Duff
October 27th, 2008, 12:05 AM
Using the "bassman" model on my Super Champ XD from my STVRAY model on my RP350 I just played the same compilations thru my Fender Hwy 1 with stock pups (the upgraded Hwy 1) including Atomic Hbucker and then played my new style white pearl Squire Deluxe with stock pups.
The Hwy 1, naturally sounds great. I played all switch positions with chords and leads and it sounded great. I then immediately, using the exact same settings, tuned up the Deluxe Squire and played the exact same song with chords as I did on the Hwy 1 followed by the exact same leads, all settings on guitar, RP and amp the same.
Summary:
The Fender Hwy 1 sounded deeper and more full with thick resonance and sounded very good. The hbucker sounded really nice but not like a JB, but real nice and kind of single coilish for a bucker, something like the SD "hot rail", " 'lil '59" and "JB Jr" on my "Black Pearl" highly modified Squire affinity strat I got for 25 dollars and is one of my best sounding guitars, period. The JB Jr bridge pup on that sounds mysteriously single coilish instead of like a full sized JB bucker. I'm sure this is a design feature to enhance the single coil sound that people like in strats.
Anyway, the Squire Deluxe "White Out" sounded fabulous with the duncan designed single coils sss configuration. In all positions it sounded crisper, not thin, very resonant, not as deep as the Fender Hwy 1. All of the tones were great on the Deluxe and not inferior to the Hwy 1, but distinctly different and clearer sounding with a different type of resonance, but warm and enticing in a special type of way. Of course the Deluxe Squire has a maple board and the Hwy 1 has a rosewood board and other design factors are different like the bridge saddles and tone circuit; the Hwy 1 boasting the "greasebucket" tone circuit. I think it is designed to give a deeper resonance to the sound.
A lot of people like the Atomic humbucker Fender uses but in my opinion it sounds really great but has nothing up on the JB Jr. single coil size JB humbucker from SD which sounds in my opinion better. I tend to like JB passive pickups and have used quite a few.
I want to experiment with a GFS set of the Premium Texas hot strat pups with the vintage output mid and neck pups and the hot bridge pup, all single coil. Hard to believe they could compare with the SD pups though. Also thinking about a set of GFS hot lead "lil Killers" calibrated for the strat 6, 10, and 14 K resistance. These would be humbuckers and probably not have close to the same tone as the Premium Texas Hot pups with the vintage mid and neck.
Any ideas on these GFS pups?
Hope someone likes my A / B comparison of the Squire Deluxe with the new style Hwy 1 HSS. The Squire Deluxe is definitely more crisp and has less deep resonance but resonates beautifully nonetheless, nothing thin about it.
I can see where some people compare the clean sound of a strat with the right pickups to the twanging sound of the telecaster. I noticed this with the Deluxe Squire but not with the Hwy 1.
Addendum:
I just tuned up my "Cherry Burst" and played the same series on it with the same settings and it sounded great. It is an '08 Squire Standard with cherry sunburst finish, probably changed somewhat from the old version. It sounded great in all switch positions and sounded awesome in the bridge position. I can see where this is probably the most traditional sounding of the strats I have and can see where some people will liken the twang in some settings to a telecaster, plus you get that nice whammy effect, nice and slow palming it like I like it. It sounded different frome the Deluxe Squire or the Hwy 1, but was not thin or lacking in sweet resonance. Some of the individual notes may not have been as smooth as on the other two guitars on the same switch settings, but nothing to complain about. I like the traditional staggered pickups on it and wouldn't replace them unless I put something staggered and traditional in.
Lastly I plugged in my "Black Pearl" 25 dollar '01 twentieth aniversary Squire affinity strat in gloss black naturally relic'd, been around the world with other previous owners and came to me a mess with one of the most beautiful necks you have ever seen with closely patterned horizontal flammed maple going all the way from the base to the headstock of the neck, like one quarter inch for each flame. Straight as a straight arrow. I put Fender schaller locking tuners on it and a black pearl pickguard and had the totally messed up wiring (the tone pots wore not working or grounded only the volume worked and the tones were wide open) fixed up and a new pot put in, by a tech for 14 dollars and salvaged the rest of the electronics which I may upgrade because it's worth it to me. New strings. The SD pickups I mentioned earlier.
