I've been playing Gibson guitars for some time. But, I recently traded an extra amp I had for a 1995 American Fender Strat in good condition.

It has locking tuners, noiseless pups on the neck and mid, and Seymour Duncan on the bridge.

What do I need to consider in playing and possible hardware changes, to make me want to play it over my Les Paul Custom? Thanks.

(I do lke the fact that it is quite a bit lighter than the LP).

Pictures are a must.

Sounds like it's been modified quite a bit...

It depends what you're looking for from a guitar. If you want a less delicate sound, upgrade the singlecoils to humbuckers.

When I compared my Strats to my set-neck, double-humbucker guitars, I found the Strats challenged me more as a player, and I also preferred the more delicate sound.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Thanks. I am looking to broaden the variety from my Gibson, so I'll keep the single coil pups. I take it that the original 1995 Standard didn't have noiseless pups? ... I had assumed that the Seymour Duncan was a mod.

Were the locking tuners not stock? I do like them, and since I'm not looking to make this a stock collector's guitar, so I appreciate whoever upgraded them.

I play mostly 60's & 70's rock, no folk, no ballads... hardly a thing on the clean channel..

I tried to get an image posted, but could not get the IMG pointer to work.

Hope you don't mind if I take the liberty of posting the picture you had!



The locking tuners are not standard unless it's a Strat Plus, which came with these tuners. The pickups are definitely upgraded- Noiseless pickups weren't introduced until 1998. The Seymour Duncan looks to be a Little '59, which is great for the music you do.

As it stands, I'd personally say there's not much more you could do- maybe a Callahan/brass tremolo block to increase sustain. Personally, I'd put a black pickguard on there- not a real great mod for tone, but it'll look badass.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Thanks. Now, I guess I just need to play it!

rs, does the "rs" in your name stand for "RuneScape"?

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Great idea. I like to play a guitar for a while before I decide to modify (in this case re-modify) them. I hear the the Vintage Noisless pickups do not have that 60 cycle hum single coil Strats are known for. This modification may be a blessing. Seymour Duncan Little '59 may be enough of a humbucker for you.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Yes! Do that!

If you find the Noiseless pickups are a little too dark, check the pots. They should be 1meg (as opposed to the usual 250k/500k). Common thing to overlook when installing those pickups.

If the humbucker ain't ballsy enough for you, maybe look into full-size ones or a Hot Rails. Should be more than enough for you.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

RK

You're correct Vintage Noiseless don't hum. However I find their sound can be particularly thin. The neck pickup less so than in the bridge or mid positions. But thin non the less.
Not suited to rock at all in my experience. But that is subjective. Plenty of people like em.

What we see in that guitar spec wise is an alternative to the 57 Hotrod, maybe? Two humbucker approximations of the singlecoil sound and a singlecoil size approximation of the humbucker.
A versatile set up in itself, with a load of possibilities that can be tailored to exactly what the owner wants. Without spending a fortune.

On that neck pickup there's great scope for funky rhythm playing. Switch to the bridge for instant incendiary lead sounds.
What would sir like in the middle position? Cos let's face a fact. If you only play 60's/70's rock, you only need the bridge humbucker. May as well have a bit of variety on tap.


One thing I would do is set that trem to float. Something a Les Paul can't usually do.

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No no and no

>>>> If you find the Noiseless pickups are a little too dark, check the pots.
>>>> They should be 1meg (as opposed to the usual 250k/500k).
>>>> Common thing to overlook when installing those pickups.

I'll check that, thanks.

Ok, so far... I like the Strat... especially the neck. Of the three guitars I play, it is the most slender and light. The Yamaha SA-2000 has a thick, heavy neck... the Les Paul Custom is in between. Although the LP is the heaviest guitar.

Different style of play on the semi-hollow Yamaha, but it is a lot more work on the wrist and hand than the Strat. I feel like practicing and playing longer on the Fender.

nikininja said: >>>> One thing I would do is set that trem to float. Something a Les Paul can't usually do.

I researched the floating trem. I understand the idea is that properly set-up it retains the tuning, but also there were some complaints about it being 'finicky'? Is it hard to keep stable?

Since the entire mechanism is mounted on the top of the guitar... ever seen one rip out?

No, ever seen a Floyd tear out? It's the same principle.

As for it being finicky well maybe. You can't just float the trem and be done with it. You have to pay a lot of attention to balance. A hell of a lot.

Also I hate to correct Vlad, but Vintage Noiseless pickups came with 500K and 1meg pots. Forum user (and pickup guru) Martian did extensive research into which pots to use with VN's. As he believes them to not be an inherently bad pickup. He decided on 250K pot on the volume and 500K on the tone controls to reduce the sterility of them.
If memory serves. Hopefully he'll chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

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No no and no

Different advice here.
You'll find Strats flat out suck and can never replace or even be considered a valid addition to your LP collection.

To save yourself countless sleepless nights trying to make it sound even remotly like a guitar, I think you should box that beautiful instrument up and send it to me today!

Seriously, nice gitar.

I personally like the noiseless pups and have the N3's in mine. Some find them sterile and not true "single coil" sound but I'm coming from an acoustic bluegrass picker background as well as LP's for electrics and find the noiseless to my tastes. Also, have an US Strat with SC's when I really need that tone.

As for changes, given what you've said, I don't think I would change a thing other than to get tons of fingerprints on it through playing the snot out of it.

Nice find.

Jeff

Congratulations on adopting the Stratocaster.
It is the most comfortable electric guitar ever.
Pure genious man.
It´s iconic woodsy and clear-ringing sound has me as spell-bound as ever.
It will take all the aggression-subtleness you feed it and turn that into beautiful tones.

One of the reasons I don´t like the Gibson-type guitars is they feel both clumsy and sound all saturated. They require a very light touch to keep things together.

I like to dig in and get that fabulous timbre-to-attack response that only a Fender will provide.
Enjoy your wise choice.

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FIGHT!

Thanks. I'm trying to put in as much time as I can on it.

By the way... the amp I traded for it was a Mesa Boogie Custom Shop Triple Rec Solo head.

I had picked it up from a college student who didn't quite make it to the EVH level before he married and started a family. Kind of put the damper on the Rockstar life for him.

The guy that traded the Strat to me got a great deal... but I also got a decent guitar that I will enjoy, a good musician's trade.