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Post subject: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 9:26 am
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Rarely do I see a guitar that's this nice. This is a '93 Custom Shop set neck Ultra, Mahogany body and Quilt Maple top and has a COA. Just had to share it since I don't have a spare $3K for another guitar just now!

This bit from the listing may be just a mangled description of a TBX control, maybe not: It has a "midrange" control in addition to the standard tone which combines the neck and bridge pick ups and creates a midrange boost".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271472245905&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:07 pm
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danagos wrote:
This bit from the listing may be just a mangled description of a TBX control, maybe not: It has a "midrange" control in addition to the standard tone which combines the neck and bridge pick ups and creates a midrange boost".


The TBX is not a midrange boost; it's a completely passive circuit which acts like a normal tone control from 0 to 5.

The dual-ganged pot is cleverly designed, meaning you can’t substitute a normal stereo pot to make your own budget TBX control.

The bottom pot (with the shaft up) is the normal tone control we all know. It’s a standard 250k audio pot with a range from 0 to 5 on the knob. At the detent (middle) position, it goes open and acts like a no-load tone pot, remaining out of the circuit from 5 to 10 on the knob.

The engineering behind this is actually very clever. Normally, the resistive material ring inside of the pot is a band of carbon-containing gunk that is printed onto the phenolic wafer. On the lower TBX pot, only half of the ring is conductive, as the other 50 percent is made out of a non-conductive material. So we can say it is a no-load tone control pot, but instead of going open at approximately 98 percent of its rotation, it goes out of the circuit at exactly 50 percent.

The other pot acts in the opposite direction. It also has a split resistive material ring inside, but instead of non-conductive material, metal is used for one half of the ring. This means that between 0 and 5 on the knob, its resistance is at maximum. After the detent position, the normal function takes place from 5 to 10 on the knob. This 1 Meg linear pot comes into the circuit in series with the resistor after the detent position. Because of the high resistance (1 Meg ohm), the load added to the passive guitar circuit is very low.

Conversely, the active boost circuit is called MDX which stands for Midrange Xpansion. This preamp was developed by Paul Gagon, John Carruthers and James Demeter in the early 1980s to make the Low-Z pickups emulating an overdriven humbucker while retaining the sparkle, glass and transparency associated with single coils. Initially the MDX offered 12dB of gain but Eric Clapton wanted more compression, prompting the R&D team to increase the gain to 25dB and replace the Low-Z pickups with Gold Lace Sensors.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:48 pm
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Yes chromeface, I know that. :roll: The quote was from the listing description and is probably hyperbole.

That being a Custom Shop guitar, it's not necessarily a TBX pot, although it seems likely it is. Wouldn't be the first time someone invented an explanation for the TBX!

I know of no single control that boosts midrange and combines the neck with the bridge pickups. Feel free to correct that statement.

The 3rd (middle) position on the 5 way switch on Ultra wiring scheme, at least as I was shown by Xhefri, does combine the Neck & Bridge pups. The Middle Pickup is used only in positions 2 & 4, in the usual combinations.

That's how mine is set up.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 4:18 pm
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Interesting......set neck. That's honestly the first time I've ever seen that. I don't think a agree with that look, at least not for a strat. But to each his own, thanks for sharing.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 10:23 pm
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Few were sold with the Mini Floyd Rose bridge assembly; later versions made after 1995 sported two Texas Special single coil pickups in the neck & middle and a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck Trembucker humbucking pickup in the bridge. The 3-way toggle selector was removed.

There was also a limited edition variant sporting an original Floyd Rose tremolo, black hardware, a maple fingerboard and a black painted neck/reverse headstock.

These Suhr Masterbuilt creations were discontinued after John left Fender in 1997.


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 5:18 pm
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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 5:30 pm
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Thanks Blertles,

Great info, but hard to read that online, is it the '93 Frontline? Do they note it as a Custom Shop model?

I do see that Tone 2 is a TBX, that solves one mystery! :D

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 8:25 pm
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I was thinking if it was a 12" radius ebony fb, I'd be all over that. Now I see that it is. Luckily I don't want another HSS right now. Sure is interesting though.
Chromeface, you need to crop your photos. That pant suit behind EC, is just plain wrong!!

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 9:15 pm
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Regardless what the knobs do or don't do...that is some gorgeous pieces of lumber!

T2

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 3:15 am
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Drew365 wrote:
Chromeface, you need to crop your photos. That pant suit behind EC, is just plain wrong!!


Cropping photos? :evil: Well, the EC pictures are not mine, I grabbed them from the web! :twisted:

To crop an image I need to save it into my HDD and upload it through a photobucket account!

Blertles wrote:
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The floyded set-neck with the reverse head I'm talking about sported a Lace Ultra pickup layout, a beautiful quilted maple top and an aged pearloid pickguard. It had also a face jack and a maple fingerboard.

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The guitar shown in the brochure you've had posted is the backrouted version considered as the precursor to the Showmaster, introduced in 1998.

This set-neck Ultra shown below sports the optional Mini Floyd Rose bridge offered at the time.

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Here's the later incarnation of the guitar with the Texas Specials and the Duncan Trembucker. Note the 3-way coil-split toggle: it was deleted a few months after the switch to the new pickup layout.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 9:14 pm
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I have one that is very similar. It's from '96. This one was custom ordered and is the only one I've seen with gold hardware.

Has COA, mini floyd rose, locking tuners, ebony fingerboard, set neck, strat ultra pickup configuration, roller nut, and the "TBX" tone control.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:59 pm
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I have one of these tucked away. There are two types, one based on the Ultra and the other with TX Specials and a humbucker in the bridge (A Pearly Gates, I think). Really cool guitars.
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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 1:26 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
I have one of these tucked away. There are two types, one based on the Ultra and the other with TX Specials and a humbucker in the bridge (A Pearly Gates, I think). Really cool guitars.

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...you're livin' the dream... : )

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:14 pm
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danagos wrote:
Xhefri wrote:
I have one of these tucked away. There are two types, one based on the Ultra and the other with TX Specials and a humbucker in the bridge (A Pearly Gates, I think). Really cool guitars.

...you're livin' the dream... : )

Actually I have been buying and selling for a number of years and have work my way up to getting a few nice pieces. It has been a lot of work. Definitely not born with a silver spoon in my mouth! :wink:

I also started a Face Book Page for Xhefri Guitars. Check it out sometime!

https://www.facebook.com/xhefriGuitars/

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop '93 Ultra
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:51 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
danagos wrote:
Xhefri wrote:
I have one of these tucked away. There are two types, one based on the Ultra and the other with TX Specials and a humbucker in the bridge (A Pearly Gates, I think). Really cool guitars.

...you're livin' the dream... : )

Actually I have been buying and selling for a number of years and have work my way up to getting a few nice pieces. It has been a lot of work. Definitely not born with a silver spoon in my mouth! :wink:

I also started a Face Book Page for Xhefri Guitars. Check it out sometime!

https://www.facebook.com/xhefriGuitars/

Thanks Xhef...nice Facebook site...

...the Cover photo looks like an Easter Egg hunt for Big Kids : )

The work you put in is obvious...multiply by # of guitars....HOWZAH

It's a stroke of G...a blend of your Build Craftsmanship..Forum contributions..
..Historian of the Fender Stratocaster..in particular the Plus/Ultra models...

You don't have the time...get some Elves or Minions! hehe

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