Yes, guitar string metals really do matter
When you start experimenting with strings made of different alloys, weird noises might happen.
I can say with absolute certainty that when a guitar string manufacturer says a certain string is made of something different, it's not just lip service. Different metals do result in a different sound. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not.
An example of this is Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt. I use the very light 8-38 size, which is model 2725.
I was able to wrangle a fairly decent sound out of these, but it comes at a slight cost, and I'm not talking about price.
This is a direct quote from the Ernie Ball page on the Extra Slinky Cobalt strings:
Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky Electric Guitar Strings provide an extended dynamic range, incredible harmonic response, increased low end, and crisp, clear highs. Cobalt provides a stronger magnetic relationship between pickups and strings than any other alloy previously available. Cobalt Slinky guitar strings are also soft and silky to the touch, making string bending a breeze.
Is all this true? Yes. However, a drawback is that the increased harmonic response can in fact be too good.
On my Squier Stratocaster, when I palm mute the A or D strings, really high harmonic "ping" noises can be heard. Problem with the pickups? No. Problem with the guitar? No. What's happening is that since the response of the strings is so prominent, it brings out unwanted harmonics for certain play styles.
Is this a problem with the string? No. The string is actually doing exactly what Ernie Ball said it would... a little too well.
This can also happen with stainless steel strings
The go-to example for this are D'Addario XL ProSteels. On that particular model, the wound strings use a stainless steel wrap instead of nickel plated. This string is not the same as the Ernie Ball Extra Slinky Cobalt, but like the Cobalt strings does change how things sound.
With ProSteels, yes, they are brighter. Are they too bright? That I don't know. I haven't tried them personally but might in the future.
What I do know is that whenever you use a string where the metal material is not the standard nickel-plated stuff, the sound does change. Sometimes the change is good, not-so good, or introduces a particular quirk.
Can changing to a string with a different metal "save" a pickup?
Short answer: No.
Long answer:
Using a string like the Cobalt or the ProSteels can and does result in a better magnetic attraction from string to pickup. However, even though this is true, a string can't magically revive a pickup magnet that's lifeless or close to dead.
If you have a pickup that sounds great but is otherwise low-output (some humbuckers with alnico II magnets are like that) and need something to give it a boost in harmonic range, that's a solid reason to use strings with different metals in them...
...but just be aware that sometimes changing to a string made with different metals may bring about weird/unwanted sounds. If it does, there's nothing wrong with your guitar nor the string.
How to stop a Stratocaster from making spring noises
Springs in Stratocaster guitars make noise, and this is how to stop that noise.
A Stratocaster guitar can, amazingly, have up to 11 springs in it. Two pickup springs per pickup and up to 5 tremolo springs in the rear.
I'll cover the tremolo spring noises first, then the pickup spring noises.
How to get rid of Stratocaster tremolo spring noise
The easiest way to muffle tremolo spring noises is to snake a piece of paper towel through it.
Take the tremolo spring out first.
Take an old guitar string (a wound string like a low-E, A or D works best) and bend it in half so it looks like this:
Push the bent point through the tremolo spring, then rip a piece of paper towel about twice the length of the tremolo spring and put it through the bent point of the string, like this:
Pull the string so the paper towel goes through the spring, like this:
Cut off any excess paper towel you have, then tuck the ends into the tremolo spring with a pen, so it looks like this:
Reinstall the tremolo spring in your guitar. Can you guess which one has the paper towel through it? No you can't, because when you do it right, it's completely invisible. It will look like this:
All tremolo spring noises are now 100% gone. The paper towel not only muffles the spring ringing, but also allows the springs to work completely normally.
Now let's move on to pickup springs.
How to get rid of Stratocaster pickup spring noise
You have two options for this one.
Option 1: Teflon tape
The very cheap and easy solution is to use Teflon tape. Yes, the same tape you use for shower heads, sink filters and so on.
Option 2: Picking mounting tubing
If you ever wanted to know why upscale Fender Stratocaster guitars don't have annoying pickup spring ringing noises, it's because many don't use pickup mounting springs at all. Instead, they use picking mounting tubing.
Are the tube pieces expensive? No. It will probably be the lowest priced official Fender part you ever buy. As inexpensive as they are, they do absolutely work. These tubes stop pickup spring noise 100% since they're not springs.
