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Hmmm...
If it was me, and it was mine, I’d restore it to original and with that in mind keep all the original pots and switchgear in a box and replace it all with Fender new stuff.. TexMex PU’s from the CS range, some 500pots and new fabric covered wires and geranium capacitor ... all available from Fender.
Or
Fill it with McNelly PU’s and pots/wiring from James’s home of tone.
Either way it’s going to cost about £250... so you need to invest in keeping it forever... and by the sounds of it you intend to keep it.
👍🎸
Well I've just had the present surprise to discover that my original 1990s Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe is now worth £350-£450 second hand. Lovely bit of kit built by Hendrix's effects guru. Now I'm torn on whether to sell it and buy moar toys or not...it is my favourite pedal though...(even though it is huge and brick-like...)
This one is not mine BTW: voodoo vibe
I'd be temped to keep it if your sound is intrinsic to the pedal... You'll not get another original like that without paying £;s for it.
Fix the existing pots and selector, AND, if you’re not happy with the sound buy a fully loaded pick guard with some pups in that you like.
Best of both worlds 😉
Superficial, you missed out some very important info - what colour is it? 🙂
And JCA, keep it for a while. Early boutique pedals seem to be going up in value at a stupid rate. If it all goes a bit Klon, your pedal could potentially double in value over a few years.
Yeah...I'm coming to the conclusion that after living with it for 25 years I can't let it go. I'd probably just complain whatever I replace it with isn't as good.
Either way it’s going to cost about £250… so you need to invest in keeping it forever… and by the sounds of it you intend to keep it.
Yeah that's ballpark what I had in mind. It seems that I could spend anywhere between £30 for an Amazon special no name pick guard inc electronics up to around £500 for some crazy custom setup by Seymour Duncan or similar.
The 'sensible' sort of middle ground is this one, I think. Proper Fender (Made in Mexico, I think?) Tex Mex pickups.
https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Strat-SSS-Tex-Mex-Pre-Wired-Pickguard-WBW/30SU
Vs this one, a more top-end Fender 57-62 version. I think this is a bit posher, probably made in America, and lower output than the Tex Mex ones. https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Strat-SSS-57-62-Pre-Wired-Pickguard-WBW/30T1
I think I'm gonna go for the Tex Mex ones and save a bit for a professional setup to get it playing perfectly.
Superficial, you missed out some very important info – what colour is it? 🙂
Ah yeah, it's black with a rosewood fretboard. Simple, functional. A bit scuffed up and well-played but it's great. In an ideal world I'd get a Candy-Apple Red custom shop one to go alongside it! Having said that, I haven't actually played the Strat a great deal recently - my 'best' guitar is a proper Les Paul standard which is just lovely and gets most of my playing hours. Currently the Strat can't really hold a candle to it in sound but I find the Strat a fair bit more comfortable to play sitting down (lighter, curvier) so I'm definitely looking forward to making it sound a bit better 🙂
I've also got my eye on a Baja tele though...
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HSS Strat with BKP pre-wired guard #3
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BKP Pre-wired guard (reverse)
You're not sell g are you, metalheart?
Looks good. I hadn't considered changing colours but tort looks great on black!
@superficial: no, not selling. I have the original fender plate/guard (HSS & S1 switching, white, Texas specials I think) somewhere though. It’s nowhere as neat on the reverse as the BKP one. But iirc that was >300£ over 5 years ago now. The thing about BKP is you can custom build it. Big range of pick ups, colour, you can get aged control knobs and stuff as well if you want... I went for Vintage hot with added bass/baseplates to fatten up the single coils.
https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/prewired-pickguards
I am still tempted to get the body refinished in Olympic white...
there isn't enough low end in this thread for my liking 😋
i have wanted a bass guitar for a long time and finally about a month ago i got one (a squier affinity jazz bass in sunburst).
i bloody loves it i have to say (it does need a proper setting up on the neck though one day but it is definitely playable now).
i also bought a fender rumble 15 amp and a zoom B1 on multi effects pedal which are both great i have to say.
