PDA

View Full Version : New Squier Strat coming....



duhvoodooman
February 26th, 2015, 11:28 AM
A couple of years back, I had a Squier Classic Vibe '60s Strat that I really loved, but ended up selling it when I bought an American Standard Strat (which I also love!). Been missing that CV '60s ever since, so I decided to pick up a new one in the Burgundy Mist finish--love the color and the matching headstock. Ordered it yesterday from Sweetwater--those guys are GREAT to deal with! My plan is to convert it to an H-S-S pickup configuration, since I already own two S-S-S Strats. I'm pretty sure the body is routed to take a humbucker at the bridge--at least, the 2008 model I owned was routed that way. I'll find out for sure when it's delivered on Friday. It'll also need a new pickguard, obviously. Will probably go with a pearloid of some kind.

My Sweetwater sales rep, Nick, sent me these pics of the actual guitar I bought. Pretty cool!

http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-front-large.jpg http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-body-large.jpg http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-angle-large.jpg

http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-back-large.jpg http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-backbody-large.jpg

http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-detail3-large.jpg http://duhvoodooman.com/miscimages/musical/cv60s_strat/CV60s_Strat-serial-large.jpg

piebaldpython
February 26th, 2015, 11:53 AM
Congrats.......looks cool.

guitartango
February 26th, 2015, 12:48 PM
NGD for you NGD for me ! Happy NGD

Jimi75
February 26th, 2015, 02:16 PM
One of my favorite colors! Congrats on this beautiful instrument. I have a CV Tele and like the quality of the instrument very much.

marnold
February 26th, 2015, 07:35 PM
Looks cool, but they call that "burgundy" mist? Looks more like lavender mist to me. I'll be interested in your report on it.

duhvoodooman
February 26th, 2015, 08:12 PM
Looks cool, but they call that "burgundy" mist? Looks more like lavender mist to me. I'll be interested in your report on it.
Yeah, I had much the same reaction. You never know what kind of lighting that a series of photos was taken under, so we'll see what it actually looks like when it arrives. I expected something more like this for "burgundy mist":

2355

tjcurtin1
February 26th, 2015, 08:26 PM
Pretty flashy new color - like the matching headstock; I hadn't seen these. It'll look great with the pearloid pg. And we all know what nice guitars the CV's are...! Congrats!

marnold
February 26th, 2015, 11:36 PM
Yeah, I had much the same reaction. You never know what kind of lighting that a series of photos was taken under, so we'll see what it actually looks like when it arrives. I expected something more like this for "burgundy mist":

2355

Yep. That one I would definitely classify as burgundy.

Part of me feels I should turn in my man card for using the word "lavender".

Jipes
February 27th, 2015, 03:34 AM
The color is just awesome :thumbsup happy for you !

piebaldpython
February 27th, 2015, 07:12 AM
That ain't burgundy. How about "lilac"? Though I still think you may have to turn in your MAN card for using it. haha

duhvoodooman
February 27th, 2015, 09:16 AM
Well, whatever you want to call it, I like it, since purple (in many shades) is my favorite color. In fact, I like it better than the "real" burgundy mist, though that would be fine, too. But from looking at several photos on different web sites, the more purple version appears to be the accurate depiction of the color Squier is using. Here's a shot from a UK website--a little darker, but the same basic color:

http://cdn.guitar.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/q/squier-classic-vibe-stratocaster-60s-burgundy-mist-electric-guitar_1.jpg

Eric
February 27th, 2015, 10:18 AM
That's pretty funny. My wife just decided to take up the guitar and ordered one of these today. I agree that it's pretty sweet! Congrats!

stingx
February 27th, 2015, 11:31 AM
Whoa! Nice looking guitar. Since you dig purple so much were you a Donny Osmond fan as a child? :D

duhvoodooman
February 27th, 2015, 11:50 AM
Whoa! Nice looking guitar. Since you dig purple so much were you a Donny Osmond fan as a child? :D
I'm 7 years older than Donny, so....not so much! :D

marnold
February 27th, 2015, 12:31 PM
My first bike in the 70s had a sweet metallic purple finish with chopper handlebars. I miss that bike.

duhvoodooman
March 2nd, 2015, 08:45 AM
Got the new CV Strat on Friday and played it on & off all weekend. It's AMAZING how good of a guitar you can cop for $350 these days. Sucker was ready to play right out of the box, which I think is probably a testament to the checkout by the good folks at Sweetwater. I had to adjust the height on one saddle, but the set-up was otherwise right on the mark. Plays like butter and the pickups just drip vintage Strat tone.

I won't bother posting any photos (yet), since the guitar looks just like the ones above that Sweetwater sent me. But I've ordered a DiMarzio Air Norton humbucker for the bridge and a custom H-S-S pickguard from Warmoth, so the guitar will be looking--and sounding--quite different in a few days....

stingx
March 2nd, 2015, 09:06 AM
My first bike in the 70s had a sweet metallic purple finish with chopper handlebars. I miss that bike.

It's a chopper, baby.

Tig
March 2nd, 2015, 10:48 AM
HNGD, DVM. I like the Sweetwater photo's color, and I'm not even a big purple fan. As far as online stores go, Sweetwater is my favorite.


My first bike in the 70s had a sweet metallic purple finish with chopper handlebars. I miss that bike.

I had the same bike, or close to it!

Robert
March 2nd, 2015, 11:10 AM
Looks cool! Those are great guitars for the price too.
Now you can play some Prince tunes! :D

MAXIFUNK
March 3rd, 2015, 02:35 AM
Purple rain!!!!!!

