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Post by newey on May 7, 2012 22:06:20 GMT -5
Fender has extended their series of "Pawn Shop Specials", guitars that never were 'but might have been'. Sure, there's no real new ideas in any of this stuff, but at least it's not another variation on a Strat. I have to give Fender some credit for thinking of something a wee bit different. Like the "Offset Special":  There's also a reverse-offset bodied Jaguar Bass and the "Jaguarillo", a Jag with a SSH Strat set-up. |
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Post by yakkmeister on May 8, 2012 8:42:36 GMT -5
It kinda looks like a variation on a strat to me ...
"What if we never made and offset body and just made a stratstang?"
The answer, of course, is "the name would have too may S's and T's in it."
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Post by sumgai on May 8, 2012 13:08:21 GMT -5
It kinda looks like a variation on a strat to me ... Nope - look again.... That there is a Jazzmaster body that's gotten the ThinLine treatment - pickguard gone, fake f-hole, re-arranged controls, etc. Are we looking at a future.... TeleMaster?  sumgai |
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Post by yakkmeister on May 9, 2012 3:16:40 GMT -5
 Maybe have another look at a Jazzmaster?  And a strat? Note the top and bottom 'horns'? The back curve is slightly different ... more JM-esque But it's pretty much a re-jiggered strat. Let's say - JM-back with a strat front? Maybe more a rejiggered jazzmaster.... |
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Post by sumgai on May 9, 2012 13:18:51 GMT -5
yakky,
Nope. What you wanna look at is the body itself, and most particuarly, the placement of the two inward-facing curves. On a JM, they're offset by quite a margin, whereas on a Strat, they're almost directly opposite each other. Additionally, the JM (as with the Jaguar and other Fender offset bodies) has an angled bottom (where the strap button goes) - try to set this thing on a guitar stand, and watch for the final resting angle. A Strat will sit straight up and down, an offset body won't (unless the stand is adjustable).
Lower horns are just so much wood, and can be enlarged/reduced at will - they have no effect on the playing ability or the feel of the guitar, only on the appearance. The upper horns, carrying the strap button, are more limited in how they can change shape, so we needn't spend much time on them.
HTH
sumgai
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Post by yakkmeister on May 9, 2012 21:24:23 GMT -5
yakky, Nope. What you wanna look at is the body itself, and most particuarly, the placement of the two inward-facing curves. On a JM, they're offset by quite a margin, whereas on a Strat, they're almost directly opposite each other. Additionally, the JM (as with the Jaguar and other Fender offset bodies) has an angled bottom (where the strap button goes) - try to set this thing on a guitar stand, and watch for the final resting angle. A Strat will sit straight up and down, an offset body won't (unless the stand is adjustable). Lower horns are just so much wood, and can be enlarged/reduced at will - they have no effect on the playing ability or the feel of the guitar, only on the appearance. The upper horns, carrying the strap button, are more limited in how they can change shape, so we needn't spend much time on them. HTH sumgai Seems legit! |
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Post by jmartyg on May 9, 2012 21:28:33 GMT -5
Well, I agree it's an offset in the mid section - that is what defines an offset, right?. Looks to be strat styled horns, but the rump looks more strat than offset. I think the color and arm contour are distorting the top of the image. If you compare the lines of the rump and back of tailpiece, you'll see they're closer to parallel in the new guitar than they are in the jag or jazzmaster.
Only one way to know for sure - who's going to buy one?
The new mustang looks like something Sonic Youth would stock up on
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Post by sumgai on May 9, 2012 22:05:19 GMT -5
marty, Indeed, as with the other "mods", the overall shape has changed a bit. For instance, the offset curves are not spaced as far apart as a JM, but are still noticibly nowhere near as parallel as a Strat. The tail's profile is also different enough to be noticible, but again, will it stand up straight in a guitar stand? All of these are part of what I call 'the Thinline treatment', where many things are changed in small increments. Makes for a guitar that's different enough, yet is instantly recognizable. To me, that's pretty good marketing. Not great, mind you, but pretty good nonetheless.  Sorry, but I reached my quota of axes after I bought the two-in-one jobbie I have now. You know, it's the first guitar, and the last one, all wrapped up in one conglomeration.  The way I figure it, until they learn how to graft on more arms and hands, I'm stuck with playing only one guitar at a time, so why bother with owning more than one? sumgai
(EDITed because the spell checker was out to lunch that day....) |
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Post by ozboomer on May 20, 2012 7:24:00 GMT -5
...playing only one guitar at a time, so why bother with owning more than one? When you've made so many mods to the innards of 'No. 1' and all those wires and solder joints are so old/fatigued that they just give-up right in the middle of your time in the sun... THAT's when you'll reach for 'No. 2' (and 'No. 3' is for when your 'mate' has left 1 or 2 somewhere and some nong has run over it with his van). ...or so I've been led to believe... by some people who really play guitar... |
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Post by sumgai on May 20, 2012 13:23:43 GMT -5
When you've made so many mods to the innards of 'No. 1' and all those wires and solder joints are so old/fatigued that they just give-up right in the middle of your time in the sun... THAT's when you'll reach for 'No. 2' (and 'No. 3' is for when your 'mate' has left 1 or 2 somewhere and some nong has run over it with his van). a) Good solder jobs and good quality parts don't fatigue. b) Don't be letting mates have it just because it's convenient. c) Treat your axe like it's the only one in the world, and it won't end up on a walkabout under some nong's van. Well, that let's me out, seeing as how I can't play - I only imitate a player, real or otherwise.  HTH sumgai |
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bowyn
Meter Reader 1st Class
That boy ain't right...
