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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:38 am
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Tiger J:
I have ordered a Super Vee Blade Runner (BR) for my Special and will have it installed. I will report back on the difference it made in tone and if I can dive bomb and climb with the BR. To me it just does not have that tone that my other Strats have, but that's just me. I also replaced the tuners with Fender locking tuners and they dropped right in. I did some cosmetics that made it look better. I have got that dreaded 60 cycle hum that I am not liking. Other then that loving it.


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:24 am
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Twanged wrote:
...I have got that dreaded 60 cycle hum that I am not liking. Other then that loving it.


Hi Twanged,

Something to consider is removing the ground loops from the pots by clipping the two wires that jumper the pot cases together. The pot cases are connected together by the foil shielding, and the wires connecting the pot cases together make ground loops and are unnecessary. You can verify continuity from pot to pot with an ohmmeter after removing the wires, to be sure that the foil connection hasn't been compromised. Many times, clipping these wires helps to reduce the loud annoying buzz to a much more tolerable low hum. I thought that my newest guitar had a real problem, the buzz/hum was horrible on one amp. Clipping the wires made a big difference.

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:29 am
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Twanged wrote:
Tiger J:
I have ordered a Super Vee Blade Runner (BR) for my Special and will have it installed. I will report back on the difference it made in tone and if I can dive bomb and climb with the BR. To me it just does not have that tone that my other Strats have, but that's just me. I also replaced the tuners with Fender locking tuners and they dropped right in. I did some cosmetics that made it look better. I have got that dreaded 60 cycle hum that I am not liking. Other then that loving it.


Thanks Twanged... I would appreciate that very much!

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:45 pm
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I will look in to clipping the wires if needed. I thank you for your thoughts.


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:36 pm
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Hey Twanged, if you remove the pickguard for wiring work, would you verify if your FSR hand-stained Honeyburst has CS Texas Specials or CS Fat '50s?

Many posters on various sites have been saying their FSR came with the same pups as the American Standards (Fat '50s) and a Fender rep verified this on a thread here on this forum.

I have written Fender customer relations with the model number and serial number of my strat to see if they can verify one way or the other... but I am pretty sure mine has the Fat '50s.

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:05 pm
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TigerJ:
When I replaced my pickguard I can tell you they did not look like they were CS Texas Specials, so I am guessing that we have Fat 50's in our guitars. Not for sure, when you get an answer from Fender make sure you let me know. What serial number is your guitar?


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:42 pm
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Fat 50s pups look just like TS pups, both have the colored dots. I would like to see a link to where a Fender rep listed Fat 50s in an Am Spcl. As to other posters, the Fat 50s came in the Am Std starting in 2012, before that the pups were not TS or Fat 50s.

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:11 am
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Dimarzio Super Distortion S is what I used its not as beefy as its name and a perfect bridge humbucker for a strat

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:14 am
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I really like my Blade Runner alot its a great tremolo.

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:44 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Fat 50s pups look just like TS pups, both have the colored dots. I would like to see a link to where a Fender rep listed Fat 50s in an Am Spcl. As to other posters, the Fat 50s came in the Am Std starting in 2012, before that the pups were not TS or Fat 50s.


The title of the thread discussion is: "Help Identifying My Brand New American Stratocaster." I will try to post the link

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=76135

In the discussion the poster raises the question as to whether his strat has Texas Specials or not. Rob Schwarz from Fender enters the discussion and verifies that his strat has the Fat 50s which are the American Standard pups as of March 2012.

I will let everyone know if I get an answer about mine from Fender.

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:09 am
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That's not what he says.

First he listed TS pups for the Am Spcl, then says the spec change was to Am Std pups, not Fat 50s. He stated that the Am Std Strat changed to Fat 50s, not the Am Spcl. I can see how an implication of Fat 50s was derived from the thread, but I didn't see it that way. If the Am Spcl has Fat 50s, then that would have been stated, but what was stated was that the Am Spcl has Am Std pups. If you read the specs for the Am Std, it states Fat 50s specifically, and they aren't referred to as Am Std pups. Hopefully the response from Fender will be clear, but if they state Am Std pups, that's not Fat 50s.

