Future plans for fixing my busted USA Strat
As some know, I do own a 1993 Fender Stratocaster USA Standard (I am the original owner and it was bought new in '93). What people don't know is that I don't play it because the neck is broken. Not physically broken, but the truss rod snapped on the inside. I went to adjust it one day and *pop*, busted truss rod where the end of it sticks out of the neck on the headstock side.
Thinking I had done something horribly wrong, I looked up some information on this, and it turns out that truss rods popping is not an uncommon thing to happen with early 1990s USA Stratocasters.
Was I heartbroken about the truss rod breaking? No, because the guitar never played right. The 1 ("high E") string always had a buzzing problem no matter how much I adjusted the neck and 2-point bridge, the 6 ("low E") had basically the same problem, and the pickups were garbage. You know how you hear there are good and bad Strats, even for the American ones? My '93 is a bad one. It might look awesome, but plays and sounds terrible.
Eventually, I'm going to replace the neck outright, because having a luthier fix a popped truss rod is a ton of money (probably not far away from the price of a new American Standard Strat), so the solution is just to go on eBay and buy another American Strat neck. They're out there, have the Fender logo and all that, and I'll probably get a 2011 or 2012 neck. Whatever is newest that won't cost too much. The going price right now is around $325. If I bought a Mexican neck, about $225, but since it's an American guitar, I'll get the American neck with tuners.
Even after I install a new neck, the electronics still suck and have to be replaced.
The easiest way to replace electronics in a Strat is to buy a prewired pick guard that only requires the hook-up of 3 wires (output jack, which takes 2, and ground which is 1), and has everything ready for a drop-in installation. Pickups, proper volume/tone pots/knobs, 5-way switch, etc. It's all there. Just drop in, solder 3 wires (which is easy), screw down, and you're done.
Is this cheaper than installing pickups, switches and volume/tone pots individually?
No. It's really easy, but definitely not cheaper. In fact, I wouldn't recommend this for Squier guitar owners because the cost for a prewired pick guard will cost more than a Squier Stratocaster guitar itself. You can literally cut the cost by more than half by installing pickups, volume/tone pots and switches on your own.
I want to make it very clear that what you're paying for with a prewired pick guard is convenience, because the manual installation way of doing it gets you the same hardware at a lot cheaper price - but you do have to solder more stuff in and do the wiring yourself.
Here's a few that I'm considering for future purchase for my American Strat once I get the new neck installed.
Lace Sensor Gold Prewired Pick Guard WhiteTraditional Sensor pickups from Lace have no visible pole pieces which is why they have a "plain" smoothed-over cover. This is the easiest of the easy when it comes to a prewired pick guard that has genuine Strat tone with all the right hardware included for pots and switch. There is no need to ask if this set will "sound like a Strat" or not. It will, and it will be good. Price-wise this is probably the best deal as well because you get the most for the money.
This prewired pick guard comes with three "Gold" Sensor pickups. A Gold is defined by Lace as "a classic 50's style single coil sound with a classy bell", which means it works in any position (bridge, mid or neck) alone or in parallel in the "quack" 2 and 4 positions.
In other words, if you had absolutely no clue which Lace Sensor pickup to get for a Strat, the Gold is the easiest one to go with.
Lace Sensor Emerald/RW Silver/Purple Prewired Pick Guard WhiteLace defines their models of pickups by color. Instead of three "Gold", there's "Emerald" (neck), "Silver" (mid) and "Purple" (bridge).
Emerald is defined by Lace as a "Texas-inspired Tone" pickup, meaning an SRV-like sound.
Silver is defined as "a fat 70's single coil sound with increased output and more midrange". "RW" by the way means "Reverse Wound".
Purple is defined as "hot overwound single". In the bridge position it has that Deep Purple/Ritchie Blackmore sound, or if placed in the neck it sounds like a P90. Even if I bought this one individually, I'd put it in the bridge just like the prewired pick guard has it.
The price of this prewired pick guard is higher than the one with the Golds in it, but only by about 30 bucks.
DiMarzio FG2108 Fast Track Prewired Pick GuardI'm going to be totally honest here - I would never buy this because it doesn't fit my music style, but I know some of you who read this totally would after I tell you about it.
In the bridge there's a DP182, which in effect is double to triple the output of a normal single coil. The midrange frequency is cranked up beyond belief as well, so even though this is a single, you'd swear it was a humbucker. That's a very non-Strat tone, but it has the punch, no question.