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Post by bowyn on Sept 21, 2012 17:20:20 GMT -5
I'm stuck with playing only one guitar at a time, so why bother with owning more than one? sumgai Heresy!!! I need single coils and humbuckers and jazzmasters and P-90s and humbucker-sized P-90s and singlecoil rail humbuckers and lipstick tube and active and surface mount, vintage wound, hot wound, pure passive, low impedance, preamped with 3 band EQ, 25.5 scale, 24.75 scale, whammy, no whammy, bigsby, hollow, semi-hollow, solid body, maple fretboard, rosewood, ceramic, alnico, neodymium-  *head exploded* ... ... ...need more guitars...  |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 21, 2012 18:39:51 GMT -5
I need yadda yadda, so on and so forth, blah blah woof woof, ad finitum, until.....
*head exploded*
...
...
...need more guitars... Errr, nope, not what you need. What you think you need, and incorrectly described as more guitars, is the sound of all those guitars. And the answer to your query is: ROLAND, as in, the VG99 (or any of the early VG units). Gar-own-teed, you'll get all of everything you asked for, and a whole helluva lot more, all wrapped up in one not-so-little box. Trust me on this one. sumgai |
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Post by long813 on Sept 21, 2012 23:30:42 GMT -5
I need yadda yadda, so on and so forth, blah blah woof woof, ad finitum, until.....
*head exploded*
...
...
...need more guitars... Errr, nope, not what you need. What you think you need, and incorrectly described as more guitars, is the sound of all those guitars. And the answer to your query is: ROLAND, as in, the VG99 (or any of the early VG units). Gar-own-teed, you'll get all of everything you asked for, and a whole helluva lot more, all wrapped up in one not-so-little box. Trust me on this one. sumgai That's one expensive DSP! |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2012 2:56:39 GMT -5
That's one expensive DSP! True enough, but think - all but the latest model are at a standstill, price-wise. If you don't like it, you can recoup everything you paid, perhaps excepting shipping. I can't say enough good about these things, but hell, don't take my word for it - Google for websites, forums, groups (Yahoo and Google in particular)... there's plenty of info out there, and lots of people sharing that info. HTH sumgai |
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Post by asmith on Sept 22, 2012 7:51:50 GMT -5
And the answer to your query is: ROLAND, as in, the VG99 (or any of the early VG units). Oh. It's like being told everything you ever wanted is useless. |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2012 11:53:59 GMT -5
And the answer to your query is: ROLAND, as in, the VG99 (or any of the early VG units).
*Googled.*
Oh.
