I’d put Seymour Duncan on that guitar. But that’s just me 
It comes with a Duncan distortion that I’m going to swap in my other Charvel DK. There is a JB in there currently
I wanted something different for this one…
Have you heard them ???
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After much deliberation … I’m giving the Malmsteen strat a try. I just ordered it…
I know going into it , that IF I’m going to keep it , ill have to invest some money in a new bridge to remedy the issue with the high e string.
Can you tell me what exact bridge I need?
Before I invest in this guitar I have get a killer tone and adjust to the neck… if I can get both of these things I’ll go forward… if not the search will continue
Hi NCASO, that’s fantastic news! I hope you love it.
Just a note on the bridge thing. I recently got a second guitar after playing the sock YJM for about two years.
I had gotten over the string & edge proximity issue in a few days; but after playing the 57’ strat a few days exclusively, I must note that I got sloppy again and slid string off the neck once or twice when I got back onto the YJM, but was back to handling the tight tolerance within minutes this time, not days.
I have also disconnected the middle knob(neck tone) to get a smidgen of extra sparkle.
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Thanks. I really appreciate yours and Drew’s advice on what to expect with the single coils, scalloped necks, non locking bridge and the high e slippage.
Honestly I’m a little bummed about this high e thing, because I know if I really dig the guitar, I’m going to have to invest more $, but I’ve accepted it.
I’m 50/50 on the whole thing, but if I really like the tone, and can manage to enjoy the scalloped neck for my bending/vibrato… I’ll go forward and commit to the guitar.
Lots of question marks, but I’ll give it a shot.
My guitar search wouldn’t be complete unless I give the Viking a shot
Cool - looking forward to hearing what you think!
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I went back and reread alot of the great things you posted about the feature set of this guitar. It really does seem like a different breed of strat.
Also, before I invest a dime I’m going to give your instructions on the neck Yaw a shot.
Cant thank you enough!
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That’s awesome!
I hope you love it.
For the full experience do try the fender Malmsteen strings as well; it’ll complete the package, and when set up right, the guitar will be as intended!
Though to be honest I’m afraid to recommend the strings if it’ll advertently have a negative impression, as the guitar is very different as well. I do want you to love the neck.
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Haha, I’m 10s guy just recently started using 9s again. The YJM strat ships with 9s, so I’ll leave well enough alone…
Let me ask you… when you loosened your neck, and adjusted the neck, did it resolve the high e issue? I’m really hoping this will be the case for me as I dont want to invest more $.
I’ll keep u posted. I’m getting it this Thursday.
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For me it did, it was a matter of setting it to almost equal distance on either side; just making sure the alignment was right. The neck pocket on mine was rather tight to start with; I don’t think I had to do much really.
Here’s a little trick I do to all my new bolt ons; with the guitar fully setup and strung, I loosen the neck bolts a turn each, on loosening the last screw you will hear a creak, that’s the sound of the neck sitting in even better in the pocket, then adjust your neck yaw if needed, but you won’t have much play as the pocket it tight and the bolt are machine bolts. Tighten her up and you’re good. Set her up with high action; you won’t feel it because of the scallops, she’ll be screaming all the good stuff when done right 
The only things I’d recommend changing on that guitar, down the road if you are really enjoying the guitar:
- disconnect the neck tone pot, though I think they’re no load pots to start with, but I did it to get a better balance between the pups, I also realised later this balance is very amp dependent.
- Raw Vintage saddles, I change them out one at a time using the same strings that were on there and man was there a difference, the guitar started feeding back on its stand at levels it wouldn’t with the stock saddles, more punch and clarity, all good things IMHO.
- Optional: Raw vintage springs, they’re vintage spec, high mass - low tension springs that have a nice feel and a bit more stratty goodness.
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Thanks Man! You’re like my personal YJM tech! 
. Great stuff.
Should be getting it tonight so I’ll have an update soon. Hopefully you dont mind a few more questions along the way.
Going to take this in stages…
Try to get a good tone at first, then see if can adjust to playing on the neck… maybe adjust the neck if the high e is an issue. I really want to be sure I can play well on this guitar.
