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Post by sumgai on Mar 30, 2020 17:24:26 GMT -5
I should clarify my statements, above. By saying that adult left-handers will likely stay with that method of addressing their axes, I meant something that wasn't quite obvious. Indeed, because they are in the minority, lefties tend to be more open-minded. The very first band I ever played in had a left-handed bassist, but sort of like me, he "fell" into a helluva deal for a '52 Tele bass that was, you guessed it, a rightie. He never looked back, and we all thought he did just fine. (Years later he swapped it for a bone-stock '55 Chevy with a 6-banger. Not long after that, he started whining about how stupid he was, and still does so to this day.) But I've also dealt with lefties that are just not ever going to "go along to get along" - they are adamant that Gawd made them that way for a good reason, and they'll be hornswoggled if they're gonna go against that particular grain. Then there's the ambidextrous bunch. Not many of us, and we're not likely to make much noise on this topic, because we can fit in just about anywhere, doing just about anything, with just about any tool*. (Although I did have to stop and think when I was 12 years old, and my cousin asked me to go fetch him a left-handed hammer. (We're still friends. )) As it happens, I'm also interested in steel guitars, both lap and pedal. The Steel Guitar Forum had a thread on this topic a few years ago, wherein I learned that a great number of steelers are lefties, but playing right-handed instruments. But even more interestingly, I learned that more than a few manufacturers will customize a standard model for lefties, usually at little or even no extra charge. But on stage.... I've personally never seen such a player/instrument. They're out there, but I've not encountered any of them.... yet. All of which I guess figures. I mean, lefties are known for being more creative overall. I learned this back in the day when I was a nogoodnik, and I hung around pool halls. All of the best shooters were left-handed, so I took to playing that way as well. Scared the crap out of more than one mark when I started switching hands, every time I came to the table. But I do admit, I never made much moola at this, because I was much more detail oriented.... as are most engineers. We can be highly creative, but we tend to over-think it - inspiration gets short shrift a lot of the time. Ah, but I see that the other half is taking her ball bat out of the corner, so I guess I'd better get back to work. Later! sumgai * That phrasing reminded me of a story about back when Uncle Sam invited me to take an all-expenses-paid vacation in SE Asia. I was assigned to a unit that did several related jobs, one being the repair of all manner of machinery. We had just about every known tool that could conceivably be used to repair anything from a pair of scissors to a mammoth earth-mover. (Aviation had their own repair shops.) A sign hung over the entrance to one section that said: "We have done so much for so long with so little that we can do almost anything with damn near nothing, except weld the crack of dawn... and that's on back-order."
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Post by asmith on Apr 5, 2020 8:42:49 GMT -5
What would you change from the original design? - Smooth the clunky heel joint
- Move the jack to the side
- Put the controls through the body instead of under a plastic shell
- Use a better whammy bar bridge system
- Offer more pickup options as standard, including other positions
- Offer some models with more frets. I have a Squier Strat with 21 frets, and it's a pain in the neck to have the highest I can play without bending be C#, when D is a much more common note to the usual E, G, A, C and D keys we all mostly play in. I know most Strats come with 22 frets now. Some models with 24 would be great.
Lastly, I'd probably scrape the Fender decal from the headstock and write "Charvel" there. It's the same company anyway. There, perfect Strat!
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Post by reTrEaD on Apr 5, 2020 10:56:20 GMT -5
If you could change anything about the strat The price. 😛
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Post by newey on Apr 5, 2020 22:11:11 GMT -5
RT-
In addition to everything else you dislike, now you're harping on the price?
If we're talking solid-body electrics, one can buy a perfectly good Mexican-made Strat for about $575 or so. If you insist that it be USA-made, then you're looking at $1300-$1500.
Or, you could opt for a Gibson LP or SG- they start at a grand and move up quickly from there.
There are, of course, many quality Asian-made guitars that can be had for lesser money from a large variety of manufacturers, but Fender is a player in that market as well, with Squier Strats being price-competitive with the likes of Epiphone, Dean, et al.
So, I can see plenty of reasons to knock Strats (as well as plenty of reasons to like them). But price, I don't see the argument there.
