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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:24 am
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Graon wrote:
Toppscore wrote:
Graon wrote:
Just another question: I know you haven't your Ultra yet but do you plan playing with 9-42 strings. I think that guitar is mounted with 9-42 strings because of the Wilkinson nut (unless it is modified to accept bigger gauges). In the case of a native Wilkinson nut (without any modification) and your wish of playing with a bigger gauge you'll have to modify your Wilkinson nut or change your nut for a LSR one.
Tell us once your guitar received...
[b]Thanks. This is a very interesting question. Not sure if I stated playing with bigger guage strings.
But, string guages are on my mind. I have just received serveral sets of each:
8's 9's 10's 11's all Ernie Ball and D'Addario. I am trying to experiment with nine
different guitars. So, your comment fits. I can easily leave the 9's in and keep 9's.

But, question for you is: can I use 8's without problems?
will 10's really be a problem over 9's???

With Wilkinson unmodified:
8-38 OK
9-42 OK
9-46 OK but some issues with the 6th E string providing intonation issues
10-46 OK same thing with more strings (notches to strech)
11 and above => won't fit and/or strings won't move into the notches
With LSR roller nut: Everything is ok till 13-56



Thanks, Graon, great info.
I am going to test as much as I can with 8s & 9s.
If 9s are natural, I will leave them alone on the Fender Ultra.

Speaking of Fender, Does Fender announce the string sizes when
providing guitar marketing specs?

Or, does Fender always default to 10s unless otherwise noted???

Toppscore 8)

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:29 am
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Toppscore wrote:
Thanks, Graon, great info.
I am going to test as much as I can with 8s & 9s.
If 9s are natural, I will leave them alone on the Fender Ultra.

Speaking of Fender, Does Fender announce the string sizes when
providing guitar marketing specs?

Or, does Fender always default to 10s unless otherwise noted???

Toppscore 8)


Don't keep any gauge strings because of it's "natural". Just try.

Fender used to provide 9-42 and/or 10-46 strings. Nowadays there are almost no 10-46 on new models.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:43 am
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Graon wrote:
Toppscore wrote:
Thanks, Graon, great info.
I am going to test as much as I can with 8s & 9s.
If 9s are natural, I will leave them alone on the Fender Ultra.
Speaking of Fender, Does Fender announce the string sizes when
providing guitar marketing specs?
Or, does Fender always default to 10s unless otherwise noted???
Toppscore 8)
Don't keep any gauge strings because of it's "natural". Just try.
Fender used to provide 9-42 and/or 10-46 strings. Nowadays there are almost no 10-46 on new models.


Yes. I am going to go with the Factory specs and "feel how it feels".
I started a thread about downsizing strings.
Most claim no problems. So, as I have done in my past,
Just put on the 08s 09s 10s and not worry. I do not play 11s, anyway.

I gotta get some pictures posted of
my new 1996 Fender Plus Deluxe
and my new 1990 Fender Plus Ultra.


***Graon. Question:
Getting into the Fender Plus Guitars and Lace Sensor Pickups,
I've noticed some variations of the guitars names.
Is the entire line called the "Fender Plus" line of Stratocasters?
Would it be proper to call the three Fender Plus Strats:
Fender Plus
Fender Plus Deluxe
Fender Plus Ultra

and a fourth "kissin' cousin" guitar:
The 1989/1990 Fender Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster w/Lace Pickups.

To state it correctly, my Fender Ultra should be called a Fender Plus Ultra? Right?

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:21 am
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Toppscore wrote:
***Graon. Question:
Getting into the Fender Plus Guitars and Lace Sensor Pickups,
I've noticed some variations of the guitars names.
Is the entire line called the "Fender Plus" line of Stratocasters?
Would it be proper to call the three Fender Plus Strats:
Fender Plus
Fender Plus Deluxe
Fender Plus Ultra

and a fourth "kissin' cousin" guitar:
The 1989/1990 Fender Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster w/Lace Pickups.

To state it correctly, my Fender Ultra should be called a Fender Plus Ultra? Right?


I've seen a few people recently call the Ultras a "Fender Plus Ultra" but I don't recall that ever being the guitar's "proper name". In old magazine ads it was always just called the "Stratocaster Ultra" or "Strat Ultra".

