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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:15 pm
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After you change the strings let us know if there is that much difference. I would be curious.

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:16 am
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Xhefri wrote:
sfceric64 wrote:
I don't think its a plus model of any kind. The OP didn't claim that it was. It doesn't have locking tuners or either type of roller nut and the headstock has two modern string trees. The serial number,body route and the lace sensor filled pickguard and paint patina are the only indicators of it being a plus model or jus an older model body, imo.
The solder joints on the volume pot are poorly done, there is plenty of exposed wire at the contact point w/ the pot. If its all wired in the correct way then clean and retry, if that doesn't work re-solder all the connections. If that don't do the trick have the pups tested for output.

I went back and reread your first post. You are right, if it came with Lace Sensors and has a E9 serial number and no Wilkinson nut or locking tuners, it is one of the short lived Deluxe American Standard Strats. Sorry I over looked that.


I learned something new. I didn't know Fender produced a Deluxe American Standard.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:46 am
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Adjust the pickup heights.

In my Strat Ultra instruction manual, Fender recommends that the Sensors be as close to the strings as possible. One of the guys who fixed my guitar, suggested that I had the pickups too high and they would magnetize the strings; long story short there was no magnetization of the strings. But I still wonder if it could happen and what would be the effect on the tone. So I adjusted my Blue neck pickup higher on the treble side and it instantly made a big difference. Usually this pickup sounds muddy, like a P90 with a bad hangover. Now it sounds pretty close to my older 1970 Stratocaster, clean but with well defined treble and bass frequencies.

I have a Gold in the middle and a set of Red Laces in a dually setup, in bridge position. I like these at their current heights. The Red is just so awesome, due to the three-way switch, so I can switch single/HB/single on the fly. The one closer to the bridge does sound like a Tele, clean and airy and twang is there in abundance, for a strat. The upper one is the best blender with the other pickups for quack in the 2nd position( I call it SuperQuack) and in the 3rd position it blends with neck pickup for another Tele-like sound. Together they sound like a lower frequency thicker sounding humbucker, really solving the whiny sounding single bridge pickup sound on its earlier models.

As for strings, I like pure nickel strings for this guitar. I had dead nickel strings on it, and changed to nickel wound or plated strings and it isn't the nicest tone, but it will do. I saved the pure nickels for my Telecaster.

I was wondering if other people on the site set their Lace Sensors, close to the strings as possible, like Fender recommended in 1990?

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Last edited by qblue on Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:55 am
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qblue wrote:
Adjust the pickup heights.

In my Strat Ultra instruction manual, Fender recommends that the Sensors be as close to the strings as possible. One of the guys who fixed my guitar, suggested that I had the pickups too high and they would magnetize the strings; long story short there was no magnetization of the strings. But I still wonder if it could happen and what would be the effect on the tone. So I adjusted my Blue neck pickup higher on the treble side and it instantly made a big difference. Usually this pickup sounds muddy, like a P90 with a bad hangover. Now it sounds pretty close to my older 1970 Stratocaster, clean but with well defined treble and bass frequencies.

I have a Gold in the middle and a set of Red Laces in a dually setup, in bridge position. I like these at their current heights. The Red is just so awesome, due to the three-way switch, so I can switch single/HB/single on the fly. The one closer to the bridge does sound like a Tele, clean and airy and twang is there in abundance, for a strat. The upper one is the best blender with the other pickups for quack in the 2nd position( I call it SuperQuack) and in the 3rd position it blends with neck pickup for another Tele-like sound. Together they sound like a lower frequency thicker sounding humbucker, really solving the whiny sounding single bridge pickup sound on its earlier models.

I was wondering if other people on the site set their Lace Sensors, close to the strings as possible, like Fender recommended in 1990?


I keep the Lace Sensors on my Clapton Strat close, but not as close as I can get them.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:04 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
We're all human, Jeff.


+

Had it not been for the extensive information on your website, I wouldn't have noticed the inconsistencies. So thanks for the great reference material...And congrats on the new additions to your collection. I'd be guessing you got Mr Groovy to part with his collection.

OP, I wouldn't worry about the color where the sticker was. Just get the sound to your liking and enjoy.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:29 pm
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I just caught a video of a guy showing off what looks like a ligit mid-90s Strat Plus Dlx, but claiming it was a fake.

There were only two things that I was positive about, the back plate didn't have any whole and the body was a blue sunburst.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:47 pm
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I forgot to mention that the Sensors need to be closer and that can affect the output. I get mine close, the bridge closest and the neck a little farther away. I have a Plus that I just got in with really low output, and I checked the pickups and they were like 1/2 inch away from the strings. I raised them, and the the guitar started to sing. I have changed strings on 100s of guitars and could tell a little bit of a difference but not like having a bad connection on a solder joint or having the pickups way too low. I had a guitar that had really low output and I touched the soldering iron to the white wire on the vol pot that goes to the plug and bingo! It was louder. Lots of resistance when there is not a good connection which lowers the output.

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Last edited by Xhefri on Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:51 pm
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paris wrote:
I learned something new. I didn't know Fender produced a Deluxe American Standard.

