Hello!

StratMatt22

New member
Hey everyone just wanted to introduce myself because I finally signed up for an account. My name is Matt and I have been playing guitar for about 8 years. My main axe is a 1996 50th Anniversary American Standard Strat with a Texas Special Neck (Best pup ever :)), a stock middle pickup and a Vintage Rails bridge.

My first foray into realm of pups was to find a pickup that could replace my stock bridge single coil and eliminate the noise. I wanted to keep my single coil sound however because, come on, theres nothing like a strat. I decided on the vintage rails obviously and I must say that this single pickup made me an SD fan. Too bad I only had one guitar to play with.

I then wanted to find a new neck pickup that could give me the sound of SRV's guitar about, with a real mellow clean tone that can get very percussive. I quickly decided on the Fender Texas Special because thats what they put in their SRV Sigs (DUH!), and I must say Im not dissapointed because I can play for hours on this one at a time just to relax (Sorry SD! :guilty: ).

So that was my previous pup experience. Now for the present day...

I just registered tonight after about 2 years of coming here regularly. I would just browse through the topics or look for ones that already existed if I needed help. However, I just recently got a great deal on a used Ibanez Artcore AS73 for $200 to fulfill my jazz needs without spending too much money and then went on to replace its pups immediately with the Jazz / JB combo. I got the pups on ebay for $90 combined and the guitar itself was a complete impulse buy, I simply could not pass the deal up. I just put the pickups in last night and after an entire day of heavy playing through my Hot Rod Deville 212, I got so excited I just had to let you guys know. This guitar is simply amazing. I simply cannot believe I spent only $300 for this.

My vintage rails on my amps drive channel sounds very bluesy and is perfect for that kind of stuff, but the JB just sounds so damn nice with the same amp settings. Its like the pup has that OMPH I have been missing out on (keep in mind this is my first true HB experience!)

Now as for my Jazz neck. I just put my reverb on 6, raise the lows, wind back my tone knob a little, and Im strolling through Wes Land in no time! I cannot believe how long I have waited to get a guitar that I can get a true Jazz tone. You guys should beat me!

Anyways just wanted to share my excitement and say hello! Ill probably be posting a lot more from now on!
 
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Re: Hello!

Welcome to the forum, Matt! Thanks for sharing your experiences. A pickup for every purpose :)

Come visit the Off-Topic room.
 
Re: Hello!

Welcome aboard. It is amazing what can be put together for not a lot of money. The Jazz/JB is Seymours favorite set. You're in good company. ;)
 
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Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will enjoy posting and responding/helping others.

Congrats on the Artcore. Nice score for that price.
I'm a big semi-hollow fan myself. Always have been. I think that it just comes down to the tone and that old-style body shape.

I have 2 friends with Texas Specials in their strats...very nice pups!

Enjoy,

Dave
 
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Welcome Matt -I like the artcores. Excellent entry (or better!) jazz boxes. Awesome deals.

We'll work on the Strat/Single coil thing....
 
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Welcome aboard. After years of trying it all and looking for something special I just put that same Jazz/JB set in my LP and cant believe how much I like it. Its such a commonly suggested set that I think many here ,including myself, tend pass by thinking we may know something others dont,but Seymour knew :)
 
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MMM. Long time observer/occasional poster here. I got a lefty Artcore AS83 off of ebay back in February, immediately replaced the tuners, and even with the stock pickups stuck in there it's quickly become my #1 guitar! I expected to get a middle-of-the-road guitar that I'd only pick up once in a while (I just was eager to try out a semi-hollowbody, as my experience with guitars is limited only to Strats/LP's/SG's)... but instead I've found a guitar that, with a set of flatwound .011's and through my Roland JC120, shines like no other! I'm sure a lot of that is the amp but it didn't sound bad through my Marshall either, and that has one of the worst clean channels you can imagine. :laugh2: I can't wait to stick some new pickups in there; I already have a Jazz laying around that simply *needs* to go in the neck.

I'm just curious - how's the JB sound in the bridge of that bad boy, Matt? I thought high output pickups and semi-hollow guitars didn't mix that well...
 
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I looked at a as75 last week and I thought it was ok but what I didn't understand were the tiny frets. They were the narrowest frets I have ever seen and they aren't very tall either?
 
Re: Hello!

welcome matt!!! how 'bout some pix of both geetars ??? i'm sure i'm not the only one who would like to see them...................... btw congrats on your pickup success.
 
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The JB in the bridge sounds amazing to me. It has a real warm feeling when playing heavy chords but still retains that crunch. I really don't know how else to explain it. Let me put it this way, you can tell what part of the tone is the JB and what part is the guitar itself, and there isn't too much feedback at all.

As for the small frets on the AS75 I don't really know. My AS73 has large size frets which work perfectly.

Also, I jammed with my friend today who has a real deal 335 and other than the weight of his guitar, I could tell very few differences than my guitar from just playing it. Sure it has much better hardware and construction, but I actually think mine sounded better. Especially the jazz neck compared to the Gibson stock pup. Since I don't buy guitars very often I am starting to wonder whether or not these high-end guitars are really worth the extra money in many cases, however, I still love my strat.
 
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Thats the best pic that I could find of my Strat. Sorry dude! However, if you look closely, you can see my vintage looking single coil covers. I soaked them in a cup of super strong coffee for a day:smokin:

When I get pics of my new guitar Ill post them, really doesnt look anything different than the AS73 pics on the internet though!



95465245_l.jpg
 
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