Special single (3)

Someone asked me if the pickguard was custom-designed. Answer: No. It's a DIY thing starting with a blank pickguard for a lone humbucker. 

Then came the stickers - $3 for 50 pieces. I like these stickers as they are waterproof so the top layer won't peel off easily when it comes into contact with moisture. In this case it's sweat from the hand.

A lot of patience went into trimming the pickguard edges. A very sharp blade is required otherwise the edges would fray. 

To be continued...

Previous entry: CLICK

Special single (2)

I have this habit of inserting a gasket under the guitar's bolt plate. This had been the case after seeing the after effect of the plate having the body paint fused to it. For hard, lacquer overcoat, the after effects might not be as severe. For those organic / satin finishes, having patches of paint removed from the body this way, is undeserving, especially after you have been taking good care of your instrument. Of course, if you are the relic lover, this is unnecessary.

This is how it looks after installation. Against that 'burst finish, it's almost invisible.

To be continued...

Previous entry: CLICK

Special single

When you don't have funds for new gear, you butcher what you own to make it 'new'. 

Jokes aside, I have planned for this to happen for a while really, just lacking the motivation. I get turned off by the sunburst finish so turning it into a single pickup guitar - which is absolutely my thing - makes it more likeable. Just sharing something interesting here - this guitar is an American Special Stratocaster but it is using a Highway 1 neck. The next time you acquire an American Special guitar / bass & discovers a Highway 1 neck in use, be informed that it's a legit instrument. The American Special is basically a Highway 1 with a glossed over body. 

To be continued... 

Price watch (50)

More listings in the after-market, year-end clearance most probably. Take a look at the above listings, both are American Strats. Judging by the specs, the red one is an American Special & it's listing for nearly $1.6K. The brown one had the seller correctly identify the guitar & the listing price is more reasonable. 

After reading the listing description, we now understand why the price is a little excessive; it has DiMarzios in there plus an upgraded bridge. I find the sale condition here a little disrespectful, the Texas Specials were default pickups to begin with, the fact that it will only be included if the deal goes through implies that you don't deserve them to begin with. Also, please be mindful of 'upgrade' in your listing descriptions. Names like Gibson & Fender, among others, sell better with original parts in the instruments. Upgrade is subjective; it might be a value-add for you, others see it as devaluing the instrument by removing original parts. It's fair to disclose the brand of the replacement parts, if buyers are in the know, they will readily acknowledge the 'upgrade'. In any case, we should NOT compel others that some stuff are upgrades. In any case, between these two, the brown American Special is a more worthy consideration.

Moving on, can you get a value-for-money American Fender with $1.5K in hand? Definitely. This American Pro with Shawbuckers is really a good deal.

Ditto this American Standard.

This is the way not to get your stuff sold. 1) List it with fuzzy photos & not letting others see the brand name on the headstock.

2) Associate it with a more iconic guitar despite the fact that the instrument has zero resemblance with the actual thing that it's supposed to emulate.  3) Lastly, over-price it to give a semblance of value when in reality, it's a novelty item with a you-should-know-better value. 

This episode's recommended item - Epiphone SG Modern (FYI, it's the new headstock design). Do keep a lookout for the newer Epiphone models as these are relatively new in the market so the chances of you buying a used, worn, neglected instrument is rather slim. Unless it's trashed for some reason. 

Tilt

Indoor Sunday. Nothing to buy because there's no money to buy it with. Managed to re-string this guitar.

Before that happened, managed to give it a shim. Used a leftover DiMarzio inlay card. This was chosen for its thickness; nothing too extreme. If you read around, luthiers recommend a cigarette box but I find it a little too excessive. This card is thinner. You only need to shim the neck pocket if the action past the 12th fret is a little too high after you finished setting the string action up. Modern Fenders will have a neck tilt adjustment feature at the neck pocket area so shimming is unnecessary.

Before fixing the neck back into the pocket, I always powder the sides so that there's less resistance, forcing the neck into the pocket might cause the thin parts of the pocket wall to crack.

Dark singles

Raining + no money = Stay home, play guitar. The Strat lasted for 10min. Not a Strat day for me, kept making mistakes, movements across strings were awful. The AZES - 30min. I am just glad I have different guitars in the house when this kinda situation happens. On some days, for some unfathomable reasons, I just can't play a certain guitar but in other days, that same guitar is great. Today, the Strat was just not it but I want to hear single coils in action so the AZES more than made up for things.

Dark here refers to the dark fretboard. I have a thing for maple fretboards when it comes to single coils but there are days the darker rosewood has more tonal appeal. The AZES31 on the other hand has a jatoba fretboard but still exudes the warm midrange. 

Price watch (24)

 

I believe in being fair when it comes to after-market gear. I make it a point to call out atrocious listings, the good bargains deserve some highlight & here're two in the mean time. This American Pro you see above is a steal. That Shawbucker in there is worth more than $100 if it's sold separately. Judging by the colour of the hard case interior, it's relative new. I believe these went for nearly $2K when it debuted. The subsequent version, the American Professional II, exceeded $2K if I remember correctly. The most worthy Fender listing in the mean time.