If the above works out, I’ll get it set up professionally, new bridge, the saddles, springs.
Where can I get these raw saddles and springs?
Callahan?
Thanks again for everything.
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Yo man, dont leave me hanging… I got more questions
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hey brother sorry, been travelling … Vintage Raw is a brand so you should be able to find them easily on Amazon. They have two variants of saddle sizes, get the 108 which is the smaller size ( double check this ). If you get the springs use all five of them, tell your tech to set up the guitar for 2.5 to 2 mm at the 12 fret, the bridge floating so that max pull on the bar takes the G string up a minor third. Tuned to E flat.
This setup will reduce the floppy feeling light gauge strings can get, 8/9 to 46 is optimal on this guitar.
Did you get the guitar?
For pickup height; tune to taste though I’ve got the pickups setup relatively lower than I’ve I’ve ever had on any other strat.
Flush the middle pup to the pickguard, you won’t be playing it, the body will not absorb the entire pickup so it’ll not get entirely flushed. These pups have a taller structure due to be a stacked design!
I get a brighter quack on the neck pup with a conservative position, and adjust the bridge to match levels with said ( this is important for me) neck pickup. However I adjust the bridge pup with it’s tone on 8, so I get a little more grunt and sparkle when I need to open it up. Setting the tone at 8 will also balance the neck and bridge tones a great deal, with your amp loud it’s very cool switching between the two positions.
Playing points if you have the tone one the bridge open all the way; it’s very sensitive to muting; so you tap into those dynamics a lot, can easily get a ton of sounds just with muting in various ways.
Have fun; let us know how it goes, and feel free to ask any questions.
edit: and you don’t need to change the bridge; just get used to it man; it’s a tool; you will adapt and be better for it!
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Yes I got it Wednesday night! First day was rough , but yesterday was much, much better!
My EVH has a ton of gain, and I’m like…where did it all go??? Lol. I’m using my Boss OD along with my Digitech rp 1 for some EQ, and it has helped the sound tremendously.
I was planning on seeing the tech tomorrow, but dont think I’ll get the saddles and springs in time… are they crucial?
The setup on the bridge looks off currently, its pitching forward…
The high e slips a bit but its manageable. I’m going to ask my tech to try and shift the neck for me.
Playing wise it’s an adjustment… I’m "overshooting " with my fretting hand and missing the strings. Using too much force
The strings that came with the guitar are the fender super bullets 9–42.
What’s up with the tacky, sticky feeling on the neck? Will that go away or should I sand?
Let me know if you think I should hold off on the setup until I get the raw springs and saddles.
I cant thank you enough!!
Best,
Nick
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Just ordered both saddles and springs after reading the reviews… so I guess I will wait.
Unless I can put the saddles on myself?
I’ve only ever owned FR bridges…
I just recently switched from 10g to 9g.
I dont think I’ll be using 8s.
Any thoughts on fattening the sound?
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Congratulations Nick! We’ll have you all setup in no time.
This is normal with single coils; you need tones of gain. So far, I’ve been playing into a Dr.Z Ghia setup at just at breakup. My guitar goes into a BOSS NS2, in the NS2’s loop is first a boost, that gooses an overdrive pedal, yes you need a boat load of gain, and noise control.
Any strat not setup correctly is going to be a mess. If your not used to setting up your own guitar, you ought to learn how to do it, all you need is a philips scredriver, truss rod wrench and the saddle allen key.
On a new guitar these are things I first do. Pull of the stock strings, they’re never any good unless it’s a custom. edit, I also do the neck mount thing posted earlier.
Pop the stratch guard, inspect the wiring and make changes if necessary, in my case, disconnect the middle neck tone control.
Bridge setup, remove the springs, loOsen the 6 body mount screws, let the bridge rest with one spring, start to tighten the body screws flush to the base plate of the bridge, first the outer screws; then the inner ones, MAKE SURE THEY ARE FLUSH AND NOT RAISING THE BRIDGE in an angle. Make sure you got maximum contact with the body and it’s not tilting forward due to the screws. You only need to do this once.
