N(U)GD! It's red!

[CTN]

ok, I thought I hated red, but now i'm not so sure.

Traded my Epi SG for a 1997 Squier Pro-tone Strat. Couldn't be happier. 2piece Ash body, Maple/Rosewood neck, 12" radius with tiny 6230 (or close to that) frets. This thing rings like a bell, and has a much different resonance than my alder bodied strat. Played unplugged, there's an audible crystalline kinda shimmering character to the highs and upper mids. Plugged in, that translates pretty much directly - it's bright, open and very articulate. Not sure exactly on the specs of the pickups, but I do know they're alnico (probably V) single coils, and they sound quite detailed and lush.

Construction is great. Neck it tightly fit to the body, it's arrow straight, and smooth, slick and fast. It's even got some light flame figuring on the topside.

Glad to be rid of that SG. It looked sexy as hell, but that's about it. My plans for this one is to get rid of all the gold hardware and the entire pickguard assembly. Changing all the hardware to black or chrome, and putting in a black pickguard with an HH setup. Still somewhat undecided on pickups, but they'll be covered.

Anyway, onto the pics.

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

That is a really good looking guitar! J normally hat transparent red, but this thin is just plain hot! Nice score!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Canada looks really good too.

 

[CTN]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

I normally hate any red guitar lol

and gold hardware too!

But this does add a bit of colour to the strat pack...and it will look a lot better with a black pickguard, i think.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Hawt

Hawt Hawt Hawt

 

[JeffB]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Red strats are the best!


Congrats!

 

[CTN]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Canada looks really good too.

It's just starting to get properly warm and sunny here now. Well.. for a day or two anyway. Most of May has been rainy as hell.

Red strats are the best!


Congrats!

Thanks dude! Honestly I don't really like red strats. Never have. They look kinda corny. The trans-red though... and with the blackened ash grain showing through... that's definitely not your ordinariy red strat. it does pop.

On a side note, I gave it a good workout. Thing is brash and unruly. with some gain heaped on, it's got this rude "KERRRRRANNNNNGGGGG" kinda sound that's very reminiscent of Ritche Blackmore's tone, but more aggressive. I like.

 

[JeffB]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Thanks dude! Honestly I don't really like red strats. Never have. They look kinda corny..

Tssk..Tsssk....





watch til the end for best effect

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

That finish is so nice and I usually hate red. lol

I still really think it would be improved without the gold but don't listen to me, I don't think I've ever liked gold hardware on any guitar haha

Congrats on the NGD

 

[Archer250]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Red + white = instant awesomeness.

 

[LReese]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Consider a wooden pickguard. Shade it to match the neck (maple) wood or maybe a piece of Mahogany stained to mimic the fingerboard.

I really like that shade of red - its a bit on the darker side, Like Dakota Red. Never was really a fan of Fiesta Red.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

I'm gonna lick it.

 

[CTN]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Tssk..Tsssk....





watch til the end for best effect

yeah... gary is amazing. that colour is atrocious though.

 

[emilio]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

That's pretty! The gold hardware is a nice touch too!

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Red not awesome, wtf? Anyway, don't think I've seen such a cool Squier before (the gold is a bit much, I agree), think you got the better deal! What kind of trem block does it have?

The Dude abides by this transaction.

 

[greekdude]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

cool strat!! just check that the pup cavities can accommodate two buckers. Also leaving the mid pup might be a good idea as well. Some mid pups sound very good at times!

 

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Leave that beautiful guitar alone!!!!

Or don't.... Whatever..... But really,as it is now, it's stunning!

 

[CTN]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

did some work on it today.

the neck was a wee bit overbowed so I had to straighten that out. While I was at it, I figured I may as well give it a good cleaning and check out everything. Tightened nuts, bolts, screws etc. Cleaned and oiled the fingerboard, ran some steel wool over the frets to clean them, checked out what was under the hood. The hot lead on the jack was cutting in and out so I reflowed the solder on it. The nut, I'm gonna need to replace - it's a cheap plastic nut and I'm kinda having a love affair with Graphtech, so yeah, gonna get a tusq nut when I start doing all the upgrades I have planned. The slots were full of who knows what. gunk. I cleaned them out and had to file a few of them a wee bit to make sure the strings weren't binding. Also I measured the neck thickness - 0.76" at the first fret, up to 0.85" at the 12th fret. pretty damn thin for a strat. Measured the radius of the neck too, turns out it's 10" not 12" like I thought.

So it is routed HSH. which is good. gives me lots of options. I could even go mini humbuckers or P 90s maybe. decisions decisions.

The pickups are alnico rods. They measure 5.05k bridge, 5.15k middle, 5.08k neck. Weird, but they sound good so i'm not gonna bother changing anything around for now.

Was a little surprised to see 500k pots here, considering how growly and warm the low end is with these pickups.

And a full-sized steel block on the trem. cool beans.

onto the pr0n....
Chocolate cake anyone?

nicer shot of the grain on the back

and the front

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Trans red or blue over Ash is a recipe for a delicious looking guitar. Good score!

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: N(U)GD! It's red!

Nice.

There's more than a few people here and elsewhere who think that Strat pups in the 5k range sound sweet, maybe a bit less sustain but the sensitivity and harmonic overtones are a bit more prominent.

I use 500k volume and tone in my HSS and have no problem with the SSL2s sounding bright.