Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

George, thanks for the info on the Fralin's. I personally have never played them, but I have played several CS '56 Relic Strats and LOVE the sound of the pickups. I assumed the Fralin's just took it to the next level.

On Christmas i've got an early 80's Squier Strat coming (MIK?), which I got to play briefly and fell in love with. I swear, the color is Azureglo! It's an H-S-S and, of course, that setup's gotta go. Looks like i'll be going with a 3-way switch (Can't stand the OOP Strat sounds) and the CS 50's pups.

John..early 80's likely made in Japan...H-S-S might want to check out the Lollars for that I think with that configuration you're better off. You can change the wiring to cloth , add CTS pots and switchcraft jacks and you're good to go if you're happy with the frets..if not ask me...

Congratulations Paul on your new Strat. I can only presume that you're not going to "relic" it.

I have CS 54's in my right-handed Strat and Lace's Holy Grails in my lefty. And yes, I do own one right-handed guitar (it only gets used when friends and/or family are over).

If you ever get tired of the Showman, you have my address.

Also, Happy Birthday George.

George has the guru specs on the amp. It's at his house.

Guru specs for Dual Showman:The amp has the original transfomers..I had a recap, some resistors replaced, the ground switch disabled per current UL specs and retubed,,ususal retension of tube sockets etc...every area has an amp guru..I use Kent at Backstage Music..he also does Santana's amp's. Showmans have a ton of clean headroom..great for surf..(solid state rectifier so no sag)..for blues, rockabilly etc add a sans amp pedal or other device.

Nice Strat Paul. But that amp and reverb!! Wow! You'll be heard proper now without the potential for bursting into flames. While I am a Vox guy at heart, a Dual Showman would be addition!

Many happy (belated) returns George! Although it looks like you were the one giving the presents!

...Dean

Thanks Dean! Nah..I make Paul pay..believe me!

Paul, congrats on the Strat. I'm another big fan of Fender amps and reverbs--I have one linked to a '57 Twin RI.

Bill

Stumbled on this thread and to say the least I am surprised and happy at the same time that you now have a Strat. Congrats and welcome to the club.

Despite my protests at being characterized as a Strat-hater, eh, Brian?

I brought it home. My wife said, "God, that's an ugly color. You're going to repaint it, aren't you? And get rid of that decal!"

Sort of misses the point, while making one of its own...

The point missed, of course, is that it is a celebrity-guitar-lookalike (although thankfully not a relic with a five-figure list price!). The point made: Surf guitarists see it as desirable because of the visual Dick Dale connection; laymen see it for what it is: a gaudy, tastelessly-kitted-out musical bauble.

It is really a Strato-castrati. It's been emasculated--tone control blocked off, nothing but master volume and pickup selector switches remaining. So the Strat's famous versatility of tone has been somewhat abbreviated.

But hook it to an outboard Fender reverb with all three dials at least past the halfway mark, and pass that through a Dual Showman with twin 15" JBL130Fs, and it's in it's element, oh, yes!

Now I need to practice my oud playing. That's " O-U-D", not "L-O-U-D".

I like the color! Yep, i definitely like it - strange but true.
Congrats.

Hmmm..Strato-castrati....the DD strat setup has no tone controls...I NEVER use my tone pots on a strat (a Tele is a different matter) unless I'm after that Clapton woman tone than cut it way back...I'm thinking about blocking the volume pots as well on my strats as I just play the pups and reverb unit wide open and set the amp where I need it and can control the volume with my pick attack. Metalflake is a love it or hate it thing I guess...I get a lot of compliments on the finish on my DD strat..mostly from guys under 20..but..it's also a babe magnet..hah! Yet to see a Rick in metalflake..or Antiqua for that matter! Guitarists adding decals on their axes is nothing new,,,the Bakersfield twangsters and rockabilly guys as well as blues players often did this...much like a traveler would add a decal from ports of call to their luggage, guitar slingers would often add a decal (usually on the back of the body)from a place or places visited. When April fools day comes around, I'm going to remove ALL the knobs from Paul's amps...or maybe just switch them around..that should be fun!

I've played a strat from age 17...never used the tone controls, but that volume control is brilliant...the boost from 7-10 is turbo-charged!

Hey Paul I would never have characterized you as a Strat hater but I got the distinct impression in the past that you were not a big fan (unlike me). I am glad my impression was proven to be wrong.

The color is what it is. Virtually every Strat ends up being a unique instrument to its owner. I know I have a closet full of them in all different colors and configurations.

The difference between our wives comments is interesting in that mine always says "another Strat, don't you have enough now?"

I have come to realise that you can never have too many.

Like I said, welcome to the club, it's infectious.