I tuned up the "Black Pearl" and played the same sequences. Needlesstosay, the tone was superior and amazing in all five positions. The hot rail in the neck is really nice an smooth, despite what some may speculate, the 'lil '59 is great, especially in the middle position, and the JB Jr. is excellent in all positions with some smooth growl using the SRV setting and the Bassman on the SCSD, without even trying to make it growl. But smooth and great sounding with a hint of single coil sound in all three humbucking pickups. It has to be a design thing SD did to satisfy and mesmerize strat owners. The SD tech helped me refine my choice of individually picked pickups to put in this project guitar because I wanted to get maximum smooth strat sound with high output and pups that would be complimentary and produce nice 2 and 4 switch positions sounds. This combination hit the sweet spot and he said a lot of professionals use this pickup rig. He also offered some other suggestions. But I must say to those who doubt, the "hot rail" sounds fabulous in the neck position where the string amplitude is the greatest, super great.
The SD pickups do not sound like a traditional strat sound though, needlesstosay. They sound great and you can hear the shade of the strat in there, but the are a unique sound that is very smooth and very pleasant and worth the investment to someone wanting to get some great tone out of a strat, a tone that is slightly reminicent of the traditional strat sound but completely modern and still passive.
Again, I hope this addendum helps someone in some way that is thinking of trying to do a project strat that will come out sounding incredible.
Let me tell you the truth: many people are envious of that modest affinity strat I built up. Some can't believe their eyes and ears. I have offered to help them build up a project guitar for them if they want me to. I'll do it all, all they need to do is provide me the parts.
I don't know if my next project guitar will sound as nice because I'm thinking of using GFS pickups, but I'm hopeful that it will turn out quite nice. New antique white pearl pickguard, texas hot pickups, Wilkinson type Rondo tuners. Could be really nice. Time will tell. I need to start ordering some stuff but I want to go to the GC Thanksgiving sale and get there early. I think they have a special sale that is incredible for the first hour, in addition to the all day long sale. I picked up a brand new in the box Kustom Profile 1 new style PA last year with roller case for 199, normally 500. It's the molded plastic one with the 100 watts and the two drivers plus horn in each speaker and has an instrument input. Any way, a new project guitar is on the way. I just soldered my soldering iron back together after my BIG puppy six year old ex stud Newfoundland Dog I got free and had zero puppyhood but is experienceing it now, chewed up my soldering iron cord and my powerstrip cord. I soldered them both up and am back in business now.
I should be a guitar tech in my retirement. I have an aptitude for doing good work and an ear for what I think is good sound.
Duffy
The Hwy 1, naturally sounds great. I played all switch positions with chords and leads and it sounded great. I then immediately, using the exact same settings, tuned up the Deluxe Squire and played the exact same song with chords as I did on the Hwy 1 followed by the exact same leads, all settings on guitar, RP and amp the same.
Summary:
The Fender Hwy 1 sounded deeper and more full with thick resonance and sounded very good. The hbucker sounded really nice but not like a JB, but real nice and kind of single coilish for a bucker, something like the SD "hot rail", " 'lil '59" and "JB Jr" on my "Black Pearl" highly modified Squire affinity strat I got for 25 dollars and is one of my best sounding guitars, period. The JB Jr bridge pup on that sounds mysteriously single coilish instead of like a full sized JB bucker. I'm sure this is a design feature to enhance the single coil sound that people like in strats.
Anyway, the Squire Deluxe "White Out" sounded fabulous with the duncan designed single coils sss configuration. In all positions it sounded crisper, not thin, very resonant, not as deep as the Fender Hwy 1. All of the tones were great on the Deluxe and not inferior to the Hwy 1, but distinctly different and clearer sounding with a different type of resonance, but warm and enticing in a special type of way. Of course the Deluxe Squire has a maple board and the Hwy 1 has a rosewood board and other design factors are different like the bridge saddles and tone circuit; the Hwy 1 boasting the "greasebucket" tone circuit. I think it is designed to give a deeper resonance to the sound.
A lot of people like the Atomic humbucker Fender uses but in my opinion it sounds really great but has nothing up on the JB Jr. single coil size JB humbucker from SD which sounds in my opinion better. I tend to like JB passive pickups and have used quite a few.
I want to experiment with a GFS set of the Premium Texas hot strat pups with the vintage output mid and neck pups and the hot bridge pup, all single coil. Hard to believe they could compare with the SD pups though. Also thinking about a set of GFS hot lead "lil Killers" calibrated for the strat 6, 10, and 14 K resistance. These would be humbuckers and probably not have close to the same tone as the Premium Texas Hot pups with the vintage mid and neck.
