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  1. My 18th birthday is on Saturday, and my parents have been hounding me for what I want. I don't really want anything, but I was thinking maybe I'd go to the local Guitar Center and try out some things. Any suggestions?
  2. Originally posted by AAV711:My 18th birthday is on Saturday, and my parents have been hounding me for what I want. I don't really want anything, but I was thinking maybe I'd go to the local Guitar Center and try out some things. Any suggestions?


    Do you play guitar? Like do you own one already or are you talking about starting out?


  3. I've been playing for a couple of years, just starting now to learn how to read music. I've got a couple of sweet amps, a great basic Mexican Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 360 (which I will probably get rid of).
  4. Originally posted by AAV711:[..]

    I've been playing for a couple of years, just starting now to learn how to read music. I've got a couple of sweet amps, a great basic Mexican Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 360 (which I will probably get rid of).


    Wow. My mistake haha. Is it a 12 string? Too bad I just spent all my money on an explorer (not really too bad) because if its a 12 string i would have bought it off you in a jiffy. 6 string rickys are cool, but 12's are gods. I love tele's by the way, cool that you have one. How are you in the effects department? You could always ask for a new pedal or something?
  5. Originally posted by AAV711:[..]

    I've been playing for a couple of years, just starting now to learn how to read music. I've got a couple of sweet amps, a great basic Mexican Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 360 (which I will probably get rid of).


    Ric 360's are nice! Don't get rid of that!
  6. Does anyone have an opinion on the 57/62 Fender Strat pickups? I'm kinda going for Edge's blackie strat tone he had during the JT tour. I heard these PU's in a Bad clip on youtube and they sounded phenomenal.

    I've heard good things about 57/62's. You might get more of a CBS era Strat tone from Fender Custom shop 1969's,.

    Read this from the FAQ on U2 Rec yahoo group:
    What are good Strat pickup replacements?

    Lyle: The Fender 57/62 set is a very nice sounding set of pickups that will deliver Edge tones at a reasonable price. I personally use Kinman’s, but they are very expensive (as well as being the only noiseless pickups worth considering in a Strat). Again, if you can afford Kinmans, Fralins, Lollars, etc, these are all great. But from the perspective of a beginner/intermediate player wanting to get closer to Edge's tones without breaking the bank, the Fender 57/62 set is IMO the best basic option.

    The CS 69s, the Duncans, the Duncan Antiquities, the Fender 57/62s, or
    Fralin Vintages would all be good choices.

    Mick: Kinman Woodstocks.

    Hope that is helpful. Cheers!


  7. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:K so I think I'm going to go with a Burstbucker 1 for the neck of my LPC and a 2 for the Bridge. Keep it low end and not as hot, a little cleaner. Apparently the mid-end when you put those in an LP is really amazing too, which is what I'm looking for

    As for the Explorer, I want it to sound like Edge's, and apparently the Seth Lovers sound just like the T-Tops, so I think I'm going to go with those on my Explorer. (unless I'm happy with the pickups that are in there already)

    I think these are good choices. The only drawback is that the Burstbuckers are more expensive than the GFS PAFs. The 496R / 500T combo is MUCH hotter than Seth Lovers - but they are by no means bad pickups, just very different. Maybe you'll like them.

    I'll ask one more time, if I haven't already. Does anyone have an opinion on the 57/62 Fender Strat pickups? I'm kinda going for Edge's blackie strat tone he had during the JT tour. I heard these PU's in a Bad clip on youtube and they sounded phenomenal.


    My two cents about single coils: I'd choose Alnico rather than ceramic, and I'd avoid the cheap chinese ferrit- magnet pickups that you find in Squier Bullets and Affinitys. I guess most proper Fender single coils would be sufficient, they don't make bad or mediocre pickups (except maybe the Mexican Standards). Personally I'd get myself some hot Alnico pickups if I needed to mod my Strat, but I'm not interested in replicating Edge's or someone else's tone. So if the 57/62s are recommendend for an Edge sound, go for them, and you can't go wrong.

    I use two single coils that were left from a de- assembled Robert Cray Strat in neck and middle position of my main axe and couldn't be happier - I read they are supposed to be similar to Texas Specials. My Nashville Tele has a stock Tex- Mex Strat middle pickup which sounds just a small degree thinner and twangyer - considering it's a Tele. No need to upgrade.

