The old switcheroo

[gwEm]

new black pickguard on one of my strats. £9.99 ebay bargain :)

at the same time i switched the bridge pickup from a Paul Gilbert Injector to a Virtual Solo.

both changes were a win I think! i like the new aggressive not so Blackmore look. The Virtual Solo is thicker in the mids than the Injector which I also prefer, more balls to it.

i've been playing this guitar more than usual since we are using a new rehearsal space which is very noisy. also we are playing a cafe nearby quite regularly which is similarly noisy. the hum-cancelling strat pickups in this guitar are coming in very handy. i wasn't quite happy with the look or sound, so i wanted to make some tweaks.

[Telerocker]

Both look good, though I like the white guard a bit better. I don't know the Virtual Solo. To which BKP you can compare it more or less.

[gwEm]

Both look good, though I like the white guard a bit better. I don't know the Virtual Solo. To which BKP you can compare it more or less.

It sounds a bit like a slightly less hot Sinner.

The white guard looks nice too I agree, maybe a touch too friendly for me.

Recently I've realised how much I like vintage Fender frets and fingerboard radius.

[Philly Q]

I have to admit that although I usually like contrasting colours on a Strat, I prefer the white scratchplate on this one (especially with the black pickup covers and knobs).

Recently I've realised how much I like vintage Fender frets and fingerboard radius.

Interesting!  I really dislike small frets, I just don't feel comfortable with them - I'm not even very keen on the currently fashionable 6105 narrow-and-tall style, I prefer a fatter, wider fret altogether.

I'd be interested to try a guitar with big frets on a 7.25" radius, I think I might find it OK.

[AndyR]

Both look pretty cool... except for the "hey, where's the middle pickup?" effect with the rails in that pic!

It's funny, I found myself quite liking the vintage frets over the holidays too. My two roadworn strats are 7.25 with tallish frets, and I've got so used to them. But over the break I was playing the other strat and the tele that has 7.25 and vintage style frets. I was expecting to try them and put them away again, but they stayed out for a couple of days.

Of course, that's all out the window again with acquiring a Les Paul (which actually seems to have smaller frets on it than I was expecting). The 60s Roadworn strat feels ok in comparison, everything else feels hard work to play (including the other gibsons! - I think they need some attention now that the various adjusting irons are out and scattered around the place)

[gwEm]

I have to admit that although I usually like contrasting colours on a Strat, I prefer the white scratchplate on this one (especially with the black pickup covers and knobs).

Recently I've realised how much I like vintage Fender frets and fingerboard radius.

Interesting!  I really dislike small frets, I just don't feel comfortable with them - I'm not even very keen on the currently fashionable 6105 narrow-and-tall style, I prefer a fatter, wider fret altogether.

I'd be interested to try a guitar with big frets on a 7.25" radius, I think I might find it OK.

The tighter radius and thin frets just feel alot more stratty to me and make them even more of an alternative to my Vs. I really get more in a "strat mood" and style of play with them.

People say that with the tighter radius bends fret out more. I've not really felt the same thing, I think that if the thin frets are dressed in a good way and the saddles are a fraction higher its all ok.

The neck on this is a MIM 70s reissue. I don't mind the poly finish with a rosewood board. I would like it alot if it had 22 frets though.

[gwEm]

Both look pretty cool... except for the "hey, where's the middle pickup?" effect with the rails in that pic!

In fact - its not a rails in this guitar :) There is no middle pickup at all - I've fitted a mustang pickup cover. I agree that it would be nicer looking with a traditional looking strat pickup in there, and I've been thinking about that. For the hard rock I play though, theres not much call for that middle position or in between quack positions, and I really like the sound of bridge+neck on a strat. So theres a three way switch installed as you can imagine.

The tone and volume controls are wired Rory Gallagher style. Neck pickup is an Area 67, bridge is the Virtual Solo.

Of course, that's all out the window again with acquiring a Les Paul (which actually seems to have smaller frets on it than I was expecting). The 60s Roadworn strat feels ok in comparison, everything else feels hard work to play (including the other gibsons! - I think they need some attention now that the various adjusting irons are out and scattered around the place)

I have one Les Paul copy and like it, and all the other good quality Les Pauls I've tried of course. I just have three issues with them:

1) the weight
2) they are all a bit "too easy" - to play and get a good sound out of. it feels like i don't have to try when I play one. this could been seen as an advantage I guess, and perhaps you are experiencing this right now with that lovely wine red Traditional.
3) neck pickup too muddy (my Les Paul copy has a mini-HB in the neck and I prefer this)

[AndyR]

That's quite funny - I was wondering "why's he got a rails in the middle? I imagine him not using the middle much anyway..."

