What's on your 2022 gear wish list

Kerry Brown said:
They just don't feel right. The controls are in the wrong place. I keep hitting the middle pickup and the volume control. I could live with that but for some reason I don't feel comfortable playing a strat. When I'm playing the tone always feels too bright no matter what I do. When listen back to what I played it sounds fine. The best strat I've owned was a MIJ Squier that I put some cheap GFS pickups in. I never should have let that one go. I plan to see if I can duplicate it.
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My experience exactly. I've actually owned a lot of Strats, maybe trying to bond with one: tried everything from vintage to Standard USA, Mexico, Japan, Custom Shop, even a few G&L Legacy's (which are much better made than any Fender but the neck sits too high in the pocket). Just cannot get along with the feel and unless I put humbuckers in them I flat-out hate the sound of them. The controls are awkward, and that's being generous, the scale feels wrong and I actually think the miles of plastic all over the front makes them super ugly, along with that hideous headstock. The best Fender I ever had was a '95 American Standard, which was better than any Custom Shop or vintage one I have owned or played. Should have kept that one and saved myself a lot of money and trouble over the years. Every once in a while I pick one up and think to myself maybe I should get another, but then remind myself all the reasons I won't play it if I do.
 
Kerry Brown said:
They just don't feel right. The controls are in the wrong place. I keep hitting the middle pickup and the volume control. I could live with that but for some reason I don't feel comfortable playing a strat. When I'm playing the tone always feels too bright no matter what I do. When listen back to what I played it sounds fine. The best strat I've owned was a MIJ Squier that I put some cheap GFS pickups in. I never should have let that one go. I plan to see if I can duplicate it.
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You can change the control layout with a custom pickguard. You can solder one jumper to enable the lower tone control to work on the bridge.

You can use a DiMarzio Virtual Heavy Blues in the bridge am eliminate the overtly bright nature of the bridge pickup...

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gball said:
My experience exactly. I've actually owned a lot of Strats, maybe trying to bond with one: tried everything from vintage to Standard USA, Mexico, Japan, Custom Shop, even a few G&L Legacy's (which are much better made than any Fender but the neck sits too high in the pocket). Just cannot get along with the feel and unless I put humbuckers in them I flat-out hate the sound of them. The controls are awkward, and that's being generous, the scale feels wrong and I actually think the miles of plastic all over the front makes them super ugly, along with that hideous headstock. The best Fender I ever had was a '95 American Standard, which was better than any Custom Shop or vintage one I have owned or played. Should have kept that one and saved myself a lot of money and trouble over the years. Every once in a while I pick one up and think to myself maybe I should get another, but then remind myself all the reasons I won't play it if I do.
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I got my first Stratocaster (a 1987 Squier brand new in 1988) so I can switch between them zero issues. .
 
@Kerry Brown - you should talk to @Sp8ctre - he has my 1987 Squire. It's a heavy little guitar. Thin 'C' neck and I had just leveled and crowned it (vintage style original .047" wide frets) before he got it...it's got 1988 era 'first design' Dunlop Straplocks on it too...

Its a 12" radius neck, stock from the factory, with an "E7" (1987) serial number, Made in Korea.

It's shown here at a September 2018 outdoor performance in Crestline, California.

FB_IMG_1617901720830.jpg

It's shown with a Fender engine-turned aluminum pickguard and a Gibson 500T/496R pickup combination.

It has since been switched back to SSS by Chris.
 
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Robert Herndon said:
You can change the control layout with a custom pickguard. You can solder one jumper to enable the lower tone control to work on the bridge.

You can use a DiMarzio Virtual Heavy Blues in the bridge am eliminate the overtly bright nature of the bridge pickup...

View attachment 78748
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Problem is, that's just a simple variation on a flawed layout (IMO of course). The entire guitar-playing community has suffered from this awful layout for 68 years just because Freddie Tavares wanted it that way. I have seen a few custom bodies over the years with an improved layout and no pickguard (bottom-mounted controls) and with the jack moved to the side of the body (where it f-ing belongs). Maybe something like that would work, but it still doesn't fix the other deficiencies in the package for me.
 