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Post by perfboardpatcher on Apr 21, 2020 14:17:36 GMT -5
What would you charge from the original design ? I’ve always been a strat man But if I could change anything , I would move the bridge pickup so it’s not slanted and also a bit closer to the neck about a cm or two just to mellow out and fatten up the notes on the g b e strings I also really dislike the input jack . The position of it, the design etc. A lot of bulk . Also how it’s separated from the cavity. In fact I’m sure there could be a much better design for the jacks themselves on the end of the cables. Combined with the input jack the whole system feels bulky , unstable , unsecure. No wot I mean ? Eddie van Halen taught me that the strat is just a kit. I would change the jack plate or the routing of the jack cavity. It's practically impossible to shield the cavity without creating a short circuit or running out of room to plug the cable jack in.
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Post by newey on Apr 21, 2020 15:25:45 GMT -5
Amen to that. I've stopped trying to do anything with shielding there, it probably makes little difference anyway. On the original GuitarNuts site, the recommendation was to use a length of shielded cable to make the run out to the jack (and then, of course, wiring the braided shield to the grounding point) in order to avoid needing to shield the jack rout itself. But it's difficult to get a thick shielded cable through the hole without further woodworking, and it seems like overkill to me anyway.
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Post by b4nj0 on Apr 22, 2020 1:40:28 GMT -5
All you need to do is relieve the wood a bit in the right spot with a rotary burr (or whatever is your weapon of choice), or even easier just omit a bit of screening around the actual tip contact spot. That said, I've not had any problem in nearly fifty years.
e&oe ...
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Post by sumgai on Apr 22, 2020 12:41:31 GMT -5
In all of my years of modding guitars for others, shielding has been the most requested job. I've found that nearly every American made Strat had a big enough jack hole such that I could lay in copper foil (adhesive-backed or plain), and have no issues. Strats made in Japan were usually, though not always, also no problem, early ones most often following the exact dimensions laid out by Fender. Excepting Japan, nearly all other Strats, and or clones thereof, have smaller holes. Why? I dunno. And TBH, I don't care. I'm just reporting from my job book. But those smaller holes did cause problems, and I did like b4nj0 said, simply cut out a piece of the tape with an Exacto knife. (I never thought it too prudent to hog out wood where a less-destructive solution could be found.) As to the shielded cable trick, that's a good thing, but it doesn't alter the fact that it's not the short length of wiring going out to the jack that's the issue, it's the cavity itself allowing radiation from all directions to strike the back of the jack. No cable shield is going to "fix" that. Nonetheless, if you can't find any small diameter shielded cable (the GeorgeL brand comes to mind), then twist the two wires going out about one twist for every inch or inch-and-a-half, and that will also help. BTW, all you Strat-jack complainers out there, just consider yourselves lucky..... you could be trying to shield the jack hole on your Telecaster!! HTH sumgai
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Post by b4nj0 on Apr 24, 2020 17:10:51 GMT -5
I've found that the ones that didn't present such a problem inevitably had the screws perilously close to breaking out of the wood. Since it's basically a Faraday Cage, I reckon it can tolerate the odd gap here and there provided the "ground" is efficacious?
e&oe ...
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Post by newey on Apr 26, 2020 16:05:35 GMT -5
I remain skeptical that shielding the jack cavity will make any real-world difference.
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Post by sumgai on Apr 26, 2020 23:27:37 GMT -5
I remain skeptical that shielding the jack cavity will make any real-world difference. And I say, why stop at just 90% of the job when you can do the remaining 10% for only a little more effort.
