#61
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Thanks Les...I found the same thing. I am glad you used a good reference headphone as well and have experience with Strats. I have owned mostly strats, about half a dozen and was surprised.
Where the Affinity does break down is when you are not just working those fixed clean tones, but begin to work with the middle and neck pickups. They take on this muddy range and I think I will try Fretbuzz's method of lowering the pickup and testing it to find a sweet spot. However, Fret, you are playing with 10s and I find that 9s are better for bends and for my finger strength. I think tweaking the pickup for 9s could be more of a challenge, you are getting much stronger fundamentals with that gauge. But I had 10s on it and found it too much work to play high on the fretboard. I am encouraged by two people now, both you and my guitar tech, to keep the stock pickups in and just adjust the amp and we did a full setup with 9s. But it still needs pickup height adjustment I guess. This thread is worthwhile, if someone is cash strapped and must go with a used Squier, available on Kijiji everywhere, and cannot do a $300 upgrade to great pickups, its nice to know how to work with what we do have. 10s eh? Strong fingers! |
#62
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It was well worth it, BTW to redo my set up (felt the basses were a little choked before) which helped get those pups a little higher to better effect. Set up really is the first step...the first one I did was not very "subtle." Just intonation/action sort of thing...hey isn't that what most techs do really for how much money?
The second set up I carefully adjusted not simply for better action/intonation but the "true" sound of the string, optimum tension. The result? A musical instrument. It's worth the extra time...and actually easy to do and learn how to do this...and can understand now why folks who also own Strats costing much much more still love their Bullets...stock!!! When you get them "there." When you optimize the string tension on EACH string patiently in increments...you're playing different pups... a different guitar. Makes me also understand why so many even higher end Strats end up not keepers for folks or why they go crazy swapping out pups...minus a really TRUE set up with concern for the optimum tension of EACH string...minus the true personality of each string...but simply "Hey, it plays like butter." 90 percent of techs just won't do that...really. Last edited by Guest 429; 02-25-2013 at 01:09 PM. |
#63
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Well, I went to my guitar shop today to score some strings and while I was there I took out a strat or 2, the best comparison I figure was the 50s reissue, US made.
I took a look at it and played it unplugged at first and thought, wow, this sure is beautiful, the fretboard was gorgeous. And very playable but that was the perfect setup it had as well. Then, I plugged it in. Out came the sound of my Squier, just a tiny bit less noise, a slightly and I mean, slightly cleaner sound. I played it on clean, overdriven, reverb, and back again. It sounded the same as the Squier. I put it down and went on my way. I am not tone deaf, I have a very developed tonal ear, I have owned at least a dozen good acoustics and many electrics. There really is a trivial difference in both tone and playability. |
#64
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Quote:
Welcome to the genius of the Strat design and the genius of MODERATE to even lower output pickups...whether alnico...or "decent" ceramics. I owe myself at least $100... Strings: Ernie Ball Classic Rock & Roll 10s (pure nickles). Last edited by Guest 429; 03-02-2013 at 06:39 AM. |
#65
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Check out this comparison on You Tube between a Bullet and a Classic Vibe '60s Strat (which everyone is "supposed to" prefer).
http://youtu.be/Z6QYJTpXbk0 But most importantly, read the dude who posted the vid's own comments on basswood... Last edited by Guest 429; 02-27-2013 at 01:12 PM. |
#66
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Quote:
__________________
Taylor 712 Aria A551b Cordoba C10 Cr/Ir Seagull Entourage Rustic (I won it!) PRS CE22 American Standard Stratocaster Silverface 1978 Fender Champ Fender Deluxe Reverb Winner of the Virginia Guitar Festival Feel free to call me Zach |
#67
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The classic vibe has more body during soloing. Pickup swapping would equalize them.
When put through an amp with some drive, we get this comparison; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh6-1_oF7Jo Here is the Squier with classic vibe pickups swapped in; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6IcKIZTY7A |
#68
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I have a comparison with my 2011 American Standard and a 2006 Squier which was rewired (though needs some cleaning, since one of the pots is scratchy) and has upgraded pups if anyone is interested.
__________________
Taylor 712 Aria A551b Cordoba C10 Cr/Ir Seagull Entourage Rustic (I won it!) PRS CE22 American Standard Stratocaster Silverface 1978 Fender Champ Fender Deluxe Reverb Winner of the Virginia Guitar Festival Feel free to call me Zach |
#69
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Quote:
Great vid which also supports IMO the whole immediacy of tone in basswood..and maybe not so bad the thinner body after all... |
#70
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I've seen you mention this a couple times now. Could you expound on what you mean by this?
Thanks.
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Go for the Tone, George |
#71
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I think "spec" set ups are simply Round 1, with Round 2 that kind of fine tuning. 3 strings that stand out especially requiring this, at least in my experience: the 6th, 4th and 3rd (esepcially with 10s) strings. And I'm especially talking Strats here. That whole Bullet vs. CV comparison up top? Pushy D string and a not well-defined 6th and a G that's not quite smoothe enough. It's not just the quality of the pups in other words frequently we're hearing... But also with ceramic pups...if you'e dialed in "solid tone" vs. "somewhat transparent" when playing behind the middle pup and playing the middle pup...in 2nd and 4th position, what are you left with? Less "clear." That's why I also think there's a kind of false sweet spot with Strats especially...but the real one's a little bit lower with the pups. Pick material matters also. Tortex plus ceramics? Unless you're playing something really heavy...you gotta be joking IMO. Celluloid or nylon...or even graphite. I also think pure nickles are easier to tune in Strats with...if only because the basses have less volume, they're less pushy...rounder. Last edited by Guest 429; 03-01-2013 at 09:26 AM. |
#72
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Quote:
Actually went back to the vid again...I'm hearing pups on the Bullet ever slightly too high...killing some "bite" and definition....and a set up up that's too low overall... Last edited by Guest 429; 03-01-2013 at 02:55 PM. |
#73
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Fiztec
Please post the comparsion. Would love to hear. Its obvious that you need to really tweak a Bullet or the big brother Squier to make it work. Thats the key. |
#74
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Quote:
So what do you mean when you say "adjusting tension for optimum" - "optimum" what? Thanks for your patience. Forgive me, I'm a literal person. P.S. My current favorite "Strat" is a '80s Tokai "Custom Edition" - best Strat that Fender never made.
__________________
Go for the Tone, George |
#75
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Hey ToneGopher
I think what Fret is saying, is that you need to find the right guage, he says that 10s make a cheaper strat copy come alive and that 9s are too squirrely, whereas you could use 9s on a US strat and it works fine. Then Fret does a fair bit of ingenious tweaking of pickup height to find the sweet spot for each one. The 10 gauge string gives body to the note on those cheap ceramic pickups and there is a good height for each pickup to deal with the tinny, annoying sound that Bullets produce, that combination of tweaks matures the sound and makes it sound not so toy like. |