Robert Herndon said:
@Kerry Brown - you should talk to @Sp8ctre - he has my 1987 Squire. It's a heavy little guitar. Thin 'C' neck and I had just leveled and crowned it (vintage style original .047" wide frets) before he got it...it's got 1988 era 'first design' Dunlop Straplocks on it too...

Its a 12" radius neck, stock from the factory, with an "E7" (1987) serial number, Made in Korea.

It's shown here at a September 2018 outdoor performance in Crestline, California.

View attachment 78750

It's shown with a Fender engine-turned aluminum pickguard and a Gibson 500T/496R pickup combination.

It has since been switched back to SSS by Chris.
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Thanks. He lives too far away. I don’t usually buy guitars without trying them first. The feel of the guitar is what inspires me. I can fix almost anything on a guitar except that intangible “feel”. Cross border shipping is also a problem. I’m very satisfied with my current guitars and I’m playing bass in our band so a strat is superfluous. It would be an experiment to see if I can create a strat I can bond with.
 
gball said:
Problem is, that's just a simple variation on a flawed layout (IMO of course). The entire guitar-playing community has suffered from this awful layout for 68 years just because Freddie Tavares wanted it that way. I have seen a few custom bodies over the years with an improved layout and no pickguard (bottom-mounted controls) and with the jack moved to the side of the body (where it f-ing belongs). Maybe something like that would work, but it still doesn't fix the other deficiencies in the package for me.
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I really can't find a flaw with the Strat layout. I may switch between 4 or 5 studio-owned guitars in an average session day...ofyen running the gamut from a vintage Broadcadter to a PRS Artisan...but maybe playing a strat for 28 years helps...???

Here's two with a side jack (I prefer the angled top jack because it's harder to pull out if you step on a cable)

Note that Schecter moved the volume knob slightly...

20201015_200424.jpg

On the Jackson, that's a custom made black/red black pickguard with my preference of stock knob locations....

20201018_132652.jpg

Back in 2003, GFS and Carvin sent me a bunch of pickups to demo. The pickups in the Jackson are experimental GFS's circa 2003.

The bridge is a 14k A5 Double-Slug humbucker and the singles are the predecessors of what would become their "Tru Coil" line of hum canceling single coils. The middle is 10k and the neck.is 7k.

20201018_134142.jpg
 
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Robert Herndon said:
I really can't find a flaw with the Strat layout. I may switch between 4 or 5 studio-owned guitars in an average session day...ofyen running the gamut from a vintage Broadcadter to a PRS Artisan...but maybe playing a strat for 28 years helps...???

Here's two with a side jack (I prefer the angled top jack because it's harder to pull out if you step on a cable)

Note that Schecter moved the volume knob slightly...

View attachment 78753

On the Jackson, that's a custom made black/red black pickguard with my preference of stock knob locations....

View attachment 78754

Back in 2003, GFS and Carvin sent me a bunch of pickups to demo. The pickups in the Jackson are experimental GFS's circa 2003.

The bridge is a 14k A5 Double-Slug humbucker and the singles are the predecessors of what would become their "Tru Coil" line of hum canceling single coils. The middle is 10k and the neck.is 7k.

View attachment 78756
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Haha, hilarious. I can't seem to find anything redeeming about the layout. And the lack of dedicated volumes is a major, major flaw. At a minimum I would prefer a separate volume for the neck and bridge/middle and a global tone. The blade pickup selector is also in both a terrible place and terrible to use. Everything about Fender guitars feels like they were thrown together with scrap lumber and random parts from ACE Hardware to me. I know lots of people love them, and I have certainly tried, but I just find them very unappealing and even as a listener I basically never prefer anyone's tone when they are playing a Strat or Tele over when when they play a Gibson or other set neck guitar.
 
gball said:
Haha, hilarious. I can't seem to find anything redeeming about the layout. And the lack of dedicated volumes is a major, major flaw. At a minimum I would prefer a separate volume for the neck and bridge/middle and a global tone. The blade pickup selector is also in both a terrible place and terrible to use. Everything about Fender guitars feels like they were thrown together with scrap lumber and random parts from ACE Hardware to me. I know lots of people love them, and I have certainly tried, but I just find them very unappealing and even as a listener I basically never prefer anyone's tone when they are playing a Strat or Tele over when when they play a Gibson or other set neck guitar.
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I love my Les Paul, but I equally love my Stratocaster.
 
