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Post subject: Standard vs Noiselss pickups?
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:52 pm
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I recently grabbed a 2006 American Standard at GC for $592 on clearance. Guess it's too dated for them. I had no objections.

Anywho, I haven't tinkered much with the newer deluxe models w/ the noiseless. I can hear no difference at all between the 2006 and newer standards, but I'm curious - is it worth the money to upgrade to the noiseless? The S-1 switch seems gimmicky to me, I'm just interested in tone. I find the bridge pickup on this one unbearably jangly unless I put the tone to 1 and cut treb on the amp. Are the noiseless less harsh? Or just the same sound minus the hum?


I'm definitely going to buy some locking tuners, as I really don't care much for winding strings. The pickups are the only other upgrade I'm considering. As far as I can tell, the pickups and tuners are the only notable difference between a standard and a deluxe.




Furthermore, can anyone give me a rough rundown of what's changed with the 2008 models? Would it be worth the extra $400 to return this and grab one?


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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:02 pm
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That's a Good Deal.

"Would it be worth the extra $400 to return this and grab one?"

No.

I can't imagine how it would be worth it. Take the $400 and buy another guitar or a nice little tube amp.

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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:30 pm
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I'm not a fan of the noiseless pickups Fender has put out. They just don't have the same sound as the standard Fender singlecoils. The SCN Noiseless pups I had on my Deluxe Strat sounded muddy and weak...


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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:40 pm
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Hello Davidf,

I'm with orvilleowner keep what you have.
I've got a deluxe with the vintage noiseless and
no s-1 switch,
less jangly yes but I miss the jangaly so I'm gonna
be getting one of those American strats one of these days.

Best of luck.


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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:00 am
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Thanks for the input guys. What about the new bridge - is that worth the upgrade? I'll be replacing the tuners and figure while I'm doing it, if the bridge needs replacing, I'll do that as well. I've always preferred the curved metal saddles to the type that are in it now, what I just call "normal" saddles - but unless they're different dimensions overall, I can always just replace the saddles.

RE: get another guitar or a tube amp... I have a Super Champ XD. I find it + the strat to be painfully treble heavy , but it does have some good tones. No need for another guitar/amp at this point, which is why I'm going to go ahead and do some upgrades to this one ;)


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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:58 pm
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I bought a pre-upgraded Highway One a while back. I didn't really care for the pickups. They had wonderful clean tone, but were weak in other departments. I bought some Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups and man this thing came alive! They still retain that unmistakeable Strat tone but are a bit hotter (although the pre-upgraded Highway One pickups are notoriously weak). Some purists say they like the original "true" single coils better, but I don't see how one could get any better sounding pickups in a Strat than the Vintage Noiseless. Also, these are dead quiet, even up close to the amp. However, I've heard that the Big Dippers in the JM Strat are truly awesome. Also my Hwy 1 didn't stay in tune very well, and I even have my tremelo blocked. I bought some Fender/Schaller locking tuners and I now have Zero tuning issues. I also like that these are staggered. My Hwy One Strat through my '65 DRRI has such beautiful tone. Buy the pickups and the tuners. You won't regret, I promise.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:14 pm
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For me, SCN or Lace Sensor pickups are the answer to a ever increasingly noise filled performance enviroment. Between high gain amplifiers, digitial light dimmer packs, and noisy power sources, single coil pickups are not a practical choice for live performance. However, when matched with vintage amps and a controlled enviroment, single coil pickups do have there place.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:44 pm
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I've always found active pickups to be a little on the harsh side, especially lace sensors. I'm considering some Rio Grande pickups, or maybe Fender Texas Specials.

I just replaced the tuners with some Sperzels (not the crap Fender brand locking tuners) and it's staying in tune perfectly even with hefty trem abuse. Very pleased. Now I want to replace the saddles with the curved. They just look so cool =)


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Post subject: Re: Standard vs Noiselss pickups?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:39 pm
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davidf wrote:
I recently grabbed a 2006 American Standard at GC for $592 on clearance. Guess it's too dated for them. I had no objections.

Anywho, I haven't tinkered much with the newer deluxe models w/ the noiseless. I can hear no difference at all between the 2006 and newer standards, but I'm curious - is it worth the money to upgrade to the noiseless? The S-1 switch seems gimmicky to me, I'm just interested in tone. I find the bridge pickup on this one unbearably jangly unless I put the tone to 1 and cut treb on the amp. Are the noiseless less harsh? Or just the same sound minus the hum?


I'm definitely going to buy some locking tuners, as I really don't care much for winding strings. The pickups are the only other upgrade I'm considering. As far as I can tell, the pickups and tuners are the only notable difference between a standard and a deluxe.




Furthermore, can anyone give me a rough rundown of what's changed with the 2008 models? Would it be worth the extra $400 to return this and grab one?


I'm totally sold on my American Deluxe. The S-1 switching and the variation of tones achievable through the SCN pups are no gimmicks. It gives you the choice of several configuration, series as well paralell wiring which is like chosing between single coil and humbuckers. It has a "Special Capacitor" like the ones we used to mod Strats with back in the day to act as a tone filter or a "treble bleed" built right in. You have a lot of versatility to sculpt your sound. The Fender/Schaller locking pegs are fantastic and really makes a big difference in returning to pitch after heavy vibrato. The one item you didn't concider that is a feature of the American Deluxe model is the bridge/tremelo assembly. It's the best tremolo I've tried, rivaling some of the better double locking tremolos like Floyd-Rose licensed units. It pivots in two fulcrums rather than six screws which is also the same with the American Standard. But the similarities end there. The bridge saddles show a great deal more precision in their makemanship between the Standard American and the Deluxe. They are chrome plated stainless steel with a more gentle curve of the string grooves. The tremelo bar is a one piece construction sans plastic tip and snaps into place rather than threading in. I like this feature the most about the bridge assembly because I've stripped the threads of an older Strat and the arm snapped off leaving the broken tip frozen in the hole. I got it out eventually but this is much simpler.


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