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Hi all - couple of Strat Qs for y'all:
I just got a DeArmond Starfire Special recently (for a hundred bucks!) and
it sounds great, very Duane Eddy with the DeArmond single-coil pickups,
which are rounder-sounding than a Strat's pickups but very clear and chimy.
I've been using it for my surf/instro needs and it's been working like a
charm.
Now I have the Strat I kept around only for surf, really, sitting around
collecting dust. I don't actually like the sound of a Strat very much, and
was wondering what possibilities there are for it, or if I should just sell
it. It's a mid-80s Japanese Strat, with a (I think) Floyd-Rose-licensed
heavy metal doodad-laden bridge and locking nut, from ebay and all beat to
hell, so it's not worth much, I don't think.
I should, theoretically, be able to put Jag or Jazzmaster pickups on it, no?
I'm also thinking about getting a baritone replacement neck from Warmoth and
making it bigger and twangier, but then I still have the issue of the
pickups, which I don't care much for.
Any other suggestions?
Jamie
[My current setup for surf music, btw, is the DeArmond Starfire Special,
Danelectro mini-pedal tremolo (these sound really nice, esp. for the money),
Fender outboard reverb tank (gotta try the mods to calm down its shrillness)
and a Fender Pro Jr. (Variations: adding a Rat pedal for Man Or Astro-Man
sounds, or just the running guitar through the Pod set to Deluxe Reverb,
Twin Reverb, or Modern Class A (Matchless, I think it is?) into the
computer).]
"I'm also thinking about getting a baritone replacement neck from
Warmoth and
making it bigger and twangier, but then I still have the issue of the
pickups, which I don't care much for."
Seems to me the baritone neck would be wider than the space the
original neck was set into. There may be some scale issues too. You
can always put lipstick tube pickups in it, right Ferenc?
Mike
I started with a Fat Strat Texas Special, with the "modern" trem
assembly (not a Floyd), two Texas single coils, and the Seymour Duncan
humbucker bridge. It was too "tight" sounding for my taste, so I
traded it for a MIM 50s Strat reissue. A MUCH nicer sound...more
twangy, a little fuzzier. but the vintage trem was a bitch to
tune...any adjustment of a high string threw the whole bass strings out!
I reversed the mid and bridge pups, resulting in a configuration like
a Jag. That is, the neck and bridge are on when I switched it to the
second position, rather than the neck and mid. The maple neck made it
brighter sounding than my rosewood neck Fat Strat, and the pups had a
more vintage sound.
But in the end, it ain't a Jag. I eventually sold it and bought a Jap
Jag. You can monkey around with a guitar, trying to make it something
it isn't, or you can save yourself the trouble and buy a guitar that
already suits your playing style and the tone you want. I think the
latter is preferable to the former. The Starfire sounds great!
Gavin
urbansurfkings wrote:
> "I'm also thinking about getting a baritone replacement neck from
> Warmoth and
> making it bigger and twangier, but then I still have the issue of the
> pickups, which I don't care much for."
>
>
> Seems to me the baritone neck would be wider than the space the
> original neck was set into. There may be some scale issues too. You
> can always put lipstick tube pickups in it, right Ferenc?
>
> Mike
Absolutely! I think this is a really cool sounding project. I'd love to see/hear
it when its done!
fd
Nah, they're straight conversion necks, bolt on and go:
Someone else (W-D? All Parts?) also makes a Strat conversion neck, and one
of 'em's cheaper, but I always forget which and have to search all over
again when I think of it again every couple of months. The cheapo one is
around $150ish.
And Gavin wrote:
>You can monkey around with a guitar, trying to make it something
>it isn't, or you can save yourself the trouble and buy a guitar that
>already suits your playing style and the tone you want. I think the
>latter is preferable to the former. The Starfire sounds great!
Oh, I learned this lesson late last year when I tried to turn a tele into an
SG through replacement single-coil-size humbuckers. THAT was dumb. But
poverty is the mother of invention! :) Later, a pal swapped me an SG for
some art and cash.
With the Strat, tho, it's not so much I want TO sound like another guitar
exactly, I just want it to NOT sound like a Strat, if that makes sense. The
lipstick pickups might do the trick.
hmm, WD has $35 colored lipstick pickups:
WMPI&Product_Code=SLV-1IV%2FSS&Category_Code=SSI-PARTS
Anyone know where to buy DeArmond single coils or at least how much they
run?
(If anyone needs Tele/Strat humbucker pickups, I have some for sale/swap at )
And yeah, the Starfire is so nice. Swoon. Heavy as hell, tho.
This is the model:
and this is a heretic quickie version of Pipeline played with it:
Good lord, that's a lotta links.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: urbansurfkings [mailto:]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 1:58 PM
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: What to do with a Strat?
>
>
> "I'm also thinking about getting a baritone replacement neck from
> Warmoth and
> making it bigger and twangier, but then I still have the issue of the
> pickups, which I don't care much for."
>
>
> Seems to me the baritone neck would be wider than the space the
> original neck was set into. There may be some scale issues too. You
> can always put lipstick tube pickups in it, right Ferenc?
>
> Mike
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
Your version of pipeline was pretty cool!
In particular, the Tarzan yell...
:) dp
--- James Barnett <> wrote:
> Nah, they're straight conversion necks, bolt on and go:
>
>
>
> Someone else (W-D? All Parts?) also makes a Strat
> conversion neck, and one
> of 'em's cheaper, but I always forget which and have to
> search all over
> again when I think of it again every couple of months.
> The cheapo one is
> around $150ish.
>
> And Gavin wrote:
> >You can monkey around with a guitar, trying to make it
> something
> >it isn't, or you can save yourself the trouble and buy a
> guitar that
> >already suits your playing style and the tone you want.
> I think the
> >latter is preferable to the former. The Starfire sounds
> great!
>
> Oh, I learned this lesson late last year when I tried to
> turn a tele into an
> SG through replacement single-coil-size humbuckers. THAT
> was dumb. But
> poverty is the mother of invention! :) Later, a pal
> swapped me an SG for
> some art and cash.
>
> With the Strat, tho, it's not so much I want TO sound
> like another guitar
> exactly, I just want it to NOT sound like a Strat, if
> that makes sense. The
> lipstick pickups might do the trick.
>
> hmm, WD has $35 colored lipstick pickups:
>
> WMPI&Product_Code=SLV-1IV%2FSS&Category_Code=SSI-PARTS
>
> Anyone know where to buy DeArmond single coils or at
> least how much they
> run?
>
>
> (If anyone needs Tele/Strat humbucker pickups, I have
> some for sale/swap at
> )
>
> And yeah, the Starfire is so nice. Swoon. Heavy as hell,
> tho.
>
> This is the model:
>
>
> and this is a heretic quickie version of Pipeline played
> with it:
>
>
> Good lord, that's a lotta links.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: urbansurfkings [mailto:]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 1:58 PM
> > To:
> > Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: What to do with a Strat?
> >
> >
> > "I'm also thinking about getting a baritone replacement
> neck from
> > Warmoth and
> > making it bigger and twangier, but then I still have
> the issue of the
> > pickups, which I don't care much for."
> >
> >
> > Seems to me the baritone neck would be wider than the
> space the
> > original neck was set into. There may be some scale
> issues too. You
> > can always put lipstick tube pickups in it, right
> Ferenc?
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > .
> > Visit for
> archived
> > messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
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> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>
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