LtKojak
New member
After about 10 years I've start to feel the need to have some classic strat sound. So, being the cheapskate I am, I went and bought an used but not abused Squire Standard strat.
The former owner used to fix guitars as a hobby, just like myself, so when I got it it was perfectly set up and played very well... for a strat, of course.
Being the tinkerer I am, I've immediately changed the p'ups, and I put a set of StewMac's Golden Age single coil, which I thought they were pretty good for the price.
After the Honeymoon period was over, I found myself not being able to bond with the instrument; I've made a complete refret and changed the radious to a 12" to see if I could get more comfortable with it... for over two years I've tried every single tweak I could think of, still no dice. No matter what I did, that guitar had a "plasticy" and/or "cardboardy" tone that bothered me to no end.
So I gave up on it, blaming on that I'm a Gibson man, it's just a cheap chinese copy, that's got the the "wrong" scale, the "wrong" body shape, the "wrong" wood, etc...
I still fancied that single-coil sound, though. In the meantime I've bought a set of Lace's Holy Grail for next to nothing, then I've scored a brand new but dented PRS SE EG (SSS model) for less than half price so I've changed the ****ty stock p'ups and electronics (you just can't imagine how ****ty they are)and put the Holy Grails set in.
From the beginning in the PRS a new problem arised: the first string didn't match the rod in the neck p'up so it would sound noticeably less loud than the rest of the strings. The middle p'up was off too, although not as bad as the neck one, which was plainly UNPLAYABLE. The Holy Grails were also lacking a whole lot in the body departament and found out that they have absolutely no dynamics at all.
To add insult to injury, I had to BORROW a strat to record a guitar part in a musical project I was working on so I thought: That's it! I've had it! They have to go, both of them!
Being on vacation and not going anywhere, I've decided to get'em ready to sell. I've put the Holy Grails into the Squier just because they looked better in it (they're white, the others are black), and put the Golden Age in the PRS.
Setting the Squier up I've discovered that the poles fitted almost perfectly the strings so all strings sounded as loud as they should be and that for some obscure reason now they have BODY in their sound.. and that plastic, cardboardy tone is gone? What the ...?
After I've finished the PRS, the TONE that got out of it is incredible! I've nailed SRV's famous recorded strat tone right away, without even trying! And this particular guitar plays like a dream, too!
Now after almost three years of trying I've finally got the strat tone I was wishing for from no less than TWO guitars.
So, folks... the moral of the story is: always work with what you've got BEFORE you go out and buy something else; it might not solve the problem.
HTH,
The former owner used to fix guitars as a hobby, just like myself, so when I got it it was perfectly set up and played very well... for a strat, of course.
Being the tinkerer I am, I've immediately changed the p'ups, and I put a set of StewMac's Golden Age single coil, which I thought they were pretty good for the price.
After the Honeymoon period was over, I found myself not being able to bond with the instrument; I've made a complete refret and changed the radious to a 12" to see if I could get more comfortable with it... for over two years I've tried every single tweak I could think of, still no dice. No matter what I did, that guitar had a "plasticy" and/or "cardboardy" tone that bothered me to no end.
So I gave up on it, blaming on that I'm a Gibson man, it's just a cheap chinese copy, that's got the the "wrong" scale, the "wrong" body shape, the "wrong" wood, etc...
I still fancied that single-coil sound, though. In the meantime I've bought a set of Lace's Holy Grail for next to nothing, then I've scored a brand new but dented PRS SE EG (SSS model) for less than half price so I've changed the ****ty stock p'ups and electronics (you just can't imagine how ****ty they are)and put the Holy Grails set in.
From the beginning in the PRS a new problem arised: the first string didn't match the rod in the neck p'up so it would sound noticeably less loud than the rest of the strings. The middle p'up was off too, although not as bad as the neck one, which was plainly UNPLAYABLE. The Holy Grails were also lacking a whole lot in the body departament and found out that they have absolutely no dynamics at all.
To add insult to injury, I had to BORROW a strat to record a guitar part in a musical project I was working on so I thought: That's it! I've had it! They have to go, both of them!
Being on vacation and not going anywhere, I've decided to get'em ready to sell. I've put the Holy Grails into the Squier just because they looked better in it (they're white, the others are black), and put the Golden Age in the PRS.
Setting the Squier up I've discovered that the poles fitted almost perfectly the strings so all strings sounded as loud as they should be and that for some obscure reason now they have BODY in their sound.. and that plastic, cardboardy tone is gone? What the ...?
After I've finished the PRS, the TONE that got out of it is incredible! I've nailed SRV's famous recorded strat tone right away, without even trying! And this particular guitar plays like a dream, too!
Now after almost three years of trying I've finally got the strat tone I was wishing for from no less than TWO guitars.
So, folks... the moral of the story is: always work with what you've got BEFORE you go out and buy something else; it might not solve the problem.
HTH,