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:30 pm
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Well, seems we are talking in circles but CS Fat '50s are the pups in all American Standard Strats as of March 2012... the FSR guitar that Twanged and I own came out around October 2012... Rob Schwarz also refers the OP to the middle of the Sam Ash webpage describing Fender pups... right where the Fat '50s is listed and described.

The pups on my guitar seem to fit the description of the Fat '50s and they are not at all like the Texas Specials in my old Lone Star Strat. I will post when I get an official reply from Fender.

I am okay with Fat '50s or Texas Specials... however if the pups in my Strat are anything less than Custom Shop grade then the guitar is going back as it was grossly IMO misadvertised by GC!

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:21 pm
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Tiger J wrote:
...The pups on my guitar seem to fit the description of the Fat '50s and they are not at all like the Texas Specials in my old Lone Star Strat...


This is an important clue, and goes to what I'm saying. The Fat 50s and Texas Specials look alike. Was your guitar advertised as having "Am Std pups"? It seems that some assumptions are being made that an ad saying "American Standard pickups" somehow means "Fat 50s pickups", since the Am Std Strat changed to Fat 50s. It seems to me that references to Am Std pups means just that, the same pups in the Am Std before 2012, plain ole Am Std pups. It doesn't matter that the Am Std Strat now has Fat 50s, there are still Am Std pups available for Fender to use. I have both TS and Fat 50s, and they look alike. Note that both have the blue and red dots, both have the black bottoms, both have the same cloth covered wiring. IIRC, the CS sticker only comes on a set of pups, and no sticker on the ones that come installed in a guitar.

Fat 50s:
Image

Texas Specials:
Image

Am Std pups, molded plastic bottoms with numbers molded in, plastic covered wires:
Image

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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:40 am
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Play it a little while, you might like it just the way it is. If not mod away. I just put a set of Texas Specials, and a Bladerunner in a MIM Strat and it's a killer.


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Post subject: Re: Should I mod my new American Special?
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:57 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Tiger J wrote:
...The pups on my guitar seem to fit the description of the Fat '50s and they are not at all like the Texas Specials in my old Lone Star Strat...


This is an important clue, and goes to what I'm saying. The Fat 50s and Texas Specials look alike. Was your guitar advertised as having "Am Std pups"? It seems that some assumptions are being made that an ad saying "American Standard pickups" somehow means "Fat 50s pickups", since the Am Std Strat changed to Fat 50s. It seems to me that references to Am Std pups means just that, the same pups in the Am Std before 2012, plain ole Am Std pups. It doesn't matter that the Am Std Strat now has Fat 50s, there are still Am Std pups available for Fender to use. I have both TS and Fat 50s, and they look alike. Note that both have the blue and red dots, both have the black bottoms, both have the same cloth covered wiring. IIRC, the CS sticker only comes on a set of pups, and no sticker on the ones that come installed in a guitar.

Fat 50s:
Image

Texas Specials:
Image

Am Std pups, molded plastic bottoms with numbers molded in, plastic covered wires:
Image


Shimmilou, the FSR hand-stained Honeyburst Am Spl is advertised as having CS Texas Specials and Greasebucket tone circuit just like the regular series Am Spls... the only thing "FSR" about the Strat is supposed to be the satin hand-stained finish on the alder body. However, there are several references online in forums and reviews that they come with Am Std pups and I think that a UK guitar store or two is advertising that they have standard pups.

I am too novice to be able to tell a pup by ear without comparison... but if my guitar has an inferior set of pups to Custom Shop pups, which run $199 for a set, then I will be returning the guitar for false advertising. I can live with Fat 50s instead of Texas Specials... but not a non-custom shop set!

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs


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