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The gotoh is fully adjustable but both strings share one saddle and the drone strings intonation is sorted by loosening a plate of metal using an Allen key and shifting backward or forward. This sounds like a minor point but I find it frustrating. It’s also half toploaded, and I expect some of the electric xiis mojo tones would come from it being fully string-through. I also think the height adjustment on each gotoh saddle to be too much to deal with and I would have liked the fixed radius option.

There’s no magic to the gotoh bridge plate either, it’s all in the saddle design. Fender could have crafted a vintage styled bridge plate and used the saddles only.

I guess it’s the totality of everything missing about the xii that I don’t like, but the bridge is the real deal breaker. def still give them kudos for the split pickups though

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


what am I missing here?

I think it’s principle. You could put a rotary in it if you were so inclined, but why did Fender decide to change it? And also, some may not be so keen on modding a guitar they had to spend a grand on. Not that you couldn’t, but if I’m paying a grand or more for an instrument, personally I’m not coming near it with a soldering iron

George wrote:The gotoh is fully adjustable but both strings share one saddle and the drone strings intonation is sorted by loosening a plate of metal using an Allen key and shifting backward or forward. This sounds like a minor point but I find it frustrating. It’s also half toploaded, and I expect some of the electric xiis mojo tones would come from it being fully string-through. I also think the height adjustment on each gotoh saddle to be too much to deal with and I would have liked the fixed radius option.

There’s no magic to the gotoh bridge plate either, it’s all in the saddle design. Fender could have crafted a vintage styled bridge plate and used the saddles only.

I guess it’s the totality of everything missing about the xii that I don’t like, but the bridge is the real deal breaker. def still give them kudos for the split pickups though

This is pretty much exactly what my position on it is. I'll give it a chance and try it out before deciding whether or not to pull the trigger, but the bridge being brought to my attention has shifted the equation a bit.

kingkiller wrote:I think it’s principle. You could put a rotary in it if you were so inclined, but why did Fender decide to change it? And also, some may not be so keen on modding a guitar they had to spend a grand on. Not that you couldn’t, but if I’m paying a grand or more for an instrument, personally I’m not coming near it with a soldering iron

Yup. The only one of my more expensive guitars I've taken a soldering iron (and in the case of putting in the rotary, probably a drill and/or router) to is my Jaguar; I swapped out the Japanese pickups for AVRI '62s. If possible, on a costly instrument, I want to buy it the way I want it to be and not fuck around spending more money, and time, respeccing it, and possibly damaging it.

I think one of the things that annoys me is the lack of ambition when thinking about what guitars or musical instruments would look like in an alternative reality.

Like, if Hitler had have gotten into art school, or if The Reformation never really took off, if apes ruled the world or if people had arms for legs and legs for arms.

Or, if Fender made much the same guitars but with the parts of some of their guitars stuck on the parts of other guitars.

What if we took one of our other guitars... and made it Strattier??

They actually did re-release the electric mandolin "The Mandocaster" as "The Mando-Strat" for no reason whatsoever some time back. The design wasn't changed to be more Stratty or anything.

I like the XII. The changes from the '60s original wouldn't bother me in the way they would on a 6-string, nor does the notion of 12-saddle bridges because I've only played acoustic 12-strings before anyway.

paul_ wrote:They actually did re-release the electric mandolin "The Mandocaster" as "The Mando-Strat" for no reason whatsoever some time back. The design wasn't changed to be more Stratty or anything.

I wouldn't mind that if they did something properly stupid and bonkers, like the bridge and pickups of a tele with a tele neck but on the body of a mandolin. It'd be shite, but it least it would be half way interesting shite. Or a Mando-master, which would have a big floppy tremolo and an inexplicable dark switch.

kingkiller wrote:

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


what am I missing here?

I think it’s principle. You could put a rotary in it if you were so inclined, but why did Fender decide to change it? And also, some may not be so keen on modding a guitar they had to spend a grand on. Not that you couldn’t, but if I’m paying a grand or more for an instrument, personally I’m not coming near it with a soldering iron

i think my opinion on modding 1000 dollar guitars with a 10 dollar switch's is more in tune with this opinion on star wars.

kingkiller wrote:

Ankhanu wrote:

theshadowofseattle wrote: Same

Love me some star wars.

I feel it.

i just don't give a fuck about shit like replaced switches anymore because its gonna have 2cm deep black pick scrapes in it 5 minutes after I pick the thing up. its made me completely casual with picking up expensive over priced bullshit in shops too. im just casual with stuff now and don't sweat it like I did when I was 20. back then old guitars were like these things that should be collected and enshrined, and now i would rather see some kid save up, buy something old and sweat and bleed all over it playing it at a local show in some other kids basement.

i really really want the 4 string Tenor guitar in this series that comes out in November.

i wanna put big fat fuckin strings on it and string it EADG

presell is 500 bucks
http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/li ... r/18725698

[youtube][/youtube]

Those do look pretty sweet.

My thinking on the new XII is that as cool as an a reproduction of the original bridge would've been, it definitely would've placed these instruments into the top tier blooz lawyer price range. What I'm SUPRISINGLY PLEASED at is that they did take the time to make a surrounding plate for the off the shelf bog standard gotoh bridge. I know a lot of people have been complaining about the offsets that have pickguards cut for big giant mustang bridge plates that instead wind up with a tiny non trem strat bridge. Filling up that space with some chrome seems like a concession or at least an attempt to address that complaint while still making a guitar that still appeals price wise to someone thinking "well I've always wanted to try an electric twelve string" or the "ooh, I've been looking for a twelve that isn't a ric!"

this way you can source an old one if you want!

BillClay wrote:My thinking on the new XII is that as cool as an a reproduction of the original bridge would've been, it definitely would've placed these instruments into the top tier blooz lawyer price range. What I'm SUPRISINGLY PLEASED at is that they did take the time to make a surrounding plate for the off the shelf bog standard gotoh bridge. I know a lot of people have been complaining about the offsets that have pickguards cut for big giant mustang bridge plates that instead wind up with a tiny non trem strat bridge. Filling up that space with some chrome seems like a concession or at least an attempt to address that complaint while still making a guitar that still appeals price wise to someone thinking "well I've always wanted to try an electric twelve string" or the "ooh, I've been looking for a twelve that isn't a ric!"

There is certainly that. The bridge was my primary complaint about the Pawn Shop Special Mustang; loved the guitar, hated that little hardtail strat bridge. Same with several other models.

Ankhanu wrote:
The bridge was my primary complaint about the Pawn Shop Special Mustang; loved the guitar, hated that little hardtail strat bridge. Same with several other models.

presto!!!

“You can mod it,� really doesn’t address discussion of “instrument as designed/released�.
Mods like that are simple as hell, but do require spending more money, and varying levels of hassle. Yeah, you’ll eventually get an instrument specced the way you want, or how it “should have been�, but the whole point is that in some cases, you really shouldn’t have to. We’re talking about design choices in the product as released, and what could, or should have been, not how to address them after the fact.

robroe wrote:i really really want the 4 string Tenor guitar in this series that comes out in November.

i wanna put big fat fuckin strings on it and string it EADG

presell is 500 bucks
http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/li ... r/18725698

[youtube][/youtube]

If you're into that, Eastwood had a tenor Mustang, cost about the same but I think it's discontinued.

[youtube][/youtube]

rumbleseat fuckin packed up and left Ithaca

fuck rumbleseat

robroe wrote:rumbleseat fuckin packed up and left Ithaca

fuck rumbleseat

Actually the clear message was “fuck Ithica� there. In any case, they moved. That’s some bootstrappy moxie.

move they did.


i gotta give em that.