i amnot musically gifted at all (as my guitar playing will attest to lol) but am loving playing the bass. it definitely makes you think in new ways about music for sure.
have been learning a few tracks from psycho killer talking heads to take five dave brubeck band and nutmeg by alice in chains (mtv unplugged version) and also cannonball by the breeders.
i think i am more suited to the bass as oposed to guitar (i still love guitar) and i hope to keep trying to learn new tunes that i love (want to try message in a bottle next by the police).
if anyone else was thinking about getting a bass one day i would definitely recommend it for sure (you can get a great bass for not much money nowadays).
long live the bass 👍 😃
definitely love playing bass but I'm no bassist 🙂
When changing the PU's, change the Pots too.. Plenty of players have done the "Oh, wish I'd done the Pots too..." scenario. And go for the 500 Pots, more signal variations.
And the highset out put PU's aren't always the best sounding.
Before buying anything get onto Youtube and just search for Strat PU mods etc.. and listen through headphones at the sounds etc.
My 7 string is in drop G#..Does that count?
@superficial, you describe your Strat as a bit scuffed up and worn, well it’s nothing like as worn and scuffed up as the Gunnar Orn Tele that I saw at a gig last night! Owned by the singer/guitarist of an Icelandic band called Vintage Caravan, the maker is Icelandic as well.
In the last year then/
Bass for Raceface: I went into a shop to buy a short-scale Fender Mustang and then tried a Squier Jaguar from the same rack, and prefered the silky narrow Jaguar neck. I expected it to sound rubbish plugged in but it didn't. This confused me a bit so I kept swapping them and paid for the Jaguar. I might go and see the nice man at Crel for a replacement P pickup.
I put together a Warmoth tele from parts I had lying around. The pickups were a headache as I wanted a bit more output than my other teles but they kept howling at me when I added effects. I ended up with a set of stacked N3s which provide enough output for a Marshal without an overdrive pedal which brings me to:
A Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100. I've been looking for one for ages and finally found one with the right resistors and the later non-leaky circuit board without bias drift. The clean has a justifiable reputation as one of the better recent Marshal cleans and the crunch is like a hot-rodded 800. I don't have much use for the lead which is a bit too much. I haven't used it live yet, it needs an audience that likes loud.
On Strat pickups: Mexican pickups have a higher output and sound more Strat like if you roll off the volume a little.
I'm having a spat of chopping and changing.
Swapped out my old Line 6 Spider for a Blackstar ID 30 TVP. The spider was great when I was 14, but my tastes have moved on a bit. Very impressed, it's got some lovely dynamics, like you'd expect from a valve amp, but I can sling it in the boot with reckless abandon.
Been meaning to upgrade my acoustic for some time. Spent 2 hours sat in Rich Tone on Saturday, played pretty much every guitar in my price range but nothing really stood out. Some sounded nice but felt like a fight to play (Ovation) some were lovely to play but sounded dull and flat (Fender Newporter), but nothing hit that sweet spot. Moped home. Sunday I took a chance detour from town mooching into Musicroom. They had a Seagull S6, which I'd heard great things about. Had a quick play and it just clicked. Lovely full, chime and nice fast, low action. 100 quid off retail plus a further 10% only sweetened the deal. It's downstairs now, and I'm very happy, despite it not being anything like what I set out to buy.
Net up is the pedalboard. I'm thinking chop it all in for a Helix.
How were Vintage Caravan? I missed them before Opeth in Glasgow
I think my guitar could do with a proper set up by an expert. Can anyone say how much I could expect to pay?
@countzero were you at the Damnation Festival in Leeds on Saturday then? I missed Vintage Caravan, was looking forward to seeing them. We made the mistake of watching Crowhurst, the singer looked to have just fallen off the stage when we got there. A few minutes later he said "and now for a country song..." we left.
I think my guitar could do with a proper set up by an expert. Can anyone say how much I could expect to pay?
Depends where you take it, the guy I take mine to does a lot of professional guitarists and still only charges £45
Where are you? I can recommend someone in Sussex..