From my website:

Fender introduced an Deluxe American Standard Strat in 1989 and discontinued them in 1990—so they had a short production life of about one year. Take a look at the guitar below and check out the appointments:

Image Image

Again, it looks like a Strat Plus, but it's not!!! ;-) Check out the neck in the pictures below. They came with all the features of a Strat Plus, such as Gold Lace Sensors, same bridge and body type, but no locking tuners or roller nut. They will often have the E4, E8 or E9 serial numbers too. What these really are is an American Standard Strat with Gold Lace pickups installed.

Image Image Image
According to the Blue Book of Guitars, there was an estimated 400 instruments produced. Personally, I think many more than 400 were made as I have owned several and I have questions coming to me every few weeks about these by email. I see them from time to time on eBay as well. They are "some-what" collectable and are sometimes sold, mistakenly, as a Strat Plus. Over time, these may very well be quite collectable.

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:10 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
I forgot to mention that the Sensors need to be closer and that can affect the output.

Just out of curiosity, Jeff, why do they have to be closer? Are they inherently lower in output?

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:29 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Xhefri wrote:
I forgot to mention that the Sensors need to be closer and that can affect the output.

Just out of curiosity, Jeff, why do they have to be closer? Are they inherently lower in output?

I do not think they have to be closer, as they will work find adjusted just like any single coil pickup. But due to their design, you can get them even closer than a conventional pickup without that annoying magnetic string pull. I remember when I was around 16 I moved the pickups on my 70s Strat to almost touching the strings. I learned quickly about all the weird magnetic anomalies that can happen with the guitar sounding out of tune.

The Strat Plus I was recently working on had the pickup barely above the pickguard and would have caused any pickup to put out less. This Plus was an 1988 Dusty Rose that the owner had taken apart and never complete put back together. When I moved the pickups closer, the volume jumped significantly. The Laces might be a tad more sensitive to this that a standard single coil due to their design and plastic covers. IDK....

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:36 pm
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sfceric64 wrote:
BMW-KTM wrote:
We're all human, Jeff.
Had it not been for the extensive information on your website, I wouldn't have noticed the inconsistencies. So thanks for the great reference material...And congrats on the new additions to your collection. I'd be guessing you got Mr Groovy to part with his collection.

Mr Groovy? Like Scott off Youtube? Not him. If I told you the name of the person I bought the collection from you would fall off your seat! But for his confidentiality I can't.....

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:51 am
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Understandable, yeah "that dude" recently sold off some of his guitars so I thought maybe it was what you picked up.
I still look for the Plus/dlx/ultra every time I see guitars anywhere. Dunno why, but I do think they are the most significant modern Fender guitars made.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:27 am
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Xhefri wrote:
sfceric64 wrote:
BMW-KTM wrote:
We're all human, Jeff.
Had it not been for the extensive information on your website, I wouldn't have noticed the inconsistencies. So thanks for the great reference material...And congrats on the new additions to your collection. I'd be guessing you got Mr Groovy to part with his collection.

Mr Groovy? Like Scott off Youtube? Not him. If I told you the name of the person I bought the collection from you would fall off your seat! But for his confidentiality I can't.....


Xhefri,
So I'm a little off topic here, but I think this is important concerning Strat Plus Series guitar.
I came across this video of a guy claiming the guitar he is showing is a fake. Here's the link.



The only thing that I'm skeptical about is the neck. The neck looks like a Strat Plus neck. I don't remember Fender producing Ultras with maple necks and gray locking tuning keys. Everything else looks ligit.


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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:01 am
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paris wrote:
Xhefri,
So I'm a little off topic here, but I think this is important concerning Strat Plus Series guitar.
I came across this video of a guy claiming the guitar he is showing is a fake. The only thing that I'm skeptical about is the neck. The neck looks like a Strat Plus neck. I don't remember Fender producing Ultras with maple necks and gray locking tuning keys. Everything else looks ligit.

Funny listening to people talk about their guitars. This guitar is one of three things, and I can't be sure which-is-which due to the poor quality of the video and the lack of showing the body closer. It is 1) a Fender Strat Plus DX with an Ultra pickguard (and some of the case candy) or 2) an Fender Ultra that someone popped a Strat Plus maple neck on. He does not show the neck plate which should say Ultra as well. Sometimes people do not like Ebony so they will do a neck swap. OR 3) There are so many Partscasters floating around, who knows if a person did not buy a bunch of assorted parts of eBay and just put this together. BUT, an Ultra NEVER came with a Maple neck.

If it were a Ultra it would have a flamed Maple top and back under the Blue Burst. If it is a Strat Plus DX it will have Ash grain under the Blue Burst. And the DX Fender Floyd Rose trems bars where chrome with NO tip. LOL! I have seen this guitar before, I think, for sale on eBay or Reverb. It was being advertised as an Ultra. I have sold a couple nice plus guitars, just to have the person tell me, Oh I am going to put such and such neck on this body and then put this neck on this other guitar I have—thus the mix and match messed up confusion starts a few years down the road!

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Post subject: Re: Lace sensors sound wrong
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:40 pm
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Xhefri wrote:
If I told you the name of the person I bought the collection from you would fall off your seat! But for his confidentiality I can't.....

If Green was part of one his user names, then yes, I would fall off my seat.

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