when it arrived it looked like the interior of a Jaguar Sovereign, chrome knobs, black pickup covers etc. terrible.
alas, i tried to get my alu gold guard on it but the neck pocket is ever so slightly wider than normal, and the neck just will not fit. the awful tort guard has been chopped slightly to allow the neck to fit.
i even tried my spare mint guard
and neither fit. i will endeavour to file one of them down as the guard it came with is terrible. excitement sadly got the better of me so i reassembled it to have a play.
innards
the pickups gave me a chill because they look like the shit ones that come with affinity strats - notice the bar magnet underneath. also take note of the low tier electronics. i thought i'd been shafted.
however the tops have the same mould as the set i once bought off thom's cij strat
i then did some snooping and found out this is normal. here's a set from a cij fender from the same year (93-94)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loaded-1993-R ... 3cce7c1375
i think i will change these at some point. they sound okay, but just a little brash.
i have no idea what's going on with this pickup selector screw. maybe the pickguard melted or something.
neck
of course, being a cij we all expect the neck to be amazing, and it is. quite deep but feels about as wide as a normal strat neck. they've done some trickery here to not stop your fingers bunching up at the nut. it is very easy to play, unlike rickenbackers which are broom handles, nor dano dc12s which are just on the wider side of being wonderful.
also take note - PRISTINE frets and nut. not a single sign of wear at all. most certainly vintage fret wire although i can't determine the radius, could be 7.25" if fret size is an indicator but feels slightly flatter.
one of my favourite part of the guitar is the headstock. check out that egregious string bar, those 12 darling klusons, and that neat compact design. it feels very nicely thought out and purposeful. the guitar is perfectly balanced with no neck dive as a result.
keen eyes might notice how thirsty that rosewood looks. i don't think it's been oiled in it's 20 years, though given the body and neck's utterly immaculate condition, i wouldn't be surprised if it's been sat in a case this whole time.
setup
in a word: garbage, on arrival. the classic 12 stringers mistake of whacking a set of 46-10s on it. this feels like chastisement and could be why youtube is gummed with people who sound like shit and can't actually play a 12 string. not only this, but the neck relief was unbelievable, as was the intonation (you won't believe it). whoever owned this guitar either a) liked pain and frustration, b) is a rookie, c) is impatient and gave up.
it is now strung with 40-8s. that's right, you heard me. the effect of two strings together makes them respond more like a set of 9s or 10s. in fact, i now exclusively string it up with 10 strings rather than 12. i've started to use only one B and top E because the chorus effect sounds like shit (these two strings are swapped for a higher gauge to stop the overly slinky feeling). this makes the guitar inifinitely more playable.
relief is set to a very small amount - almost straight. rough intonation has been done but that will be a weekend activity to get right. thankfully the condition of the frets will ensure a very nice setup. the bridge is one of those fully adjustable gotoh styles so i can get really nerdy with it.
sound
wonderful. the neck pickup is a little less inspiring than i'd have hoped but i think after a full setup it will come into its own. the real winners though are the quack positions. very detailed and glassy. the output seems to be quite boisterous. in fact i may just be boring and put alnico 3s in again. i don't like the affinity bar magnet association - call me a snob. the sound is serviceable for now at least.
basically imagine a 12 string strat and you're not too far off, but it has a flavour of it's own. slightly unpredictable with metallic shimmers and swirls coming out from all directions, yet still very focused and articulate.
i suppose the main question at this point is whether it feels like a £500 guitar or not. it's hard to say. the rarity of these things pushes it up there, and cijs are very good guitars, and it feel like a cij. when you bear in mind that it is one third of the price of a rickenbacker it most definitely seems worth it.
future aspirations
- full setup
- pickup change
- dpdt for neck and bridge
- wire bridge to tone pot (very strident pickup at the moment)
- NEW PICKGUARD
i thank you
