1987 Squirecaster 2.0 Thread:
- Thread starter Inspector #20
- Start date
OP
Thank you!
OP
Well that's sure different.
;>)/
For certain! Never seen one like it before!
OP
Mock up to check capacitor to cavity clearance with 1/4" Play Dough blocks:
What you guys think of the recycled Gibson Witch Hats????
Fender knobs instead????
eSGEe
Ferengi Ambassador of Trade
CabanaBoy
Ambassador of Electric Mayhem
I think they look great on the guitar. Kind of gives it a hot-rod look...
OP
They look similar but these are recessed base and drop down over the nuts..
OP
Some Stratocaster cavities are so shallow that you have to mount the capacitors on the pots side-saddle.
jjudas
Ambassador of Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler
I like witch hats on certain guitars. I have them on my Fender '72 Tele custom. They do look good with the aluminum pickguard. I just like the Fender knobs on Strats.
OP
Finished the harness today...
OP
No buzz. No hum. Dead quiet...very pleased. The twin independent tone controls work very well and very evenly.
The output from the Gibson 500T - even with its two outer magnets replaced with wood spacers and its main ceramic magnet replaced with an Alnico IV - is as powerful as anyone could want, yet still very articulate. With high gain, you can cut through titanium and yet it sounds good clean.
The 496R is a bit darker, as one would expect, and I feel like the .022uf is a bit much. Perhaps a 0.01uf would retain more high frequency when rolling off the neck tone.
The middle position (OOP) is a snarling beast and the tone controls really do allow for some unique shaping to the tone.
Most amazingly, the tone is almost a dead ringer for my Gibson SG. There's no hint of Fender twang that you hear with most Super Strats. The tone is big and full, yet very rich and complex.
With both pickup's pole pieces set to the fretboard's 12" radius and then pickup heights held to 4/32" overall, its so 'Gibsony' sounding that I almost can't believe my ears.
And the strings are at least a year old!!!
I'll get some soundclip up soon...
The output from the Gibson 500T - even with its two outer magnets replaced with wood spacers and its main ceramic magnet replaced with an Alnico IV - is as powerful as anyone could want, yet still very articulate. With high gain, you can cut through titanium and yet it sounds good clean.
The 496R is a bit darker, as one would expect, and I feel like the .022uf is a bit much. Perhaps a 0.01uf would retain more high frequency when rolling off the neck tone.
The middle position (OOP) is a snarling beast and the tone controls really do allow for some unique shaping to the tone.
Most amazingly, the tone is almost a dead ringer for my Gibson SG. There's no hint of Fender twang that you hear with most Super Strats. The tone is big and full, yet very rich and complex.
With both pickup's pole pieces set to the fretboard's 12" radius and then pickup heights held to 4/32" overall, its so 'Gibsony' sounding that I almost can't believe my ears.
And the strings are at least a year old!!!
I'll get some soundclip up soon...
OP
Wow...a total transformation. Whoever said a Stratocaster with humbucker pickups will still sound like a Stratocaster never heard this one...
BlackSG91
Ambassador of Anarchy
So do you have it all stringed up? Are you using the same control knobs or something different? I gotsa know!
;>)/
OP
So do you have it all stringed up? Are you using the same control knobs or something different? I gotsa know!
;>)/
Same old strings for now!
OP
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OP
Ok, so with the new band, I don't play anything but heavy rock/metal, so I never think about 'clean tones' or any of that. My goal - with this Stratocaster project - was to create a tone as similar as possible to my Gibson SG so that i could effectively swap guitars without re-EQ'ing the amplifiers. When I started this project, the 3 guitars sounded as different as night and day. The Von Herndon Double Neck was so dark and muddy (six string side only) that it had to be externally EQ'd with a Boss GE-7 just to be able to clean it up. The Stratocaster, with a DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo (10kΩ) didn't produce enough gain and presence to make it a contender and it still retained that 'Quackiness' that really made it sound out of place.
Now, I am working on a instrumental to a backing track as a side project that will allow you to hear a milder tone from the Stratocaster, but for now, I have collected sound samples from each of my 3 guitars, played through the same Blackstar ID-Core 100 Watt Solid State Amp with the same preset saved. The tracks were recorded between 10/22/2018 and 10/25/2018. There are some differences in playback volume on these tracks, but the basic EQ and gain remain unchanged. I seem to have more 'white noise' with the Kevin Taylor Erupter in the VH Double Neck, although all guitars are equally shielded. All guitars are running 180° out-of-phase, so what you hear are both bridge and neck pickups running simultaneously.