I think it's just kind of become a "shorthand" to call all the Lace Sensor models except that one-year-of-production Deluxe American Standard (or American Standard Deluxe - whichever way they called it) the "Fender Plus" line - and I myself have been guilty of that in some posts just to save typing, space or time :oops: .

However, back in the day Fender just referred to them as separate models by their name - so you had the Strat Plus, the Strat Plus Deluxe, the Strat Ultra, the Tele Plus, and the Tele Plus Deluxe (of course the Tele Plus Deluxe went away when they revamped the Tele Plus in late 1995).

EDIT: Hey, I just thought of one other very rare Lace Sensor equipped Fender - there was briefly (maybe only one year) an HM Strat Ultra - based on the 24-fret, Strat headstock version of the HM Strat. The HM Strat Ultra had a flame top, no pickguard (like the regular HM Strat), Floyd Rose Pro trem, and the same Lace Sensor set as the "regular" Strat Ultra but with black covers. I saw one of these circa 1992 at Akron Music (in Arkon, OH) back when they still had a downtown location - it was close to my office at the time.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 1:10 pm
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John C wrote:
Toppscore wrote:
***Graon. Question:
Getting into the Fender Plus Guitars and Lace Sensor Pickups,
I've noticed some variations of the guitars names.
Is the entire line called the "Fender Plus" line of Stratocasters?
Would it be proper to call the three Fender Plus Strats:
Fender Plus
Fender Plus Deluxe
Fender Plus Ultra

and a fourth "kissin' cousin" guitar:
The 1989/1990 Fender Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster w/Lace Pickups.

To state it correctly, my Fender Ultra should be called a Fender Plus Ultra? Right?


I've seen a few people recently call the Ultras a "Fender Plus Ultra" but I don't recall that ever being the guitar's "proper name". In old magazine ads it was always just called the "Stratocaster Ultra" or "Strat Ultra".

I think it's just kind of become a "shorthand" to call all the Lace Sensor models except that one-year-of-production Deluxe American Standard (or American Standard Deluxe - whichever way they called it) the "Fender Plus" line - and I myself have been guilty of that in some posts just to save typing, space or time :oops: .

However, back in the day Fender just referred to them as separate models by their name - so you had the Strat Plus, the Strat Plus Deluxe, the Strat Ultra, the Tele Plus, and the Tele Plus Deluxe (of course the Tele Plus Deluxe went away when they revamped the Tele Plus in late 1995).

EDIT: Hey, I just thought of one other very rare Lace Sensor equipped Fender - there was briefly (maybe only one year) an HM Strat Ultra - based on the 24-fret, Strat headstock version of the HM Strat. The HM Strat Ultra had a flame top, no pickguard (like the regular HM Strat), Floyd Rose Pro trem, and the same Lace Sensor set as the "regular" Strat Ultra but with black covers. I saw one of these circa 1992 at Akron Music (in Arkon, OH) back when they still had a downtown location - it was close to my office at the time.



Funny. I was just today studying up on the Stratocaster HM. Checked the Internet
for it's history and EBay for what's happening. They were made in Korea, right?
With interesting head stocks. Toppscore

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:39 pm
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Toppscore wrote:
Funny. I was just today studying up on the Stratocaster HM. Checked the Internet
for it's history and EBay for what's happening. They were made in Korea, right?
With interesting head stocks. Toppscore


No, the HMs are kind of a "gray area" guitar. I believe the first runs were MIJ, but later ones do not have the little "Made in Japan" script over the serial number - even though they have an MIJ-type serial number. I think that possible the later ones were assembled in the USA but the bodies and necks were shipped in from Japan. Even the early ones that say "Made In Japan" on them had quite a bit of USA content - the Kahler Spyder trem (a licensed Floyd Rose), the DiMarzio humbucker and Fender-made single coils, the TBX tone control, and the beveled neck plate that said "Fender USA" on it. Of course back then a lot of companies had neck plates with "USA written on them that were applied to MIJ or MIK guitars - Charvel and Kramer in particular.

