New age? I don’t know what I’ve said to give you that impression, but my background is blues and more blues-oriented shred players like Joe Satriani, Andy Timmons, and Nick Johnston, and while I use a lot less gain than most pure shred or metal players, I use a lot more than your average blues player. 
Haha, just messing with you…
If you wrote " single coils aren’t like Humbuckers one more time I would have screamed!
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Man I’m totally digging the new RR100, got the jumper cable on, it’s put some fat on the grill without the flub! I like 
edit: I don’t think I would call this thin though 
https://soundcloud.com/sidmody/eminor-st57
https://soundcloud.com/sidmody/eminor
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But, listen,singlecoils aren’t like humbuckers, so…
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Sounds great. Nice job. What’s theRR100?
Thanks mate
It’s a nice Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100 69’ spec clone. I haven’t been able to stop playing it, killer amp. Legit Plexica!
Question. What would be a good Strat platform in which to modify? Ex: adding new loaded pick guard, new bridge?
I’d like to create “yngwie strat” sans the scalloped FB?
Also, if there’s a hotter , better sounding pickup set than the YJM fury, let me know
Hi Drew, see my question posed to Twangsta, can you give me some suggestions?
Thanks!
IMO, strats in the last 5-10 years or so have been REALLY consistent, and I’ve generally been impressed when I’ve picked one up off the rack. So, if you want a project guitar, I’d say a used Strat made this decade.
How particular are you with the number of frets? Mexican strats are pretty good instruments, especially if you’re just going to gut them anyway, but for me the 22nd fret is a nice feature to have and generally 2-point bridges are more stable than 6-points so I wanted an American strat. A used American Standard is a LOT of guitar for the money, but on the flip side you can probably find a used Mexican Strat for less than $300 if you look.
For pickups, IMO the Yngwie Fury set isn’t all THAT hot for a Strat set (and prior to that Yngwie used HS3s which are also not terribly hot, though I think he wired them split as tru singlecoils, which given the smaller dummy coil I believe they use might have made them a hair louder - I know Dimarzios Area series works that way). So, if you want something else but hot, the sky’s the limit.
For noiseless… The Dimarzio Area series is really good, I still have a pickguard tucked away in a closet with an Area 67 neck and 61 middle (and an AT-1 humbucker in the bridge) for when I want to set one of my Strats up as a little more of a “rock” guitar. If you’re used to humbuckers, though, I might steer you to something like the Fast Track 1 or, better, the Heavy Blues 2 - the latter is a bit more singlecoily than the former, but is darker and thicker than is typical for a singlecoil. For me it was a little TOO dark, though it recorded beautifully - I have to check my notes, but I’m 99% sure it was still in my main Strat when I cut the lead to this:
Pre-CTC by a longshot and there’s little in the way of fiery picking to be heard, but it’s some of the most quintessentially “Stratty” sounding guitar on my album, which is odd because I found the pickup itself a little dark for my tastes when just playing it. So, noiseless, I’d give strong consideration to a trio of the Heavy Blues 2.
Conventional single coils? Broken record, the Suhr pickups I’ve tried have consistently been the best singlecoils I’ve played. They just sound “bigger” and fuller than everything I’ve put them up against, including some very nice Fender sets (the Eric Johnsons are great). I think the ML Standards would be a good fit for Yngwie playing - still very clear and “Strat” sounding, but fairly hot and punchy with a bit more midrange than you usually hear in singlecoils (where the hollow midrange is often part of the appeal).
For Strat bridges, I’ve used and like the Hipshot Contour, the Wilkinson VS100, and the Gotoh 510. I think at least the first and third come in 6-point and 2-point configurations. The Hipshot sounds very “traditional” and bell like, which might be nice for a Yngwie style guitar, while the Gotoh I’ve only had for a month or two (on my new Suhr) but I’ve been seriously impressed with - for a “vintage looking” trem, it’s great. The Wilky has the most Floyd-like range, though, and is what I’m using on my main Strat. It’s cheap, too, which is a nice perk!
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Thanks Drew! I really appreciate the info.
I was very impressed with the Callaham bridge, before I returned it… lol. Very solid.
I’ll definitely look at Mexican strats, as well as the Suhr pups. I know you’ve raves about them in the past.
YJM and EJ have much more in common than just picking.
EJ did (and still does) this with the hs-2 in the bridge. Some days I’m not sure why I even go to these lengths to dig this stuff up but I tried it out for myself and it’s so far the longest lasting piece of guitar accessory in my arsenal. Looks a bit out of place on a vintage or reissue piece but hey who’s looking under the skirt anyway.
Technically the “wrong” way considered by dimarzio literature, but it sounds like a louder single coil with the added benefit of the dummy coil (as you rightly said). Roll the tone to 7-8 and then you pretty much have a guitar not much noisier than a stock historic les paul (at least for partially deaf me anyway), but sits somewhere in between a strat and gibson while not sounding characteristically twangy-tele like.
In my CS 57 strat I have the stock neck (have no idea what they’re called), a middle pickup I had custom-wound out of old grey bobbin leftovers, and the hs-2, and I’ve had no problems with balance issues. I do have the Callaham block but that’s just to use the pop in arm because the stock one got loose and flimsy- the block itself I cannot tell in a blind test to save my life but I like the feel and look.
It really depends how far down the rabbit hole one wants to get down and although it’s very smart to shop around so to speak, don’t be too bound by the thought that you have to get it down right on the first try- the used market exists for a reason.
