Classic vibe 50s Strat: It's here!

[Duff]

Oldguy

I played one of those Roadhouse Fenders lately and really liked it. One nice strat.

I've got a beautiful CV '50s coming and can't wait. I played it and it was beautiful all over the fretboard. Tones I mean. I didn't check out the neck very closely in appearance other than to notice that it is really really a nice looking and feeling and playing maple neck and board. I really liked the looks and the burst looks good, the aged plastic looks like none other that I have seen. The playability was outstanding and the action was low with zero buzz and very quiet too on the Super Champ XD I played it thru on clean. A really really clean sounding amp by the way if anyone is unfamiliar with it. It has a distortion channel too, with really good amp modelling. 15 - 20 tube watts, preamp and power tubes and a small digital modelling chip. Great amp for a great guitar. I was going to use a Hot Rod Deluxe but wanted a little quieter amp so I went with the SCXD.

The Roadhouse I played was a great guitar.

Duffy

 

[rugbynyc]

Mine came yesterday...

http://i42.tinypic.com/o7k32h.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2n09d2w.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/30kwo7m.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/15abv9.jpg

Everything wokrs ok on the guitar. I had to make a little adjustment on the truss rod but other then that it look and plays and sounds fantastic....incredible value for the money.

 

[Spudman]

Congrats rugby. You've not quite a striking beast on your hands. Play the heck out of it and enjoy.

 

[rugbynyc]

How much hum is normal in these guitars? This is my first Strat since the squier I learned on many years ago. I realize they are not "humbuckers" so I should expect some hum, but at what point does it cross the line to indicating that there might be something wrong with the electronics of the guitar?

 

[Spudman]

Don't go near your computer monitor or fluorescent lights. There is going to be some noise no matter what. Try different cables to help some with that. Also, try orienting your body towards different compass points and you might find the noise dissipating.

 

[WackyT]

Time to shield the pickguard of that puppy, rugbynyc. Did wonders on my Franken-strat.

 

[Duff]

Noise

I even get noise with my high end Seymour Duncan humbuckers if the guitar is laying near my computer monitor. When I move it about three feet away or turn off the monitor it greatly goes away; but then again I'm playing thru a Delta Blues with the drive channel engaged with the post knob turned way up. When I hit the boost button it magnifies the hum.

Also, some strats make a lot less noise than others. The
'50s I'm getting is very quiet. My Deluxe Squire is very quiet. My P90s are noisy but really cool pickups. One of my tele's has hum cancelling P90s in the middle position.

The strats, mostly, have hum cancelling in switch positions two and four.

You can get a noise gate pedal like the boss one which is supposed to be good, plus lots of others. Behringer probably makes an inexpensive one, I think I was looking at it in a catalog the other night, but some of those noise gates suck tone I believe.

I know what you mean about the noise being annoying but I still really like strats. I think they might be my favorite type of guitar because they have so much versitility, often.
But I have some awesome humbucker guitars like my birdseye maple top Epi LP Std I'm about to play thru that Delta Blues amp, no pedal. It sounds so great with those Seymour Duncan pickups.

Duffy

 

[wingsdad]

Don't go near your computer monitor or fluorescent lights.

CFL's are the big hoo-hah energy-saving Green Rage, but they suck if you want to play a single coil pickup guitar in the same room as them. Also, if you've got dimmer swtiches or any other type of rheostat in the wiring of your playing room, maybe even elsewhere on the same circuit in your house as that room, you'll get noise. Turn off all those rheostat-controlled switches and see if that helps.

...Also, try orienting your body towards different compass points and you might find the noise dissipating.

Definitely. Turn your back on the amp.

You can copper-shield the pickguard, or even the whole cavity on a Strat (or Tele), but then all those other 'environment' factors will stay come into play as to how effective the noise/hum is controlled. The 2 & 4 switch postitions on a Strat and the middle on a Tele or 2-P90 guitar are hum cancelling because they effectively act like a humbucker's 2 coils in parallel.

 

[rugbynyc]

. The 2 & 4 switch postitions on a Strat and the middle on a Tele or 2-P90 guitar are hum cancelling because they effectively act like a humbucker's 2 coils in parallel.

Thats what I thought....I noticed that in the 2&4 and was assuming that was it.