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Post subject: My brand new Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster sounds so weak
Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:27 pm
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Hi there,


I bought a brand new Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster guitar First of all, I have to congratulate Fender for this amazing guitar. It is a real piece of art with a great finish except its low E string. Because most of the times it doesn't want to stay on the freatboard. I guess its because of the wrong cut brass nut. It is not a big problem actually. That can be fixed easily but not acceptable for a signature guitar.

My biggest problem is its electronics. I have a Marshall JTM 30 amplifier, Vox tonelabs LE, Line 6 X3 Live and lots of stomp boxes. I have been playing guitar since 1994 and played lots of Fender guitars but this one does not want to sound good actually.

I did not have a chance to try this guitar before I order it because there was not a one in stock in the shop that I got it and I ordered it online. I was staying in a hotel and that is why I could not try it with an amplifier when I get it also. I got the guitar and come back to Turkey, Istanbul.

When I plugged it to my Vox I felt very dissapointed with the sound I got. It was sounding like the volume knob is at 4th level when it was at 10th level. I tried it with the full gain but it did not work well actually. It was still sounding very poor and weak when it was compared with my other fenders.

I tried it directly plugged with the amplifier but the result was the same and also tried it with my line 6 and Sansamp GT2, which has a very powerful gain as all you know I guess, but it was the same.

I also tried to adjust the pickup heights to get more powerful tones but did not work, too.

My Japanese Fender strat is working fine with that setup. I have a Steve Vai JEM also and when I tried it with the same setup it was roaring really. I know JEM has very powerful pickups and is not comparable with a Fender but the sound I get with a signature strat should not have to be like this. I am pretty sure Yngwie also can not play this guitar in this condition :)

In conclusion, I need your advice about what should I have to do with it.

Thanks for your comments. Play loud !!!


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:34 pm
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If it sounds weak then its because of the pickups and wiring ... I have never played the dimarzio YJM's so I dont really know if they're supposed to be like that but who knows... I would replace the pickups to see if maybe the pickups are not working properly or maybe the pots need to be replaced...........


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:27 pm
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Thanks for your reply Synkronized but it is a brand new guitar actually. Just bought it few days ago. How could that have wiring or pickup problems. This is a signature guitar and it seems it passed all the quality tests and has a stamped inspector paper and its tested.

Vai JEM also has DiMarzio pickups and they are sounding awesome.

Does Fender have a worldwide warranty? So may be I can fixed it here. So irritating to hear a brand new guitar has wiring problems :(


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:34 pm
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have you checked your pickup height?

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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:39 pm
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Hi cryingstrat.

Yes I tried to adjust pickup heights but it sill sounds so weak :(


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:53 pm
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I found this quote on a Harmony Central review of your guitar:

"I've been playing for 24 years and I like a guitar that will perform well with high-gain tube modified amplifiers without losing the nuances and subtle characteristics of the plucked notes. The YJM pickups achieve this by not being monstrously hot and being responsive to the player's technique. This, along with the scalloped fretboard make you really shape up as a player but the result is well worth the effort. This guitar literally becomes one with you."

According to him the pickups are designed to be that way.

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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:59 pm
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Thanks for the post.

I read it actually before but mine is abnormal really.

May be I should try it with Dod YJM 308.

Thanks


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:03 pm
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I don't believe there is anything wrong with the pick-ups. I've owned two YJM strat's in the past and both took so fine tuning of my effects to get a really killer sound. The volume is not over the top like traditional Dimarzio pick-ups. That's why Yngwie uses a signal boost pedal in his chain of effects. I had plenty of success with my YJM playing through a Line6 XT Live. I just got tired of the scalloped neck.


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:12 pm
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Thank you MBSurfer,

Your post is really valuable because you experienced the guitar before. I will try to setup my tone again.

Thanks a lot


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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:38 pm
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first of all dont use the pedals. work hard and get a decent sound from the amp. then add the pedals backwards one at a time i.e first sort out your delay and reverbs get a good sound that works with what you have, then move onto modulation effects (chorus/phaser) get them working with the amp and delay, then add gain/drive effects, then the compresser.
That should get you somewhere near the sound you want.
If the high E runs off the fretboard send the guitar back. You dont pay £1000+ for a incorrect guitar these days. Its 2008 not 1958.

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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:32 pm
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I always thought Yngwie's Strat sounded a little...flimsy. I guess his style covered up his weird guitar. Then again, maybe these are just pickups you have to learn how to use, after all, Yngwie lives with them...


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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:59 am
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Hey brother! I used to have a hand-made Yngwie Strat not too long ago, but because of it's lack of sustain and really "weak" tone, I sold it to buy a Schecter Hellraiser Sunset FR. That was a HUGE mistake as the Schecter REALLY blows hind end. I loved the Yngwie strat for it's playability meaning that speed runs and swept picked arpeggios were effortless, but for an axe that costs that much money it just wasn't worth it to me. Yngwie uses a barrage of pedals and effects to get his tone and if you notice, his rhythm sound is weak with no real attack to it. Believe me I LOVE his material and it's because of him that I first picked up a guitar in the first place back when I was 13 years old. Good luck with the axe man because it really is a great piece of work, but as I play more and more Fender Strats I'm starting to notice a TON of little issues that they all inherently have because of their design which seems to be catering to the Blues/Country player. I'm a total 100% shredder from the Yngwie/Nevermore/Symphony X side of things and other than paying better than $4,000.00 to $5,000.00 for a custom shop Strat, I've found that there's really nothing in the line for me that can stand up to that style of playing. I was happy with my MIM Straight Six strat for about a month before it started to self-destruct from speed and abuse. I can only hope that Fender would give a crap about other genres and players, but since they haven't so far, they probably won't... :evil:

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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:03 am
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I have absolutely no experience with the Yngwie guitar other than trying it in a shop and finding that neck was not for me!

But I do know that I have read several posts on this Forum over the months from people who have a similar problem with the strings falling off the frets. I believe previously people have been talking more about the high e string more than the low one, but whichever; there is clearly something about the way the frets are dressed on this model, and that must come from Malmsteen's specifications.

In other words, I think there might not be a problem with this particular guitar - I think perhaps the Yngwie model is just not for you, after all. That is most unfortunate, if you bought the guitar in another country. It is an expensive mistake, though I can see how it happened, if you couldn't try the guitar before purchase.

If you can't come to like your Yngwie you may just have to take it to one of those nice guitar shops I remember in Beyoglu in Istanbul and see if you can trade it for a different Strat. (Do I remember right, did we have someone else from Turkey on this Forum a while ago chasing a YM Signature guitar - or was that you?)

Greetings to your fabulous city!

Serefinize; gule gule - C


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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:59 am
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Any modern electric guitar should produce sound at a mimimum level. Without any effects (straight into the amp), if the YM Strat is say at half the volume level of your other Strat, then it sounds like something is wrong. If that is the case and it is not pup height, then I bet the problem is in the elctrical components (it is doubtful that all three pups would be bad).

Regardless, you have a brand new git and Fener soppurt is supposed to be very good. I'd call them first. For all you know, this may be a known problem on the YM that are ready to deal with right away.

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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:58 pm
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You shouldn't' have to pay this expensive amount for what suppose to be a quality guitar especially an expensive signature model like this and be crap quality. Sounds like they didn't give a hoot!

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