maroon barchetta said:

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Any experience with the Eric Johnson Dimarzio's?

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Nope. List of the pickups I have experience with:

• Duncan Designed crappy pickups that came stock in a schecter
• SD JB-4 (Back when I didn't know much about electrics and thought i needed 'high output' pickups. Then I grew up =p)
• SD SH-2n
• SD SH-1b
• SD Prails
• SD Antiquity Humbuckers
• SD Antiquity II Surfers
• SD Antiquity I Texas Hot bridge
• Gibson 490R and 490T
• Gibson Classic 57's
• Gibson Burstbuckers
• Gibson standard P90s
• Gibson MHS P90s
• Fender Standard American set (In my previous 2011 Strat)
• Fender Fat 50's
• Fender V-mod Strat pickups
• Fender Pure Vintage '65 Pickup set
• Fender Custom Shop H/W '63 Telecaster Pickups
• Lollar Novel 90 set
• PRS 85/15

Is that all?

Hey... at least you know what my experience is in, and the ones I don't have any experience with!

I saw you on "Hoarders - Guitar Parts" last season.

Well now I'm curious to list what I've had out.

PRS VB/HFS
PRS #7 neck and bridge
PRS Tremonti neck and bridge
PRS Dragon II neck and bridge
PRS 85/15 neck and bridge
Will Boggs Firewater
Will Boggs Heaven
SD Pearly Gates neck and bridge
SD Alnico II Pro neck and bridge
SD SH-11 Custom Custom
Gibson Burstbuckers
Whatever was in the Gibson LP Standard I used to have. I don't even know what year that guitar was.
Epiphone pieces of s*** in the guitar I just bought
And finally, what used to be in my MIM Strat that was built in the mid 90s.

If you had a $70 Squier that had been dropped and had the strap button ripped out, but the neck and action are in great shape, what pickups would swap into it?

I'm not trying to transform it into a Custom Shop quality instrument. That isn't likely with this Strat body! But what would you put in to make it sound good?

Keep in mind I have no frame of reference between what is too high of an output and what is low output.

What music are you trying to play? What's your budget?

Classic rock. Maybe some blues.

It's possible I might want to try a little Rush. Maybe.

Budget for just pickups? Maybe $300? Again, I'm new to the idea of parts swapping.

Again, I can only tell you that I have always used Seymour Duncan pickups, and am a fan. The Antiquity Surfers that I have are aged and give that classic jangly strat sound.

If you are looking for that classic 50's strat sound, go with an SSL-1 set: https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/vintage-staggered-strat

You can't go wrong with that set. It is going to be based more on your vintage single coil sound with scooped mids, and will give you that neck position sound that makes a Strat a Strat.

If you want a hotter set, you can look at the SSL-5. From what Seymour Duncan's site says, Gilmour has an SSL-5 in the bridge position. A lot of people do a hotter pickup in the bridge, with more of a mid push, so it's not too thin. I would never put one of those in the neck position, because I want the Strat's neck position to sound like a classic Strat. I personally had a hotter bridge pickup with more of a mid push in my strat, for a while. I ended up pulling it out and putting the vintage style in, because that's how I want my strat to sound.

The Fender Fat 50's pickups are very popular, and are what the used to put in their American Standard range from about 2012-2017.

No matter which way you go, it will be a noticeable improvement on your current pickups.

Here's a great playlist from Seymour Duncan's YouTube channel on how to replace pickups in a strat. I haven't watched the whole thing because I don't really need it, but from the little I skimmed through, seems great for first timers:

Thanks! I've been watching lots of videos on guitar setups and upgrades and this is one I haven't seen yet!

How about some amp questions?

I will need something to play an electric through. Instructor says I can go full digital and headphones for now if needed.

He uses this https://www.positivegrid.com/jamup/ for home practice and recording. Says I can also use Garage Band.

Here are some possibilities I've looked at. Portability is a plus for me. And I don't need something with so much power my neighbors way down the road can hear me.

I do want something that works with headphones when needed.

Boss Katana Mini
Boss Katana 50 MK2
Peavey Vypyr X2 or X3
Positive Grid Spark 40
Fender Mustang LT25
Blackstar ID Core V3

Would like to spend less than $500.

Your suggestions are appreciated.

Here's a female shredder for your troubles.

Inexpensive digital amps are not my space. Someone else would have to give some recs. I'm all tube, my man. The moment I graduated college and acquired a couple of paychecks, I bought my first tube amp and never looked back.

maroon barchetta said:

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How about some amp questions?

I will need something to play an electric through. Instructor says I can go full digital and headphones for now if needed.

He uses this https://www.positivegrid.com/jamup/ for home practice and recording. Says I can also use Garage Band.

Here are some possibilities I've looked at. Portability is a plus for me. And I don't need something with so much power my neighbors way down the road can hear me.

I do want something that works with headphones when needed.