    I haven't tried noiseless single coils yet (Fender SCN etc.). The last time when I asked my luthier about them he told me to better avoid them because of weaker tone. Harmony Central reviews aren't quite raving or glowing, too. Any experiences with them anyone?

    Alex
  8. Wow that's pretty sick Alex. How many guitars do you have man? It seems like you have the pot of gold when it comes to modded guitars! Awesome sounding though, especially the tele, that's one of the guitars on my list to get sometime in the future. And the price for the pickups isn't too important to me. As long as they're not SUPER expensive, I'm willing to pay for a good set of PU's.

    As for the 57/62's. Thanks for the info strat. I know the C69's are good for Edge tone, in fact I think he used them. (I'm thinking Rattle and Hum Bad and Pride) I've heard he used them on the blackie strat during the tour (maybe just the movie). But yea. Right now I have a GFS set in my strat, and they're pretty thin. Which is good, because Edge's strat tone sometimes on the JT tour was thin. I mentioned this to the person who recommended them to me for Edge tone, and I also asked if I should switch to the C69's. He told me if I don't like the thinness too much, I shouldn't go with the 69's because they're even more thin sounding then the set I have now (he uses the same set).

    So I'm sort of going for an Edge tone, but I also want it a bit thicker. I'm hoping these PU's will do that. Like I said earier, I've heard them on a couple U2 songs and they sound phenomenal, so I think I might go with those eventually.
  9. Short answer, for good Strat pickups? There are a few as mentioned.

    Nothing could be finer than a set of 69ers - on yer Stratocaster.


  10. lol.

    Right now I've got four electric guitars, one acoustic and one bass. They're all from the midprice or even lowprice level. The most expensive one I ever had is the first in the list - all parts added were about 600 Euro. I only paid 150 Euro for my acoustic.

    - One self- assembled Fender Strat (Mex Deluxe ash body, sapphire blue, Highway 1 rosewood neck, Wilkinson Trem, Fender Robert Cray single coils for neck and middle, SD Little59 at bridge)
    - One Fender Nashville Tele (Mex Deluxe, ash body, amber, rosewood neck, reversed controlplate, Fender Tex- Mex neck and middle pickups (stock), SD QuarterPounder at bridge)
    - One Squier Double Fat Deluxe Tele (made in Korea by Cort, mahogany body, black metallic, set mahogany neck, Gibson 490R / 498T pickups without coil split option)
    - One Chinese Gretsch copy ("Albatross", set neck, black, GFS Liverpool pickups)
    - One Chinese Jumbo acoustic ("Billy Ray", sunburst, with active electronics, stock)
    - One Career RIK-400 Bass (Rickenbacker copy, made in Korea, black, maple neckthrough, stock)

    I play guitar for twenty- four years now. Between then and now I've owned about a dozen more guitars that I modded, played and sold. Comparing what I paid to what I finally got I didn't lose a lot of money on guitars.

    Alex
  11. Originally posted by Alex:- One self- assembled Fender Strat (Mex Deluxe ash body, sapphire blue, Highway 1 rosewood neck, Wilkinson Trem, Fender Robert Cray single coils for neck and middle, SD Little59 at bridge)
    A-W-E-S-O-M-E
  12. It's not too difficult to assemble a Strat from parts. Anyone who's seen it once can do it. Soldering diagrams can be downloaded anywhere. The most difficult thing is the setup. Oh, and the selection of parts, of course. Generally speaking: Most light ash, alder and basswood bodies resonate better than heavy ones. Lighter means drier - moist wood doesn't resonate well.

    I was very lucky with the body I bought. Beautiful coloured light northern ash for a reasonable price. Sounds and looks great. The Highway 1 necks have great playability so I finally went for one of those. I prefer 2- point trems to 6-point, so I went for a modern Wilkinson (WVPSB) with steel block. Black pickguard, aged white plastic parts. This guitar's a keeper.

    If you're scared about damaging something - go and buy a Chinese Strat off Ebay for 50 Euro, deassemble and reassemble it, and you know as much about guitar building as I do.

    Alex
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.