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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2014 7:03 pm
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What is it about a gig, or being in the studio, that doesn't afford 10 seconds to change cards? :roll:

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:22 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
What is it about a gig, or being in the studio, that doesn't afford 10 seconds to change cards? :roll:

I guess it is different strokes for different folks. To me, having a guitar, like an Ultra, or a custom wired guitar like an Ultra, or even a Strat with S1' provides all the tones I want or even need, except maybe having a Les Paul for a back up. Popping open the guitar, getting a card out of a carrying case or where ever you place it, and changing cards, just to get some different switching possibilities it a turn off too me. Just not for me. Let's see how they sell, that will be the test, I guess.... :?

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2014 10:13 pm
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One of these personality cards has the EJ wiring mod built in.

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With this card the tone controls affect the neck and bridge pickups.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:19 am
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Seems to me it's a lot like Roland reviving their old Jupiter name and sticking a D-Beam on it.

I guess if you don't wanted to mess with soldering; it's kind of like buying a preloaded pickguard. But at least you can modify that later if you want to.

Do not like. I don't tend to mess with a guitar much when it's all set up how I like it. I buy another guitar for something different :lol:

I suppose these will have their place, but I don't think it's for me. Makes me feel like my '95 Plus is a lot more special, now (even if it really isn't :P ).

I'm curious to try the compound radius, but that's about it.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:26 am
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Im baffled to see all the doubting and scepticism here. This to me is the best innovation in guitar making in a long time. I dont think its intended that people will be flipping the cards out in between songs in a live situation all the time! I mean you wouldnt really try to rewire your guitar to get a different pickup wiring system on the fly live would you. It does mean that if this is your number one guitar then that guitar can be as versatile as possible though, you could do humbucker sounds, split coil sounds, series linked pickup sounds, parrallel linked pickup sounds, split humbucker sounds, and then also some `cocked wah` sounds that sound great. To be able to do all this just by toggling your pickup selecter switch (or most anyway, for some youd have to flick the card out and change cards, which would take about 10 seconds) seems pretty mind blowing. Way more options on your guitar instead of in your pedal chain or on your amp seems like the way forward to me.

Hone the technology, make it reliable, cheap, and available in a wide range of models and i think this could really be the future. Though time will tell of course, and i should add i havent played one yet... though if its just a usa deluxe strat with this added in theh the guitar should play like most other usa strats.

Wondering if im in the minority here, but this to me was very exciting news. Nothing flashy, nothing too far-out for all the traditionalists, just a very very versatile version of a classic. Seems a winner in my mind.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:10 am
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It's a gimmick without a doubt.

Some clever young chap at FMIC, wanting to make a splash, came up with an invention no one wanted or needed. FMIC sees the oportunity to entice another segment of their demographic and sell a few more guitars. To be sure, the Market will determine the Fate of this gizmo.

The real issue is one of Reliability, something a Stage or Studio musician MUST have.

The problem is that these offer no Default Mode. If the Card is Lost, or Broken... If the connector in the guitar breaks or is corroded... The guitar will make NO SOUND whatever, NADA, Rien, Nicht, ничто !

Now imagine trying to figure that out on a dim-lit stage with a half-drunk Live Audience pressing you on from just 6 feet away as your Bandmates give you that WTF?? stare? :o In the Studio, the Engineer sighs, several of your Bandmates give you that look, one says: "C'mon Man... we're on the Clock here..." .

Meanwhile, your Stratocaster is as useless as nipples on a Man !

Of course none of this will happen unless it's a Sunday Night, you're far away from home, the local GC is closed, the Luthier is backed-up and can't fix it 'til next Wednesday, etc.

Nope, the main reason for not buying one of these is not being able to deal with the consequences should it somehow fail.

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:58 am
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ollyclam wrote:
Im baffled to see all the doubting and scepticism here. This to me is the best innovation in guitar making in a long time. I dont think its intended that people will be flipping the cards out in between songs in a live situation all the time! I mean you wouldnt really try to rewire your guitar to get a different pickup wiring system on the fly live would you. It does mean that if this is your number one guitar then that guitar can be as versatile as possible though, you could do humbucker sounds, split coil sounds, series linked pickup sounds, parrallel linked pickup sounds, split humbucker sounds, and then also some `cocked wah` sounds that sound great. To be able to do all this just by toggling your pickup selecter switch (or most anyway, for some youd have to flick the card out and change cards, which would take about 10 seconds) seems pretty mind blowing. Way more options on your guitar instead of in your pedal chain or on your amp seems like the way forward to me.

Hone the technology, make it reliable, cheap, and available in a wide range of models and i think this could really be the future. Though time will tell of course, and i should add i havent played one yet... though if its just a usa deluxe strat with this added in theh the guitar should play like most other usa strats.

Wondering if im in the minority here, but this to me was very exciting news. Nothing flashy, nothing too far-out for all the traditionalists, just a very very versatile version of a classic. Seems a winner in my mind.


But at this point in time it doesn't do anything that you list - you can't get humbucker sounds from single coils, etc. All you get (on both the HSS and SSS models) is standard modern wiring, blender knob wiring, and treble/bass roll-off wiring. The blender knob is a common mod that some like (the bottom knob combines the neck and bridge pickups in positions 1, 2, 4 & 5 and lets you balance between the two pickups). The treble/bass roll-off is similar to G&L wiring as found on Legacy, S-500 and Comanche models.

But you do pay a price - the pickups, switches and pots are wired with ribbon wire (like a PC), plus the pots and switch are sealed items. It's like looking under the hood of a modern car - nothing you can really do yourself (or fix easily if something goes wrong).