In the mid position there's a DP181, with double the output of a standard single coil. This one still sounds like single - on steroids.
In the neck position there's the DP188, which again goes way into the non-Strat-sounding territory by sounding like a PAF, i.e. Gibson-sounding.
In the end, having the FG2108 prewired pick guard installed turns your Strat tone into something else that heavily leans more towards an SG/Les Paul tone. For some who read this, that may be exactly what you want. I personally wouldn't prefer that and like Strat tone, but for those chasing the Gibson sound in your Fender, installing the drop-in FG2180 is the easiest way to do it.
What's the lowest priced Fender Stratocaster?
Some people are totally stuck on logos, so I figured I'd do up a blog listing the lowest-priced Fender-branded Stratocaster.
In addition to the Stratocaster I'll also include the Telecaster.
Both of the above are the same price and are MIC (Made In China). To separate them from traditional models, both guitars have HSS (humbucker-single-single) pickup configurations only and not the traditional SSS of the Stratocaster or the SS of the Telecaster.
These guitars are said to have better-than-average build quality and are deserved of the Fender branding, even though they are MICs.
Rich's opinion
If you absolutely have to have a true Fender-branded guitar, the Modern Player series has their prices set at what American Strats used to sell for in the 1980s, so before you say, "Whoa! Way too much for a MIC!", keep that in mind.
Have I played either of the above? No, but I have seen them in person. Both guitars do carry that classic Fender look to them, and unless someone was really paying attention very closely, they'd probably mistake the Modern Player series as "customized" American models. The "spaghetti" Fender logo on the MP headstocks is the same as models made in the USA. Mexican models have what's known as the "transition" black Fender logo, so you can instantly tell the difference between an MIM and an MIA just by that alone - but not with the MP series.
Again, if the headstock logo matters to you, the Modern Player series totally works - if you don't mind the HSS configuration.
Vintage vs. Modern tuners on a Stratocaster
I have a confession to make. Before I bought my new Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster, I never owned a guitar with vintage tuners before. However, being I know how they work, this didn't scare me and I was ready for them. The first thing I did when I got my 2012 VM Strat was a string change, and I was able to do it easily. However, I'm well aware that a lot of you out there want to know what the deal is with vintage tuners, what advantages they have, what disadvantages they have, and so on.
What you're going to notice up front is that the top of the post on a vintage tuner is slotted and open, and that the guitar string seems to be going inside the post in the middle - which is exactly what's going on there. This is a big difference compared to modern tuners where the top is completely closed.
The way modern Strat tuners work is that you insert the string through a hole in the tuning post, give some slack before winding so the string wraps around that post a few times, then clip off the excess afterward.
Why are vintage tuners so desirable on a Stratocaster?
Vintage tuners don't give you any advantages as far as better tuning or added prevention of string breakage or anything like that.
The only reason for having vintage tuners is because they look cool. The tuning buttons have that cool oval shape, and the open "fork" at the top of the tuning posts just has that cool vintage Strat look to it.
This is basically the same reason why a Les Paul player would want the white plastic "tulip" tuning buttons (the buttons are shaped like a tulip flower somewhat) instead of the metal Grover Rotomatics. In that instance, the Rotomatics are far superior to the tulip style in pretty much every way - but they don't have that cool vintage look to them.
On the Strat, both the modern and vintage tuners are metal and work the same way when strings are tuned to pitch, but the disadvantage is that vintage tuners are awful for thicker strings. I'll talk about that more in a moment.
Differences in string installation
With modern tuners, you clip the excess string after you wind up the string on the post, and this is why there is always a piece of string sticking out where you clipped it.
With vintage tuners, you clip the excess string before you wind up the string on the post, and this is where the confusion begins for most people because it's completely different compared to the way modern tuners work.
How to install strings on vintage tuners
Video guide: Installing guitar strings correctly on Fender vintage style slotted tuners (machine heads)
I find this method for getting the proper wrap length is the best way to do it because you basically can't get it wrong, and you'll always have the proper wrap length you need for the tuning post when winding up.
Modern vs. Vintage tuner string wrap tips
On a Stratocaster with modern tuners, it's generally a good idea to have at least three wraps around the post. On the lighter strings you can even go up to five or seven wraps. In my experience, more string wrap around the post on a modern tuner does keep the guitar in tune better and strings break less. Why? Because with more wrap, the angle of the string from the tuning post to the nut is lower. This is especially an advantage for the strings that use string trees (also known as string guides). The lower your string, the less tension is placed against the string tree, the less string-to-tree friction you will have and the longer your string will last.
