Thank you !! I haha
That’s hilarious! Thanks
YJM strat update.
Installed brass string claw
Replaced defective tuner key
Installed. 5 full shim.
Went back to tech today, we we able to get the action to .2mm on bass, 1.75m on treble and I like it there.
What is your reasoning for using all 5 springs and pulling up a minor 3rd?
I really cant use the tremelo without knocking the guitar out of tune, but my strings got jacked ffom taking the neck on/off several times.
I’ll be replacing all the strings again.
Using the nomad, lube
Thoughts?
Good job there, getting close.
The minor third thing started with this:
Now I’m used to it at that position, also I think it’s sounds more musical for Jeff Beck kind of use. When it setup as such I like the trem arm to be almost parallel to the body, I sometimes bend the arm if necessary; also at that position you’ll find the saddle screws to be at a tangent to the body plane.
More than anything now it gives my guitar a consistent setup rather than an arbitrary height; also I like it floating for the tone, I find a decked setup to dampen the tone of a strat.
Using all 5 springs give the guitar more air (natural strat reverb) when played clean to my ears. And it’s more stable for double stop bends. A little stiffer but that may be my imagination.
Try with new strings; also send some pictures of your current setup, hope you bridge is not wobbling etc as I mentioned in earlier posts regarding it’s mounting screw setup.
Also how much are you winding your strings on the pegs? I cut two pegs down and then do a neat wind. eg: if I’m doing the low E, I’ll pull the string to the D strings post and cut it there.
A new guitar will take some break in to smooth out the nut string ridges etc, give it a bit of play to settle down; and lube every time you change strings. Be more generous in the beginning.
edit: how are you finding it at 2mm did you try to adjust the neck relief; use the neck relief to fine tune your action; don’t measure; use your ears and feel on the high E string above the 12 fret; bend and test to get it right.
So, thanks in part to this thread, I picked up a 2017 Malmsteen Strat in December. I haven’t had anything much to contribute so far but I thank you guys for this thread and all the insight provided. While examining a ton of his videos, mostly informal ones where he’s shredding in an interview, it seems the older stuff has more of that neck-position “liquidy” quality. So I swapped out my neck position Fury for a Dimarzio HS3. The difference is not subtle, for better or worse. I like the sound which is much more as subjectively described above. But the pickup is prone to feedback to the point I thought I might have a dud. Enough internet stories convinced me that this was likely not the case and that the pickup is somewhat unruly at super high gain. Anyhow, I have some before/after videos if anyone is interested.
Thanks!
Scott
Hey Scott,
As you have read, I struggled alot with the purchase of this guitar for almost a year, returning a brand new one I picked up last summer. I wound up getting a 2017 model as well but with the Callaham bridge, for the modern string spacing. That was a huge step towards me dedicating myself to learning this guitar.
I cant thank Twangsta and Brendan enough for their help with all things strat related, and others as well who contributed to this thread.
This may be THE definitive thread on the YJM strat!
Things that were critical for me were the
New bridge. I never struggled with the scalloped neck, but the wider sting spacing was throwing off my picking hand,not to mention the high e slippage.
Also, using a clean boost in the front end really brought the guitar to life, gave it more clarity, punch, balls, everything.
I’m suing a EVH combo with a ton of gain, a NG on my effects pedal and its pretty quiet.
I really love the fury pups.
Also, the YJM strings are fantastic. I cant believe how great they feel and sound.
I’m still getting used to the lower string tension coming down from 10s, but its getting better all the time.
I posted a sample in the show and tell thread using this guitar on the Vandenberg, burning heart solo. Let me know what you think.
Please upload and sound files.
Best
Nick
Hey Nick,
Indeed Brendan and Twangsta have been a wealth of info. I followed this thread ever since you sold the first Strat. I was concerned about the bridge issue and thought it might have been solved already by the previous owner because I had no trouble with the high E. But then I noticed the high E saddle and been slanted towards the B slightly to cause the E to move over. So, someone corrected the issue “ghetto style” on my guitar lol. That Calaham bridge is pricey so I’m gonna stick with the stock bridge for the moment. I’m hesitant to try the special strings for fear of not being able to find them easily when I need them. I checked out the Vandenberg solo; spot on stuff, man! The attack on those Furys is something that the Dimarzio doesn’t quite have in the neck.
Here’s the before/after or Seymour Duncan/DiMarzio necks in that order. It’s a part of Fire and Ice that involves 3 string arpeggios and some chunking. It’s still a work in progress ;). But I think its useful here as a comparison for lead playing on the neck in the Yngwie style. The amp is a mini Jubilee with the Fender YJM pedal.
Seymour Duncan
Dimarzio
Nice playing Scott. That run is quite a great way to synch the hands! I think the HS3 sound a bit cleaner, it sounds like you prefer them.
What gauge strings are you using? I’ve bought the YJM sets in bulk on Ebay. You can also get them on Amazon, just have to plan ahead and buy in bulk.
I cant stress enough how awesome they are, and they are truly made for this guitar. I was very hesitant about using an 8g high e , but these strings are very strong and the bullet end has excellent tone.
Ghetto bridge fix…haha
You’ve been following this thread and know you know what a neurotic I’ve been over this guitar
Thanks, Nick!
I’ve got D’addario 9-42 on there now. Turns out the Malmsteen strings are Prime on amazon.ca so I’ll give them a try. I appreciate your neurosis as it allowed me to know what to expect. It’s better to know that everyone has the same issues with a given guitar rather than pining over whether you got a dud or not
Glad it helped you. I love this guitar. As a lifelong Malmsteen fan, it’s an honor to own it.
