Not another one...! (guitar)

[Rudi]

I thought I was going to finish 2016 without getting any more guitars. But no, I have another on the way. The pickup change on the Esprit was supposed to provide me with the Fender sound I miss. It sounds good, but it doesn’t sound like a Fender.

 

I’ve been considering options for quite a while now. Oddly, actual Fenders are low on my list. I’ve looked at G & L, MusicMan, Flaxwood, Chapman (Yes Rob Chapman. His models are made in Korea and most have ebony fretboards), Yamaha, Godin and MIJ Fender copies.

The MIJ’s look wonderful but all of them have 21 frets. It’s not enough. It must be 22 minimum.

 

Most of everything else has high output pickups. Some have nasty bridges too. Whatever I go for will need some mods. It’s mostly a question of what is the simplest. I did very much like the looks of the MusicMan Silhouette Special, but finding one was the main problem.

I have plumped for a Flaxwood. These are made in Finland and are made from an artificial material (also called Flaxwood). Again, the pickups are the weak point here, together with the floating bridge.

 

The pickups

Single coil version 3SC-:
- bridge: Seymour Duncan SSL-2 Vintage Flat
- middle: Seymour Duncan SSL-2 (RwRp)
- neck: Seymour Duncan SSL-2 Vintage Flat

These are 6.5 output, so quite high, but at least they are alnico 5. I’m not a great fan of Duncans, but if needs be, I only need to replace the neck pup. I don’t use anything else.

Bridge: It’s a trem bridge, but it looks like a robust one. If so I should be able to block it up rather than replace it.

This particular Flaxwood is what they term a ‘Hybrid’, meaning that only the neck is made of the eponymous material; the body being of European alder.

These Hybrids are cheaper than the rest of the range. Unfortunately, there is only one uk shop that stocks them, and that’s in Scotland. It’s also miles above the list price published by ZedMusic (the official distributer). What swayed me to buy were the two Hybrids held at Thomann (the vast German shop). They had both the single coil & humbucker versions at a greatly reduced price. They are ‘B’ stock, but that doesn’t worry me.

So an affordable Flaxwood Hybrid 3SC is on its way from Bavaria. I have used Thomann before. The first time was for the Deuce (now discontinued by Hagstrom). Let’s hope this turns out as well.

My one varies from the picture. It has a dark tortoise pickguard instead of the white. 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2016 by Rudi
puncuation

[teek]

Looks nice , but if you want a Fender , why not buy a used one from a reliable source , and have it refurbished ? 

[Rudi]

Hi Teek,

 

I had a 70's Fender Stat for over 20 years, but that had 21 frets, tight neck radius, crazy string tension and played like a pig. Now they have a variety of Strats, but none with the exact config I need. The top of the range ones are overpriced for what they are. That's why they were low on my list.

 

2nd hand? All the MIJs are 2nd hand and built much better than the USA ones, but its that missing fret that bothers me.

[McnaughtonPark]

That does look nice, I went to their web site and read up on the model.  I don't know if I missed it somewhere but have you played one and know how they feel and sound already?  I think I even saw a site that sold kits to build your own.  As much as that appeals to the tinkerer in me, I would feel more comfortable having one set up the way they described on the Flaxwood site.

[Rudi]

23 hours ago, McnaughtonPark said:

 I think I even saw a site that sold kits to build your own.  As much as that appeals to the tinkerer in me, I would feel more comfortable having one set up the way they described on the Flaxwood site.

 

No way to try one out, but I'm confident that this build will 'behave' like a Fender. The pups are the unknown and frankly I am expecting them to sound dismal.

Yes I saw the kit stuff too. Its tempting but I dont have the time. I plan to do this sort of thing when I retire though.

 

I even looked at Warmouth for a self build option, but even when you keep things basic, its still over $1000 before you begin building.

[McnaughtonPark]

1 minute ago, Rudi said:

 

No way to try one out, but I'm confident that this build will 'behave' like a Fender. The pups are the unknown and frankly I am expecting them to sound dismal.

Yes I saw the kit stuff too. Its tempting but I dont have the time. I plan to do this sort of thing when I retire though.

 

I even looked at Warmouth for a self build option, but even when you keep things basic, its still over $1000 before you begin building.

I do remember that humidity is an issue for your guitars and the hybrid neck should help with that.  Looks like a nice guitar.