It still seems strange to me that other folks don't use the middle - although I'm used to it now after hearing it so often. For me, the middle is the pickup I set up first, it's the one I "tune" the amp to, it's the one I used to use for main rhythm when playing live...

I've been trying to figure out why I use it. I think it's down to when I first got a strat (copy) and was trying to figure out how to make it sound like a rock guitar (through a clean transistor amp!). I looked at these three pickups and thought OK, sit in the middle, then you've got "more" in either direction.

In fact, I treat twin-humbucker guitars the same way!

I have one Les Paul copy and like it, and all the other good quality Les Pauls I've tried of course. I just have three issues with them:

1) the weight
2) they are all a bit "too easy" - to play and get a good sound out of. it feels like i don't have to try when I play one. this could been seen as an advantage I guess, and perhaps you are experiencing this right now with that lovely wine red Traditional.
3) neck pickup too muddy (my Les Paul copy has a mini-HB in the neck and I prefer this)

The weights have never bothered me that much (apart from the initial "WHAT?!?!" on lifting it from the stand )

And the neck pickup I've always been able to find some use for - especially after getting Mules.

However, I too have always had some of this "a bit too easy" over Les Pauls. I'm guessing mainly because I turned into a strat-player in my early twenties, and once you've figured out how to fight rock sounds out of that, then an LP is a bit too easy for some of it!

But I've kind of changed over the last few years. I think it was finally seeing footage of Paul Kossoff live - especially the TV studio performances - I realised that there's stuff you could do on an electric that really does require an "easier to play" guitar, and I kinda fancy some of that.

I've also found that part of my "sound" on a strat is quite aggressive and, well, somewhat "less than accurate"(!). Try doing that on a Les Paul, and it comes out a lot messier, not quite like I intended, so I'm enjoying cleaning up how I play... then switching back to a strat, it sounds better on there as well. This seems to be a little counter-intuitive at the moment... I mean, I've always argued that you can get away with stuff on a Les Paul that you can't on a strat... er, apparently not, for me, anyway!

I'm loving the ease with which you can get the old school blues-rock stuff out of this LP and it's Classic 57/57+ pickups. But, once the honeymoon has worn off, I'm pretty much leaning towards sticking Stormy Mondays in there. I've been hearing stuff about the 59 Tribute pickups Gibson put in the 2014 Traditionals - some people are loving, some hating them. The stuff I've been reading seems to be describing the Stormy Mondays... (AII, asymmetric winds, lower output). I have a birthday in March, Stormies are within budget . The other option is to go the opposite direction - Abraxas - but I suspect the SMs will win. My reasoning is that the LP will still do LP, but it will become a little more chimey and, when turned down, will start entering strat territories... so, physically easier to play but you've got to work it to get the rawk out of it...

[Philly Q]

I was surprised to see Les Pauls described as "too easy" to play, they've never seemed that way to me!  I struggle with the thick body, the bulky neck/body join and the relatively steep neck angle - all problems pretty much avoided with Juniors, of course!

But I know what you mean about it being relatively easy to get a good sound out of them.  And no neck pickup can be muddy enough for me... 

[AndyR]

I was surprised to see Les Pauls described as "too easy" to play, they've never seemed that way to me!  I struggle with the thick body, the bulky neck/body join and the relatively steep neck angle - all problems pretty much avoided with Juniors, of course!

But I know what you mean about it being relatively easy to get a good sound out of them.  And no neck pickup can be muddy enough for me... 

I was thinking of you on both these points while I was typing earlier!!

I think, for me, the "too easy" was a "Fender-player's" thing - oh those Les Pauls, they play themselves, everyone sounds the same on a Les Paul... a Strat or a Tele, tho... That's a man's guitar, your character shows through, etc, etc...  (I think I even heard Keef saying it... that was good enough for me back in the 80s or whenever!)

[d1dsj]

I like both although the black guard edges it for me. I think as both look cool I would get both guards wired up with different pick up combos so I can switch things around  every so often.