Now the pointy-headstock HMs that came later I'm pretty sure were 100% MIJ - they are pretty much like the Heartfield Talon line that Fender was importing. I know the Heartfield Talons were made by FujiGen - the same factory that made Ibanez and Greco at that time; I'm not sure if the other Heartfield models were FujiGen but they were also MIJ from somewhere.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:16 pm
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John C wrote:
Toppscore wrote:
Funny. I was just today studying up on the Stratocaster HM. Checked the Internet
for it's history and EBay for what's happening. They were made in Korea, right?
With interesting head stocks. Toppscore


No, the HMs are kind of a "gray area" guitar. I believe the first runs were MIJ, but later ones do not have the little "Made in Japan" script over the serial number - even though they have an MIJ-type serial number. I think that possible the later ones were assembled in the USA but the bodies and necks were shipped in from Japan. Even the early ones that say "Made In Japan" on them had quite a bit of USA content - the Kahler Spyder trem (a licensed Floyd Rose), the DiMarzio humbucker and Fender-made single coils, the TBX tone control, and the beveled neck plate that said "Fender USA" on it. Of course back then a lot of companies had neck plates with "USA written on them that were applied to MIJ or MIK guitars - Charvel and Kramer in particular.

Now the pointy-headstock HMs that came later I'm pretty sure were 100% MIJ - they are pretty much like the Heartfield Talon line that Fender was importing. I know the Heartfield Talons were made by FujiGen - the same factory that made Ibanez and Greco at that time; I'm not sure if the other Heartfield models were FujiGen but they were also MIJ from somewhere.



Yes Yes Yes. It was the Fender Stratocaster HM's and the Fender Stratocaster Showmans
that I was checking out. Probably got them mixed up. Studying them, I get a sense
that these Fender Strats had interesting histories regarding design, factory build locations
and component changes (as well as some being short lived).

Toppscore 8)

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:41 am
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Toppscore wrote:
***Graon. Question:
Getting into the Fender Plus Guitars and Lace Sensor Pickups,
I've noticed some variations of the guitars names.
Is the entire line called the "Fender Plus" line of Stratocasters?
Would it be proper to call the three Fender Plus Strats:
Fender Plus
Fender Plus Deluxe
Fender Plus Ultra

and a fourth "kissin' cousin" guitar:
The 1989/1990 Fender Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster w/Lace Pickups.

To state it correctly, my Fender Ultra should be called a Fender Plus Ultra? Right?


Yes indeed it should be called Stratocaster Plus Ultra.

The true name is however "Stratocaster Ultra" which was a "high end" version of the Stratocaster Plus or Plus Deluxe and nowadays replaced by the American Deluxe Series...


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:14 pm
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Quote:
The true name is however "Stratocaster Ultra" which was a "high end" version of the Stratocaster Plus or Plus Deluxe and nowadays replaced by the American Deluxe Series...

...which for some strange reason just don't do it for me compared to the Plus guitars - maybe it is the swimming pool rout, more likely it is that the vintage noiseless or SCNs or N3s just aren't as good (to my ears anyway). Havng said that the vintage noiseless in the Clapton strat are pretty good - the mid-boost works wonders - but in the original Deluxe Strat, they were a bit lifeless - just not stratty enough! Having the same 'issues' at the moment with an 09 Deluxe with N3s. Plays great but just not getting into it at all sound wise.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:29 pm
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tokaitelejohn wrote:
Quote:
The true name is however "Stratocaster Ultra" which was a "high end" version of the Stratocaster Plus or Plus Deluxe and nowadays replaced by the American Deluxe Series...

...which for some strange reason just don't do it for me compared to the Plus guitars - maybe it is the swimming pool rout, more likely it is that the vintage noiseless or SCNs or N3s just aren't as good (to my ears anyway). Havng said that the vintage noiseless in the Clapton strat are pretty good - the mid-boost works wonders - but in the original Deluxe Strat, they were a bit lifeless - just not stratty enough! Having the same 'issues' at the moment with an 09 Deluxe with N3s. Plays great but just not getting into it at all sound wise.


Hi. Are you discussing the Strat-Plus-Deluxe-Ultra Lace Sensor pickups in your noiseless
pickup discussion? Please help me follow your comments with the N3s, vintage noiseless,
and the Deluxe Strat being lifeless. Thanks. Toppscore :)

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:25 pm
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Rereading this thread while lying in bed, I had to get up and settle when my Ultra was made. This crazy forum and the quest for detail, anyway!

