Hi there good people at the forum.

After enjoying my classic 70 Fender for a time I decided for an upgrade.
So I finally got the Fender Stratocaster Ritchie Blackmore.

Great guitar and the scalloped neck is awesome.
Here is a short review I did some days ago.

Have a great Christmas everybody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJniODnynu4

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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Thank you J-7

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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How does the middle pickup sound?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

is the middle dummy pickup wired to act like the dummy coil in the powerhouse strat, to be noise cancelling?

1/4 lb pickups sound great......

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Yeah, it´s very quiet, indeed

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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There´s no coil at all, the middle pickup is just a plastic cover.
The middle position is both pickups together (hum and noise cancelling because the bridge pickup is reverse wound). I used the middle position in the last few seconds in the video, sound is awesome.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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I am a fan of the Large Headstock ...

and because I use the neck pickup ~99% of the time (with the bridge pickup being used ~1% of the time), I could really enjoy that Blackmore model ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Built quality is great and the scalloped fretboard is flawless (including the frets which seem to be made of steel or some very hard material).
The neck is fantastic and it has rolled edges.
Very fat sounding Strat which can go from blues to hardrock and metal.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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Is anybody here who has knowledge about the material Fender uses actually for the frets? (did they used steel in the past?)

Thanks in advance,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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How far up does the scallop extend, that is does it extend to the 5th string or 6th...? and how high up on the frets does it extend, to 21,22?

The reason I ask is that I have a spare rosewood neck squier that I was planning to scallop as a project. I wanted to copy the Blackmore pattern. I have never seen a Blackmore strat in real life.

I take it your a Blackmore fan. If you have not yet read the biography of Blackmore by Jerry Bloom called "Black Night" you might wat to secure a copy. Very in depth historical and personal tale of Mr. Blackmore.

thanks
OL

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I remember when we were free!

Hi OL,
sure Ritchie is on of my fav players, but I wanted to buy a Malmsteen Strat at first. I bought the Blackmore because I liked it better. Playability, sound and the gorgeous neck did it for me. The Malmsteen is a fantastic guitar no question, but as soon as I played the Ritchie I liked it better.
The scalloped fretboard is not easy to DIY I am afraid. It´s kind of 3D and concave from string to string and from fret to fret. In the upper frets it´s almost like the Malmsteens.
It´s extremely difficult to take good fotos of the fretboard. I tried but I am afraid you can´t scallop the fretboard with these fotos only.
If you need further fotos just tell me what angle, light etc.

Cheers,
Robin

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/213/laraslaga280.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/i/laraslaga281.jpg
http://img28.imageshack.us/i/laraslaga282.jpg

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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Ritchie scalloped his my hand himself. I have seen a video on you-tube were he describes the process. tape, sandpaper and three days of sanding. Of course it will not look as pretty as the CAD machine job on the production guitars.

Thanks for the photos, my system cannot access all of them as the network I am on is blocking them.

Again, how far up on the fretboard does the scalloping extend. I know its not all the way to the top like a YM but not sure how far? Describe it as best as you can if you have the time.

Thanks again
OL

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I remember when we were free!

By up the fretboard, do you mean across the fretboard? If so it looks like the low E and maybe A string aren't scalloped on the lower frets. On the upper frets their all scalloped looking at those pictures.

Yes, perhaps I am too vague. It is my understanding that the Blackmore is not scalloped like a YM. That is it is a partial scallop, being not scalloped under the Low E and/ or A string....something like that.

Also I am wondering if the scalloping follows the pattern all the way to the 21 or 22 fret, or where does it end 15,18, 20...???

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I remember when we were free!

Congrats! And great review, loved the voice-over haha