Fender AM DLX + '65 Deluxe Reverb Re-Issue Sounds Thin! Help

[Crazy Gra]

G'day, good forum, first post for me, I'm hoping for some informed replies.......

Yep to my ears I can't get those nice warm, glassy and bell like tones, I'm thinking Knoplfer, Cray even SRV. Sure I won't get them exactly but I expected better than thin wishy washy tones.
 
I'll admit to being fairly new to expensive guitars and how they should sound out of the box but I invested the big $ thinking "well I can't really go wrong and there's no rule that say's only guitar gods can own really nice equipment"

It's got new EB 10 - 46's on it. And the set-up is spot on in regards to pick up heights etc.

I'm running the amp at #3 volume (I think the neighbours'll lynch me otherwise, and still might).

Are the SCN pickups known to be cr@p?
Is it true that the wood on a Strat with a trem bridge doesn't really come into play soundwise and that it's the pickups doing all the tone work?
The guitar is really well made and finshed in all respects but do different examples of the same model sound different anyway (like accoustics)?
Am I expecting too much to get something near to God like tones "out of the box"?
Do I need to crank the amp more?

Will Sultans or Irish Tours or such like make all the difference and let me be damned to wonder why I paid so much money for a guitar with (possibly) rubbish pick ups.

Anyway thanks in advance if you can help.

[Hell Hound]

Is it true that the wood on a Strat with a trem bridge doesn't really come into play soundwise and that it's the pickups doing all the tone work?

That's bullsh*t, even with a trem the wood affect tones radicaly, if it weren't the case, all trem guitars would be in cheap agathis/poplar/basswood/plastic and other cr@p :lol:

[Elliot]

Do I take you have a Fender Deluxe Strat

I really like those - well made, great features.

However, I always took the view that the SCN pickups were a compromise - they produce silent/very quiet p'ups in terms of hum (which for some reason people want - I don't recall Mr J Hendrix moaning about 60 cycle hum) which also approximates real strat sounds.  

As good as they are they are not Strat p'ups in terms of raw strat tone - for that I think you need Alnico p'ups.  I don't think its fair to say the SCNs are cr@p its just that the market demands silent single coils, which is something of a misnomer in my opinion.

As to wood - it does make a difference, even in a strat - play the korean lite ash strat next to a Fender Japan basswood strat and you will hear the difference.  I assume yours is made of alder - which is what Knopfler, SRV, Cray etc play.

Cranking the amp up will give you tone headroom.

As to BKPs - I wonder if Irish Tours will be too high gain for Cray, Knopfler etc.  When I hear Irish Tours I always think Gallagher, Hendrix, SRV - so why not check out Apaches, Sultans or if you want a bit of extra edge but with great 60s style cleans listen to the Mother's Milks clips.

[38thBeatle]

Ditto what Elliot said. I think cranking up the amp would really help I think though obviously you have to think of the neighbours. I wonder if you could play in a rehearsal studio or something where you can let loose. The kit you have should give you a pretty good tone. Another thing I found when I switch to guitar from bass in a band situation was that the clean sounds that you often hear from the early days is actually thicker than you might think. If you do decide to go BKP, Elliot gave a fair assessment.

[PhilKing]

The thing that makes the biggest sound difference to my ears (apart from the pickups), is the fingerboard material.  Maple is the brightest, followed by Ebony and then Rosewood.  

Depending on this, you might want to look at Apaches if you have a maple neck or Mothers Milk's if you have a rosewood fingerboard.  

Ditto what everyone else says about the amp,  the trick that works well with valve amps without a master volume is to change the first gain stage from a 12AX7 to a 12AT7, this gives about a 30% gain reduction through the preamp, so you can make the power amp work more.

[Crazy Gra]

Thanks guys, they're all really helpful responses.......even the first one :lol: I'ts just I've seen guitars built from aluminium and perspex etc and wondered.

I cranked the amp to 5 (oooo brave aren't I?) and the tone did thicken somewhat but I don't get the shimmery, glass type sound, more creamy smooth, the tone's pretty good just not what I was expecting, I guess I needed to be more informed (that not all Strats sound the same) before laying out the money.

Elliot, yes it's the AM DLX but I bought a 50th anniv one. I think I'm like a crow, I was drawn to the gold machine heads, bridge, etc and definately the S1 switch.

I will definately try the valve swap trick, I think the engineer here at work might be able to lend me some, he likes building tube amps for fun, but he's not a guitarist so he's no help on that side of things.

I've got a set of Mules coming really soon for my nasal Tokai LP, so whilst I will probably swap for the Apaches/Sultans/Mothers Milk they'll maybe have to wait a short while.

Time to download those clips.

And thanks again.

[Gary]

Check out my last two clips in the players section - they're a few pages back by now as I submitted them some time ago. I'm using an AMSTD Strat fitted with Apaches straight into a Fender HRD using a THD Hotplate. I think for the clean one I had the amp at about 6 or 7 with the guitar volume backed off. If those are the sort of sounds you're after you should be able to get them fairly easily with your rig, even the stock pickups should sound reasonable. It's probably just a question of tweaking the controls on the amp and/ or getting used to the guitar so you're confident with it. I'd thoroughly recommend a set of Apaches in any case (or indeed any of the other Strat sets).

[38thBeatle]

I would also speak up for Apaches. There are a few posts in the players section so you will get an idea of what they are like- good traditional Strat tone.

[Elliot]

I'd agree with PhilKing - Milks for rosewood - Apaches for maple neck - the 50 Anniv. is a maple isn't it - so Alnico III Apaches it would be!

[HTH AMPS]

The thing about the current USA (standard) Strats I don't like is that they sound & play very modern.  The reissue MIM ones are alot nicer imo, you just need to upgrade the pickups (but then don't you always)

My MIM '72 Tele Custom is a GREAT guitar, everything I'd ever want from a Tele.

 :twisted: