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This is the first guitar I bought
online, to replace my Steinberger. It is an almost
perfect, but it has a 1/2 chip on the lower bout
down to the wood. It was new, except that- I knew
about it when I bought it. They took $600 off the
price, so I got it for about $610US. I'd say the
chip is worth $600, so I will keep it. I can't see
it when I play anyway. It is like a 'small strat' because it is light, and the headstock is small.The guitar seems a lot smaller than it is, but
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a Fender scale. And that neck, ooh baby.
Music Man knows how to build necks. It is small
(I have small hands) and rubbed with oil only- no
heavy finishes.
While it is an amazing guitar, I thought I would
have some fun with it, being that the body has this
chip in it.
Ernie Ball's were originally designed with different
pickups, connected to pickguards. The user could
swap em out depending on his/her needs. They discontinued
this idea, but they still use the solderless snap-on
Molex connectors. So I thought I could get another
pickguard, add some pickups and controls and have
a dual humbucker pickguard along with the HSS pickguard.
I like humbucker tones better anyway. So, I bought
a pickguard from Chandler,
and 500k pots from Dimarzio. Dimarzio pots move
smoothly, and have a great taper. They are pretty
hard to find these days, and I don't think they
are even listed on the Dimarzio website.
After all this, I ordered 2 Seymour Duncan pickups.
- A Custom
Custom for the bridge, for a great chunky
early VH sound.
- An Alnico
Pro II for the neck like in my Brian Moore.
It is a low output pickup with a great low end
and singing sustain. It really lets all nuances
come through. I use this pickup most of the time.
- It is all connected with a 5 way switch. The
guitar is now wired like their Axis
Super Sport model, with the extra positions
using the 2 inside coils or 2 outside coils. I
built it on the new pickguard and connected a
Molex connector that Ernie Ball sent me, and it
snaps right in.
The original pickguard had 3 custom Dimarzio pickups. Talking to
Dimarzio, the bridge Humbucker was similar to a PAF Pro and the
neck pickups are similar to the Blue Velvet. I don't know what 'similar
to' means, but to my ears, the neck pickups have a great Strat sound
with little hum. The bridge humbucker is powerful with serious mids
and highs. A little too much high end for me though. This original
pickup combination is really good actually- better than my Strat.
The tone just isn't where my ears are now. |
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Another really special thing about this guitar
is that I had the neck shipped to Doug
Frye @ Dharma Guitars to have the neck scalloped.
He has done a wonderful job, with no file marks
or nicks or anything- like it came from the factory.
This is not an easy job to do, but he is a master.
I highly recommend him and his wonderful work.
I didn't do this because I am a big Yngwie fan,
because I am not. I had tried his signature Fender
guitar years ago and loved it. I am a Ritchie Blackmore
& John McLaughlin fan though, both of whom use/used
scalloped boards. Tony Iommi has used one in the
past as well. Mostly I got it because I remembered
how much I liked the Yngwie Fenders. That is, I
liked the neck, not the rest of the guitar.
Scalloped figerboards are something of a mystery
to guitarists. True, they are not for everyone.
They are not only for 'shredders' either. It is
just something different. It is not the same as
big frets- people who say that have no experience
with both big frets and scalloped boards. Or maybe
they are a repairman trying to talk someone out
of it because they don't have the skills to make
one. Who knows, I just know it feels very different.
You have to develop a light touch or else chords
will go out of tune. You never feel wood under your
fingers. I play lightly anyway so this isn't a problem.
Bending strings the normal way is easier because
you can really get your finger under the string,
and you don't run into the 'hump' of the middle
of the fretboard. It is a non-reversable modification,
but I love it. Very, very cool.
The Ernie Ball company has helped me a lot throughout
this project, way more than I expected. Other companies
can learn from this level of customer service.
This is the guitar I play the most because I bring
it to lessons every day. |
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