[Rudi]

It just arrived. Much earlier than expected. I had the tracking turned on, and it seems to have overtaken it because its not even marked as 'out for delivery' yet.

 

I spent about 3 minutes playing it and I don't like it. It only took 30 seconds to decide that really. The neck feels tighter than the stated 12" rad. Maybe its the roll off at the edges? But the e strings are too close to the edges. I didn't push them off, but it would have been inevitable if I'd kept playing. I've put it straight back in the box and have advised Thomann. I have no idea how much it will cost to return, but it will still have been worth the opportunity to try it out.

 

So it doesn't handle well. The neck material is fine. The fingerboard forms part of the neck. It feels ok and I'd have no problem with the neck had it been shaped to my liking. The hardware seems of very good quality,

 

I expected the pickups to be poor, and they certainly are. Seymour Duncan consistently make nasty sounding pups. That's not intended as a challenge to you SD fans. It is of course totally subjective.

 

So waiting to hear something from Thomann right now.

 

Never mind. I have been extremely lucky with mail order guitars up on the whole, so I was overdue for a disappointment.

[McnaughtonPark]

Sorry to hear it

[Rudi]

2 hours ago, McnaughtonPark said:

Sorry to hear it

 

I am disappointed but sanguine. Its a shame because there is much to admire about Flaxwood. I really wanted to like it, and I mean what I said about valuing the opportunity to play it.

The company are just getting started in the uk, and I would check other models (but in shop next time!).

[TapperMike]

My recent Fender CIC (crafted in china) telecaster is great.  My MIM is crap.  Which strikes me as odd as those are supposed to be the higher quality.  The CIC is fine although I'd still like to replace the pups.  I'm also not impressed with any of the squier line of strats. 

 

Honestly save your money for a Yamaha Variax Standard.  If you don't like the neck swap it out for something else.  I play my Variax everyday. And everyday I get more accustomed to the neck.  It will never replace the feel of my Strat but it does what it needs to do.

 

Having the ability to swap out the virtual pups is a godsend to me.  As well being able to adjust the pups.  Simply rotating, moving the pups swapping out the resistance of the tone pots allows for a great deal in variation of tone.   Not to mention the pup sound is authentic

[Rudi]

16 hours ago, TapperMike said:

My recent Fender CIC (crafted in china) telecaster is great.  My MIM is crap.  Which strikes me as odd as those are supposed to be the higher quality.  The CIC is fine although I'd still like to replace the pups.  I'm also not impressed with any of the squier line of strats. 

 

Honestly save your money for a Yamaha Variax Standard.  If you don't like the neck swap it out for something else.  I play my Variax everyday. And everyday I get more accustomed to the neck.  It will never replace the feel of my Strat but it does what it needs to do.

 

Having the ability to swap out the virtual pups is a godsend to me.  As well being able to adjust the pups.  Simply rotating, moving the pups swapping out the resistance of the tone pots allows for a great deal in variation of tone.   Not to mention the pup sound is authentic

 

The book price for the Flaxwood is more than the Variax, so that's not really an issue.

 

I've just spent 25 minutes looking for Variax specs. I cant find anything on the website, the pdf manual or anywhere else.

I need to know scale, radius & nut width basically.

 

Do the actual pickups (HBs or SCs) make any difference to the sound when modeling?

[Rudi]

I was still getting tracking updates a whole day after actual delivery. Thomann wanted to know if there was fault/damage. The condition of the Flaxwood is actually excellent. It is almost certainly listed as B stock because of a prior return I would suppose.

 

Still have no returns info or what it will cost. Only Germany gets a free return, which is fair enough.

[TapperMike]

The scale length is same as a strat  25.5.  The fretboard radius is flat with medium jumbos. The neck profile is a Slim "C" shape   As far as width at the nut.  Nut width: 41.9 mm

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/line6_variax_standard_sb.htm

 

It's very near my 80's strat plus with the exception of the flat radius fretboard.

 

The JTV 69 has a much "beefier" neck.  Which to be frank I didn't like at all.  I also didn't like the raised action on the JTV69

 

I've read from Line 6 Staff that while one shouldn't replace the neck on the JTV69 that the  Yamaha Standard can be replaced with a standard strat neck so long as the tech doing the job has lots of experience.