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Post by Yogi B on Jun 24, 2020 7:31:09 GMT -5
Hunch up baby, 'cause it's comin' in! It doesn’t matter which direction the neck points in, at the end of the day a beginner always has one weak hand and one strong hand (mostly the right) Piano, anyone? Puts an end to your argument mosh-kosh ... Oh, almost forgot.... when's the last time you heard a left-hander wish for a piano with a reversed keyboard? I ain't no southpaw, but instead as a right-handed guitarist I feel like a "left-handed" piano would make more sense -- left hand for melody, right hand for rhythm -- plus the notes on the left hand would be the 'correct' way around: lower pitch at the thumb/index finger, higher pitch at the pinky. However, I suppose then I'd find it backwards for my right hand, so maybe I want some kind of symmetrical piano? On a similar theme, there's also the two famous examples where injury didn't deter still fairly young guitarists from their chosen handedness even if it left them with a physical disadvantage, namely Django Reinhardt & Tony Iommi. Although Iommi has mentioned somewhat of a regret for not switching (second question in the article). Though nowhere near as severe (plus the lack of fame), I'm also a fringe member of that group as I have a scar on the tip of my left little finger. This is a 'gift' I received from my mother when I was an infant and she was trimming my fingernails -- the result is that it never forms a proper callus and becomes irritated during extended playing. I didn't discover this until after I'd been playing a steel string guitar for a while, and by that point I'd already 'learnt' right-handed guitar from a nylon string acoustic. Ever see a southpaw trying not to drag his or her hand over wet ink? It's daft. Their choice of course but painful to watch. I find it instinctively easier to do mirror writing left-handed (easier than both right-handed mirror writing and left-handed normal writing) -- again, like my above comments regarding piano, probably due to the aeons of ancestral bilateral symmetry.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: Speaking of headstocks, the Gibson 'open book' headstock is quite attractive. Not so fond of the Epiphones with their clipped corners and wide hips, though. What about the new 2020 headstock? I think another aspect of "a properly designed guitar" is straight string pull through the nut, the six-in-line shape achieves this effortlessly, well usually... Gibson attempted straight-string-pull with the 'open book' shape on the ES-346 & Custom Shop LP DC Pro, but that gets my vote for being ugly-A(s)F(ester): Another solution offered by Dietrich Parts is a method to 'infect' your 3-a-side headstock with string trees too, the String Butler: For me the 'correct' direction to take the headstock design came about in 1976 with the Leo Fender / Forrest White 3+1 shape for the Music Man StingRay bass. Apparently there was an early 4+2 design for guitars too, but that never made it into production -- Music Man guitars of that time period retaining the 6-in-line configuration. It wasn't until after Fender had left to found G & L, and EB took over, that Music Man introduced the 4+2 design which checks all the boxes: straight string pull, yet short enough to not require string trees or an angled headstock, and retaining a clear nod to the classic Bigsby/Fender scroll shape. Peavey also did something somewhat similar, but as an offset 3+3 design, on their EVH Wolfgang / HP Special guitar lines: ABM has a pretty neat solution that maintains the original bent steel construction, by simply reducing the interior diameter of the bends to below that of the height adjustment screw allowing the whole length of the bent section to be threaded not just the hole through apex. They also applied this to the intonation screws for good measure. ABM Premium Vintage SaddlesHowever, I probably wouldn't mind more permanently fixed individual saddle heights if there were a way to adjust the height of all saddles simultaneously / the entire bridge -- how often does bridge radius need adjusting versus adjusting action? There's a lot of guitars with tune-o-matic style bridges that manage just fine without individual string height adjustment -- arguably tune-o-matics tend to correlate with set necks, so their is a case in saying that the individual height adjustment is useful in the event of swapping between bolt-on necks with differing radii, but again that's really not going to be a common occurrence. For the most part I'd take only having to adjust 2 screws rather than 12, plus this is only a really minor thing but with bridge posts being larger I can more easily eye-ball which Allen key I need. If individual string adjustment was absolutely required then I'd probably opt for a selection of saddle shims like those sometimes utilised on Floyd Rose bridges -- still theoretically adjustable, but for the most part can be forgotten about. Since the individual saddle height is now fixed, we need a method to alter the entire bridge height -- now, unless diverging entirely from the Stratocaster all-in-one bridge/vibrato concept -- that basically means bridge posts. The accepted standard here is that the hourglass shaped fulcrums upon which the bridge's knife-edges rest can be vertically adjusted. While this is okay, I can't help but feel that combining the functions in this manner places undue wear on the bridges knife-edges, and that there must be a better way. I think the Ibanez ZR and SynchroniZR (locking and non-locking bridges, respectively) do a pretty good job at solving this by eschewing the knife-edges and opting for bearings instead. The design of the 'ZR' bridges also moves the pivot point of the bridge away from the front edge and closer to the middle of the bridge -- meaning that, when in use, the saddles' height changes