After 30 Years, I'm Back To A 1987 Stratocaster:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
Country flag
Bought ne for me by bandmates in 1987, this Squire Stratocaster (Serial E7 prefix) has been the one guitar I could always rely upon....I can slip it into the stand in front of my two Marshall amps with the volume up very high and it doesn't feed back. The well worn 6230 frets have been leveled to compensate for fret wear so much they are almost gone...the action is ultra low and doesn't buzz.

So, my plan now is to rout the neck pickup pocket to accept another humbucker and install the GFS Classic II PAF clones I have (8.0k) as I want to get totally away from the single coils altogether.

This is what I should have done instead of buying a new Gibson....Guitar small 2.jpg Stratoblaster Copper Shielding Tape.jpg 1986 Stratocaster Humbucker Swap.jpg
 
Robert, I have a feeling, once you shield your SG and the plastics, put the Tone Man guts in it and whatever new pups give you that sound you seek, you WILL emerge with the killer SG like the ones I have. This speed bump will become a distant memory.

Also, as one who modded his Faded SG not necessarily out of issues, but to get nicer pups and guts, Col Mustard may lend some words of wisdom, calming advice and a light at the end of the tunnel outlook. I know it is disheartening, but this guitar will all turn out real soon.

***Already posted this message prior to Robert stating he was giving up on his SG in the other thread.
 
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chilipeppermaniac said:
Robert, I have a feeling, once you shield your SG and the plastics, put the Tone Man guts in it and whatever new pups give you that sound you seek, you WILL emerge with the killer SG like the ones I have. This speed bump will become a distant memory.

Also, as one who modded his Faded SG not necessarily out of issues, but to get nicer pups and guts, Col Mustard may lend some words of wisdom, calming advice and a light at the end of the tunnel outlook. I know it is disheartening, but this guitar will all turn out real soon.

***Already posted this message prior to Robert stating he was giving up on his SG in the other thread.
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Funny thing....I play so much faster on this shitty old Strat that I haven't picked up in months....LOL
 
Robert Herndon said:
Funny thing....I play so much faster on this shitty old Strat that I haven't picked up in months....LOL
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I am thinking that is Muscle memory. I am sure if you didn't play the Schecter then picked it up, it would be the same.

I was at my friend's house today. Got to play his DOT that I reattached the headstock on. Hadn't really picked it up in over a year since fixing it. That guitar felt so nice and easy to play. It sounded dead quiet and pickups did not leave us disappointed. Hard to imagine out of a <$400 ES copy with a formerly nasty decapitation.
 
Ha Robert, I just got done swapping a pair of Fender Speakers out of one combo I have and installing some nice Weber 10 inchers in it. I definitely like the new Pizazz the amp has now. Drop ins are great.
 
If this guitar has such history with you, and feels so good, why change it?


To each his own, the guitar is yours and you can do whatever you want with it, but if I were you, I wouldn't mod it. I'd keep it as it is and use its features (the ones you like about it) to build another strat like it with the different pups.

Or make your Gibson become something more like what you want.

I say this because I own a guitar that has a similar pathos for me.

This is a 1994 Southern Cross Series Fender Strat, a licensed made in Brazil guitar. This series was a short batch produced between 1993 and 1995, discontinued due to labor costs and taxes, it was kind of a twin series along with the Mexican "Squier Series" Fenders. An inexpensive mid term between Asian Squiers and the modern Mexican Fender guitars.

14A95392-931A-4759-AD78-6C53C91D97C7_zpspadasyni.jpg


They were produced here for the internal market, since imports were nearly impossible back then. Our economy sucks and sucked even more.

This was the Fender you saw at music shops when I was in my teenage years and for a plethora of reasons i can speak of in a proper thread, I never owned one.

Years later, I came across this one, entirely stock though well road worn, a 23 year old workhorse that has been on stages all its life, but is entirely stock except for the pups (which are Fender Fat 50s so no problem, it's 100% Fender).

And I played memorable gigs with it.

So I keep it, won't part with it and wouldn't mod it.

Btw one of the reasons for me to buy the Gibson SG was exactly me not wanting to put humbuckers in my strats...

But that's me, just giving my own point of view
 
Sérgio said:
If this guitar has such history with you, and feels so good, why change it?


To each his own, the guitar is yours and you can do whatever you want with it, but if I were you, I wouldn't mod it. I'd keep it as it is and use its features (the ones you like about it) to build another strat like it with the different pups.

Or make your Gibson become something more like what you want.

I say this because I own a guitar that has a similar pathos for me.

This is a 1994 Southern Cross Series Fender Strat, a licensed made in Brazil guitar. This series was a short batch produced between 1993 and 1995, discontinued due to labor costs and taxes, it was kind of a twin series along with the Mexican "Squier Series" Fenders. An inexpensive mid term between Asian Squiers and the modern Mexican Fender guitars.

14A95392-931A-4759-AD78-6C53C91D97C7_zpspadasyni.jpg


They were produced here for the internal market, since imports were nearly impossible back then. Our economy sucks and sucked even more.

This was the Fender you saw at music shops when I was in my teenage years and for a plethora of reasons i can speak of in a proper thread, I never owned one.

Years later, I came across this one, entirely stock though well road worn, a 23 year old workhorse that has been on stages all its life, but is entirely stock except for the pups (which are Fender Fat 50s so no problem, it's 100% Fender).

And I played memorable gigs with it.

So I keep it, won't part with it and wouldn't mod it.

Btw one of the reasons for me to buy the Gibson SG was exactly me not wanting to put humbuckers in my strats...

But that's me, just giving my own point of view
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Very wise post, Sergio....

I am sure, as much as I blabber, you know the history of my 1987 Squire Stratocaster...a cheap, Korean made version, which cost around $200USD when new.

Funny....I never liked it. I never complained, because it was a gift, but it, for me, was a huge step down from my 1983 Ibanez Destroyer.

I spent a good deal of time shielding this guitar so it would be quiet, because I was working as a studio guitarist at the time. The result is a guitar you can stand up in front of my amps with the volume up and it is silent.

Quiet operation is one of my obsessions...probably from growing up with a recording studio out back.

Putting in the bridge humbucker in 2011 was a step in the right direction for me.

When I bought this new Gibson SG in September of 2016, I did it so I could have an H-H guitar without spending a lot of time on the bench....LOL

At that time, I had been long contemplating a custom, all mahogany Stratocaster build from Warmoth parts...hardtail bridge...twin Gibson PAF's, custom 24-3/4" scale neck...big headstock...tiny 6230 frets...etc., but buying a new Gibson SG was easier....or at least I thought it was.

The funny thing about this old Stratocaster is how effortless it is to play. On the SG, I really have to work at it to get notes to sound just right, but on the Stratocaster, it just seems to play itself.

I still hate the color (always have) and how heavy it is...but its a good player.

In 30 years, its never had a case...only a bag, so that's one of the first things I am going to buy is a decent, form-fitting case.

Next is the switch to dual covered PAF's. To me, the Strat-style is easier to modify....maybe because I have done so much of it. I'm building my own harness, based on a brown tortoise shell pickguard, with Russian K42Y capacitors (.033uf bridge - .015uf neck) and good quality pots/switch.

Once I get that taken care of, I will probably start working on building my custom Stratocaster....
 
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