With Strats that have vintage tuners, everything is the exact opposite.
The most wrap you want on a vintage tuner is one to two wraps. Vintage tuners by nature are a lot shorter, so they don't need a lot of string wrap since they're much closer to the headstock. If you use the "two-post" measuring method as shown in the video above, you'll always get the right amount of wrap.
Will you love or hate your vintage Strat tuners?
This basically all depends on what gauge of string that you use.
It's never the lighter/thinner strings you have to worry about, it's the heavier/thicker ones.
If you use any string that's over 50 in size, you'll have problems when installing strings.
For example, let's say you normally use a 9-42 set or 10-46 set, and want to try something heavier like 10-52 or 12-60 (with 12-60 being the heaviest you can get before getting into baritone string territory on a 6-string guitar).
When you attempt to get a string over 50 in size around a vintage tuning post, this will not be easy. It's possible, but it will require the use of a crimper just to get the winding process started after you place the end of the string in the center hole - and you will barely be able to get even a single wrap of string around the post because you're fighting against how short the post is. You basically run out of room on the post for wrap real quick.
I'll put it another way. Let's say you're a metal player and want those really heavy bottom strings for drop tunings. If that's you, you're not going to like vintage tuners at all, and should stay with the modern tuners with the taller tuning posts so you can actually have something to wrap that heavy string around. It's either that or you'll just have to stick with strings that don't go over 50 in size on the bottom end.
I don't use heavy strings, but if I did, the heaviest I'd dare go with a Strat that has vintage tuners on it is 11-49. And even then I'd be worried about getting that 49 wrapped around the 6th post. Is there that much of a difference between a 46 and a 49? Yes, absolutely.
Things to remember about vintage tuners
Vintage tuners have the illusion of appearing to be the same height as modern tuners
The vintage tuners are shorter. It's really easy to think that all Strats look exactly the same on the headstock concerning the tuners, but they're not.
When vintage tuners were originally designed, they were meant only to accommodate up to a maximum of "heavy jazz strings"
Back when the Strat was originally designed in the 1950s, heavy metal didn't exist as a music genre. As such, the only reason any player actually needed heavy gauge strings back then was for playing jazz music for more bass tone and greater sustain.
It's rare you'll ever find a heavy metal player that uses super-heavy bottom strings using vintage tuners on any guitar, Strat or otherwise. Those guys and girls need the taller posts for the heavier string, else they would have a very difficult time tuning up.
Vintage tuners today are manufactured using the same dimensions they have in the 1950s for tradition's sake, and I'm not aware of any tall-post vintage tuner.
I like my vintage tuner set on my VM Strat as they work well and can fit a 9-42 string set (what I use) easily, but if you're into the metal thing with the heavy gauge bottom strings, stay with modern tuners instead.
How I became a "Squier guy"
As most people know, I primarily play Squier guitars. Those who have been following me a while know that I also own a "premium" USA Strat and a "premium" Schecter C-1 Classic as well, but don't play them.
Some ask me why I would even bother playing Squier guitars when I already own "premium" electrics.
My answer is this:
The Squier Strat in particular is the only guitar out there that has everything I want at a price I feel comfortable with. And when I say "only guitar", I'm not kidding because in order to get a USA-made Fender-branded Strat with what I want, I'd have to probably spend $2,500 just to get it.
How I prefer my Strats are as follows:
- 21-fret "C" shaped neck with medium jumbo frets and 9.5-inch radius fingerboard
- Standard electronics only (1 volume control, 2 tone controls, back pickup not wired to a tone control which is traditional vintage spec)
- 5-way pickup selector
- 6-post vintage spec bridge (6 screws mount the bridge and do not have the 2-point modern version)
- 3 single coil pickups
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, not really.
The only USA-made Fender-branded guitar that comes close to these specs American Vintage '62 Reissue - but - that guitar doesn't come with a 5-way selector because that's not the way they made them in 1962. Yes, the guitar comes with a kit to upgrade the guitar to a 5-way, but that's not the way it comes delivered. This means that out of the box, I would literally have to take the guitar apart just to get the 5-way selector in there, or hire a tech to install it for me.
The American Standard is not vintage spec at all. It has a 22-fret neck, a 2-post bridge and "special" electronics, all of which I don't prefer.
The American Special has special electronics in it that they call a "Greasebucket" tone circuit, so I can't use that. Some players like that circuit, but I don't because I like my electronics to stay traditional.
