My New Guitars Week: MG73-CO, Retro-H, Aerodyne

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:54 pm

Aww yeah.

Fender Mustang MG73-CO:
[youtube][/youtube]

Daisy Rock Retro-H Deluxe:
[youtube][/youtube]

Fender Aerodyne Strat:
[youtube][/youtube]

You know, I always had a bad opinion of basswood. But I just bought three basswood guitars (to join my basswood bass), and I couldn't be happier. In fact, after all is said and done and I get all my stuff sold, four of my eight remaining guitars and basses will be basswood.

The Mustang '73 RI is exactly as I expected. It plays like a dream, looks amazing, sounds underwhelming and weak. But since taking this video, I've modded it with a TBX tone control, a series-parallel push-pull volume, and two Lace Sensors and it can pretty much do any tone I need. This rewiring job was an absolute bitch, since I messed up a couple of times (reversing a push-pull is one of the most painful things anyone can ever do inside a guitar) but the results are well worth it. Also, I had to ream the metal plate to fit the larger pots and that was painful, until I remembered why I bought work gloves. Anyway, this Mustang will probably be my main stage guitar because it's got the looks, the sound, and the feel.

The Aerodyne Strat is also pretty much as I expected. The frets are a bit rough, which surprised me for a Japanese Fender, but that can easily be fixed. It's a blast to play. What's really cool about this guitar is that the specs are absolutely perfect by my standards for a Strat: 2 7/32" spacing at the bridge, 7.25" radius, 22 vintage style frets, Kluson-style split tuners, 1 5/8" nut width, thin C profile, very light basswood body. If I put together a Strat myself, those would be the exact specifications. Everything else is easily fixed with electronics. My plan is to install a TBX tone control, a neck-on push-pull volume, and an active midrange kit from Artec. I pondered the Fender Eric Clapton as well as the EMG SPC but chose to go with Artec since Artec offers a passive bypass option. This will probably be a guitar I use a lot live, especially when I want to play covers.

Honestly, the guitar I most love out of these three is the Retro-H. It's an amazing guitar! Other than a poorly cut nut, it is perfect. It sounds good in all three positions, has very responsive controls, looks the part as well. I might put in a TBX tone control, maybe if I get bored I might replace the bridge with something a bit hotter. I have a pair of Gibson Firebird pickups lying around but I really don't know if I even want to mess with this guitar. I played it during band practice on Thursday and other than the tuning problems caused by the poorly cut nut, it sounded good on every song and there was no having to fight to get a good sound. It just works. As much as I like this guitar, though, I don't know how much I'll play it live, since the weight distribution is a bit neck-heavy, causing it to be horizontal on a strap (it doesn't dip below that, though), like an acoustic. I prefer guitars that stay up, but I'd imagine that this will become the guitar that I always play around the house.

I like that guitar so much that I'm getting myself a Daisy Rock Stardust Elite, which is similar to the Retro-H (same body shape and idea) except that it's solid body and set neck, which I hope will help the weight distribution. It's supposedly made of sycamore (although that particular one might be mahogany, not completely sure), which is exciting because I've never had a guitar made of sycamore. It also has full sized humbuckers with coil split option, which Daisy Rock is smart enough to include on all their higher-end HH guitars. Even on their lower end instruments their humbuckers are splittable, even if there is no push-pull to make it happen. Why more manufacturers don't do this (cough Gibson cough) I don't know.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:22 pm

Did I recognize some Liz Phair in the Stang vid. Very nice

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:13 pm

Stang = win
I can't stand Strats but for some reason that Aerodyne is bad-ass.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:17 pm

Really great videos. After watching the 73 RI I want a Mustang more than ever. Aren't pickups from the 70s supposed to be wound hotter? Did that translate at all?

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:35 pm

cobascis wrote:Did I recognize some Liz Phair in the Stang vid. Very nice

Yep! I figured while I have the stockers in, I should try to get some Liz Phair sounds out of it, since it's certainly capable of them

MatthewK wrote:I can't stand Strats but for some reason that Aerodyne is bad-ass.

Yeah, I still only begrudgingly like Strats but the Aerodyne somehow makes it all OK for me.

George wrote:Really great videos. After watching the 73 RI I want a Mustang more than ever. Aren't pickups from the 70s supposed to be wound hotter? Did that translate at all?

No, the pickups are some of the noisiest and weakest AlNiCo pickups I've ever seen. They sound actually pretty good, though, but way too noisy.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:01 pm

honeyiscool wrote:
MatthewK wrote:I can't stand Strats but for some reason that Aerodyne is bad-ass.
Yeah, I still only begrudgingly like Strats but the Aerodyne somehow makes it all OK for me. .

Ditto. The Aerodyne has an unusual mojo that most Strats don't convey. I can't wait to get one.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:55 pm

I loved how the Mustang sounded with the stock pickups, though I understand why you switched them out. My Mullet-stang has vintage stock pickups and the output is very low, especially in the out-of-phase position. The bridge is my favorite position. The color you chose was just awesome, especially with that dark competition stripe and matching headstock. You don't see that color combo often, especially in the US so you will probably get lots of compliments on it for sure.