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:22 am
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Given that there are only three cards, I don't see what this buys over having all three wirings and a three-way switch to choose between them. It'd likely be cheaper too, not needing three different printboards with connectors. And you won't lose a card.
I don't mind innovation and changes - I'm certainly not one of those who think that Fender should keep on making 1950s clones and do nought else. But this is a solution looking for a problem.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:54 am
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I had a British sports car (1969 Lotus Elan) which had vacuum-operated hidden headlights. It used vacuum motors fed from individual vacuum reservoirs (one for each side), which were in turn fed vacuum from the engine to operate the lights. It used several vaccum hoses and connections, all seemingly overly-complex.

The beauty of the system was that it had a Fail-Safe in that it used vaccum pressure to close the headlights rather than raise them. In the event of any part of the system failing, the headlights (driven by spring pressure) would open, allowing the use of the headlights. I actually had a vacuum line split, but was able to continue driving the car as I still had headlights (though the car didn't look as cool w/ the headlights raised :cry: ).

This is what this guitar needs... A Fail-Safe so that in the event any part of the system failed or a card was missing, the guitar would return to the standard wiring configuration allowing the guitar to still be played.

It actually wouldn't be that difficult to design such a system. A simple micro-switch which would physically sense the presence/absence of the circuit card and switch between the guitar's own internal 'standard' wiring scheme when a card was not present to the circuit card itself when installed. :idea: :idea: 8)

At least that way, you'd still have a playable guitar instead of an implement better suited for getting a canoe upstream. :lol: :lol: :lol:

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:04 pm
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53magnatone wrote:
^^... Really :?: :?

So than why have the option to exchange cards.. :?:
As far as a passive or active circuit, that is irrelevant, for all intents and purposes the signal traveling thru the cord is active.... Not sure why you are further clouding the discussion...



My take on it is that it is something I do not need and would lose and break the cards. However to defense of the cards it is relevant if it is passive or active. One is, passive does not need batteries. The other is passive is a natural sound coming out of the guitar where active would be messing with more then just wiring configurations. Even worse they could have gone digital (which may be next who knows?) But the best news is no one is forced to buy a Strat that has the personality cards. If someone likes the innovation and tinkering with configurations without having to dissassemble and solder.. more power to them and the feature could be a strong selling point. For those who prefer it conventional then you have the option of not purchasing the models that use the cards.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:58 pm
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If you haven't seen the wiring on one of these - here's a photo I found out on the web:

Image

As you can see it is almost "digital" with the ribbon wire and sealed pots/switch. I can understand the necessity - the actual routing/functions of the wired components is being altered by the personality card.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:19 pm
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John C wrote:
If you haven't seen the wiring on one of these - here's a photo I found out on the web:

Image

As you can see it is almost "digital" with the ribbon wire and sealed pots/switch. I can understand the necessity - the actual routing/functions of the wired components is being altered by the personality card.

Wow, Ribbon cables, IDC Connectors and a card which I guess is changing the connections acting as a circuit board. Wonder what replacements parts and cards would cost?

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:01 pm
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John C wrote:
If you haven't seen the wiring on one of these - here's a photo I found out on the web:

Image

As you can see it is almost "digital" with the ribbon wire and sealed pots/switch. I can understand the necessity - the actual routing/functions of the wired components is being altered by the personality card.


There is no such thing as "almost digital" lol. It has no battery power or external source hence it has to be all passive/analog. However it is interesting to see how they wired it and what they used. It would seem apparent to have so much "rewiring" selection from a passive card that indeed they have some funky stuff going on under the pickguard. Looks like none of it is compatible with a conventional strat so if one goes bad out of warranty and you can't get what you need to repair it, might have to gut it all and replace everything with a standard loaded pickguard. However with a meter I would probably be able to figure out what is going on with the pups and possible be able to get them to work with a normal 5 way and pots.

It is hard to tell for certain by the pic but I think that board by the switch might be holding crossover network components.

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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:05 pm
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ebaysux wrote:
John C wrote:
If you haven't seen the wiring on one of these - here's a photo I found out on the web:

Image

As you can see it is almost "digital" with the ribbon wire and sealed pots/switch. I can understand the necessity - the actual routing/functions of the wired components is being altered by the personality card.


There is no such thing as "almost digital" lol. It has no battery power or external source hence it has to be all passive/analog. However it is interesting to see how they wired it and what they used. It would seem apparent to have so much "rewiring" selection from a passive card that indeed they have some funky stuff going on under the pickguard. Looks like none of it is compatible with a conventional strat so if one goes bad out of warranty and you can't get what you need to repair it, might have to gut it all and replace everything with a standard loaded pickguard. However with a meter I would probably be able to figure out what is going on with the pups and possible be able to get them to work with a normal 5 way and pots.

It is hard to tell for certain by the pic but I think that board by the switch might be holding crossover network components.


I know; was just using "digital" in the sense that ribbon wire connectors are used in digital devices. This is purely analog. The pickups are just N3s; I think that Fender has just added the plug connector for the ribbon wire as opposed to having the standard-length wires as on the other American Deluxes. Being a marketer, not an engineer I'm assuming that it has to be wired this way so the personality cards can control the functions of the pots.


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Post subject: Re: American Deluxe Strat Pluses w/ solderless personality c
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:34 pm
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Noiseless pickups notwithstanding, I'd be consrned that such a rig would induce lots of extra 'Noise', one of the foibles of ribbon cable.

cheers!

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