less (varying closer in proportion to \cos{(\theta)} - 1 , than \sin{(\theta)} as with the fulcrum at the front, where \theta is the angle of deviation from the equilibrium position). This really brings home the question, "Are we fixing the Strat now for the modern world, or are we redesigning how it should have been from the start, back in 1954?" Considering the original three-way, the switching makes a little more sense: the neck and middle positions give you the mellower tones and can be made even darker to taste via their separate tone controls, the bridge position exists to be as bright (and therefore as contrasting) as possible. Mind you, if this were 1954, you probably would be 'innovating' the added notch positions too. How much is the change in HSS Bridge + Middle tone due to the difference in position rather than the difference in humbucker versus single coil design? I'm not quite sure what I'd do in terms of number/type of pickups or wiring, but you can be damn sure that more than 40% of the positions would be hum-cancelling. But as for achieving the maximum flexibility of hum-cancelling positions with only four coils, I don't think an HSS or your SS-S-S arrangement cuts it. I've mentioned this in the past and I still hold the same opinion: the best placement of four coils in a Strat is in an SHS arrangement. (As I recently mentioned, the linked scheme never made it into my guitar, I chickened out and used a humbucker-sized P-90 instead, but I have a new plan... more information to hopefully follow soon...) Also despite what you say about the angle looking strange, it does quite nicely follow on from the curve of the control knobs. Now, do the seemingly 95% of guitars that have an angled bridge single coil actually in any way tonally justify it? Maybe some, but I suspect the majority need no other reason than just because that's what the Strat and the Tele did and has since become the accepted aesthetic. As for the bridge pickup angle, many folks a'net swear that part of Jimi's sound came from using a righty Strat left-handed, thus the bridge pickup slanted the opposite way. Don't forget reversed magnet stagger too!Easy, so long as you have an HSS/HSH/'swimming pool' route. To be as mod friendly as possible, I'd want swimming pools in any general purpose Strat I'd design. Fender's apparent goal to make the bridge pickup as bright as possible, seems to tally with the tilt, by accentuating the treble frequencies of the treble strings, but is this really what we want from a Strat nowadays? A straight or reverse-angled pickup could, in part, be a remedy to this. I have previously mentioned this via PM with reTrEaD, but this is probably the point to publicly confess to owning an (unfortunately swimming-pool-less) Ibanez Fireman (FRM-100), which I do generally favour to my more Strat-like guitars:
So that may explain some bias in favour of abnormally slanted pickups. Note that although it looks like a SSS coil arrangement, they are DiMarzio stacked single coils and the bridge and neck pickups are noticeably hotter than the middle, so in truth it's probably closer to a P90-S-P90 pickup layout which makes comparison of its reverse slant pickups to regularly angled traditional single coils difficult.
The Fireman is also the body shape I'd aim towards on my version of an improved Strat, as I find the upper horn placement much more comfortable when playing -- an unexpected benefit to being as tall as Paul Gilbert! Furthermore, I prefer the more Telecaster-ish control placement -- although, as stock, an FRM has the volume & tone knobs swapped with respect to a normal Tele. I would however be intent on removing the "crux of doom" A.K.A. that damn point on the bottom. Overall, if I were designing a new guitar with single coils I'd probably make them all straight, parallel to the frets, if for no other reason than to purposely break the unwritten rule that bridge single coils must be slanted. Plus y'know, in addition to Strats & Teles, Jaguars are cool too! ... But not this one, this is god-awful: We all have our wiring schemes that we like to change our Strats to ... But it sure would be nice to be able to tweak electronics without removing the pickguard. Either rear access or a partial/split pg. Yeah, but on the upside we can do 99% of the wiring whilst being nowhere near the guitar and without any confines imposed by a tight control cavity. I would change the jack plate or the routing of the jack cavity. It's practically impossible to shield the cavity without creating a short circuit or running out of room to plug the cable jack in. That's why I'm in favour of doing this: More room for shielding, greater compatibility with right-angle jack-plugs, looks cooler -- win, win, win!
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Post by reTrEaD on Jun 24, 2020 9:17:11 GMT -5
What about the new 2020 headstock? It's attractive. Gibson attempted straight-string-pull with the 'open book' shape on the ES-346 & Custom Shop LP DC Pro, but that gets my vote for being ugly-A(s)F(ester): Yeah, it's pretty ugly. I think the concave sides where the tuners are lined up makes it nearly impossible for any shape at the narrow top to look right. But I think what they did here seems even worse than it might have been. idk. It wasn't until after Fender had left to found G & L, and EB took over, that Music Man introduced the 4+2 design which checks all the boxes: straight string pull, yet short enough to not require string trees or an angled headstock, and retaining a clear nod to the classic Bigsby/Fender scroll shape. I like it. It's very pleasing to the eye, the strings are running parallel, and there are no string trees. Also, that's my favorite shape for the keys on the tuners. Here the 'scrolliness' makes a smooth transition from two functional lines without a ton of real estate being used just for advertising.