I also recently got an MG69 CAR Mustang from Serfx and it has the stock 69 neck pup with a Lace Sensor Red in the Bridge. Much Fuller rock tones. It is cool to have one vintage Mustang to compare to the modern Lace Sensor pickups. Totally in love with this guitar.

What gauge strings are you using? The MG69 came with .12s from Serfx and it feels perfect while my Mullet-stang and Musicmaster both have .11s and they feel a little loose. Considering upgrading the others to .12s.

Beside its tendency to dent easily, I am a big proponent of Basswood. My MG69 is basswood as was my Squier Duo Sonic I used to have. I really want the Fender J. Mascis (purple sparkle) Jazzmaster which is also Basswood. The weight makes it easier to play though my Baja Telecaster (Ash) is my lightest guitar for sure after my MG69.

One of my girls who I teach guitar to has a Daisy Rock very similar to yours. I was very surprised how well it was made and how good it felt to hold.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:36 pm

That black Stang is hot. Funny, how a relatively boring color looks rather sharp on a Mustang because we're so used to seeing Mustangs in brighter colors...

After an early start with 11s, I've always played 24" scales with D'Addario 10s with no issue. I'm going to attempt to switch to GHS 10s, which might be a little adventurous since GHS are so much slinkier, and if that even works, I'm going to try GHS 9.5s since I use them on all my other guitars. I've practically never heard of people using 9.5s on a Mustang but I think it should be able to handle it. Plus, I play with a very light strumming hand and don't mind a slightly higher action.

If I can find one for cheap, I will probably get a Daphne Blue '65 RI one day and try some of the boutique style Mustang pickups, maybe SD Antiquity or Curtis Novak, etc., though honestly the '65 RI pickups are good enough to play with stock. I think if I tape up the coils and wrap it in some shielding copper, it would reduce the interference. I always thought the '65 RI pickups sounded excellent, and the noise wasn't even that bad, but I couldn't handle the interference.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:39 pm

Based on your experience with the retro H, do you the plain robin egg blue retro h is worth $150? I see them pop up around that price all the time and love the look but was never sure of the quality of these.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:58 pm

This one?

Absolutely. The whole thing started because I was looking for a guitar for the lead singer, who is a smaller girl with smaller hands who had always played acoustic guitar and recently started playing electric full time. She has a very nice Squier 51 modded to the max, but the sound isn't quite for her because she wanted a guitar with a warmer sound. So I thought, semi-hollow with humbuckers should work for her, but I didn't like any of the available options except the new Epiphone 339 and maybe some of the Ibanez semi-hollows because I wanted to find a light guitar w/ a small neck. That's when this popped up on Ebay:

This was basically it. It looked great, it had all the features I was looking for, and it would have the warm sound she likes. I had my doubts, too, but I'd been on a bit of a Bangles kick lately and seeing Vicki Peterson rocking the Bengals Signature Retro-H as her primary guitar gave me some hope. I know it's a bit lame to think that way, but it is true that when you see a touring artist playing a Daisy Rock on the same stage as a Rickenbacker 350, one of the hottest guitars ever, it is a pretty ringing endorsement:

So yeah, I put trust in the Daisy Rock brand and the singer has been absolutely loving the green Retro-H, which she named "Sage." And then if by coincidence, that red Retro-H Deluxe popped up on Ebay for $200 w/ a case, and it was like, I practically couldn't resist. I love the neck. It's a very hard maple neck, quite thin but not obnoxiously thin, and the nut is very narrow. It seriously feels like a short scale while still being 24.75" scale. Oh, and it fits in a Les Paul case.

I really cannot believe how good the pickups are on my Daisy Rock Retro-H! They absolutely need no upgrades. It's not just me. I bought some Gibson mini-hums just in case I didn't like the pickups and I'm going to be reselling them because the stockers do it for me, and I'm a picky guy when it comes to pickups. Many players have said that the mini-hums on the Retro-H are some of the best stock pickups they've ever heard. So yeah, if you see the Retro-H mini-humbucker model ever come up for cheap, I definitely suggest you get it. They have the same pickups as Retro-H Deluxe, w/ Grover tuners, compensated wraparound bridge, and a very comfortable neck.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:02 pm

Here is the one my student has:

Did I mention my Mullet-stang looks like this on the back:

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:03 pm

That's the Siren, right? Have you played around with it any?

How are their so-called high output humbuckers?

p.s. Oh, that's why they call it Mulletstang.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:04 pm

She brought it and didn't have any amp to play it through so I am not sure.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:11 pm

Cool. I'm sure they're fine, although it's a bit of a shame that Siren doesn't have built in coil splits (the pickups are splittable though). I just saw on Schecter that they have this guitar (Schecter T S/H-1):

[youtube][/youtube]

I'm in love.

iCEByTes · Post by **iCEByTes** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:34 am

was that opinion too

but simple its truth on jag-stang , basswood simple not works.