Does this work on Telecaster guitars too?
Indeed it does, specifically on the bridge-side pickup. If you've got annoying ringing coming from that rear Telecaster plate, chances are it's pickup springs making the noise. Tape the springs up with Teflon tape or use the tubes, your choice.
On an end note, DO NOT use masking tape or any type of tape with adhesive on it on the pickup mounting springs. Not only will it not stick, but also won't stop ringing noise and fall right off. Use Teflon tape or the tube pieces, as those are the two that absolutely will work to stop pickup spring noise.
Guild Surfliner - odd decisions were made here
This guitar is cool but some of the design decisions are questionable.
When you think Guild, a solid-body guitar is not the first thing that usually comes to mind. Most players would think of their acoustic models first (like the D-20, always a good choice), hollow bodies second (like the X-175 Manhattan Special, also a good choice) and semi-hollow third (like the Starfire I DC, which, again, is a good choice).
The only two solid-body guitars most know from Guild is the S-100 Polara and S-200 T-Bird...
...but then there's this new offering, the Surfliner. This is a cool guitar but has some oddities to it.
Before getting to the oddities, I'll mention the best part about this guitar first.
The best part is that the Surfliner is very easy to operate. Master volume, master tone, three pickup off/on switches that offer up 7 different pickup combinations, and no vibrato. There's nothing about the Surfliner that's difficult to use, which is great.
The second best part is that the guitar is easy to set up. Install your guitar strings of choice, set the bridge height, adjust the truss rod and that's all you need to do.
The third best part is that even though this is HSS, the balance between the pickups is great because Guild smartly put some higher output single-coils for the middle and neck positions. What this means is that the humbucker at the rear position does not overpower the other two singles. All pickups have a lot of treble response, so the name of the guitar is not just a title as it can totally get the surf rock tone.
So what's odd about the guitar?
Two things.
First are the three rocker switches for selecting the pickups. Stylistically, they look cool. Realistically, they should have been mini-toggles because generally speaking, guitar players don't like flat/wide switches. True, you can operate them easily with a single finger, but it's much more satisfying to use mini-toggles over rockers.
Second, it's a 23-fret neck. That's not a typo. The only guitar I can accept with an odd number of frets is a 21-fret Stratocaster. For everything else, it has to be 22 or 24. Guild instead went for 23. Does anybody have a use for a high D# in standard tuning?
Is the 23-fret neck a deal-breaker? No, because hardly anybody plays up that high on the neck. It's just an odd decision (literally) to go with 23 frets.
What bugs me about the 23-fret neck is that it serves no practical advantage to the player. The 23 frets are there just for Guild to say, "Hey look, we have a solid-body with 23 frets. Pretty crazy, eh?" They should have just went with 22.
Again, not a deal-breaker. Just an odd decision. No other solid-body in Guild's lineup is like this. The Polara, T-Bird, Aristocrat HH, Jetstar and even the Bluesbird all have 22 frets. Surfliner just had to be different with 23.
Some may look at the Surfliner and think, "So this is Guild's version of a Stratocaster?" Believe me, this is not a Strat. Far from it. The body has the offset lean, and the HSS sounds absolutely nothing (in a good way) like any HSS Fender is making. Also note that the controls are kept at a reasonable distance away from the pickups (unlike a Strat where the volume is directly below the rear pickup).
In other words, you would absolutely not be getting "just another Strat" with the Surfliner. You get something truly different and genuinely interesting that's not copying anything else.
1992, the awkward year when glam metal truly died
A lot of bands lost their jobs in '92.
Back in my late teens one late night in 1992, I was watching MTV (Music Television). The show that was on was either Headbangers Ball or 120 Minutes. I don't remember which show it was.
Towards the very end of the show, on comes a video by Roxy Blue. The song was Rob The Cradle. My eyebrows raised, my eyes widened. I seriously couldn't believe I was seeing a glam rock band on MTV... in '92. Even though I was all by myself, to this day I can still remember feeling embarrassed actually watching that video. It was one of those, "Well, there goes 4 minutes of my life I'll never get back" moments.
Nevermind by Nirvana already happened the previous year in '91, and that was the very loud signal that glam rock was dead, dead, dead. Stick a fork in it, it's done. Buh-bye. See ya.