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Post by frets on Jun 24, 2020 11:17:48 GMT -5
Yikes!
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Post by reTrEaD on Jun 24, 2020 13:09:08 GMT -5
I think that would look great, if not for the way it widens out at the top for that Mohawk ridge. Just make a nice radius from the lines along side the tuners and I'd be totally okay with that.
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Post by newey on Jun 24, 2020 14:15:54 GMT -5
The Ovation design does have a theory behind it, as the lead guitarist in my junior-high garage band once pointed out to me- he played an Ovation hollow-bodied electric with that type of headstock. If you bang the headstock into something, the "mohawk" design protects the tuners from the brunt of any damage. His headstock bore witness- he had a bunch of digs and divots in the "Mohawk" area.
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Post by frets on Jun 24, 2020 14:38:43 GMT -5
Newey, you’re right, I owned an Ovation Preacher that was stolen and, now that I think about it, it’s headstock did allow for protection. Actually, that Ovation was probably one of my favorite guitars ever. But I think no matter how well designed the headstock was regarding protective capabilities, it was an Ugly Betty, In my opinion. But I really miss my Ovation, someday I’ll buy another.
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Post by newey on Jun 24, 2020 14:51:18 GMT -5
I always wanted an Ovation Breadwinner, or maybe the Deacon 12-string. The originals are hard to find, but I think there is an Eastwood clone version.
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Post by pyrroz on Jun 25, 2020 1:42:17 GMT -5
Howdy
IMHO the perfect strat should have : - 22 frets - can be found in many modern strats
- easy high fret access like this one has :
This is the ideal strat for me :
it simply has all the goodies.
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Post by thetragichero on Jun 25, 2020 9:15:23 GMT -5
ooooh it's even got the big 70s headstock I'm a sucker for that big fender headstock
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Post by reTrEaD on Jun 25, 2020 11:52:51 GMT -5
ooooh it's even got the big 70s headstock I'm a sucker for that big fender headstock Let the Headstock Wars begin ...
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Post by thetragichero on Jun 25, 2020 12:15:38 GMT -5
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Post by pyrroz on Jun 25, 2020 12:23:46 GMT -5
ooooh it's even got the big 70s headstock I'm a sucker for that big fender headstock
I was chating with my nephew who flirts with some 8-string models and knows that I am not exactly your typical 70s-diehard type, gave me this eye when I told him my new guitar will not be as ... djenty but a ... white strat.. He went ehmm mehhh
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Post by pyrroz on Jun 25, 2020 12:24:25 GMT -5
Cyn1 would find a way to repair this
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Post by reTrEaD on Jun 25, 2020 12:49:55 GMT -5
Cyn1 would find a way to repair this Anyone can fix the big ugly '70s headstock with the right tool ..
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Post by frets on Jun 25, 2020 19:08:01 GMT -5
Sick!!
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Post by newey on Jun 26, 2020 6:58:46 GMT -5
I always thought the Dano "Coke bottle" design was a classic look. But, more basically, how the heck did we get this thread derailed onto headstocks?
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Post by reTrEaD on Jun 26, 2020 9:43:08 GMT -5
But, more basically, how the heck did we get this thread derailed onto headstocks?
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Post by Yogi B on Jun 27, 2020 1:49:42 GMT -5
Anyone can fix the big ugly '70s headstock with the right tool .. Instructions unclear, the headstock's shape remains unchanged, did I start at the wrong end? (The No-caster by Eric Mecum) If this is war, then you chose the wrong MusicVox, the Space-inator is much more deadly: But, more basically, how the heck did we get this thread derailed onto headstocks? Derailed? All Strats have some sort of headstock (counting headless designs as a type, rather than a lack of headstock), and the traditional design has certain aspects that some of us are unhappy about, thus might like to change. How is that off topic? (Or is this thread about handedness?)b4nj0 even mentioned headstocks in the first reply to the thread, but I agree it's maybe become a bit too headstock focused -- over half the images in my post were of headstocks -- perhaps this will help get things back on track (all Strat and no headstock):
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Post by frets on Jun 27, 2020 6:23:57 GMT -5
Your Momma played a SpaceRanger !!
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