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Post by JeffG on Jul 16, 2019 20:15:42 GMT -7
My American Strat was my first real electric guitar. I got it in college when I wanted to play like Jimi and SRV and used it exclusively for about ten years. It has been with me everywhere I’ve been as an adult. I’ll never sell it - just too much history with it. But about 10 years ago I realized that I just wasn’t a strat player. Since then I’ve been playing LPs, teles, P90s, and semihollows. It’s been a wonderful journey in tone and style and gear. One of the things I’ve tried to do is make my strat less Strat-ish. I tried a few different Strat pickups, Lollar Firebirds, and most recently a set of SD humbuckers. But the honeymoon phase will all of them has faded and the guitar still isn’t getting played much. A few days ago I was in a guitar shop and just decided to grab a strat for no reason in particular. And I liked it! It was a standard SSS and I was really digging it! It got me thinking that maybe my tastes and styles have changed to bring me back to being a guy who plays Strats (at least some of the time). So I ordered a set of Fender CS ‘54 pickups. A few reviews I read said they were quite standard Strat pickups - a good baseline. I also got them because I found a good deal on a used set Here we go - making my strat a strat again! (Although I’m def going to get rid of that V knob right near the bride pickup. I just can’t not knock it.) Here’s some of the changes. Even had it refinished by MJT as one of its many changes.
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Post by wraparound (Steve) on Jul 16, 2019 20:50:04 GMT -7
Should be fun, and I think you’ll enjoy the 54’s.
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Post by heynewguy (Ol’ Bill) on Jul 17, 2019 3:08:27 GMT -7
Think “old strat” with the Custom 54’s.
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Post by digs57 on Jul 17, 2019 6:56:24 GMT -7
I like two knob configuration...kool
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Post by Paul (TRANE) on Jul 17, 2019 8:14:38 GMT -7
I had the Custom 54 in a strat. Killer pickups. Enjoy them
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Post by Norrin Radd on Jul 18, 2019 5:00:54 GMT -7
Great idea! And a beautiful refin as well. Can’t wait to see it completed.
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Post by markT on Jul 18, 2019 7:32:10 GMT -7
Cool idea to go back to Strat land.
Be ready for a culture shock going from humbuckers to ‘54’s! Give it some time to adjust to twang land~
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Post by LT on Jul 18, 2019 13:06:31 GMT -7
Great project! Looking forward to the final reveal. That refinish is definitely cool!
A thought; one thing I do to every Strat I have is to wire it in "Eric Johnson" style, which simply places the #2 tone pot on the bridge PU only, and leaves the middle PU with no tone control. I roll it off to around 7 and I have a bridge PU that, for me, is now very usable. Since you're going to use only one tone, you might consider using it on the bridge PU. The other PU's will be slightly louder, but you can balance it out with height adjustment.
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Post by markT on Jul 19, 2019 19:47:32 GMT -7
A thought; one thing I do to every Strat I have is to wire it in "Eric Johnson" style, which simply places the #2 tone pot on the bridge PU only, and leaves the middle PU with no tone control. I roll it off to around 7 and I have a bridge PU that, for me, is now very usable. Since you're going to use only one tone, you might consider using it on the bridge PU. The other PU's will be slightly louder, but you can balance it out with height adjustment. I wire all my Strats this way too.
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Post by JeffG on Aug 6, 2019 18:55:55 GMT -7
And here she is! Back from my tech and back to being a strat again. Well, mostly at least. I have it wired with a single volume and single tone because I can’t deal with the volume knob being closest to the bridge pickup. So far I’m diggin it! I haven’t spent time with a traditional strat in years so I feel like I’m getting to know the guitar for the first time all over again. It’s really kind of wild. It’s clear that my tastes have changed over the years because I’m having a hard time settling on which tones I like the best. I don’t recall EVER playing in positions 2 or 4 before but now I’m finding some great sounds in there. Most of my playing on it so far has been at home and low volumes and quite clean. I haven’t had a chance to take it to practice year and put it through my normal rig so we’ll see how that goes this weekend. I’d really love it if I loved this guitar again and could go back to playing it more, especially at gigs.
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Post by Norrin Radd on Aug 7, 2019 20:15:30 GMT -7
Ha! I feel like I’m chasing this guitar all over the Internet! Yeah - that’s a beauty.
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