Any ideas on these GFS pups?
Hope someone likes my A / B comparison of the Squire Deluxe with the new style Hwy 1 HSS. The Squire Deluxe is definitely more crisp and has less deep resonance but resonates beautifully nonetheless, nothing thin about it.
I can see where some people compare the clean sound of a strat with the right pickups to the twanging sound of the telecaster. I noticed this with the Deluxe Squire but not with the Hwy 1.
Addendum:
I just tuned up my "Cherry Burst" and played the same series on it with the same settings and it sounded great. It is an '08 Squire Standard with cherry sunburst finish, probably changed somewhat from the old version. It sounded great in all switch positions and sounded awesome in the bridge position. I can see where this is probably the most traditional sounding of the strats I have and can see where some people will liken the twang in some settings to a telecaster, plus you get that nice whammy effect, nice and slow palming it like I like it. It sounded different frome the Deluxe Squire or the Hwy 1, but was not thin or lacking in sweet resonance. Some of the individual notes may not have been as smooth as on the other two guitars on the same switch settings, but nothing to complain about. I like the traditional staggered pickups on it and wouldn't replace them unless I put something staggered and traditional in.
Lastly I plugged in my "Black Pearl" 25 dollar '01 twentieth aniversary Squire affinity strat in gloss black naturally relic'd, been around the world with other previous owners and came to me a mess with one of the most beautiful necks you have ever seen with closely patterned horizontal flammed maple going all the way from the base to the headstock of the neck, like one quarter inch for each flame. Straight as a straight arrow. I put Fender schaller locking tuners on it and a black pearl pickguard and had the totally messed up wiring (the tone pots wore not working or grounded only the volume worked and the tones were wide open) fixed up and a new pot put in, by a tech for 14 dollars and salvaged the rest of the electronics which I may upgrade because it's worth it to me. New strings. The SD pickups I mentioned earlier.
I tuned up the "Black Pearl" and played the same sequences. Needlesstosay, the tone was superior and amazing in all five positions. The hot rail in the neck is really nice an smooth, despite what some may speculate, the 'lil '59 is great, especially in the middle position, and the JB Jr. is excellent in all positions with some smooth growl using the SRV setting and the Bassman on the SCSD, without even trying to make it growl. But smooth and great sounding with a hint of single coil sound in all three humbucking pickups. It has to be a design thing SD did to satisfy and mesmerize strat owners. The SD tech helped me refine my choice of individually picked pickups to put in this project guitar because I wanted to get maximum smooth strat sound with high output and pups that would be complimentary and produce nice 2 and 4 switch positions sounds. This combination hit the sweet spot and he said a lot of professionals use this pickup rig. He also offered some other suggestions. But I must say to those who doubt, the "hot rail" sounds fabulous in the neck position where the string amplitude is the greatest, super great.
The SD pickups do not sound like a traditional strat sound though, needlesstosay. They sound great and you can hear the shade of the strat in there, but the are a unique sound that is very smooth and very pleasant and worth the investment to someone wanting to get some great tone out of a strat, a tone that is slightly reminicent of the traditional strat sound but completely modern and still passive.
Again, I hope this addendum helps someone in some way that is thinking of trying to do a project strat that will come out sounding incredible.
Let me tell you the truth: many people are envious of that modest affinity strat I built up. Some can't believe their eyes and ears. I have offered to help them build up a project guitar for them if they want me to. I'll do it all, all they need to do is provide me the parts.
I don't know if my next project guitar will sound as nice because I'm thinking of using GFS pickups, but I'm hopeful that it will turn out quite nice. New antique white pearl pickguard, texas hot pickups, Wilkinson type Rondo tuners. Could be really nice. Time will tell. I need to start ordering some stuff but I want to go to the GC Thanksgiving sale and get there early. I think they have a special sale that is incredible for the first hour, in addition to the all day long sale. I picked up a brand new in the box Kustom Profile 1 new style PA last year with roller case for 199, normally 500. It's the molded plastic one with the 100 watts and the two drivers plus horn in each speaker and has an instrument input. Any way, a new project guitar is on the way. I just soldered my soldering iron back together after my BIG puppy six year old ex stud Newfoundland Dog I got free and had zero puppyhood but is experienceing it now, chewed up my soldering iron cord and my powerstrip cord. I soldered them both up and am back in business now.
I should be a guitar tech in my retirement. I have an aptitude for doing good work and an ear for what I think is good sound.
Duffy