New Fender Alternate Reality series

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:45 am

These popped up as I was searching for a 12 string recently. The actual XII in this range is just a little too pricey for me (though also not totally mad by any means), but I actually quite like the look of the Sixty Six.

http://www.gear4music.com/news/article ... 2019-01-24

I think the Meteora and the Powercaster are awful, but whatevs. Fender still wanna try and push the idea of offset-bodied half-arsed superstrats and it looks like they may never stop. They must be being bought by someone.

The Sixty Six.

The XII.

Powercaster.

Meteora.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:08 am

Was keen on the xii but the bridge being a standard modern Gotoh stuck on a vintage-shaped backplate feels like too much of a cop out

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:37 am

If they had gone with original bridge the guitar must have cost more. They don't produce it and bringing it back for a limited run wouldn't be worth it investment wise. Though they could start making the baseplate again to use it in future runs of Duo Sonics, Toronados and slightly modified in XIIs. By doing things right they can actually divert customers from "boutique" builders by offering cool fully original designs at half of the price for boootique instruments. In short they should keep the mojo preserved

With the Gotoh bridge and the backplate though it looks DIY punky and will find its customer in any way

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:44 am

Looked it up XII's and Duo's baseplates are actually different

George · Post by **George** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 12:12 pm

The original xii bridge also has full string-through, not 6 top-loaded, and all saddles are individually sprung and adjustable without individual height, not coupled up (which is a bit of a pain in the arse to set up and intonate). It was also available on early MIJ Strat xiis iirc. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve always wanted one but that could be because IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve not played on one before and it has more mojo arrows.

And yeah IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m aware this is a cost saving measure but this compromise, and getting rid of the rotary selector, is Ã¢â‚¬Å“funny shaped epiphoneÃ¢â‚¬Â� territory. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s almost like they shouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have put the electric xii in with this wack pawnshop alternate realities range of shitty mashups that no one is going to buy.

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m being sour grapey as fuck about this but bah, I was excited and would have paid the extra.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 4:09 pm

Saw a modded sixty six up on Reddit.

Swap the neck out for a regular rosewood board Strat one and it looks way better.

kingkiller · Post by **kingkiller** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 4:20 pm

Quite like the sixty-six because itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s weird. WonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have that kind of money to buy one while theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re out though. And the Powercaster speaks to me because itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s exactly what IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d do to a cheap Jazzmaster or Jag after I got bored of having a regular one. I thought the Telemaster from the first Alternate Reality was cool, but all of them end up being a bit too expensive for what they really are.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:21 pm

Naw, these are shite.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:01 pm

they should make a sweet telebody with a jazzmaster neck and jazzmaster pickups and.....

ohh wait they already made it 10 years ago for only 300 bucks but FENDER IN ITS INFINATE WISDOM DECIDED TO MAKE IT IN TWO COLORS, SHIT BROWN, AND STOMACH FLU SHIT BROWN.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:17 pm

That Powercaster makes me think of teh teh's original Jagstang sketch.

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:53 pm

DidnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t we have a thread about these six months ago?

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:37 pm

BearBoy wrote:DidnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t we have a thread about these six months ago?

it was winter NAMM 2019 but yes. all this shits been covered

I think they are just starting to roll the fucking things out now after everyone has lost any fucking interest in them though. wheeeeeeeeeee

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:23 pm

They're pretty "safe" considering what they're meant to be, yeah.

It's kind of sad to think that maybe, at some point during the design of the XII as an example, they may have been throwing around the idea of including the rotary switch, maybe a Jag/Jazz switch plate, and other cool things and then, for the sake of trying to ensure they still managed to shift them to boring wankers, decided to strip all that back and simply give it the split pickups.

kingkiller · Post by **kingkiller** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:09 am

ekwatts wrote:They're pretty "safe" considering what they're meant to be, yeah.

It's kind of sad to think that maybe, at some point during the design of the XII as an example, they may have been throwing around the idea of including the rotary switch, maybe a Jag/Jazz switch plate, and other cool things and then, for the sake of trying to ensure they still managed to shift them to boring wankers, decided to strip all that back and simply give it the split pickups.

They seem to be taking risks in all the wrong directions. Like, rotary switch? Nah thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll piss off the mojo dudes, but letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s add a bunch of right angles to an offset body (which I think in the original thread where they introduced the Meteora in Summer Namm '18 someone showed was like a straight ripoff of another builderÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s design)

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 3:04 am

Gah.
I didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t notice the bridge on the XII until you pointed it out... my excitement for these has dropped significantly. Fuck.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:18 am

Ankhanu wrote:Gah.
I didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t notice the bridge on the XII until you pointed it out... my excitement for these has dropped significantly. Fuck.

It's not just the bridge, the body shape also seems to differ a bit from the original if you look at various photos, which may or may not bother some.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:45 am

These are so lazy.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:36 pm

Fakir Mustache wrote:
Ankhanu wrote:Gah.
I didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t notice the bridge on the XII until you pointed it out... my excitement for these has dropped significantly. Fuck.
It's not just the bridge, the body shape also seems to differ a bit from the original if you look at various photos, which may or may not bother some.

Those changes don't bother me much; I'm not looking for a Vintage replica exactly, but a good XII with basically classic sound. The split pickups appeal, the 3-way vs. rotary isn't important to me(rotary would be nice, but not a deal breaker), slight changes to body shape, fine... but the bridge I made an assumption that it was fully adjustable, and basically like the original. I hadn't looked that close, I didn't even notice that it's just a standard bridge mounted on top of a plate... that's a big disappointment.

Given the other options out there, though, I'll probably still try to get one. Every other 12-string I've looked at has been a compromise in some way, or way out of my price range. These aren't cheap, but they're not particularly high priced neither.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:39 pm

cant you just spend 10 bucks and put a rotary in it?

what am I missing here?

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:37 pm

Gotoh bridge that is on this guitar is fully adjustable and to my knowledge is the best 12 string bridge out there. Aesthetically it looks like ass on that back plate, maybe without it, it would've looked better. But again, I'd buy a 12 string strat instead rather than buying some guitar that resembles a XII