Boss Katana Mini
Boss Katana 50 MK2
Peavey Vypyr X2 or X3
Positive Grid Spark 40
Fender Mustang LT25
Blackstar ID Core V3

Would like to spend less than $500.

Your suggestions are appreciated.

Here's a female shredder for your troubles.

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Of that list, Boss Katana 50 for sure.

I saw a guy trying out a Gamma amp at Guitar Center the other day that sounded good, and they have Bluetooth capability so you can route backing tracks from your phone through the amp to jam along. He made it sound good.

Haven't heard of a Gamma but I'll take a look!

Thanks!

Not an expert on digital amps (have a cheap 30W Line6 Spider), but in my experience messing with the menus is a pain to change effects settings -- though it can connect with an iPad. Will likely get a real pedalboard with separate Boss pedals or integrated footswitch w/ dedicated controls for each & look for tube amps.

Though expensive, I plan to someday get a Fractal Audio Axe FX3 (https://www.fractalaudio.com/) for effects. Alex Lifeson uses it.

Dang. It's like a barn find on the auto board or something.

maroon barchetta said:

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Dang. It's like a barn find on the auto board or something.

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I think I got pretty lucky. It does however need a neck reset (normal for a guitar if this age) and the bridge location corrected. The 70s were not the best years for Martin QC lol

I'll be out another $800 to get it playing how it should but fro. What I'm seeing these things going for on Reverb in much worse condition, I still think I got a pretty damn good deal

Nice pickup!

Kind of similar how I got my Gibson 1969 B-25-12 acoustic. Was my grandmother's husband's guitar. When he passed, she let the few of us grand children pick out one of his guitars. He didn't have a lot of really expensive ones. His nicest was a 60's Gibson Hummingbird, but that was going to his son. He had another decent Taylor, that my cousin picked. I went for the 12 string because it was in such great condition, I didn't have a 12 string, and it was a '69.

When looking at the estimated value, it's only around $1,600, i believe.

As for amps, i will forever recommend getting a tube amp. Get a good pedal platform and you get great tones. I really just don't like digital amps, and think people have some grand idea of fiddling with a million different settings. At the end of the day, you need to focus on learning to play guitar, not spending 4 hours hitting one note with a flanger, reverb, delay, and chorus all set at 10.

DallasTeleAg said:

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Nice pickup!

Kind of similar how I got my Gibson 1969 B-25-12 acoustic. Was my grandmother's husband's guitar. When he passed, she let the few of us grand children pick out one of his guitars. He didn't have a lot of really expensive ones. His nicest was a 60's Gibson Hummingbird, but that was going to his son. He had another decent Taylor, that my cousin picked. I went for the 12 string because it was in such great condition, I didn't have a 12 string, and it was a '69.

When looking at the estimated value, it's only around $1,600, i believe.

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That's awesome

I'm thinking about saying screw it on the 500T and going with a SD Slash set.

Quincey P. Morris said:

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I'm thinking about saying screw it on the 500T and going with a SD Slash set.

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Are those high output?

I just watched a review of a $200 tube amp from Darrel Braun's YouTube channel. It's from 2019.

60 Cycle Hum reviewed it 9 months ago and it's $250.

Probably $300 now!

Not bad for a cheap tube amp but not going to win any contests. Darrel wondered what happens if you put decent tubes in it but I don't know if he ever tested that idea.

No. They're Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros made to be like the ones in Slash's Les Paul (which was a copy) that was used on AFD.

There's just something about that guy I do not like.

There is that. He's got a smugness. I prefer Anderton's videos.

Yeah... he has the perfect representation of a **** eating grin.

Good player and nice guitar collection though!

Man that REVV amp that Rhett reviewed in that video above is sweet. But it's a lot more than I want to spend for a practice amp!

Djent Djenerator at 7:25

Yeah. I don't get it. Buy a freaking mandolin already.

With the 7-strings, I've heard the low string tuned to Drop-G, Drop-A, Drop-B, etc. must need a base string to go that low.

Forgive me if I'm not allowed to do this here, but I thought I'd cross-post this from Classifieds:


We're in the process of moving, so I've decided to sell these guitars and amp. I have an acoustic that play around with, but I just never spent much time with the Telecaster or learning the bass. So I've decided to sell them to someone who will hopefully get more use out of them.

I would prefer to sell all items to a single buyer, but I'll consider splitting them up if necessary.

Price: Asking $700 for everything.
If you don't want all items, make me an offer on a single item.
Located in Montgomery, Tx. I would prefer to meet in person.




Fender Telecaster (Made in Mexico)

• Purchased new around 2010
• Great condition. Barely used
• Guitar stand included

Squire Jazz Bass

• Purchased new from Guitar Center in Houston around 2017
• Great condition. Barely used
• Soft gig bag included (still has tag)

Line 6 Spider 3 15 Amplifier

• Purchased new around 2010 when I purchased the Telecaster
• Barely used.