You also need to order Nomad’s TuneIt nut sauce. This needs to be applied on the saddle contact points, bridge’s string hole rim on the base plate, nut and string guide. This is essential with each string change. My guitar hardly ever goes out of tune.
Use the right strings, can’t understand why Fender doesn’t ship these with YJM strings for crying out loud. 42 is too skinny, trust me and get just one set of Fender Malmsteen strings, they are not normal strings, there’s something about them for what he does or the sound/style. That 42 is way too skinny for good tone, will be thin.
String the guitar up, tune to pitch, first thing setup the spring tension via the 2 claw screws.
It’ll take a few goes but you need to get it so that at tune (e FLAT), get the G string to go up a minor third when you pull your bar up ALL THE WAY to the point where the bridge base plate is flush with the body. If your bridge is warbling and leaving the body mount screw side, you haven’t set up your 6 mount screws right.
Next up, saddle setup, three things have to happen simultaneously with back and forth:
- per string intonation
- per string height
- neck relief
I use 2.5 mm between the top of the fret and the bottom of each string, evenly, at the 12th fret.
Holding the low E string, fretted at the first and 17th fret, there should be a bit of relief around the 7th fret, should be able to slip a visiting card in that gap.
Do not sand; just play for a month or two, and it’ll set in. It’s proper nitro; this is also normal on a new guitar. It will start to get better in days. Let the guitar sit outside the case for a month or two to speed up this process.
I’m putting all the setup stuff down so you can read it out to your luthier. Even stringing the posts are an art but don’t want to get into it here.
For the sound, you’re going to have to adjust your head to seek articulate single-coil sounds, I spent a lot of time playing country guitar and I buddied up with clean bridge tones, picking near the bridge for that twang was addictive.
What your missing is low mids to coming from humbuckers to single-coils. I suspect that Boss OD isn’t going to be ideal, I think more than the eq you NEED to put a boost between the OD and your guitar to get there. Which is exactly what I’m doing, I’m using a Vemuram Karen that is boosted (pre) by a Vemuram Budi. These are silly money expensive and utterly unnecessary.
I went from using just a Friedman BEOD pedal to replacing with the Vemuram duo for the bottom end. In theory, any Marshall in a box type pedal with a boost should get you there; if you’re using a cleanish amp.
I’m picking up an RR100, it’s a super lead 100 69’ clone, day after, I was tempted to get the Malmsteen Fender drive (red pedal) but I think my Vemurams should cover it.
So from your last post; you need to get that nut sauce, a clean boost for your Boss OD, fender Malmsteen strings and an NS2.
Almost there!
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about fattening things up…
Id’ get rid of the Boss OD real quick. But if you can’t try this, use your RP1 as a boost into the OD. Then set your OD with gain almost full, output level to minimum (feather it to reach that point where the signal is clear but low in SPL) while setting your master on your amp to 3’ o clock.
I’m not familiar with your amp, but in theory all you should need is using a good boost, set your pre amp drive high, put a volume control in your serial loop to drop the levels severely, and run your power section super hot. If you have a compressor, you could set it to zero compression and use it’s output volume to drop the level that feeds the power section of your amp.
Keep trying different things I guess, first use what you have though, should get you there one way or another. Try boosting your pre amp with the RP1 ( as a boost) and using the OD in the loop to drop the levels with zero gain!? Again here running your power section hot.
Adjust for bedroom or gig levels accordingly.
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Cant tell you how much I appreciate this!
My “luthier” is the tech at guitar center, lol but hes really good, and knows his stuff.
The YJM is it’s own animal.
Maybe you can narrow down what I can do
Prior to seeing the tech? I have worked on my FR bridges in the past…
Pull the bar up a minor third… is that 2 whole steps? Lol.
My rig is an EVH 5150 combo with a digitech effects processor in the loop. It has a noise gate.
I’ve been running the boss OD in front on the amp.
I hear you on the strings. But that .8 gauge high e is ridiculous.
Maybe a mixed set heavy bottom, light top, 9gauge?
Thanks!!!
So you’re saying both RP -1, and OD pedal in the loop, in that order?
If I were to get the yngwie strings would the guitar need to be setup all over again?