Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

[Willy25]

Hey guys, after a long patience for searching for a good guitar, i purchased a Fender mim lonestar hss ( coil split) at a local shop for 450usd. Regular price 700usd. I was surprise that i liked the modern C shape neck and 9.5inch radius ( played an banez gio for 3 years) and Im glad i didnt order online, not much experience, and i like to try out guitars.

I have a few question for people that own strats. When i got home, i noticed that is a 2013-14 model. But the guitar looks new with its plastics and stuff.. Was it worth it or should i return it and save for the new MIM deluxe model? Any differences?

Also anybody plays metal with a strat? The stock humbucker doesnt sound that good. Any recommendations? But preferably, a one that will split to single coil.. Because thats the function that it comes with.

And one issue,( maybe its common on strats with hss) the humbucker seems to have allot of output then all the single coils. Is this normal? Can it be balanced? Or does seymour sells a hss set? Thank you

 

[Plessure]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

As for the pickup balance it could be improved slightly by adjusting pickup heights.

Metal on a strat is possible. Some metal guitars are basically HSS strats. The problem with a regular Fender strat would be the vibrato system which is a bit too unstable for extreme use.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

You don't need to get the new model, at $450 and like new, plus they haven't changed it in the past few years, so that's all the qualifications for a score. If you want a humbucker that balances and can still do a bit if metal, the Screamin Demon is your closest option. It's not perfect for metal by a long shot, but it's the closest thing that will balance. If you want to replace the single coils it gets a bit easier. You could put some Quarter Pounds in the neck and middle and a Full Shred in the bridge, that would balance in output pretty well and tick the metal box, but you lose the classic Strat tone.

HSS Strats are only good for classic and southern rock as far as heavier styles go, in my opinion. Unless you are willing to make some compromises, you can't get classic Strat flavor with a humbucker. But put some mini humbuckers in the neck and middle and it's a whole different story...

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Yeah I got a 2012 in 2013 used still had the cellophane on the plastics
For $300 out the door

Great deal

Just didn't bond with the neck
Ibanez wizard neck and Gibson slim C are my favorite at the moment

Sold it to my neighbor

 

[B2D]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Hey guys, after a long patience for searching for a good guitar, i purchased a Fender mim lonestar hss ( coil split) at a local shop for 450usd. Regular price 700usd. I was surprise that i liked the modern C shape neck and 9.5inch radius ( played an banez gio for 3 years) and Im glad i didnt order online, not much experience, and i like to try out guitars.

I have a few question for people that own strats. When i got home, i noticed that is a 2013-14 model. But the guitar looks new with its plastics and stuff.. Was it worth it or should i return it and save for the new MIM deluxe model? Any differences?

Also anybody plays metal with a strat? The stock humbucker doesnt sound that good. Any recommendations? But preferably, a one that will split to single coil.. Because thats the function that it comes with.

And one issue,( maybe its common on strats with hss) the humbucker seems to have allot of output then all the single coils. Is this normal? Can it be balanced? Or does seymour sells a hss set? Thank you

Right on, man... I've got a 2008 Lonestar Strat that I picked up used a few months ago. Check it out...



Mine is the older model without the coil splitter in the volume pot, and a Duncan Pearly Gates Plus in the bridge. The current ones have a larger CBS style headstock and a "Twin Head" humbucker from Fender in the bridge. I don't know if there's a newer model than that.

I haven't played the new ones with the Twin Head pickup. Mine, as I said, uses the Duncan and I think it balances very well with the single coils that are in there as long as you set the guitar up right. I don't play metal, I play hard rock with a 100w Marshall but I could get through an old-school metal tune with this guitar without much difficulty.

If you wanted to switch to another pickup, there's tons of them out there. The older Lone Stars with a Duncan in them are known for their versatility and good tones so a Pearly Gates would be a good place to start. The PG+ that came stock in my guitar uses an A5 magnet - the standard PG uses an A2. Both sound good, but if you're playing metal there might be better pickups.