ZMAN
March 4th, 2015, 10:15 AM
Like the body color, not too sure about the headstock being painted. I guess it doesn't affect the playing or the tone. That is what these CVs excel at.
How are the fret markers dots on the side of the neck? I found on my CV Tele Custom theywere hard to see. I use them a lot it seems. I found that out with the Tele.

duhvoodooman
March 4th, 2015, 10:56 AM
Yeah, the painted headstock seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" feature, and I'm in the former camp. The fret markers on the side don't seem to be difficult to see--I rely on them a lot, as well.

The last couple of days I've been looking into how I want to re-wire the guitar when the humbucker arrives. I intentionally selected the DiMarzio Air Norton model because it's got just about twice the DC resistance of the Squier CV single coils, so when it's coil-split, it should match up with the middle pickup well. That's important in order to get the best possible "quack" from the bridge-middle pickup combination at position 2 of the pickup selector switch. The Air Norton also uses alnico 5 magnets, as do the Squier CV '60s single coils, which should also help. I came across a very clever way to wire the 5-way switch (http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_2s_1v_2t_5w_as) so that the bridge humbucker will be automatically coil-split when the selector switch is at position 2, but nowhere else. Saves the hassle of installing a push-pull pot, which is how I've always done coil-splitting in the past.

The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible with the stock wiring, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....

tjcurtin1
March 4th, 2015, 06:46 PM
Sounds like... a project!

marnold
March 4th, 2015, 09:52 PM
My brain hurts.

ZMAN
March 5th, 2015, 07:46 AM
Yeah, the painted headstock seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" feature, and I'm in the former camp. The fret markers on the side don't seem to be difficult to see--I rely on them a lot, as well.

The last couple of days I've been looking into how I want to re-wire the guitar when the humbucker arrives. I intentionally selected the DiMarzio Air Norton model because it's got just about twice the DC resistance of the Squier CV single coils, so when it's coil-split, it should match up with the middle pickup well. That's important in order to get the best possible "quack" from the bridge-middle pickup combination at position 2 of the pickup selector switch. The Air Norton also uses alnico 5 magnets, as do the Squier CV '60s single coils, which should also help. I came across a very clever way to wire the 5-way switch (http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=1h_2s_1v_2t_5w_as) so that the bridge humbucker will be automatically coil-split when the selector switch is at position 2, but nowhere else. Saves the hassle of installing a push-pull pot, which is how I've always done coil-splitting in the past.

The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....

I love a tech's take on modding a guitar. Most of the guys I read about seem to make their choices of components on what other guys use, and what is the "flavor of the month pickup". DC resistance has always been a big factor, for me in choosing a guitar and pickups. Also the pot values can make a huge difference in tone as well. A well thought out swap will make a huge difference in the outcome. Really like your take on it. I love to hear someone is as "anal" as I am when it comes to this type of
thing, and mean that in a good way!.

duhvoodooman
March 5th, 2015, 09:03 AM
....I love to hear someone is as "anal" as I am when it comes to this type of thing, and mean that in a good way!.
What can I say? That's how God made me!! http://byocelectronics.com/board/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif

Duffy
March 5th, 2015, 09:32 PM
Nice. Congratulations.

A black pick guard with black pickup covers might look awesome. Aged white pearl might look good too. I'm sure there are a lot of great ones that would go great with that guitar. Have fun checking around.

I just recently got the anniv. gold Classic Vibe Fifties. I dig it and have been thinking of putting a different pick guard on it too. I'm in no rush though, it looks good the way it is for now. It also has a beautiful highly flamed maple neck, all the way up the neck. It sounds and plays well too.

I'm sure you will be having fun with that burgundy mist CV.

Duffy
March 5th, 2015, 09:47 PM
The wiring is more complicated than you might think, though. First of all, I don't know if DiMarzio humbuckers and Squier single coils are phase compatible, so it may be necessary to connect the 'bucker in reverse to keep it in phase with the two singles. Also, that will affect which of the two coils is active when they're split. And that's important because if the winding and polarity of the active coil isn't the opposite of the middle (RW/RP) single coil, then the 2 position won't be hum cancelling. In which case, I'll probably need to swap the positions of the neck and middle pickups. Also, I've read that you'll get the best "quack" between the split humbucker and the middle pickup if the active humbucker coil is the one closest to the middle pickup, so the physical orientation of the humbucker mounting in the guitar matters, too. So you can see what I mean about it being complicated, and that's not even getting into the possibility of changing pot values....


When you determine exactly what has to be done with the wiring in for your full sized humbucker, you can talk to a Dimarzio tech and make arrangements to have the humbucker custom made so all you will have to do is drop it in and wire it up and it'll noise cancel and produce the optimum quack.

I had to call Seymour Duncan when I put the pickups in my Fender Nashville Telecaster. It only cost about ten dollars more for them to custom wind a neck pickup for my set of Alnico II Pro's.

After I found out what I needed I took the info to my local Seymour Duncan dealer and had them order it the way they told me, from Seymour Duncan.

It worked out great and when finished it actually noise cancelled completely in the two and four switch positions; where the stock Tex Mex pickups never noise cancelled hardly at all. It pays to think it out, needless to say.

You are going to have some fun with this one. I know you already knew the stuff I mentioned, but I thought I'd mention it for those that might not be aware of how complicated a seemingly simple pickup swap can sometimes be.

ZMAN
March 7th, 2015, 08:27 AM
Nice. Congratulations.

A black pick guard with black pickup covers might look awesome. Aged white pearl might look good too. I'm sure there are a lot of great ones that would go great with that guitar. Have fun checking around.

I just recently got the anniv. gold Classic Vibe Fifties. I dig it and have been thinking of putting a different pick guard on it too. I'm in no rush though, it looks good the way it is for now. It also has a beautiful highly flamed maple neck, all the way up the neck. It sounds and plays well too.

I'm sure you will be having fun with that burgundy mist CV.

CV 50s in Gold. When did you slip that one in?