Incoming NGD...almost full circle

[crprocks365]

Well my local music store just called to tell me they got the invoince in for my new MIM Standard HSS in Arctic White (pics to come upon arrival)!

A little background: For my 8th bday my grandpa gave me a Gibson J-30. I know it was an awesome gift to receive and is still my prized possession, however back then I wasn't quite the person I am now and it stayed in the case in my closet because I "wanted to play rock-n-roll." Fast forward to my 14th birthday-I finally got an electric, Squier Affinity Strat Starter pack in british racing green. Then on my 15th birthday I got a Jackson Dinky DXMG. I loved it but ended up selling it to upgrade the 15watt amp that came in the pack with a LINE6 Spyder 2 212. In the following 7 years I bought my first RR (JS30RR), bought and traded a Fender Showmaster for a RR3, bought and sold a Jackson Warrior WRXT, bought and sold a Fender FM100 half stack, bought a Jackson Dinky DK2M that I love, and got my Marshall VM 2466 half stack. In September of last year I bought my Gibson LP Studio Deluxe 60's which I also love.

A few weeks ago I started getting gas for a HSS strat. I started looking and almost pulled the trigger on an American Special HSS but decided I wanted one in white with a maple fb and didnt want to pay $1500+ for it. Then I found the MIM Standard HSS in artic white . Made a call to my LMS and got it headed my way after striking a deal to trade in my RR3 which I never was quite able to bond with for the HSS and some other odd and end things I needed. This also leaves me money to do some upgrading to some of my other axes.

Hopefully in the next few days she will be able to join my guitar family. After starting on a strat I am back at a strat all be it a little different.

This will give me: 1) Gibson J-30 2) Gibson LP Studio Deluxe 60s 3) Jackson JS30RR (polished turd) 4) Jackson DK2M 5) Fender Standard HSS All played through a Marshall Vintage Modern 2466

When she gets here I will post pics of her and of her family. Sorry for the long read also.

[crprocks365]

It has been a while, but I finally got her 2 days ago and she looked like this:


Last night, I turned her into this:

[michaelinokc]

Very nice! I like your choice of pick guard. HNGD!

[crprocks365]

thanks michael!

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Is that a Crunchlab?

[crprocks365]

Originally Posted by Cpt_Gonzo

Is that a Crunchlab?

no, its a dimarzio d sonic. I really don't like it though, it is too trebly, more of a Dimebag Darrell sound. I called Dimarzio earlier and talked with a tech there about it. I am going to try to do a little bit more tweaking to the height of it and see if that helps today, but the tech said he thinks i would be more satisfied with the crunch lab. If I can't get it sounding better tonight I am calling him back tomorrow and he said he would send me a crunch lab to swap it out with.

[crprocks365]

I played with the height of the pup some more and still don't care for the sound. I will be calling dimarzio tomorrow to see about getting a crunch lab headed my way.

[Bountyhunter]

Looks great!

[crprocks365]

For those of you fender guys that know all there is to know about strats, I have a question that came up during my upgrades. When I removed the stock pickguard and installed the black pearl pg from fender I noticed the mid pup was a little over 1/4" closer to the neck than the stock one was. Are the MIM strats further from the neck for a reason? I'm assuming the pg was intended for a USA strat. I'm just curious as to why this is. All of my upgrade parts are authentic fender parts so I don't know why there is a discrepency in the location of the mid pup.

[cynic79]

Originally Posted by crprocks365

For those of you fender guys that know all there is to know about strats, I have a question that came up during my upgrades. When I removed the stock pickguard and installed the black pearl pg from fender I noticed the mid pup was a little over 1/4" closer to the neck than the stock one was. Are the MIM strats further from the neck for a reason? I'm assuming the pg was intended for a USA strat. I'm just curious as to why this is. All of my upgrade parts are authentic fender parts so I don't know why there is a discrepency in the location of the mid pup.

I've noticed that on some Strats with an HSS setup. On some Fender models, it seems that they move the middle pickup closer to the neck so that it sits equidistant between the neck single coil and bridge humbucker. No reason for it besides looks as far as I can tell. It doesn't appear to be consistent between models.

[crprocks365]

Originally Posted by cynic79

I've noticed that on some Strats with an HSS setup. On some Fender models, it seems that they move the middle pickup closer to the neck so that it sits equidistant between the neck single coil and bridge humbucker. No reason for it besides looks as far as I can tell. It doesn't appear to be consistent between models.

Yeah, I did some looking too and it appears to me that it is only done on the pickguard for the HSS American Standard. I remember reading somewhere once that if pups are too close together that the magnets would sometimes pull on the strings causing them to sound different. I thought maybe fender was doing this to offset that or something. Or that whole thing could just be urban legend...idk..

[SrDeMaFp]

Try flipping the 'bucker around. It has a thicker tone with the bar toward the bridge. SWEET guitar, BTW! CONGRATS!

[Cpt_Gonzo]

Wow, Dimarzio seems really helpful. Simply swapping pickups. Not every manufacturer does that.

[crprocks365]

Originally Posted by Cpt_Gonzo

Wow, Dimarzio seems really helpful. Simply swapping pickups. Not every manufacturer does that.

Yes they are. They have been very nice to talk to. The tech rep I was dealing with truelly seemed sincere when it came to making sure I got exactly what I was looking for. He spent a lot of time on the phone with me and never game me any bs. Dimarzio seems like some down to earth people! Also, after 2 days of talking with him we decided the liquifire in the bridge would be a good direction for me to go so I have one on the way. I'm still going to send them the dsonic to have it swapped with the crunch lab (at no cost) just incase I dont like the liquifire.

[crprocks365]

The liquifire arrived today but I haven't had time to mess with the strat today. Hopefully I can get it installed tomorrow prior to band practice. I'll update afterwards.

[crprocks365]

I put the LiquiFire in her last night prior to band practice. Man this thing sounds incredible now! I want to fly to where the dimarzio headquarters is and hug the rep for making the recomendation. I am thinking about buying another one now just incase I run across a nice used blacktop tele!