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Post subject: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 1:54 am
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Sounds interesting.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 8:13 am
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I like the finish with the gold hardware but otherwise it isn't floating my boat.

I'm not really a Les Paul type person and Les Pauls with 3 pickups even less so. It might give more tone variation (perhaps) but is the subtle nuance of one tone compared to a another very similar tone really a thing once in a mix with other instruments?

That is one of the things I like about SSS Strats is they have distinct tone differences subject to the switch position.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 7:58 pm
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Wow, that's a beautiful guitar, but without a black pickguard how is it a blacktop?

On a tangential note, it's rather amusing and ironic that the spellchecker on the Fender website doesn't recognize the word 'pickguard'.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 8:44 pm
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spacewolf wrote:
On a tangential note, it's rather amusing and ironic that the spellchecker on the Fender website doesn't recognize the word 'pickguard'.

That's in your browser.
I added it to the dictionary here and it stopped flagging it on other forums as well.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Wed May 01, 2019 9:25 pm
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From what I read this guitar is a Factory Special Run exclusive commissioned by certain Fender dealers in the UK. It's also offered as a twin humbucker variant in Black and Crimson Red Transparent with chrome hardware.


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 9:02 am
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John Sims wrote:
I like the finish with the gold hardware but otherwise it isn't floating my boat.

I'm not really a Les Paul type person and Les Pauls with 3 pickups even less so. It might give more tone variation (perhaps) but is the subtle nuance of one tone compared to a another very similar tone really a thing once in a mix with other instruments?

That is one of the things I like about SSS Strats is they have distinct tone differences subject to the switch position.
Yes, agreed. I've done this to a 'swimming pool' Strat in the past, and it's true - the distinct Strat tones are completely missing. And if you tap the coils you may as well have the normal SC setup.

Of course, that doesn't mean that some won't like it, but I didn't stick with it for long. I don't mind HH setups as long as the pups are only 7 - 8k, but you have to be prepared for a 3-sound Strat.

I recently bought a LP Studio (proper traditional build, not the recent quirky ones), and OK - it plays very nicely - but again there's only 3 sounds and I get bored with it fairly quickly!

Cheers - Peter.


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 9:10 am
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spacewolf wrote:
without a black pickguard how is it a blacktop?.

I'm a little unclear on the meaning of "blacktop". The series features many guitars with black pickguards, but not all of them are black. From their marketing materials: "When they designed the Blacktop series, the goal was simple: to take traditional Fender instrument designs and make them even more versatile with the addition of high-gain humbuckers and an array of other powerful features.". I wonder if they were referring to blacktop - as in Asphalt.

So Fender has gone out on a limb .... again. "traditional designs with modern parts and features". Gee that sounds a little familiar. Nice looking guitar though. I'm not big on gold hardware, but I like how this one looks.


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 7:36 pm
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Peter S wrote:
Yes, agreed. I've done this to a 'swimming pool' Strat in the past, and it's true - the distinct Strat tones are completely missing. And if you tap the coils you may as well have the normal SC setup.

I love Gibsons, but ya... I built an H-H Partscaster in the late 90s and never really cared for it.
Ended up giving it to my buddy's son. He used it until he could afford his own LP Studio.
A few years ago, his friend offered to trade for an Ibanez RG. I told him "in a heartbeat, that's a plywood body Partscaster that's not worth close to an RG", but he couldn't part with it since I built it.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 11:13 pm
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spacewolf wrote:
Wow, that's a beautiful guitar, but without a black pickguard how is it a blacktop?

I think the common nominator for Blacktop series (2010 - this far) is they have the witch hat knobs. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 12:37 am
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Blacktops are recognisable for their skirted amp knobs.


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:30 am
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chromeface wrote:
Blacktops are recognisable for their skirted amp knobs.


Yeah?

I guess the Muddy Waters tribute Tele qualifies as a "blacktop" as well.

Nice try.

:roll:
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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 4:45 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
Yeah?

I guess the Muddy Waters tribute Tele qualifies as a "blacktop" as well.

Nice try.

:roll:
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and the 70s Tele Custom & Deluxes are qualified to be "blacktops" as well! :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 3:52 pm
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CB91710 wrote:
spacewolf wrote:
On a tangential note, it's rather amusing and ironic that the spellchecker on the Fender website doesn't recognize the word 'pickguard'.

That's in your browser.
I added it to the dictionary here and it stopped flagging it on other forums as well.

Hey, you're right; thanks.

ghost_of_strings wrote:
spacewolf wrote:
without a black pickguard how is it a blacktop?.

I'm a little unclear on the meaning of "blacktop". The series features many guitars with black pickguards, but not all of them are black. From their marketing materials: "When they designed the Blacktop series, the goal was simple: to take traditional Fender instrument designs and make them even more versatile with the addition of high-gain humbuckers and an array of other powerful features.". I wonder if they were referring to blacktop - as in Asphalt.


Didn't the original Blacktop series from 2010 all have black pickguards? I've always assumed that was where the name came from. It seemed like a way to distinguish them based on aesthetics.

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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 12:46 am
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spacewolf wrote:
Didn't the original Blacktop series from 2010 all have black pickguards?

Nope. And they didn't all have high powered humbuckers, either.

https://issuu.com/fender/docs/fender__b ... _ebrochure


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Post subject: Re: Limited Edition Blacktop Strat HHH
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 1:14 am
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I don't know what defines a Blacktop but think it is relative to Fenders obsession with roadway based references ("Highway One" "Roadworn" "Blacktop") to generate a series rather than specification. That is just an assumption though.

This being the case, it would be called a "Blacktop" for no other reason than that was the name it left the factory. So, you couldn't make a "Blacktop" from something else even by making it look the same.

Just my assumption though.

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