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I'd like to submit some more ideas regarding The Ultimate
Surf Gutar by Fender for discussion:
Pickups-
I know the type and arrangement of pickups will definately
be a controversial topic. What types and arangement would
work for this project? First off, i think that the overall
sound should be considered. For me, the ideal guitar would
have sound characteristics found in several guitars that
are considered "surfy".
Jazzmaster: I love the full-bodied tone produced by
Jazzmaster style pickups. The presence and full-spectrum
tone of these pickups sounds best for surf leads to my
ears.
Jaguar: awesomely surfy, especially when functioning in
ryhthm mode. Chunka Chunka Chunk and sparkle shimmer.
Mosrite: the "hot" bite of overwound Mosrite pickups is
super surfy to my ears. Another great lead tone that stands
out in any mix.
G&L: the sound quality of G&L pickups is very strong,
something like an overwound Fender single coil pickup, but
better.
Telecaster: I like the classic twang and jangle of the neck
pickup. I just wish it had a bit more "heft" to it. Maybe
more like a G&L pickup.
Danelectro/Armstrong: like the Tele pickup, the lipstick
tube has it's own unique surf appeal. Also a little more
volume out of these wouldn't be bad.
Strat: I guess if you want Strat sounding pickups, then you
might as well buy The Dick Dale Custom shop guitar and
forget about this project altogether. In my humble opinion,
the Strat tone is set in stone, if you are looking for
that, then simply buy a Strat. In my book, even though
Dick Dale and Paul Johnson and many others would declare
the Strat tone to be "The Ultimate", I still crave
something a little more subtle and refined and versatile
and cool.
So what kind of pickups should The Ultimate Surf Guitar
have? I think that an over-wound Jazzmaster-type pickup in
the bridge position would provide the full-bodied tone,
while additionally offering an almost Mosrite-ish quality
to boot. A Jaguar style pickup in the middle position
should offer additional tone choices, color and depth. In
the neck position, I'd like to see an enhanced Telecaster
or Lipstick type pickup.
Switching could be of the Jaguar or better yet BassVI
variety: namely slider selectors for on/off for each
pickup. I'd leave off the special Jaguar "jagtone" selector
circuit option though...you know, the ultra-thin piercing
jangle setting from a specially designed switch circuit.
An in-phase, out-of phase circuit between pickups might be
interesting...then again it might just be confusing. A
single switch which throws whatever pickups are selected in
and out of phase might not be too bad.
Any responses?
DP
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