A Fender-branded Strat that does have the specifications I prefer is the Fender Standard Stratocaster - but it's made in Mexico. A fine guitar, no question, but not US-made.
So in order for me to get a new USA-made Strat that has the specs I want, I'd have to custom order it from the Fender Custom Shop, meaning the guitar would probably cost a minimum of $2,500 just to get it. Probably more than that.
"Why not just buy a signature series model?" There's not any signature model that completely falls in line with what I prefer. The closest match is the Robert Cray Stratocaster, but it has a hardtail bridge, so that's a no-go. And yes, it's true I don't use the tremolo system, but I still like having it because I think it does add certain tonal qualities just from the way it's made.
"Why don't you just go true vintage?" I can't do that because I don't like buying guitars that are already old, and in order to get the specs I want I'd have to go back to the days when Fender was building American Strats that came with a 6-post bridge as standard equipment with guitar bodies didn't weigh a ton. In other words, it would have to be a true 1960s Strat, requiring me to "desecrate" it just to get it to the way I like by gutting and redoing all the electronics, including the addition of a 5-way switch.
In the end, for the vintage specs I want, it has to be either the Fender Standard Stratocaster or a Squier Stratocaster (at least the ones without the 2-post bridge), and that's it.
How come I don't like the 2-point bridge?
On the 6-post bridge, six screws are in front of the string saddles that hold the bridge in place.
On the 2-point, only two screws hold this bridge in place. For those wondering, yes it is stable, works fine and has for decades since its introduction. The advantage to having it is that this gives you an extra tilt adjustment. For example, you could have the 1, 2 and 3 strings leaning more towards the neck and the 4, 5 and 6 leaning away just by having the top screw adjusted slightly higher.
These bridge types are available on both Fender and Squier Strats. The Squier Strat models in particular that feature the 2-point bridge are any Standard or Deluxe model. All the rest have 6-post bridges.
There are three reasons why I don't like a 2-point bridge on a Strat.
First, I don't like the look of it.
Second, I just don't like the fact the entire bridge can fall out when no strings are installed. And yes, I know that's by design, and I totally admit it makes cleaning the guitar a whole lot easier when you can pull the whole bridge out tool-less without having to unscrew anything when the strings are off, but it's just something that always bothered me.
Third, in my experience with 2-point bridges, I'm never able to get them exactly positioned where I want. I don't know what it is about those bridges, but they just don't "agree" with me for whatever reason. The vintage 6-post style on the other hand always works for the way I set up a Strat.
Am I saying that 2-point Strat bridges are bad? Not at all. Some players greatly prefer the 2-point over the 6-post, and you may genuinely appreciate having that extra bridge tilt adjustment, or just like the advantage of cleaning the guitar in the bridge area a lot easier during string changes. I just happen to prefer the 6-post.
How come I prefer the simple electronics over more advanced wiring?
My answer to this is that it's the simple reason that there's less to break on the inside as the guitar gets older over time. The general rule of thumb is that the simpler the guitar's electronics are, the longer you can play it before something busts on the inside that requires you to take it apart just to fix it.
How come I like 21-fret necks over 22?
Three reasons.
First, I prefer the look of the 21-fret over 22 on a Strat.
Second, I rarely go above the 20th fret when playing. Some like having the third octave D note on the 22nd fret so you can bend up to a third octave high E, but whenever I need notes that high, I can bend 2 semitones from the 20th to the high D or three semitones from the 21st to the high E. Given how rarely I need those notes, I don't need 22 frets.
Third, having any more than 21 frets doesn't do anything for me concerning my playing style. I'm not missing anything by "only having" 21 frets. At no time do I think, "Gee, I wish I had extra frets to get those really high notes", because I don't need to go there.
In my experience, the only type of people who actually require 22 or 24-fret guitar necks are "shredders", and I'm not a shredder.
Simpler is better
I'm also a big believer in the "less is more" methodology. Yes, it's true, I have less adjustment and tone options by specifically using vintage-spec Squier Strat guitars - but this forces me to make do with what I choose to use and concentrate on playing rather than messing around with a bunch of crap that gets in the way of all that.
Remember, an electric guitar is supposed to be simple so you can set it up easily and start rocking sooner than later.
The Strat Saga
I haven't been writing about music lately because I wanted to keep what I'm about to tell you a secret until I had a video showing it, but I have to write about it now because it's just too good (or bad?) of a story to keep to myself any longer.
