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Post subject: Neck and pickup changes
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:37 am
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I've got a 62 reissue Strat with a rosewood neck and am thinking of replacing it with maple , also am pondering replacing the pickups, am currently using Texas specials, with lace sensors in the following order ,, bridge ( gold ) middle ( Silver ) and neck ( Blue )..
Question is : Will this combination work and what kind of sound can I expect with the rosewood neck versus the maple ? I know the maple will be more crisp and somewhat brighter.
I'm currently using 10 gauge strings and ( again ) am thinking of going with 9's.
I'm not new at tinkering ( or playing ) but thought I'd get some outside input before making the changes,,
Have considered buying yet another guitar but thought this might be more fun and less expensive..
Nitro


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Post subject: Re: Neck and pickup changes
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:49 am
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Nitro wrote:
I'm currently using 10 gauge strings and ( again ) am thinking of going with 9's.


I would suggest going up to a .011 set. I was using .010s but moved up to .011s and it really tightened up the sound. Try doing that first, then change the neck if you want to do that. If tone still isn't what your looking for, the change the pickups. A set of .011s really improve tone and you may like your pickups better after a set of .011s. Check out the D'Addario EXL115 set.


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Post subject: Re: Neck and pickup changes
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:50 am
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Nitro wrote:
what kind of sound can I expect with the rosewood neck versus the maple ? I know the maple will be more crisp and somewhat brighter.
That's about right. It will feel different also.


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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:22 am
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The great thing about Leo's design is that the owner can make changes to the instrument. Sometimes that good and sometimes thats not. IMHO I would think the costs of a decent neck etc. plus the resale value of the '62 ri plus pup's. etc could buy a guitar that would meet your desires.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:00 am
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Thanks for the info, I'll try the 11's but it's been my experience that heavier gauge strings usually tend to give a more bluesy tone ( which is by no means a bad thing ) Stevie Ray for ex.
I'm looking for something a little brighter but not so much so it sounds light a stretched out rubber band if ya know what I mean .. That's why was considering the maple neck..

To be honest I'm not completely sure exactly what I'm looking for , just want something different and brighter.
Could try a lighter set of strings but am bad about breaking them , one reason I don't particularly care about going with the 9's .
Also , if I put 11's on will I also need to remove tension springs if tuning standard ?


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:18 pm
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Nitro wrote:
Thanks for the info, I'll try the 11's but it's been my experience that heavier gauge strings usually tend to give a more bluesy tone ( which is by no means a bad thing ) Stevie Ray for ex.
I'm looking for something a little brighter but not so much so it sounds light a stretched out rubber band if ya know what I mean .. That's why was considering the maple neck..

To be honest I'm not completely sure exactly what I'm looking for , just want something different and brighter.
Could try a lighter set of strings but am bad about breaking them , one reason I don't particularly care about going with the 9's .
Also , if I put 11's on will I also need to remove tension springs if tuning standard ?


Changing string gauges for me did not make the guitar sound darker or brighter but it did make it sound much better, especially the bridge pickup.

When I put the .011s on I didn't need to remove any springs or change anything. It is fine in standard tuning.

Find a nice maple neck and put them .011s on and you'll be set. 8)


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:47 pm
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thanks , I'll get it a try...
Happy $th....
Nitro


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:48 pm
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opps,,
Happy 4 th
Nitro


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:51 pm
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Nitro,
What brand of strings are you using? Are they pure nickel or nickel plated. Different strings sometimes sound much different then different sizes of the same string. You can get a maple neck off of eBay, I don't know if I would spend alot of money on one if you are not sure that will do it for you.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:53 pm
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Sounds like to me if your wanting something like a thinner sound you could take those texas specials out. Their job is to make your sound somewhat thicker.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:17 pm
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Nitro wrote:
opps,,
Happy 4 th
Nitro


You too :D


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:57 am
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First let me say thanks to you all for being so receptive.. This seems so far to be a great place to spend some time...


I'm was using D'Adarrio ( sp ?) 10s ... I put 11s on yesterday and after a couple hours playing trying to get used to the difference I 've about decided that with a maple neck this may be what I'm looking for..

I'm not actually looking for a thinner sound just something brighter.
The 11s did tighten the tone somewhat but still don't have that bell like clarity.

I played a friends 73 Strat w/ maple and 9s about a week ago thru my Hot Rod Deville and was highly impressed with the tone. It's about as clear and crisp as I've heard. Almost squeeky clean with a bite. Not sure what pu's he's using.
Anyway, thanks for all the info I just hate to put a lot of money out for an almost complete overhaul and still not have what I'm looking for.
The way I figure it 's a lot cheaper to replace the pu's and neck than buy another axe..
Then again, I love to tinker and it's so much more fun to experiment with new parts.

Nitro


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:02 am
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Try adjusting the pickup heights.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:59 am
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10-4 , been there

Only thing is ,, The pu's aren't real hot and I have to crank the volume when I bring 'em down,,, ( BTW) is this standard ? I bought these several years ago and haven't been fully satisfied since day one..
right now they're as close as I can get 'em without having problems picking..

Is there an optimun height ? or just go by ear ?

Nitro


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:19 am
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That is normal. The closer the pups the louder they are, but you also have less sustain because the magnets stop the string from vibrating sooner. Closer can also give you more gain and make them muddy sounding.


I always start using the "nickel" method. Bill Lawrence taught me this.

While fretting the low E at the last fret place 2 nickels on top of the polepiece and adjust it so the nickels just touch the bottom of the E string. Then for the high e fret at the last fret and use 1 nickel. Do that for all the pickups. Then turn your amp on at a low level and the guitar on 10 and adjust so that you get the same volume level on the E and e strings. Then any adjustments you make for tone make sure you adjust both sides of the pup the same amount of turns.

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