However, glam rock didn't die overnight. Nope. It took some time before it all went away. 1992 was the year where many, many bands lost their livelihoods because grunge destroyed it all.
Roxy Blue was the very last example I saw of The Glam Rock Machine. This machine started around 1984 and came to its very bitter end in 1992.
If you were in a rock band then during The Glam Machine era, it was mandatory that you had to have the "wild party boys" image. You had to have long hair, mouth gaping open every time the camera is on you as if to say, "Oh my God, what crazy thing will I do next?", dress in spandex on stage, wear a leather motorcycle jacket when not on stage (even though you don't ride a motorcycle), SMILE SMILE SMILE all the time, jump around like an idiot on stage with boundless energy, and so on.
Where the song material was concerned, there were only two types in the glam rock genre. The party song and the ballad. That's it. Party songs were about drinking, loose women and being a scofflaw for absolutely no reason at all. Ballads were written for women listeners to push more album sales.
Now of course, all of this was a totally dead market by '92. But The Glam Machine was a very established way of doing things in the rock music industry for almost ten years. As such, dismantling that machine wasn't just something where a switch was flipped to change it all to something else...
...which is why I saw that Roxy Blue video one late night in '92 on MTV. The Glam Machine was well on its way out, but MTV was most likely obligated to show that video due to record label agreements or something along those lines. It was a business decision to show that video. MTV, knowing that particular style of music was a dead duck but had to show it anyway, purposely placed it in a throwaway time slot just so they could say, "Yep, we played the video and the obligation has been met."
Just imagine for a moment seeing music videos of all the more somber, heavier music of the day, and then WHAMMO, a train wreck of glam long after its heyday had passed. Loose women, spandex, hairspray, annoying guitar solos, SMILE, jump-jump-jump around...
...which left me thinking, "What is THIS garbage?"
I think it's comical now that a search for Roxy Blue ends up showing you mostly women's underwear products.
Somehow, that seems appropriate.
The boys in Roxy Blue did what they thought was the standard to be a successful rock band, but the standard had changed, and by '93, they were done.
Does Roxy Blue still exist today? Yes, but with different band members.
Fender Cyclone II (it exists today as a Squier)
Time for a trip back to the early 2000s when this almost-short-scale guitar existed in a Fender flavor.
In the Fender range there were 3 models of the Cyclone guitar. Cyclone, Cyclone HH and Cyclone II. All the II models appear to have competition stripe graphics on them.
Squier also did have Cyclone models back in the '00s as well as Vintage Modified Series Cyclone guitars. As far as I'm aware, two models existed from this era. One was S/S an the other H/S, with the vast majority being H/S versions.
"Almost short scale?"
The Cyclone is technically not short scale, although it looks like it. The scale is 24.75". Yes, like a Gibson.
The Cyclone II is actually amazing
With the II, you get an alder body, vintage style tuning machines, maple neck with satin urethane finish on the rear, rosewood fingerboard with 9.5" radius on top with 22 medium jumbo frets. But where the magic happens is with the pickups. They are Fender "Special Design" American Vintage Jaguar pickups. All three of them.
And while there's a Cyclone decal at the end of the neck, the headstock is in fact a Jazzmaster shape.
Summed up: What you get with the Cyclone II is, more or less, a Mustang body, Jaguar electronics with a THIRD pickup in the middle like a Stratocaster, Jaguar knobs, Stratocaster bridge/tremolo, on a 24.75" scale neck with a Jazzmaster headstock on it...
...which is nuts, but it all works.
Is the modern Squier Paranomal Cyclone the same thing as the Fender Cyclone II?
Almost.
On the modern Squier Paranormal Cyclone, the body is poplar, the fingerboard Indian Laurel, the rear neck finishing is gloss polyurethane, frets are narrow/tall style, pickups are alnico single-coils...
...but I totally understand why Squier chose to pattern after the Cyclone II and not another version of it. The II is the best one, so it's nice to see that Squier released what is unquestionably the top Cyclone model.
My only knock against the Squier? They should have put the competition stripe on it like the Fender had. That stripe just totally works on this guitar.
Even so, given the Fender Cyclone II is tough to come by, the modern Squier flavor is no slouch. Still a great guitar.