Fender's Squier brand released some new guitars for 2012, one of which was called the Cyclone. The Cyclone is a cool guitar and priced right but only comes in one good color - Lake Placid Blue. More on that in a moment.
I decided that trading in the Squier Stagemaster was a good idea to get this guitar because it was so cool, and that's exactly what I did. I know that some people who follow me concerning my music will be saddened to know that the Stagemaster is gone, but I had a reason for doing it which I'll mention in a moment. Anyway, with the trade-in at Guitar Center for store credit, the Cyclone would have only cost me 50 bucks new. Good deal if you asked me.
The Cyclone arrives at Guitar Center Tampa and I go there. I smartly opened the guitar brand new out of the box in the store, and found finish cracks, so I had to send it back.
A week later, the replacement Cyclone arrives. This one arrived at the store with not only finish cracks but dents in the back of the neck.
I ordered another replacement, but when I got back home I go to Squier's web site and notice there's a brand-new-for-2012 Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster in an oh-so awesome Vintage Blonde finish. I said, "Yep, I'm getting that one instead." Called Guitar Center to order it and had to do up a custom order because it wasn't even in the GC catalog yet. Everything was going fine.
That was almost 2 months ago. And no, I'm not kidding. Fender kept delaying the guitar over and over and over and over again from being shipped.
Today, I go to the Guitar Center web site and there's the guitar in the catalog, yet I hadn't received my guitar (the same model, mind you) that I pre-ordered almost 2 months ago. That ticked me off because I should have received this guitar well before it became generally available.
Rang up Guitar Center, told them to cancel the custom order and just get the one out of the catalog outright.
It should arrive in a week.
The guitar is the one pictured at top. I'm happy to be finally getting it, and the price will be the same as if I were buying the Cyclone, but WOW has it took a lot of effort even to get this far.
As of today, I finally have a GC order number, so it's real-deal. The guitar is coming. When it arrives, I'll be notified and go pick it up.
No, it's not an expensive guitar by any means, but this is the best Strat I've personally ever bought. My USA Strat that my father bought for me in 1993 is broken (serious neck problems). That will be fixed someday when I have the money, but the cost to fix that guitar is way more than buying this new Squier VM outright.
This guitar had better be perfect when it arrives considering all the crap I've been through just to get the thing.
A few things I did after receiving 2 bad LPB (Lake Placid Blue) Squier Cyclones
I wrote about my story on a popular Squier message board, Squier-Talk. As it turns out, a whole bunch of people received bad LPB cyclones. The other colors were just fine, but only the LPB was the bad apple of the bunch. If you get a sunburst, red or black one, those are fine. Just the LPB is the bad one, or at least was.
I personally emailed Fender Customer Relations, told them about this and to check the message board thread. Fender replied back to me in kind and said they'd look into it - which they did. All LPB Cyclones as of now no matter where you buy it have had their ship dates pushed back to June 2012 and has been this way for over a month. This probably means that when Fender went to inspect them at the warehouse, they found a whole bad run of that specific color on that specific guitar and had to do them all over again. And you know what? That's fine because Fender identified the problem and took care of it.
I don't plan on getting a Cyclone now because I'll be receiving the 2012 Squier VM Strat instead. My reason for wanting the Cyclone in the first place is because I wanted a Squier with a humbucker in it (which was my original reason for buying the Stagemaster). The Stagemaster was cool and all that, but it had a 12-inch radius neck and I wanted a 9.5 which the Cyclone has, and that's why I wanted the Cyclone in the first place.
While true I have my Schecter C-1 Classic for the humbucker stuff, I really wanted a humbucker-equipped Squier just because I like the brand. I tried doing that with the Stagemaster until I found out it had the 12-inch radius neck (which isn't bad but it's just not the way I like guitar necks), then tried going with a Cyclone but I explained above how that turned out.
For now I'll be staying in single-coil Strat land. Maybe that's where I was meant to be. :)
When I get the guitar and it passes my personal inspection, yes I'll be posting videos on it. Said honestly it's the perfect type of Strat guitar for me. Vintage tremolo, three upgraded pickups (all Seymour Duncan SC-101's, SC-101B in bridge, SC-101 reverse wound in middle, SC-101N for neck), 21-fret "C" shape neck with 9.5-inch radius like I prefer and has the 3-ply white-black-white pick guard for added Strat-look goodness which my existing Bullet doesn't have.
There is one other thing that for most people would be a huge turn-off, and that's the vintage style tuners with open tuning posts. But I'll save that for another blog post coming soon.