The American Special was the previous most affordable American made Strat before it became the American Performer with a $200+ price difference. This one here is fairly well taken care of less the dry fretboard which can be easily cured with any wood conditioner. The asking price is a little off $1K which is a very reasonable figure to deal with. 

This belongs to another seller; same guitar but look at that price. Fair enough, this one has Bare Knuckle pickups & deserve a higher asking price but it all depends on the buyer who may / may not accept such pickups despite the proven tone performance. It has some branded electronics as well, Gotoh locking tuners & a Bladerunner Supervee bridge. The seller added a premium to the asking price in view of all these swapped out parts. According to this listing, it's $1.8k to begin with which is not true. Swee Lee & SV Guitars used to list American Specials for less than $1.5k (I remember because I bought one), then again, this one might be bought elsewhere with a higher listing price. An affordable American Strat now sports the price tag of a new American Performer (Swee Lee: $1,649 - $1,729 correct as at Jan 2022). For your consideration, folks.

I have left the seller i/d of the deserving good deals in tact. I believe this is my way of supporting such individuals.  I'm not the price police but I won't hesitate to tell you good / sour deals when I see them.

Clean singles

It's one of those days where I'm not inspired to play but needed to manifest some ideas ringing in my head. Playing time today was a two-episode affair; before & after I re-strung my Strat. Before the re-string, I was really not in the mood because the strings were quite dead to the touch. Might be a case of not wiping down the last time round & letting the strings die in storage. No amount of intense distortion could reconditioned my mind to play something meaningful so the playing stopped.

Strings were quickly removed. Noticed some stained fret surfaces which resisted the polishing fluid. Some erasing took place. Folks, don't be afraid to erase stubborn stains on your frets, the eraser won't eat your frets away, it's very different from using sand paper. Just make sure the grit number is kept to the fine grain. 

Had a pack of D'Addario 9s close by so that was the choice for today. Never under-estimate the power of a fresh set of strings when it comes to inspiration. My post-re-string playing moments were strictly clean tones with a heavy dose of chorus & finger picked all the way. I'm not trying to emulate Ichika or Yvette in this realm of technicality but those playing styles were employed to manifest ideas. I might just need a good clean amp for such playing moments in time to come. Hmm...

From dead end to fulfilment. It had been a good Thursday. 👍

Red special

One of those rare days when I want to play a Strat. This is my red American Special bought from SV Guitars when it was located at Woodlands, just next to the immigration checkpoint. It was called Standard Value then. No major mods here less the tone knobs which died once before; the usual corrosion & rust. Gave it a quick re-string - GHS 009s.

Also did away with rusty pickguard screws. I used to save these screws by sanding off the rust & polishing them back to life because these are the original screws that came with the guitar. There's this sentimentality attached to default features when it comes to Fender but really, such small stuff are replaceable & not worth the trouble.

Replaced these as well - rusty & pitted bolt plate screws & the plate itself. The hard case is supposed to protect the instrument from such deterioration but ironically, the interior lining's adhesive reacted with metal parts. Replacement parts were bought from Davis GMC, the other irony - a non-Fender dealer selling Fender parts.

Have a good week ahead, everyone. Please stay safe 👍

Discolouration

Long weekend, had some playing time last evening. It was Strat-y.

Just wanna bring this to your attention. We often complain about white finishes yellowing off over time. This isn't obvious but the pic above is my (poor) attempt to show you that all finished would yellow off in due time, the darker based ones would display a less obvious change. Is there a definite prevention measure to avoid this from happening? No. Sweat, condensation, light & bag/hard case interior, among others, contribute towards this. If it's a relic finish, we wouldn't mind at all but if it's a well-taken care instrument, it's painful seeing something deteriorate; slowly but surely.

Blue power

This was yesterday's lockdown guitar of choice, my blue strat. It was a Straturday, anyway. Played in the late evening & got too tired to update anything thereafter. I basically played only the middle & bridge pickups, the neck was ignored. It was a high gain setting & hardly any cleans were played. Even awesome sounding cleans couldn't entice me to do away with drive. It's just not in my nature to like cleans. 

Happy weekend, everyone. Please stay home & stay safe.

Lipstick goodness

I finally got this (Fender American Special Strat) done a few days ago - sent it to Beez to have two things done.

Firstly, to get these replaced. Dead CTS tone pots. They were fine the last time I played this guitar. No amount of contact spray treatment could cure something as dead as this. Trashed & replaced.

Secondly, to get these Seymour Duncan SLS lipstick tube pickups fixed. You can't get any from the shops here, bought them online. The reason why I have not tried this kind of pickups after years of playing is simply because they are not available here. No big deal because these days, acquisition is simply a click away. Waited for more than a month for them to be shipped over because they were on back order; I did not see the availability status on purchase day. Anyway, I was more driven by the 25% discount. More on these on another day, suffice to say that they are beyond expectations.

