make this guitar so its a case of buying the right one and replacing the pickups in it. I like the bit extra that the tex mex pkps give and also the clarity that they have - and they need to be clear sounding to not muddy up too much with the gain I use for lead work.

Irish tours would seem to be the best option - any guiddance or opinions welcome. Music played is mostly blues rock, we don't play any Rory although my setup is very similar with strat/hawk booater/jtm45 type amp dimed.

Cheers

Matt

[AndyR]

I'm not clear what you're planning -

a) Irish Tours for the Roadworn

or

b) Roadworn keeps Tex Mex, Irish Tours for an as yet unknown strat to make it sound like the Roadworn...

I think it's b), is that right?

I think I want to say - you'll want Tex Mex pickups in the new guitar :lol:

But...

I quite liked the Tex Mexes in my Roadworn 60. They just seemed a little thin in that particular guitar, nothing drastic, I just imagined there could be "more"...

Because I already had the ITs in a CIJ strat, I just swapped pickups for the hell of it, to see what would happen...

The ITs in my Roadworn are gorgeous. Slightly, ever so slightly, thicker than the Tex Mexes were, but loads more expressive. Not much difference on output. But: they do not do the same job in the same guitar...

The ITs are also loads nicer (for me) than they were in the CIJ - which is quite a warm "meaty" sounding strat. They were fine in there, until I heard them in the Roadworn. :lol:

The Tex Mexes in the CIJ were a revelation at the time. They lost their apparent "slightly thin" tone and made the CIJ sound like I'd have wanted the Roadworn to sound in the first place, but they weren't quite doing it :roll:.

I was a happy bunny until the middle tex mex died - I'm sure it's fixable, but they're a bit fragile and plasticky out of the guitar, and I was itching to try another BKP set... so I went Sultans in the CIJ.

Out of Sultans and ITs, both seem to be around same output. ITs have a slightly harder edge to them, with a little added thickness, the Sultans are as "bright" but are sweeter sounding.

Only my CIJ has had all three (IT, Sultan, Tex Mex), and I'd say Tex Mex were the brightest/clearest, with Sultans closest to them in that regard. But again, they are not a direct replacement...

If you're looking for Tex Mex alternatives, I'd also be tempted to try a) Mother's Milks and b) the un-advertised "62 Set". I believe out of all the BKPs that this set is aimed closest at what the Tex Mexes are meant to be designed for (er, my understanding is that they're "like ITs but different" - a slightly hotter MM).

Someone else might be able to confirm that or not (about the 62 set) - or contact Tim...


However, if you really are looking for BKPs for an unspecified guitar, to do the job that Tex Mexes do in a guitar you already have... then from my experience I'd say "hang fire" until you've got the guitar - I've got three strats and they are all so different, not one of them behaves the same as another with the same set of pups...

(Bet that don't help at all! :lol:)

[Philly Q]

I'm surprised the Custom Shop doesn't make anything with similar specs to the Road Worn.  :? They seem to have endless variations of '50s/'60s Strats.

[AndyR]

I'm guessing it's the pups he's on about Philly - my understanding is that Tex Mexes are probably a bit, er, cheap to put in an off-the-shelf CS :lol:

EDIT: They did sound bluddy good though - just not quite what I wanted at the time... (just don't look under the scratchplate if you're used to BKPs... or Texas Specials even!!)

[PPPMAT]

Yes sorry for any confusion - I currently have a 60's roadworn with tex mex's and the IT's would be for an as yet unbought custom shop jobbie. I am looking at a 59/early 60's model but they don't do one with hotish pickups and I don't think that a set of fender fat 50's or even 60's pickups that come as standard in these guitars will be enough for me.......

[Philly Q]

I see what you mean now.  It just seemed semi-crazy talking about changing the pickups on a new £2,000+ guitar... but I'll probably do exactly the same if I ever take the plunge and buy that relic Tele or Strat. 

[AndyR]

I'm actually wondering, if your Roadworn is the dog's (as mine is), and if you're looking to get the same vibe in another strat... why not another Roadworn? That's certainly what I'd do - I can't see any reason for me paying twice as much to get the same effect...

