Nostalgic Distortion
New member
I am most definitely a Fender guy! My very first real guitar was a Strat and they have always been my go to guitar for just about any style of music. Their ability to be easily modified & the shear volume of options for mods out there takes an already extremely versatile guitar and makes it even more so!!! The S/S/S layout worked fine for me for years until I installed my first humbucker into one, I've been ripping them apart ever since!!! Even so, for a long time I always made sure that I had one of them with 3 singles and a 5 way switch...
I recently started to consolidate some of my gear into a more manageable collection. It was getting to the point where I was spending more time cleaning & working on my guitars and amps than I was playing them! Anyway, long story short, I sold some stuff & I traded two guitars and a amp for one really great vintage Fender that I've been coveting for a while now, but in the process I ended up trading in my only true S/S/S Strat. It actually wasn't even a real Strat, it was a G&L Legacy but even completely stock it was still an amazing guitar!
I've got several Strats, quite a few Tele's, some other G&L's (which for all intents and purposes are basically just better versions of their Fender counterparts) & a lone L.P.? So I was thinking the other day and most of them either have a full size Humbuckers or S.C. sized Blade-Buckers in their bridges. Even my Telecasters/A.S.A.T were all set up with a H/H, S/H, or H/S pickup configurations?
I do love the power of a humbucker and God knows I don't miss the 60 cycle hum, but there's something special about true singles and I guess for the sake of consistency and convenience I drifted away from them for a while? So this week I decided to kill a few birds with only a couple stones!
I always intended for my Flame Top Strat to be loaded with Antiquity's and the Telecaster I play most had a Five/Two neck already, but a lil 59 bridge? When I was originally doing the Strat I got the neck & middle slots filled with Antiquity's but then at the last minute decided to go with a STK-S6 in the bridge instead of the Texas HOT Custom. The S6 was alright, quite, powerful, & a huge improvement over the Stacks that I've used in the past but it was still a stack & no matter what they don't sound exactly like a true S.C. without the noise....
Puppy Shopping- I was able to track down a used but mint condition Seymour Duncan Custom Bridge Antiquity for Strat relatively cheap on Fleaverb.com. The guy tried it and quickly changed his Strat back to a Fat Strat (he play's strictly Metal but thought they looked cool) so it's basically new! I got it plus all the fixings for less than half of what a new one would have cost so I figured why not? It's something I've wanted to do for a while now & here's my chance?
Then as I'm checking out I see a Five/Two lead for Tele for sale? You don't see them come up used very often so it instantly sparked my interest as I'm absolutely smitten with the 5/2 neck that's already in that Tele!!! I went ahead and bought it too even though I really couldn't afford to buy either of these! WTH, right? Once you've crossed that line you might as well keep on going & I'm sure my credit card company will be more than happy to collect the interest off these sales, Lol!!!
Both puppies showed up this morning and I just finished installing them. I've got to say I'm very happy with the way both of them turned out!!! The Strat looks almost as good as it sounds now & most importantly I've got that "Strat Quack" back in pos. 2 on the switch! I've been trying to learn a lot of Clapton licks recently & that position is pretty important for getting the right tone!
Replacing the lil 59 lead in the Tele was also a good move. I was a little concerned at first because I do really like the lil 59 lead in a Telecaster, especially when it has a maple fingerboard!!! There was a bit of a compromise with this one in that the Five/Two doesn't sound quite as good dirty but the hum cancelation position (#2) on the switch is just beautiful clean and more than makes up for it IMHO!
Don't get me wrong, the Five/Two can handle itself under gain just fine, it just does it differently? I've got a lil 59 & a Quarter Pound lead in my other Tele's and my A.S.A.T. is currently loaded with a Pegasus/Jazz complement so the whole "Hot & Ballsy" Tele sound is covered & honestly having something that's a little more on the traditional or vintage end of the spectrum again is flipping awesome!!! It may be just in my head but I swear that I can hear the brass baseplate on the lead pup and its something that I have missed terribly!!!
View attachment 71484
All & all its a good day to be a Fender-caster!!!
I recently started to consolidate some of my gear into a more manageable collection. It was getting to the point where I was spending more time cleaning & working on my guitars and amps than I was playing them! Anyway, long story short, I sold some stuff & I traded two guitars and a amp for one really great vintage Fender that I've been coveting for a while now, but in the process I ended up trading in my only true S/S/S Strat. It actually wasn't even a real Strat, it was a G&L Legacy but even completely stock it was still an amazing guitar!
I've got several Strats, quite a few Tele's, some other G&L's (which for all intents and purposes are basically just better versions of their Fender counterparts) & a lone L.P.? So I was thinking the other day and most of them either have a full size Humbuckers or S.C. sized Blade-Buckers in their bridges. Even my Telecasters/A.S.A.T were all set up with a H/H, S/H, or H/S pickup configurations?
I do love the power of a humbucker and God knows I don't miss the 60 cycle hum, but there's something special about true singles and I guess for the sake of consistency and convenience I drifted away from them for a while? So this week I decided to kill a few birds with only a couple stones!
I always intended for my Flame Top Strat to be loaded with Antiquity's and the Telecaster I play most had a Five/Two neck already, but a lil 59 bridge? When I was originally doing the Strat I got the neck & middle slots filled with Antiquity's but then at the last minute decided to go with a STK-S6 in the bridge instead of the Texas HOT Custom. The S6 was alright, quite, powerful, & a huge improvement over the Stacks that I've used in the past but it was still a stack & no matter what they don't sound exactly like a true S.C. without the noise....
Puppy Shopping- I was able to track down a used but mint condition Seymour Duncan Custom Bridge Antiquity for Strat relatively cheap on Fleaverb.com. The guy tried it and quickly changed his Strat back to a Fat Strat (he play's strictly Metal but thought they looked cool) so it's basically new! I got it plus all the fixings for less than half of what a new one would have cost so I figured why not? It's something I've wanted to do for a while now & here's my chance?
Then as I'm checking out I see a Five/Two lead for Tele for sale? You don't see them come up used very often so it instantly sparked my interest as I'm absolutely smitten with the 5/2 neck that's already in that Tele!!! I went ahead and bought it too even though I really couldn't afford to buy either of these! WTH, right? Once you've crossed that line you might as well keep on going & I'm sure my credit card company will be more than happy to collect the interest off these sales, Lol!!!
Both puppies showed up this morning and I just finished installing them. I've got to say I'm very happy with the way both of them turned out!!! The Strat looks almost as good as it sounds now & most importantly I've got that "Strat Quack" back in pos. 2 on the switch! I've been trying to learn a lot of Clapton licks recently & that position is pretty important for getting the right tone!
Replacing the lil 59 lead in the Tele was also a good move. I was a little concerned at first because I do really like the lil 59 lead in a Telecaster, especially when it has a maple fingerboard!!! There was a bit of a compromise with this one in that the Five/Two doesn't sound quite as good dirty but the hum cancelation position (#2) on the switch is just beautiful clean and more than makes up for it IMHO!
Don't get me wrong, the Five/Two can handle itself under gain just fine, it just does it differently? I've got a lil 59 & a Quarter Pound lead in my other Tele's and my A.S.A.T. is currently loaded with a Pegasus/Jazz complement so the whole "Hot & Ballsy" Tele sound is covered & honestly having something that's a little more on the traditional or vintage end of the spectrum again is flipping awesome!!! It may be just in my head but I swear that I can hear the brass baseplate on the lead pup and its something that I have missed terribly!!!
View attachment 71484
All & all its a good day to be a Fender-caster!!!