Mostly just the V GAS, but I dont have anything else currently I want to move out to help offset the cost or justify another incoming.
I'm pretty happy with the variety line up right now, had a few come and go over the past year.

Lessons.
In person lessons I want to start within the next month or so.
Still kicking around attenuator options beyond the resistor load boxes I built.
 
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gball said:
Haha, hilarious. I can't seem to find anything redeeming about the layout. And the lack of dedicated volumes is a major, major flaw. At a minimum I would prefer a separate volume for the neck and bridge/middle and a global tone. The blade pickup selector is also in both a terrible place and terrible to use. Everything about Fender guitars feels like they were thrown together with scrap lumber and random parts from ACE Hardware to me. I know lots of people love them, and I have certainly tried, but I just find them very unappealing and even as a listener I basically never prefer anyone's tone when they are playing a Strat or Tele over when when they play a Gibson or other set neck guitar.
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On a stock Stratocaster in general, I seldom use anything other than the #4 position. Same on my YelloStrat. I play some solo phrases in Position #4.

I don't find the absence of individual tones and volumes a bother at all, but in the studio, you play whatever the producer wants yiu to play.

Now on a Les Paul, my favorite clean tones are found in the middle position.
 
@gball - A few weeks ago, I was playing on a commercial project in Hollywierd and the producer brought in an old Broadcaster that he wanted used on a specific recording.

Mile high action, rusty strings and too much neck relief. Sounded pretty good through a Fender Princeton patch in Blue Cat Destructor, but it wasn't a fun playing experience.

Some studios specialize in vintage gear and recording equipment, with ES Studios in Glendale and Skylab Stidios in Joshua Tree being two such firms.
 
Ramo said:
My list is this.

Bare Knuckle pick ups( black dog)
Bass guitar ( must be a Jackson)
Eazy drummer 2
TC flashback delay
And Im planning to by jcm800 this year!
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If I was going to run a Marshall tube head, it would be a YJM 100.

Both channels have separate volume controls, but share a traditional Marshall EQ consisting of bass, mid, treble and presence. Move round to the rear and you'll find the YJM100's modern side, with gain and level controls for a built-in boost stage, a noise gate, digital reverb and a series effects loop.

The YJM100 also features a half-power switch and the same electronic power attenuation circuit seen on the Slash Signature head, allowing the amp's output to be reduced down to as little as 0.05 watts in half-power mode.

The quartet of EL34 power valves is managed by a digital control system that automatically sets the bias current within a user-adjustable range; all you have to do is hold down a couple of buttons at power on. If a valve should fail, the same controller shuts down the affected pair and displays a warning LED on the rear panel.

The boost, noise gate, reverb and effects loop are all managed from a four-button foot controller that plugs in using a standard guitar lead - clever stuff.
 
Robert Herndon said:
If I was going to run a Marshall tube head, it would be a YJM 100.

Both channels have separate volume controls, but share a traditional Marshall EQ consisting of bass, mid, treble and presence. Move round to the rear and you'll find the YJM100's modern side, with gain and level controls for a built-in boost stage, a noise gate, digital reverb and a series effects loop.

The YJM100 also features a half-power switch and the same electronic power attenuation circuit seen on the Slash Signature head, allowing the amp's output to be reduced down to as little as 0.05 watts in half-power mode.

The quartet of EL34 power valves is managed by a digital control system that automatically sets the bias current within a user-adjustable range; all you have to do is hold down a couple of buttons at power on. If a valve should fail, the same controller shuts down the affected pair and displays a warning LED on the rear panel.

The boost, noise gate, reverb and effects loop are all managed from a four-button foot controller that plugs in using a standard guitar lead - clever stuff.
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Im buying 800 for its simplicity,I’m simple man. :)
 
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