Off comes the neck, and it is stamped.... (drum roll).....Dec 08 1990. So there, a late 90 issue. The body pocket is Jan 01, and the year is smeared, so I will assume 1991. (would they have been working New Years Day?) Strange that the E9 sticker neck lasted in the parts bin for a whole year while Ultras were assembled. So, did Fender put stickers on necks before they went in the bin, or was the sticker added during final assembly and some old stickers were still in the pile?

And did Fender ever solder the Laces in the wrong order, or did someone try and experiment and swap them before I owned it? Half the fun is trying to figgur out what went on at that Factory when our guitars were being built! :?

I have a friend at work with a similar-year Ultra. I have to find him now and see if he has pulled his apart to check date stamps.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:43 pm
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cnsky54 wrote:
Rereading this thread while lying in bed, I had to get up and settle when my Ultra was made. This crazy forum and the quest for detail, anyway!

Off comes the neck, and it is stamped.... (drum roll).....Dec 08 1990. So there, a late 90 issue. The body pocket is Jan 01, and the year is smeared, so I will assume 1991. (would they have been working New Years Day?) Strange that the E9 sticker neck lasted in the parts bin for a whole year while Ultras were assembled. So, did Fender put stickers on necks before they went in the bin, or was the sticker added during final assembly and some old stickers were still in the pile?

And did Fender ever solder the Laces in the wrong order, or did someone try and experiment and swap them before I owned it? Half the fun is trying to figgur out what went on at that Factory when our guitars were being built! :?

I have a friend at work with a similar-year Ultra. I have to find him now and see if he has pulled his apart to check date stamps.


Cnsky. Were not you the one that discussed a 1989 date code on your Ultra?
Or, is that another guitar you have? Probably the "E9" sticker is good.
I have a thing with "S8" stickers running over at least five years
and we have chatted it up with "E4" stickers going over 4-5 years.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:09 pm
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Yes, I have the E9 sticker. Does that mean that the neck was there for some time, finished with the ebony fretboard, just waiting for a year for a body? Did they estimate how many Ultras they would build in a year and then make a pile of necks to sit in a bucket? How many of these DID they make a year? It would be interesting to know, but the answers may never surface. It would be fun to interview some of the factory workers who built these every day and hear their recollections.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:04 am
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cnsky54 wrote:
Yes, I have the E9 sticker. Does that mean that the neck was there for some time, finished with the ebony fretboard, just waiting for a year for a body? Did they estimate how many Ultras they would build in a year and then make a pile of necks to sit in a bucket? How many of these DID they make a year? It would be interesting to know, but the answers may never surface. It would be fun to interview some of the factory workers who built these every day and hear their recollections.



Wow! Lesson learned. I own a 1990 Fender Ultra pictured below.
I had shared with many that 1990 was the first year of of the Ultras.
Then, I thought you had a 1989, so I clammed up.
I bugged Xhefri to change his websites to make the corrections.
I had a 1978 Fender Telecaster "S8xxxx" serial number that actually was a 1982.
Goes to show, You Never Can Tell :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Plus & Plus Deluxe ~ Stratocaster Ultra Gu
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 3:07 am
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Quote:
Hi. Are you discussing the Strat-Plus-Deluxe-Ultra Lace Sensor pickups in your noiseless pickup discussion? Please help me follow your comments with the N3s, vintage noiseless, and the Deluxe Strat being lifeless. Thanks. Toppscore :)


Wasn't trying to be confusing, honest! The point is that I currently own the Plus and American Standard Deluxe (with the three golds), the Plus Deluxe (with the Blue Silver Silver setup), a Clapton with the vintage noiseless set and in the past have owned the Deluxe with the vintage noiseless, several Deluxes with SCNs and have recently acquired a Deluxe with N3s. While I find that the Deluxes all play very well and are very nicely put together, soundwise they just don't do it for me. I prefer the Sensors over all of Fender's noiseless offerings. Incidentally on the subject of noiseless pickups - Kinmans are really really good. But I guess that that is a subject for another thread!


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