 

[Rudi]

25.5 is good. So is flat. I'm not concerned with neck profile, but 41.9 is very narrow! I would need to try one and see. They have these locally, but I'm just about to resume my shift working. So no opportunity for a while. I also want to get the Flaxwood sorted 1st.

 

If I were to change the neck I would likley get something from your way. I know StewMac had a finished ebony board a while back.

 

[TapperMike]

@Tom

 

I'm always thinking of my next guitar. I've had hundreds over the years, as well as a good assortment of Basses keyboards and other midi based instruments.  After I got the linnstrument I'm pretty much set with midi controllers.  (though sometimes I think about another ztar.)

 

 

With guitars.  I've promised myself I'll never own a guitar that I can't find or create with the variax.  

http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=138.0

 

I've told the story before but I'll tell it again.  When I was growing up I wanted "That one guitar" which for me was a Gibson 335.  I didn't own a guitar and when learning I'd always go over to a buddies house and borrow one of his.  Most all the guitarists I knew had at least one electric and one acoustic.  Or two electrics.  It was common for guitarists to share their guitars hanging out at the parents house.  Though the years guys I knew would sell or trade one guitar for another and then regret selling the old one.  Not me,  I'd keep the old ones when I got a new one.  Getting a new guitar was always fun and cool and I'd think about how much I wanted to play like so and so when I got it.   Not uncommon.  Many a guitarist from the 50's, 60's 70's and beyond would get a guitar based on someone they admired.  Then they might explore beyond that point and try different things.  When I play a certain guitar I get into a "mood" for playing it. It takes me down a path.  Afterwards I may play the same song on a different guitar but it won't feel the same.  It doesn't conjure up the same sensory experience.  But having that initial experience carries me on.

 

This is the one thing I've noticed about the variax.  The closer I am to the famous tone the more at ease I am with learning / playing the cover. 

The guitar is only part of the equation. 

[Rudi]

I still trying to sell on my Epi Casino Coupe & Dillion Dagger bass.

 

No one wants 'em

[TapperMike]

Yikes.  Regarding the Dillon that's the problem with inexpensive guitars  They have no resell value.

 

My Samick Fastback is a damn fine Les Paul Copy. It's got great tone and a great body design and finish.  I was showing it off to my student and explaining that I was thinking of thinning the herd (my guitar collection) as my financial situation has changed.  He said "You can't be considering selling This One.  I said no simply because I knew it had no resell value.

[Rudi]

I have looked into donating the guitars to a worthwhile cause, but even that is a non-starter here in the uk.

 

If I knew a youngster that could make use I them I would give them away.

[TapperMike]

A funny thing about that.....

Before I started teaching again (Which has now ended)  I gave a great guitar away to my student.  He'd stated he had to get rid of the one he previously owned.   He was shocked that I'd do something as generous as that.   Now, He's lost interest in playing guitar again.  It's simply too much work. for him to practice more then once a week.  

 

When I was a kid and others were taking classes it was part of the commitment smart parents would put on their kids.  Yes you can get a guitar but you have to take lessons and not give up on playing at least for 6 months.  With the exception of me... this is what separated those who wished to play guitar and those who wanted.   Lots of kids had guitars but few were willing to make the commitment to play them.

 

It's funny looking back on those days now.  My Bassist had a high school graduation party in the backyard.  Relatives and friends came from all over.  All of them came with at least one instrument.  Steve played guitar, banjo, mandolin, electric and upright bass.  His father, brother and sister also played.  As well as cousins and cousins and cousins.  Grandpa would call out a song and they'd all play along.  A sea of stringed instrument players.

 

Surprised you don't have a Salvation Army or Goodwill there.  While I'm not a fan of Goodwill as it's a non-profit that does nothing but line the pockets of the CEO.     Salvation Army uses the sale of items donated to a wide variety of social causes like homelessness, substance addiction, domestic abuse intervention and more.

[Rudi]

Oh I could take them to charity shops, and that would be something, but I'd rather place a guitar into the hands of someone who was keen and in need of an instrument. With a charity shop donation, I'm just as likely to see them again in a 2nd hand shop at a mark-up on what I originally asked.

 

Psychologically, I suppose I'm still looking to gift someone like me who was hungry for a guitar for 8 years. Yes, I know things have changed, but you cant reason with your hangups.