A personal anecdote for OP is that while it is true that you should really get the one that speaks to you- sometimes funny things happen in the heat of the moment of purchase in the store, and the “one” really doesn’t exist as a whole beyond the illusion of me thinking so. Maybe I don’t have as stringent standards for tone as I had previously thought, but I honestly can say I’ve never picked up a guitar that I thought were immediate dogs- old or new.
Those that didn’t feel or sound right almost always had visual cues that I knew were down to setup parameters or some other minor structural issue- even neck pitch or fret issues etc, so I would still buy and get it worked on and it sounded like any other guitar. I’m not as married to a particular guitar like I used to be, I do think some days a rosewood board would fit me better because I don’t like maple board drag but then I’d have to get used to the 3-tone sunburst and all that…
I really mostly went for ones in good condition, a working truss rod, a reissue of some year, mostly original parts, and mostly importantly, a finish I could stand looking at…we are talking about guitars here right?
Sometimes it’s really an irrational choice that is the right one- if you want the YJM, then why not go for it. Not a biggie if it doesn’t work out.
Very interesting. Of course, how much of it do you think may be as simple as if you wanted aftermarket singlecoils in the 80s, the HS series was one of your few options?
I’d be curious if you’ve tried the Fender Eric Johnson custom shop series. I had them in my second strat for a while before eventually swapping them out for a set of Suhr V60LPs, and they’re probably my favorite set Fender makes that I’ve played.
I actually subscribe to this theory. Some similarities were borne out of just need and availability just as much as artistic differences we’d like to imagine. Of course, EJ is also semi famous for sending Seymour a handwritten letter and check for rewinds, but it’s fair to say Dimarzio had this market cornered with this niche of music.
So far, the only EJ pickups that I know exist are the aftermarket ones, the ones that come in his maple strat, and the ones that come in the rosewood version which are slightly different. I am not sure there is a CS designation for any other sets but I could be wrong, and I’d be glad to be since well, why not? I had a blonde white EJ maple strat a while back that I sometimes regret letting go, and I never understood the weak, sterile, or stiff feeling accusations/remarks. Very well made and nice sounding from wood and hardware, pickups included. Never thought it’d be better by a pickup swap- never even had that thought in the first place now that I think about it.
Not sure if they’re the maple or rosewood version, but they’re nice pickups either way - I loved the bridge’s sort of glassy, burnished vibe (the Suhrs that replaced it have a similar character), and the neck’s Alnico 3 magnets gave it a dark, smoky, woody vibe.
The link leads to a generic fender main page.
However, as per the part number evident in the url, this link (https://shop.fender.com/en/intl/parts/pickups-preamps/eric-johnson-signature-stratocaster-pickups/0992248000.html) does not mention CS in any capacity.
Not that it’s terribly important- I wouldn’t have swapped it had it been outsourced let’s say.
Weirdest thing, it goes to the pickup page on the link I posted, but the link YOU posted, which looks visually identical, goes to a main page.
And I misunderstood you, I thought you weren’t aware Fender sold them separately. IIRC they may not say it but the EJs are wound in the custom shop - I have a friend who used to work for Fender who was a pretty useful source of info on Fender and related gear - and they’re certainly priced more in line with the sets that DO say they’re custom shop, slight premium to say the Texas Specials - but either way, not a terribly important detail, IMO. I liked them more than the Texas Specials and the Fat 50s, but not as much as the Suhr MLs in my other Strat, or the V60LPs that replaced them in my rosewood/ash strat. Good set, though, if for some reason I had to stick with something from Fender, these would be the ones.
That said, I did take the liberty of flattening the polepeices to a modern stagger - Fender’s insistence on using vintage stagger for everything drives me insane, lol.
Saw this video today…
I couldn’t live without this guitar in my life any longer… just bought it again on reverb
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Hey, thanks for all your advice with the YJM strat, as you know I bought one over the summer, loved it but really struggled with it, mostly with the wider string spacing on the stock bridge.
Recently I’ve been in the hunt on Reverb for Keisels, Music Man Luke’s, and came across this Greek guitarist shredding neoclassical on a YJM strat. It just hit me hard how much I love that sound,style and I wasn’t going to get it anywhere else.
I found someone selling a 2017 mint YJM with the Callaham replacement bridge on Reverb and I went for it.
I have played jumbo frets all my life, I was unfazed by the scalloped neck, it was the string spacing and tracking that were messing me up.
With that addressed with the Callaham, I’m very excited to own this guitar and acclimate to it fully.
I’ll post some tracks, once I’m comfortable with it. Best
GAS is a cruel, cruel mistress, isn’t it? 
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I think Fender links outside USA all point to the main page.
I’m not sure any one type of pickup will work consistently on any one model as each guitar would be different even if they’re the same batch and model. This is all hit and miss, in the ball park so to speak. This thread has taught me one thing; some folks didn’t grow up on single-coil fenders or fender type guitars, I assumed the strat was the most common guitar ever, I guess not. I never thought strats could be so polarising.
@NCASSO you crazy bas@#$d, congrats once again!
I’ve been away as my computer broke and I’m like in the middle of nowhere on a farm. 7 Year old Mac Book Pro finally wheezed and died.
I had to buy a copy of Studio One for sanity.
https://soundcloud.com/sidmody/bnw-mx-b
working on this riff for fun; man it’s not easy to get anything clean sounding!
NCASSO would love to hear your guitar man; I hope you like it this time 
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