Who do you recommend in Sussex Bikebouy? I am in Hampshire but depending on where it is could be 30mins or 2hrs away 🙂
Simon Bailey @ SMBGuitars in Milland GU30, just off the A3 near Liss... he makes his own guitars too... and he’s really good.
Thats really near me then 🙂 I live in Clanfield 🙂
🤩
I changed gauge of strings and now the intonation is all over the place. Its floyd Rose (Ibanez version) style bridge and I could probably get it acceptable but I am sure someone skilled could do a much better job than I could.
Always good to get a recommendation, I had a look on the website 🙂
Slight thread hijack but hopefully a simple question.
I am looking for a guitar mini amp or headphone amp that will allow me to still play the guitar when I get kicked out of our spare room (where my main amp is) by somebody else in the family. It would ideally be battery powered so I don’t have to end up near a power socket. I don’t actually mind if I have to use headphones or not.
I was looking at the VOX AC2 for the mini amp or the VOX AC-30 for the headphone amp. I run a spider amp normally not really loyal to a brand, my playing is best described as beginner. I am just after something that is really convenient so that I can grab my guitar and go to another room and practice for 30 mins when I can’t use my normal amp.
I've got a Vox Mini 5 rhythm which runs on batteries. It fits in bike bag too. Ideal for playing with a mate in the park.
i have the bass version of this pedal and think it is great (you can use batteries and headphones).
have seen them for sale at £35.00 on amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoom-G1on-Guitar-Effects-Pedal/dp/B00HS3DHCU?ref=silk_at_search
I am looking for a guitar mini amp or headphone amp that will allow me to still play
I use a Boss GT1. It is a peddle board really, but has in/outputs and you can plug headphones into it, is battery or charger, has 150 presets from mad metal to country cleans and everything in between (and is programmable) and you can plug an iPad/iPhone into it and play along in a plinky-plonk styleee...
I use mine in hotels when travelling and it’s simply the best thing like ever...or at home when trying to figure tracks out...
However it’s £148 from Andertons.
+1 for the GT-1.
I had one for a while and for what you describe it's ideal if it's in budget of course.
I did try a Voc Amplug, and it was very convenient but sounded fairly poor - perfectly good enough to practice with, but didn't inspire me to want to play hence practice.
My Dad has a Yamaha THR and loves it - so much so he's bought the "blues" version as well it's small and portable, can run on batteries - has headphone out of course but it's got stereo full range speakers so can also double up as a pretty decent stereo for non-guitar use.
I’ve been looking round...
I’d stretch the budget by £50 and get a boss katana 100 and a Harley Benton fusion 2 HH
or keep in budget and get a katana 50...
I do a lot of my own setups, having been a guitar shop Saturday boy back in the day, but having a pro setup is a worthwhile treat sometimes. Frets so shiny and a buzz-free action.
I've got a Vox amplug the clean version it's ok for what it is, a practice tool for late night, but the headphone cable always seems to get in the way wherever you put it. There just a bit too expensive, if they were £20ish it'd be great.
I don't use it so much now as I bought a little 5w Fender Champ clone kit and really like it, perfect bedroom amp. This one
Here's a demo of the Vox Mini 5. "Balckface" model and it's characteristically bright like a blackface. Compressor on max which means the picky bits aren't lost in the strumming, delay with a medium tap to fill out the sound a bit.
Having posted grainy vids from a Lumix for years I thought I'd try the phone. It compresses the sound somewhat (the quieter the guitar the louder my voice) but for recording quiet stuff it seems to work quite well. So this is the Warmoth Tele in which there are just over 700e of parts. You can see it's plugged into the Fender Mustang amp which is on "British Watts" with the gain low and just a bit of reverb.
I am looking for a guitar mini amp or headphone amp that will allow me to still play the guitar when I get kicked out of our spare room (where my main amp is) by somebody else in the family. It would ideally be battery powered so I don’t have to end up near a power socket. I don’t actually mind if I have to use headphones or not.
I have two answers to the (headphone) question, I'm not sure which is 'correct' but both are reasonable! I use headphones unless I can be loud.
