Martian, do you know if the trem assembly from a MIM Deluxe Player's Strat will fit a standard MIM Strat (2010)? I'm planning out a special Strat based on a standard MIM Strat and I'd like to have the gold hardware on it. And, the plan includes replacing the maple neck from the MIM standard with a rosewood neck. So, one way I can source the gold hardware and the rosewood neck would be to use a Deluxe Player's Strat for parts... if the parts are interchangeable...

Greetings!

Unfortunately, the tremolo on the Deluxe Player's Strat is American spaced so it is NOT a direct replacement for a MIM standard nor are the machine heads from either guitar a direct replacement for the other.

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Okay, well I can adjust my plan. I knew the string spacing was different on the Deluxe... I just wasn's sure if that made them incompatible with the standard.

Another question -- any opinion on the Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfer pickups (link below)? I'm looking to mod the standard MIM, primarily to be used for surf music...

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/a ... 9_08_10_a/

IMO...They are needlessly overpriced. However, those who use them, swear by them. I feel the same genre can be obtained from lesser priced pickups. YMMV.

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Thanks, you might have saved me some $.. They are pricey, no doubt. What would you suggest for the surf sound?

hey there oldguy, thought I'd weigh i on the pups. check out Guitar fetish.com, I bought a set of 60' overwound for around $65, and they wail! I rebuilt my strat with their parts (BRASS BLOCK, TREM ARM, PUPS) and am extremly pleased with the way the guitar turned out.

You're welcome.

Fender CS54s, CS69s or Duncan SSL-1s. With any of these, if you want a more powerful bridge pickup, a Duncan SSL-5 would work nicely.

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Now that I'm getting close to putting the new parts in, I've got another tremolo question. Is the standard MIM Strat trem assy adequate, assuming its set up properly? I don't want to spend a bunch of $$, so I'm not even considering replacing it with the Callaham assy, at least not now. But, I would consider upgrading the trem block or other parts if the parts used in the MIM assy are not adequate...

Opinions?

I've found MIM tremolo assemblies quite adequate. Then again though, my stylings have me using OEM Fender vintage type tremolos strictly for what they were designed for versus what the savage wang-bar user ilk expects/demands from them.

You'll read and hear about sustain, tone, etc. with all these 'boutique' units but in the final analysis, there's nothing the tweak of an amp can't compensate for. Personally, I cannot justify after all is said and done, spending the cost of a MIM Strat for an after market system where the 'world changing' results are dubious. With these 'boutique' systems too is the fact that once one has spent all that money, guaranteed in may cases there is a significant 'placebo effect' coupled by the owners trying to convince themselves by proclaiming others, the expense was well worth it. So, one has to to consider, "Misery loves company" vs. genuine satisfaction and everything in between. In my reality, the bottom line is, even if (and that's a big 'if') these 'boutique' units do deliver on everything as advertised, I could NEVER justify the expense.

As always, the above is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Ah, thanks. Again, I think you saved me some $$.. Frankly, I haven't had a problem with the trem assy and I'm one for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

You're quite welcome and you took the words right out of my mouth!

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Yo Martian....perhaps you should show them that SPECIAL guitar of yours, if they've not seen it yet.
Hope all is well with you and yours this Christmas Day.

Doc

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Hi Doc,

We're hanging in there.

I did do a couple more "mods" (or "upgrades" depending on one's point of view) to it:

I wired a calibrated dummy coil in series from the pickup selector switch to the volume pot as the house wiring here seems to be unacceptably temperamental of late. The guitar is nice and quiet now regardless of the 'mood' the electrical service is in. I also switched to a .010 gauge string set yesterday and reset the guitar up accordingly.

Some eye candy by demand forthwith:

Hi Doc,

We're hanging in there.

I did do a couple more "mods" (or "upgrades" depending on one's point of view) to it:

I wired a calibrated dummy coil in series from the pickup selector switch to the volume pot as the house wiring here seems to be unacceptably temperamental of late. The guitar is nice and quiet now regardless of the 'mood' the electrical service is in. I also switched to a .010 gauge string set yesterday and reset the guitar up accordingly.

Some eye candy by demand herewith:

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This guitar will always occupy a very specail place in the hearts of the Forum.

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"Another day in paradise!"

And of course, mine too!!!

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