Guitar Nerds Anonymous

I had an EHX Pulsar Tremolo for a while that did an approximation of that sound. My playing was the weak link in the chain sadly!

Why do I feel the urge to do something silly like replace the excessively bright and twangy pickups in my newly acquired Squier with something else?
Lace Sensors have always looked snazzy to me but would cost a fortune to do I’m sure.

In a similar vein I tried one of these out recently and thought it was great. Awesome as a straight-ahead rock guitar I reckon.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266970739538

How about of set of fleor rails off AliExpress - Iron Maiden style for cheap.

lol not quite what I’m after but noted.
Warm, bluesy for downtuned clumsy noodling is more up my street. Think Clutch or Brant Bjork tone :)

I'm pretty sure Brant plays stock Strats, or at least did all those years ago, though I think it was a 70s Strat? Seem to remember a very minimal setup of Strat, Fuzz Face, an OD and delay into a Marshall. Great tone and vibes for days!

Internet suggests a Squier VM 70s Strat which had Duncan-designed pickups in - http://squierwiki.com/VM-%E2%80%9870s-Stratocaster

That’s what I was going to suggest, maybe there’s some decent SDs, or alnico ones from a Squier Classic Vibe that you can find on eBay that someone has swapped out of their guitar. I like the CV pickups, generally, much more vintage sounding than most Squiers.

Iron Gear Pickups? Haven't tried the single coils, but their humbuckers are great for the money
http://irongear.co.uk/irongear_pickups_022.htm

That does look pretty good. But I already have a Squier, so fancy something different.

He’s actually playing a squier w/70s headstock on his tutorials on playthisriff.com but must be a nice example/pickups than mine as it’s warm and cosy, mine a bit more sharp and abrasive.

Oh cool, will keep my eyes peeled.
As I need to take it to @Sparky for a setup there’s a part of me that’s considering saving up and doing all the mods I can think of in one hit…

I’m not trying to copy his tone of course, but that guitar will be living in D standard which is what he tunes to and like the idea of a cosy sounding strat.

My hss fender player II strat sounds ace so I won’t change anything on that until I’m really sure of making any changes.

This might sound like an obvious suggestion but have you tried backing the tone and/or volume knobs off a bit?

Apparently it’s a feature of those pickups - https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/duncan-designed-sc101-a-technical-analysis-and-review-thereof.467148/

Yes, of course I don’t need to modify this at all and I’m still finding new tones in the amp and guitar anyway so yeah, it’s fine.
Just thinking aloud really and a generic squier just lends itself to silly mods.

I moved home earlier this year, out of a semi into a flat so haven't in good conscience played my Tele for about 6 months. Had a little play the other day and noticed that I could feel the skunk stripe on my Tele was no longer completely flush. Action still fine and plays nice, so I don't think there's anything wrong with the truss rod or neck, but what are my options?
Currently a gloss/satin neck - is it best to give it a gentle sand down?

Burn it with fire ?

I have a set of BNIB Iron Gear Pig Iron strat pickups with white covers that I'm happy to shift for a decent discount. Am in London tomorrow if @edmundro wants to collect. http://www.irongear.co.uk/irongear_pickups_009.htm

Anyone played one of the Squire jazzmasters? The classic vibe 60s?

Really want a jazzmaster for tootling, but don't play enough electric to warrant a full fat fender one.

I picked up one of the 40th anniversary squire JMs. The neck, finish etc is nice but it badly needs a setup (which I haven't yet managed to sort).

And the trem arm is loosey goosey too.

Not sure I would rush to recommend it.

Hmm ok, and that's one you'd think would be a bit better.

I'll keep my eye out for 2nd hand fender ones maybe.

I have one of these and honestly I really like it, and would recommend over a regular CV.

Setup was mostly pretty good on mine but it 100% needs a neck shim (unless you're going to put much thicker strings on), e.g. a StewMac one. Without that it's really sloppy. Nicer neck than the standard CVs (which are very glossy). Just a nice neck full stop really, apart from the fret ends being a little sharp as you'd expect. Mine had a bit of roughness near the nut but after about a week of playing it smoothed right out and disappeared. I also put a Tusq string tree on because I had one lying around.

There are a couple of poor bits of sanding on the body contours, and a dent on one corner of the anodised pickguard but that doesn't really matter, I bought it because it plays well and sounds the way I wanted a JM to sound (which almost all the others I tried didn't - other Squiers, Players, etc).

With the trem arm - yeah, it just falls out. I don't know if it's the "worn" finish on all the hardware or what. The solution is to forcibly put a bend in the short end of the arm. You just have to be gentle doing it because Squier trem arms are made of cheese. I have a Staytrem waiting to go on it when I get round to it, might swap the tuners as well for the ones I took off my MIJ offset Tele.

Anyway - you have to try them in a shop and see what you like. For me, I did not like the way the Fender Player JMs sounded and would not take one of those over my Squier. Maybe the Vinteras are better.

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I’ve got a couple vintage modified jazzmasters from a few years back, they are supposed to be faithful replicas of the originals, or something like that. A lot of guitar for the money. Just need a good setup to get the most from it.

Hah, same colours, you have good taste 😆

Agree with everything there. I tried bending the trem arm but found it surprisingly tough. Any tips?

Hmm, think I clamped it between something and hit it with a hammer 😂

Gave my woolly mammoth clone a #sickfadez and some new knobs. It’s pretty rowdy if you turn the fuzz up beyond 12 o clock.
I was going to dymo the text but then decided a sharpie was good enough.

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