Fyi, you probably realize you’re going to have to get the guitar setup again once you move to these strings. If you’re happy with what you have, I dont want to be a deterrent.
However, when twangsta stressed these strings I just didn’t get it. But they are fabulous.
Hi guys.
Scott very glad to hear your enjoying your guitar! Congratulations. And nice playing, I love how everybody plays that intro differently! I haven’t tried the Dimarzio pickups but they sound great in your clip, I think I like them better! Thanks for the comparison.
Nick’s a believer in those YJM strings, they really are damn good, I have an impossible time getting them here in India, I end up spending a lot more but they’re worth it.
I’ve been working on perpetual, and failing miserably, what’s fun is with each solo I go off on a month-long tangent for each new technique, currently, it’s those 3 note arpeggios I’ve been trying to sequence instead of sliding into them, I hear it everywhere he uses them.
Here’s a rough practice take, really batteling changing pickups while playing, noise, etc. Sorry about the ringing phase think, didn’t realize my monitors was also on, mic seemed to have picked it up. I think that liquidy neck thing really comes through on those quicker runs.
https://soundcloud.com/sidmody/1960b-test-4
Nick, I found my old bridge, took out the taller hex nuts from the saddles and put them on my outer strings, much more stable now. How you getting on with the YJM, reading your posts I can tell you’re loving it. So glad
Cheers guys!
edit:
haven’t tried this in a while… flubbing it clearly
https://soundcloud.com/sidmody/1960b-test-5
Hey Twangsta!
Thanks for the kind words! The thing with the DImarzio’s that is harder to communicate in comparison videos is that they stay more liquidy and Strat-like when you go nuts with the gain. FWIW, I only changed the neck one as I was pretty happy with the Fury bridge. And not to say I was unhappy, per se, with the Fury neck. I just like to run down the rabbit hole of tone chasing sometimes lol. However, like I said above, unless my sample is atypical, the old Dimarzio design seems much more unruly under the high gain required for the Malmsteen stuff. It’s still manageable, though, just not as refined as the Fury was.
Perpetual is coming along nicely! And your tone is just nuts! Sounding great. I hear what you mean about those 3 note arpeggios. It is indeed a real hoot to go on a song pursuit for a few months; with digressions to perfect certain techniques.
As for Fire&Ice, it’s one of those runs for me that just falls apart when I neglect it for awhile. I think it might even be tough for the man himself to play it reliably because every live version I’ve heard he sorta does a big bend over where some of the arpeggios should be. Check it out:
Scott
I think you’ve got the best of both worlds. I’ve been having a hard time setting the neck pickup height and balance it with the bridge, I had disconnected the tone knob on the neck, think I’ll do it again; I had reconnected in on the last string change a few days ago, i think it’s got just the right amount of ‘more’ disconnected.
Though honestly the louder the amp is the less it matters, but then I can’t handle it and the room is untreated. That amp is so loud, thank god for the PPIMV. Thanks for the compliments brother, The RR100 is great, paired with the T75s, even at lower volumes I love that papery dry tone from the bridge, I’ve had the cab a week now, loving the rig. All that 's left if my playing to get with it
6 months on the 2 string arps, thought I had the 3 note ones licked but I tell you, everything is revealed in layers like an onion and the tears are real.
Hey man. VG playing and your tone sounds great. Good news on your bridge.
Yes I’m loving this guitar. I alternate between this and my other 2, but focusing alot on the YJM.
I think I will drop the term springs down to 3 at some point because the tremelo is just too stiff as is.
Take a listen to my vandenberg clip in show n tell and let me know what u think of the tone…
Best
The clip has very nice playing and the guitar is sounding good! There’s something in your tone chain though and it ain’t the guitar or you. How did you record that and what’s your tone chain.
Yeah I hear you on the spring tension, I’m going to drop to 3 and see how it goes soon, I have a feeling … not sure of the physics but when I started using all 5 raw vintage I was on 11s, I find I’m having to work harder too on the trem and i’m not doing any double stops these days.
Can anyone comment on how hard it is to bend to the high Eb using 8s? I find this “virtual 24th fret” comes up a lot in his playing. Bending a step and a half tuned to Eb using 9s feels like I’m going to be going through a lot of high E strings. Is the ease of bend that much easier with 8s? I fear that if I adopt the Yngwie strings I’m gonna end up breaking them all the time trying to achieve that note.
This was a concern of mine also, but I trusted twangstas advice, and tons of great reviews they’ve gotten on Amazon.
Be careful when stringing up the guitar for the first time and use the lubricant on all friction points.
The strings are very strong surprisingly and, I have pretty strong hands, fingers… haven’t broken one yet. With the scalloped neck, you dont have anything to worry about.
My concern also was that they would sound thin… nope. They scream. Especially with the brass ball ends… great Sustain.
These stings are a hybrid set of 10s, 9s, and 8s, and they are custom for this guitar.
My issue now is developing control with them.
There’s alot less tension that I was used to with 10s…
If you learn to bend on the ring finger and support with the index and middle you will break a lot less strings.
I would be more worried about breaking an 8 on a step-and-a-half bend than a 9. Since you’re down a half step anyway, if you’re really worried about that you could try 10s - I do step-and-a-half bends in standard often enough on my high E, and haven’t had any issue with breakage.