If you're looking to balance the output of the single coils and humbuckers, setting up the guitar and getting the pickup heights right is critical. Start with a good setup, evaluate the sound, and go from there.

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Thanks for the reply guys! Still learning how to use the hss system.. With some distortion, all the pickups are little balance..only in the clean channel is where i hear the difference.. But ill go a head and adjust the pickups hight..thanks again

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

B2D nice guitar! Hey guys another issue i have, this is due to high gain stuff. when i plug in the gio and now the fender to my scarlett solo first gen using Amplitube 4, i get this static sound and gets noisy when allot of low end is added.. But the funny thing is when i plug in my friends jackson 7 string guitar, the issue is gone.. Could this be
1) the pickups are to hot that requires a 2nd gen interface? Because when they get connected the volume increases more than the jackson.
2) the guitars need to be rewired? New pots etc..

 

[B2D]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

It's more than likely a grounding issue somewhere in the guitars. Nothing that can't be easily fixed.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

It is common with any HSS set that the pickups don't balance the way 3 single coils do. But it has other benefits that 3 singles don't have. Seymour Duncan doesn't sell a dedicated HSS set (a great idea, though), but if you want a more metal-oriented humbucker , there are a bunch of suggestions and they all can be split. However, with a more powerful metal pickup, the idea of balancing goes further out the window. Unless you change the single coils to more powerful ones...but then the idea if it sounding like a Strat goes out the window, too. So you sort of have to decide what is important to you. HSS Strats are a compromise, but I really like them.

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Thanks BD2, Cool ill go and take them to a tech before purchasing a new interface..

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Thanks Mincer, yeah ill just keep it like that for rock, ballads & blues..( it doesnt sound that bad for metal to be honest) but ill save up for an Ibanez or other brand for Metal.. No wonder guitarist have multiple guitars lol

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Hey B2D, or anyone that owns a lonestar one other question i have, it seems that the two tone knobs dont work on the bridge pickup, but it looks that is active or something, because cant explain im getting good tone when i put some high gain. is this normal? i see some ibanez iron labels dont have a tone knob, so is set to 10.. did they did the same thing to the lonestar hss ?? thanks

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

No, Strats don't have bridge tone controls, if that's what you're asking.

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

thanks, i thought there was something wrong lol.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

You can easily change one wire to have the second tone control the bridge or just a jumper and the tone will control both the middle and the bridge.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

I myself prefer to have one control the both the neck and middle, and no tone on the bridge. But that's more of an individual quirk than anything. SRV had one tone control wired to the bridge instead of the middle pickup, where it belonged. It also makes sense to wire the neck and middle to one and the bridge to the other.

 

[Willy25]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

Ill just leave it like that.. Thanks guys

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

I myself prefer to have one control the both the neck and middle, and no tone on the bridge. But that's more of an individual quirk than anything. SRV had one tone control wired to the bridge instead of the middle pickup, where it belonged. It also makes sense to wire the neck and middle to one and the bridge to the other.

did he? i knew eric johnson did that and jimmy vaughn did but dont think ive heard of stevie doing that. i prefer to have a tone on the bridge pup with sss, with hss i find its less necessary

 

[STLMTLHD79]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

I bought a very nice deep blue metallic 2005 MIM HSS Strat. I put a new pickguard on with a Dimarzio FRED and a GFS Lil Killer neck pickup-all re-wired with 500k pots. It has turned out really well and i dig the tone from the FRED and it can do metal pretty well!

 

[B2D]

Re: Fender strat MIM lonestar deluxe

I bought a very nice deep blue metallic 2005 MIM HSS Strat. I put a new pickguard on with a Dimarzio FRED and a GFS Lil Killer neck pickup-all re-wired with 500k pots. It has turned out really well and i dig the tone from the FRED and it can do metal pretty well!

The FRED is a surprisingly versatile pickup. I used one in a hard rock band for a few years with great results. I found I was able to get VH-style tones out of it relatively easily.

As for the tone controls - I usually like wiring tone #2 to the bridge pickup if I don't just use a 2-knob setup.