Hi all,

After a long three months wait, I just received my new Blackmore Signature Strat. I was really worried about the MIM craftmanship and I have to say it's flawless. The guitar is really well set up to be honest. It's actually better set up than the Malmsteen Strat I also own.

But...

It's so incredibly noisy I'm thinking of taking it back.

Are the Seymour Duncans Quarter Pounds suppossed to be noisy like this? I even thought something was wrong with the cable. But then I switched to the middle position and -to my surprise- the noise cancelled completely.

Besides the noise, I'm really not happy with the sound of this guitar. It doesn't sound like a Strat at all. I actually get a much better Blackmore tone on the Yngwie model than on this one. Can the Seymour Duncans be the cause of all this?

Hi Max looking at the spec's here http://www.dv247.com/invt/61428/ i'd say its hum from the pickups being cancelled out in the middle position due to the reverse wound reverse polarity neck pickup. Looks to me like you got one hell of a guitar for the price. Why not put some dimarzio's in it if the yngwie guitar sounds right. After all you got a cracking deal on the blackmore.

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No no and no

Hi! Thanks for your answer. I thought about the DiMarzios too, they are so quiet and their sound is so good and true to what I expect from a Strat. But then I thought there might be some shielding problem with this guitar (or something). Because, can modern pickups like these Seymour Duncan actually be so noisy without any other problem with the guitar? It's not just a hum, it's a HUM.

could be, but without putting a hand on the guitar its hard to say what exactly is causing it. If your used to noiseless pickups it can be startling. It may be worth taking it to someone to assess.

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No no and no

There's one on ebay right now, looks good
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0414323301

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Carefull, I've got a loaded 6 string and I'm not afraid to use it. !!

I will take it back to Guitar Centre and have them take a look at it. I paid $1200 + tax for this guitar, I'm not too happy having to spend $150 more in two DiMarzio plus labour to make it sound right...

However, if I decide to go for the new pickups instead of returning the guitar, which ones do you think are the best vintage sounding, hum cancelling DiMarzios? I know I love the HS-3 and YJMs, but I'd like to get even closer to Ritchie's sweet Machine Head/Fireball/Made in Japan sound if possible.

In fact, I'm wondering how did he manage to cancel hum back then when there were no DiMarzios...

hey max,
congrats, on your new axe.
personally i dont like scalloped fretboards, only potatoes,yum.
im sorry to hear your not content yet.
maybe adjust the pu heights.

I put the guitar in front of me while working from home and, looking at the reflexions from the window on the body, I noticed the finish es less than stellar. I don't have my YJM Strat here at the moment so I can't compare, but from what I remember, the finish on that one is like a mirror, whereas in the MIM Blackmore the reflexions look distorted, like with little "waves". That can't be good. I've noticed too how much heavier than the Malmsteen this one is. There's also a 1mm. gap between the pickguard and the body (see pict) that, while minor, it adds to the other problems I'm finding with this guitar.

Am I going crazy or is this normal with MIMs? I feel like I got a Squier...

I infere from what you've written that the YJM may also mbe assembled in Mexico, is this the case?

I've got a YJM, at a second attempt, the first went back to the shop with problems....

Whilst it came with that sort of 'Stars & Stripes' flag stuck to the scratch-plate, nowhere on it does it actually say 'MADE IN THE USA'! Apart from a sligh uneven gap around the neck join, I'm very pleased with it. The Dimarzio's don't sound quite a 'jangley' as proper strat, but then I wouldn't expect them to, after all there not Fender PUs!

I wonder if it's made in the USA or Mexico becasue in the UK, YJMs sell for the same price as USA strats, £1,200=, is alot to pay for a MIM !!

Hi Adrian,
No, the YJM is made in the USA, no doubt about that. What I said in my post is that the MIM Blackmore had a better factory set up, that's all. Construction is really tight, the guitar is very well "put together". What I'm not so happy about in the craftmanship department is, like I said, the finishing on the body. The more I look at it, the more imperfections I'm finding...

I believe the YJM is nitro, and the Blackmore is poly, so they will look totally different.

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'95 Custom Warmoth Soloist Solid Flame Koa Body/Neck, Duncan Classic Livewire SSH, Sperzel locking tuners, Wilkinson VS100 bridge, all black chrome.
2008 MIM Lonestar Strat Black/White Pearl
2008 Taylor 114 CE

I believe the YJM is nitro on the neck, and poly on the body.

Congrats on the new axe.

You might want to try an Electro-Harmonix Hum De-Bugger. It tames Strat and those big single coils on a Mosrite as well.

I stand corrected...although the spec sheet lists the YJM body as a urethane finish, not polyester...I don't know if fender uses the terms interchangeably, because they are actually two different types of finish.

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'95 Custom Warmoth Soloist Solid Flame Koa Body/Neck, Duncan Classic Livewire SSH, Sperzel locking tuners, Wilkinson VS100 bridge, all black chrome.
2008 MIM Lonestar Strat Black/White Pearl
2008 Taylor 114 CE

I used to have the MIJ Blackmore strat and those Duncan 1/4 lb'ers buzzed like a hive of angry bee's.

The dummy pickup in the middle position is supposed to be for hum cancellation, but I didn't notice it decrease much on mine. After having seen pics of Ritchie w/Lace Sensors in his strat (he still uses them to this day) I figured it would "still" be a Blackmore strat if I did the same thing. I replaced the Duncan's with a red (bridge), silver (middle) and gold (neck) lace sensor and the noise was gone. The lace sensors he actually uses are the silver ones in the neck and bridge positions.

My MIJ was pretty lightweight though, but that's because I heard they were made from basswood. I thought the MIM's were too, but they could be alder.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