Proper amp at good volume > modelling amp via headphones > normal amp at low volume. IMO!
1) An old line 6 Pod 2.0. I've had this years - it was the first real amp modelling option and it works brilliantly for practice with headphones. Nice heavy thing, chunky knobs, great selection of tones, ace sound quality. I don't know how much they are on eBay - probably not much.
2) If you have an iPhone*, then it's definitely worth checking out some of the amp modelling options you can get with an adaptor. I have the iRig2 (non HD version, ~£30). Good apps are Bias FX, Amplitube, JamUp etc). Worth it for extreme portability. I have the adaptor attached to a guitar strap, phone in pocket, headphones. Then I can dance around like a moron with zero attachments. That said, I can't get anything like the same volume out of my phone compared with the Line 6, and sound quality is not quite as good. It's good with clean tones but there's a lot of feedback which makes it hard to use heavy distortion (I have to use a very 'strong' noise gate in the app which nerfs the tone). Apparently the 'HD' version of the iRig (~£80) is much better for this feedback issue and sound quality. I'd love to try one but I'm not going to pay that much on a whim.
* - Apparently Android is rubbish for sound I/O, loads of lag. I have no experience of it, though.
1. Have an old Mexican Strat that doesn't work all that great
2. Post to STW for opinions on how to fix it, read all opinions with interest
3. Go to guitar shop
4. ?????
5. :
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pretty, i do love a maple fret board as long as it isn't that horrible gloss finish they seem to get these days
Ha, well it is a gloss finish actually. But I like the feel of it. I've never owned a maple board guitar but I have always wanted a tele and, well, it's not really a tele unless it's maple.
It's a second hand Baja Telecaster. Thicker neck (50's style) than a standard tele which I didn't think I'd like but I really do. 'Desert Sand' colour which is pretty uncommon - I might have chosen a butterscotch blond body given the choice but the sand is definitely growing on me. Funky 4-way switch and S1 button which I'm not too fussed about but gives a few more options. It just looks and feels lovely, can't wait to play it at home.
Nice. I've got the squier classic vibe tele with the gloss neck and it's fine, you soon stop worrying about it when you are concentrating on playing : )
The difference between S1 in position 2 and regular in position 4 is great
Very nice, Superficial ! If you read the tyre kicker thread I apogise if this entered your subconscience:
Edukator
Member
Just don’t stay 5hrs tho….
Unless they have toilets I couldn’t.
I’m not surprised he didn’t take the custom shop. It’s a bit of a misnomer “custom shop”. “Custom” normally means you spec what you want like you do with Warmoth: I want the narrowest c-shape you do, 10-16 radius, 6105 stainless frets, matt nitro on the back gloss on the front, 22frets, don’t round of the fret ends – and that’s what you get. Fender custom shop stuff is mainly based on older Fender models; off-the-shelf custom shop guitars are IMO just idiosycratic reproductions. If you want a fat neck then get a 52 reissue or the corresponding custom shop – or just get a standard Mexican Baja because they have the same neck profile.
Of all the Fenders I’ve played my favourite necks are: Squier Infinity Strat, Mexican Strat and Classic Vibe Tele. Not much point buying a custom shop then untill they decide the Mexican Strat is a classic worthy of a custom shop replica.
Just keeping the thread running with some musing, JP, don’t mind me.
Posted 3 weeks ago
I much prefer gloss maple for bending, when my fingers start to get sticky with stage fright I find rosewood stickier.
The VOX headphone amps are great, but they don't have any reverb, so the sound doesn't have the space it would if you were playing through an amp in a room. Still a useful bit of kit though.
I was going to add:
1) Get a 4-way switch
2) Get some Twisted-Tele PU's..
3) Get some Curt Mangham 10's...
You've already got one, have you the other two?
Reading this thread has proved very costly, I'm now gazing at a Fender Stratocaster in my lounge. I can bust out a three note tune after an hour of practice, Sultans of Swing could be days away 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Any top tips welcome or beginner mistakes to avoid.