... there is one "issue" I'm aware of. Although they are all slightly different, having two sat next to each other (even different colours) might look a little "odd" :lol:

I'm wondering about getting a 50s one - and that "wear patterns on the body" is one of the things to consider... having said that, when I bought my 60s, there was a 50s right next to it, and it didn't jump out as "hey they've got the same body". I was kinda concentrating on the 60s one though :D

[Philly Q]

The problem with the '50s ones is that the "wear" on the fingerboard looks about as "real" as Jodie Marsh's most famous assets.  They're absolutely appallingly bad.

(The fingerboards, not Jodie's tits.  Well....:?.......  the fingerboards and Jodie's tits.....).

Even the Custom Shop have only just about perfected the art of simulating worn maple fingerboards.

[PPPMAT]

The roadworns are excellent - I love mine, it really is great. Getting another one might be an option and modding it a bit. The problem is the rosewood board - got to have a rosewood board.

I agree on the 50s neck wear - its rubbish. Although I would say Jodie Marsh's titts are nowhere near as bad as her nose. She claims to have had a nose job - if that was the result I would want my money back (look lile a builders elbow)

Matt

[AndyR]

The problem with the '50s ones is that the "wear" on the fingerboard looks about as "real" as Jodie Marsh's most famous assets.  They're absolutely appallingly bad.

(The fingerboards, not Jodie's tits.  Well....:?.......  the fingerboards and Jodie's tits.....).

Even the Custom Shop have only just about perfected the art of simulating worn maple fingerboards.

Actually - and folks can think me daft on this - I'm over the "maple board" problem on the Roadworns... The biggest problem for me on the 50s strat is the scratchplate and pickup covers! :lol:


I've been thinking more about the pickup question though:

My gut feeling is that it's between Irish Tours (which I know about) and the 62 Set (which I don't know about). I suspect the 62 set might get you closer, ITs are a bit thicker than Tex Mexes.

I still reckon you need to make the final decision based on the guitar itself once it's in your hands... (I have a feeling you're probably expecting to do this anyway, and this is a more "theoretical" discussion at present! :D)

... and don't rule out lower powered pickups (eg the CS ones) as not enough oink. That's why I went IT in the first place, and I'm quite happy I did. But I've discovered that for the "oink" I wanted, there's not a lot of difference, I whack the thing quite hard anyway...

[Philly Q]

Actually - and folks can think me daft on this - I'm over the "maple board" problem on the Roadworns... The biggest problem for me on the 50s strat is the scratchplate and pickup covers! :lol:

I've never been a fan of the single-ply, 8-screw scratchplate - unless it's a gold anodised one.

But that maple board is dreadful.  It looks like they just randomly splashed a cup of Nitromors over it, quite possibly before it was even fretted.

[PPPMAT]

The problem with the '50s ones is that the "wear" on the fingerboard looks about as "real" as Jodie Marsh's most famous assets.  They're absolutely appallingly bad.

(The fingerboards, not Jodie's tits.  Well....:?.......  the fingerboards and Jodie's tits.....).

Even the Custom Shop have only just about perfected the art of simulating worn maple fingerboards.

Actually - and folks can think me daft on this - I'm over the "maple board" problem on the Roadworns... The biggest problem for me on the 50s strat is the scratchplate and pickup covers! :lol:


I've been thinking more about the pickup question though:

My gut feeling is that it's between Irish Tours (which I know about) and the 62 Set (which I don't know about). I suspect the 62 set might get you closer, ITs are a bit thicker than Tex Mexes.

I still reckon you need to make the final decision based on the guitar itself once it's in your hands... (I have a feeling you're probably expecting to do this anyway, and this is a more "theoretical" discussion at present! :D)

... and don't rule out lower powered pickups (eg the CS ones) as not enough oink. That's why I went IT in the first place, and I'm quite happy I did. But I've discovered that for the "oink" I wanted, there's not a lot of difference, I whack the thing quite hard anyway...

You're right it is all theoretical - I might love it (when I get round to getting one) but I need a bright sounding bridge that has some thickness to it too to cut through with the monumental amounts of boost that I use.