I am playing part of Ozzy's 'Flyin' High Again' and while I do not play the phrase exactly the same each time, at least you can hear the guitars playing over a very similar phrase
Here are the three guitars for you to enjoy - or loathe - for their tone:
Von Herndon Doubleneck: Kevin Taylor Erupter / Alnico II / 9.6kΩ Bridge - Thro-Bak SLE-101 / Alnico V / 7.6kΩ
Von Herndon Double Neck with Kevin Taylor Bridge and Thro-Bak SLE-101 Out-Of-Phase
1987 Squire Stratocaster: Gibson 500T (Modified) / Alnico IV / 14.6kΩ - Gibson 496R (Modified) / Alnico V / 8.6kΩ
1987 Stratocaster with Gibson 500T & 496R Pickups
2016 Gibson SG: Gibson 57 Classic + / Alnico II / 9.6kΩ - Gibson Burstbucker Pro / Alnico V / 8.4kΩ
2016 Gibson SG Gibson 57 Classic + & Burstbucker Pro 180 Out-Of-Phase
In a live setting, you would not be able to really tell these guitars apart, but the SG wins the 'chainsaw' award, IMHO...
The Gibson SG is built to the specs I got from Grover Jackson and Seymour Duncan's notes and the recent physical inspection of Randy's two Jackson guitars. My SG is essentially a clone of Randy's White Jackson Concorde, minus the push/pull phase switches.
STRATOCASTER STRING DISCLAIMER: I thought it was worth mentioning that the strings on the Stratocaster are well over a year old and it has a recently replaced (3 or 4 months back) wound 'g' string, so I am sure a new set of strings will improve it's tone dramatically...
Now, I am working on a instrumental to a backing track as a side project that will allow you to hear a milder tone from the Stratocaster, but for now, I have collected sound samples from each of my 3 guitars, played through the same Blackstar ID-Core 100 Watt Solid State Amp with the same preset saved. The tracks were recorded between 10/22/2018 and 10/25/2018. There are some differences in playback volume on these tracks, but the basic EQ and gain remain unchanged. I seem to have more 'white noise' with the Kevin Taylor Erupter in the VH Double Neck, although all guitars are equally shielded. All guitars are running 180° out-of-phase, so what you hear are both bridge and neck pickups running simultaneously.
I am playing part of Ozzy's 'Flyin' High Again' and while I do not play the phrase exactly the same each time, at least you can hear the guitars playing over a very similar phrase
Here are the three guitars for you to enjoy - or loathe - for their tone:
Von Herndon Doubleneck: Kevin Taylor Erupter / Alnico II / 9.6kΩ Bridge - Thro-Bak SLE-101 / Alnico V / 7.6kΩ
Von Herndon Double Neck with Kevin Taylor Bridge and Thro-Bak SLE-101 Out-Of-Phase
1987 Squire Stratocaster: Gibson 500T (Modified) / Alnico IV / 14.6kΩ - Gibson 496R (Modified) / Alnico V / 8.6kΩ
1987 Stratocaster with Gibson 500T & 496R Pickups
2016 Gibson SG: Gibson 57 Classic + / Alnico II / 9.6kΩ - Gibson Burstbucker Pro / Alnico V / 8.4kΩ
2016 Gibson SG Gibson 57 Classic + & Burstbucker Pro 180 Out-Of-Phase
In a live setting, you would not be able to really tell these guitars apart, but the SG wins the 'chainsaw' award, IMHO...
The Gibson SG is built to the specs I got from Grover Jackson and Seymour Duncan's notes and the recent physical inspection of Randy's two Jackson guitars. My SG is essentially a clone of Randy's White Jackson Concorde, minus the push/pull phase switches.
STRATOCASTER STRING DISCLAIMER: I thought it was worth mentioning that the strings on the Stratocaster are well over a year old and it has a recently replaced (3 or 4 months back) wound 'g' string, so I am sure a new set of strings will improve it's tone dramatically...
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OP
Ok, here is a one-take improv over the backing track to Lithium by Evanesence. I did not follow the vocal line in this demo, but instead, i just threw out a few notes here and there to see how it would sound. Now, keep this in mind as you listen...this is recorded with the identical amp settings as the "ChainSaw Tone" with guitar volume controls full up. The delay you hear was added with my Boss DD-3 pedal and some light reverb was added in Audacity. Other than that, the signal is untouched from the out-of-phase "Chainsaw Tone" posted above...
1987 Stratocaster Solo Tone - Single Take Improv - Evanescence Lithium
The 19th fret high 'e' bend is a tribute to Gary Moore as that was a lick he used frequently...This is still with the year old strings full of fret dents...and a .017" wound 'g' string.
These strings are so rusty that they turn your fingers brown. Ernie Ball makes some good stuff for them to be able to withstand this abuse.
1987 Stratocaster Solo Tone - Single Take Improv - Evanescence Lithium
The 19th fret high 'e' bend is a tribute to Gary Moore as that was a lick he used frequently...This is still with the year old strings full of fret dents...and a .017" wound 'g' string.
These strings are so rusty that they turn your fingers brown. Ernie Ball makes some good stuff for them to be able to withstand this abuse.
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OP
So do you have it all stringed up? Are you using the same control knobs or something different? I gotsa know!
;>)/
@BlackSG91 - Albert Popwell