A fresh set of strings to cap it all off. La Bella Super Bender set for, you guessed it, some very bendable moments & they mean what they said - very bend friendly. Will not appeal to the metal heads who thrive on peddling bass notes; the feel is just different. That's right, got this online as well.

Back: Mustang

Fender fans will recall the American Special Mustang guitars which were offered not too long ago. They had been discontinued.

But their recent announcement mentions a return & we thank Fender for this. When Fender re-introduced the offset models in the 2017 line up, only the Jazzmaster & Jaguar made it into the Pro series. The Mustang & Duo Sonic were designated into the Standard (Mexico) make but they remain to be good guitars for the money. Hopefully, the AS Mustang would signal a firm production line for the model. 

Price watch: Fender American Special

Now that the Fender American Standard models had been removed from the catalog & replaced with the American Pro line, the most affordable American Fender instrument is the American Special which recently saw a 24%+/- price hike (happening everywhere)- no revision in features though, just the price. As we hesitate, prices go up 😒

California dreaming

Finally gotten time to get these fixed into...

... my Fender American Special Strat. Was done last week at Beez's. Due to the over-hanging fretboard which blocked the pickguard & created a hassle in terms of removal & re-attachment, the entire neck was left at home. I just needed the pickups to work, that's all. It was also raining heavily, not a good day to be lugging instruments around town.

Quick re-string with a set of D'Addario 009s.

Good to go. If you are not accustomed to neck removal & attachment, please do not do so. A bad removal will crack the neck pocket's thinner wall of paint. It'll make it look like the pocket cracked but it's really just the paint. Also, a bad re-attachment may lead to alignment issues or even a bad action setting leading to fret buzz. But if you know what to do, having a guitar body in your bag & getting round in public transportation is bliss.

Feeling blue

Last night: 1) Migraine headache 2) Exhausted 3) Ticked off. Cure: Play guitar. Ok folks, maybe the headache wasn't cured entirely, but the vicious throbbing became less intense. Took out my Fender American Special Strat to whip out some legatos. Still in single coil land, gonna be here for a while. 

Strat set up

I set up all my guitars since day one. That's right, I went through the dark, misinformed times without internet reference. It was mostly magazine reference from the library. I would spend hours at the Geylang East branch browsing through back issues of Guitar Player & Guitar World. I also worked with sub-par tools. Today, we are fortunate to have stores selling player-friendly tools & implements to keep our treasured possessions in check. The internet access opened up a whole new range of tool acquisition possibilities. But the large part to this advancement was the credit card; this increased my purchasing power somewhat. Anyway, I recently re-set up the Fender American Special Strat you see above which was purchased from Swee Lee's end of year warehouse sale.

Despite being playable, this was how the string saddles look like when I brought it home. It's evident that someone lowered/raised the strings without due consideration of the fretboard radius. It was a crude attempt, almost a noob level effort at best. Let's not rule out the fact that this could be done back at the factory. What do you think?

I was very happy with how straight this guitar's neck is. There were no traces of shimming & upon removal of the neck (to satisfy my curiosity), I was right. 👍 This could only mean that they got it right back at the factory. 

Fender: American Special Stratocaster

This was Saturday's catch from the Swee Lee warehouse sale; Fender's American Special Stratocaster. I own 3 Strats in the mean time, one of which is an American Special so this addition to the fold required a little difference to make it worth the trouble; I chose a rosewood fretboard version. Nothing outstanding about this guitar, just that I've never owned a rosewood fretboard version before so this was a good pick (no pun intended). Come to think of it, my heroes embrace rosewood fretboard in their Strats- SRV, Thomas Blug, Jeff Golub, Jeff Beck & Nick Johnston before he moved to the Schecter camp. Will be doing away with those Texas Special pickups soon, time to go shopping (again). 🎸

The Special one

This 5-way switch is dead. Yes, it might look quite presentable but it didn't notch in any positions & was stiff so it was dumped.

These 2 are dead as well. No amount of contact cleaner would provide any salvation- stuck. The orange caps were saved, of course.

The guitar in question is my Fender American Special Strat. I had Beez instal a Fender 5-way pickup selector replacement & a couple of Gotoh pots to replace the dead tone pots. No orange caps were used this time, instead, my Luxe capacitor went in there. Remember, an American Special Strat comes with special wiring- the middle pickup is tone-free, meaning, it's not wired to any tone control ala Eric Johnson. This isn't my option, it's factory default.

Here it is, all cleaned up & ready to play. The American Special does not come with a hardcase. A Deluxe Fender bag is the standard accessory with every purchase. 

The one you see here is an SKB manufactured Fender case. I recently bought one for my Special, it's a good guitar with plenty of good tones for me so it deserves a good resting place. 

Here you go- proof of the SKB manufacturing.