It's like being told everything you ever wanted is useless.Hah! Ya know, it's been so long for me (well over a decade) that I totally spaced out on that little factoid.  Yeah, it does make you wonder why you'd ever consider anything else...... particularly when you find out that you can re-arrange the order of the effects in any way you wish, and save that order as part of your patch. Now that's worthy of experimentation right there! Did I mention that there over 200 parameters (covering all the effects) to be diddled with?! And that the majority of them can be assigned to the built-in pedal, said assignment being saved, again on a per-patch basis? Or assigned to either of the two switches on the guitar-mounted control unit? Or the nominal "volume" knob on that controller? And if that ain't enough control, there are jacks in the back for adding more footswitches and/or pedals, all of them assignable. In fact, when we include MIDI as an external control source, you can assign up to 8 parameters per patch, to be controlled as you wish. WHEW! Add to that the fact that if you're using the hex pickup, you can model so many other kinds of guitars/instruments (keys, winds, string pads, etc.) And those aren't synth sounds, they're simply modifications to your basic string's output-to-a-magnetic-pickup (hex, in this case). Not to mention re-tuning on the fly (I've covered this elsewhere, but look up Joni Mitchell for a good overview of this capability) and the little "added goodie" that there are two, count 'em, two channels - you can do it all over again!! Those two channels are totally independent, so you can actually produce three guitar parts (one of them being your normal guitar pups), and last but not least, it's all in stereo - assign the dark One Octave Down to the left, the screaming Marshall Lead to the right, and use the pedal to pan between the two. Or go Nutz!!! Hell, I gotta admit, writing about all this nearly makes me wanna break my own unit outta storage and start playing again! ;D While I've been "chatting" about the VG series in general, I own only the VG-88. The earlier VG-8 and it's subsequent modded releases can do nearly all of the above, but it didn't have a built-in pedal. The VG-99 can do even more, with more controllers (IR beam, etc.), but I've not stepped up to the plate for that one. I'll let those who are interested search for a manual for the '99, but here's a link to one for the '88. You have to jump through a hoop or two (click a box that says you understand some mumbo-jumbo (not to be confused with gumbo!)), but the PDF is only 1¾Mb, so it shouldn't take too long to download. Roland VG-88 User GuideBTW, speaking of gumbo..... he also has a plethora of hex-driven goodies, as do a few other Nutz. Ask him what he thinks of my drivel....... ;D HTH EDIT: In keeping with the usual off-topic tradition, let me remind one and all that Fender and Roland are very closely associated bed-mates partners. HTH,T sumgai |
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2012 12:03:58 GMT -5
I'm struck nearly dumb (I said nearly!) by the fact that I've gotten so lop-sided in my prosetylization, above. Truly, there are different kinds of players, and not all of them want/need the abundance of what Roland offers. For them, it is better to spend only a little at a time, and to try and master that one single effect before moving on to something else. I certainly can't take that away from them. So no, "other" pedals/effects are not useless, they're geared for/aimed at the player who is happy to apply the KISS principle to their playing lives.  There, that should balance the scales (a bit). sumgai |
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Post by long813 on Sept 22, 2012 13:57:30 GMT -5
To talk about price again. I was thinking it over ... and in the end, it's cheaper then buying a magnitude of guitars I'm currently looking into buying a Cube XL to replace my way-to-loud-valve-amp. That will be my first look into the awesomeness I read from Roland (also, the Cube has a small 80s looper .. so I won't need to buy one!) |
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Post by JFrankParnell on Sept 22, 2012 15:19:47 GMT -5
Sumgai, I think its more a reworked strat than JM, although it def has parts of both. Mostly a strat with slightly skewed main body.  |
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Post by long813 on Sept 22, 2012 15:27:29 GMT -5
You mean to say it's a strat-o-stang.
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Post by sumgai on Sept 22, 2012 16:23:19 GMT -5
Sumgai, I think its more a reworked strat than JM, although it def has parts of both. Mostly a strat with slightly skewed main body. Well JFrank, that's the beauty, and the whole point, of Fender's Marketing - something for you, something for me, we all win. Clearly, this is a case where no matter which way your boat gets floated, so long as it's Fender doing the floating! ;D sumgai |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2012 13:12:49 GMT -5
Hello,
i think next axe will be a fender.
What would you say between american standard (the white olympic/mapple fretboard) and the american deluxe?
i know american deluxe has compound radius, better tonewoods, etc etc etc... better pups... etc, but i like the color and the simplicity of the standard...
how would it rank against the random 500 Euro cost partscaster?
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teking66
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Post by teking66 on Oct 23, 2012 11:12:19 GMT -5
I have to say that when I first saw the Fender Offset Special, my first thought was a 'special' modified strat. Just my 2 cents. |
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Post by 4real on Oct 23, 2012 15:15:16 GMT -5
I like that first one and a lot of things that fender does like this. hey ahve been learning from their Squier stable I suspect and I also think that some of these things might likewise be kind of rare in time ads the lines tend not to 'last'. My mahogany top loaded squier is a good example and I've always quite liked the gone P-51...  A kind of hybrid of the original precision bass and a tele or something. It's a tricky thing for these major companies to come up with things that are new, but I guess it applies to everyone these days...it thought that ibanez's Talman was a cool kind of 'shape'...i got a soft spot for the 'iceman' too...LOL Though I guess a lot of this is 'fashion'...fender is pushing teh 'pawn shop' thing in guitars and amps...we were the 'creators' of these kinds of mods from years back...like my semi-hollow real pawn shop modded strat...  |
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Post by ozboomer on Jun 19, 2015 7:32:52 GMT -5
...as I rise from the depths of the modern-day primordial soup......and did anyone actually play one of these? ...and how did they feel to play? Did anyone go to the trouble of taking out the Jazzmaster-shaped humbuckers and install *real* Jazzmaster pickups in there? How did they sound? Curious minds still want to know... Fanx ..and y'know, I might still get 'round to doing the jazzmaster pickups in a strat project one of these days John
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The way I figure it, until they learn how to graft on more arms and hands, I'm stuck with playing only one guitar at a time, so why bother with owning more than one? 
