[Still rewiring strat.] Wow, cloth wire is a pain to strip. And it makes such a difference in the tone! :rolleyes:
OK, Strat rewire done, yay. Initial impressions are that I’m a bit disappointed. I was looking for a tone about as hot as my Jerry Donahue Duncan Tele bridge pickup (which isn’t all that hot, just enough to be fun), and this set is just not. They are (or at least the bridge is) hotter than the Fender Fat 50’s I left on the other pickguard, and they have a lovely clean tone, but I was hoping for more punch while still being in vintage territory.
The funny thing is, I was looking at all the other GFS “Texas” sets, and the bridge pickup windings on some sets seemed awfully high, some up into 10k ohms, so I went conservative with this set and its 8.6k ohm bridge pup. Also I suppose the “59” name made me hope it was similar character to the 50s-ism in the Donahue (which is a clone of an actual '52 Tele pickup). I guess I should have swung for the fences instead on the ohm-age.
Ah well, it’s not like it was a lot of money, I can try another rewire. And I’ve had all of 45 minutes playing this set; sometime a set of pickups seem weird at first and then really grow on you. Maybe these will be like that.
I have yet to hear tha magical pickup that can give a Strat the balls that a Tele or Les Paul has. Strats have finesse more than balls. Totally cool - Strats are the most-sold guitars for a reason.
Try to find a Strat pickup that has a copper plate on its base, like a Tele bridge pickup. There may be a bit more edge to the tone.
Eta: did I mention I got to play a 1960 Tele Custom today? A mere $23,000 :eek: but it was balls-o-licious 
Purchased. Looks interesting for a newbie like me and an experienced player as well.
Are there any other guitars that conform to the body like a strat does? IE, thinner (sculpted maybe) around the middle top portion of the body?
You mean body contouring? Where the Strat is beveled for comfort? Many - heck some Tele models are beveled, as are Jazzmasters. Some slab-body Gibsons, etc…
Yes, I guess beveled is the right word. I suppose that I haven’t spent enough time in guitar stores to notice it on other guitars.
Well, I am totally not looking for the same tone; my Strat will never, ever sound like (or ballsy as, sure) my Tele, and I’m fine with that, otherwise why own one? Just trying to find that same balance of juice vs clarity in a Strat, and I swung and missed this time. It’s a journey, right? 
Hmm, that’s an interesting notion. GFS sells a brassbottom strat pickup, but they seem to have stopped making new ones, only 5.5k ohm ones are left. I’ll hunt around the other makers and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the idea.
Wow, swoon! Jealous! WANT!
The Squier VM Bass VI is finally up on Fender’s U.S. site, and they’ve got a youtube demo up that sounds pretty nice. I pre-ordered a sunburst one through samash.com today. Now the waiting begins.
And not really a guitar acquisition, but I’m supposed to meet my friend tomorrow to borrow her (IIRC) 60’s Mustang. She doesn’t take it out of the case much, and she thinks it’d be happier at my house. 
Wow, that’s pretty cool. They’re going to sell a zillion of those things.
It’s not exactly a mod, but the first time I got into the guts of an electric was the time I replaced one of those slide switches in a borrowed Mustang.
Yeah, they’re glitchy. A friend of mine went through a string of about 10 Mustangs at one point. He kept buying and trading them. I don’t remember one that had two reliable, quiet switches. The last time I played this one had to be ten years ago. I remember them being scratchy, but working. If this one ends up having a problem, I’d do them a favor and take it to someone to have it replaced. It’s not mine, and it’s special to them beyond its value as a guitar. I’d hate to do something dumb like lay the soldering iron down on its pickguard. (Crosses fingers)
They get made in batches. Give it two-three months and they’ll be back in stock.
http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53610&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
New Starcaster and Coronado, with matching basses.
I wonder what the fifth knob on a Starcaster is for? Google ain’t digging it up. ETA: apparently a master volume? I don’t get the point of three volume knobs for two pickups.
Also, it’s a shame that name is also on the lowest-end student starter “Strat” model Fender makes. I wonder how their marketing will handle that one.
squeegee, if you read the comments on the link E-Sabbath posted, you’ll read one commenter saying something about hoping they get rid of the master volume knob. Was Leo associated at all with Fender when the Starcaster came out? He was always doing something different with the controls, if you ask me.
2 questions:
- I seem to recall seeing 60’s Fenders with what I thought of as a blonde finish. It was white, but you could still see some of the grain of the wood through it. Was this something Fender offered or am I misremembering this or was this a custom paint job?
B. In my days of modding telecasters, I’d replace the neck pickup with a mini-humbucker. I thought it was a better complement for the bridge pickup and I didn’t have to change the pots/capacitor. I’m wondering if I were to replace the neck pickup with a full size humbucker and changed the pots/cap to 500KΩ/0.047uF as most online schematics for that mod seem to show, how is that going to effect the sound of the bridge pickup?
Fender color chart. Sounds like “white blonde” to me.
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That see-through blonde color is most well-known as being part of a Mary Kaye Strat:
Fender Custom Shop Mary Kaye Tribute Stratocaster Closet Classic LTD Electric Guitar Mary Kaye White | Musician's Friend -
Well, the pots have varied from 250K up to 1,000 across the years, so it depends on what tone you are after. I am pretty sure when I put in my P-90 Seymour Duncan Phat Cat in the neck position, I went with a 500k and .47 pot and was fine, but I don’t try for the super-bright, clean Tele tone that many folks want. The easiest thing to update is the pots and caps so it can certainly be worth a try. Best of luck.
squeegee, thank you. That’s the color I was thinking of. I’m relieved to learn middle age hasn’t created too many false memories. Yet.
WordMan, my thinking is the thing to buy a Tele for is the sound of the bridge pickup. We used to call it the “Fender Zang” and it can be pretty distinctive if you don’t use a lot of effects. So, if I’m reading your comment correctly, by going with the 500KΩ/0.047uF with your p-90 neck pickup, you lost some of the highs from the OEM bridge pickup?