ShortScale.org

Not really mentioned this only to a few but i've been surfing for a hot rodded Strat at a good price for a few months.
Initially i considered fitting a Floyd Rose on my CIJ Jaguar but the complications involved and cost made me decide against it. So, in keeping with Fender looks and feel the only route to go was with old 80's Stratocasters. There are other models like the Richie Sambora Strat but they are costly.

Two came up this weekend that were too good to miss. Both E Series Jap Contemporary Stratocasters.
One is stock but the other is really hot rodded to the max.
So here is the first one. A bit about it...
Its been stripped and refinished (i like this), the headstocks were black so when the previous owner stripped it the decal was lost. Original Fender machine heads, neck plate, knobs but it has two active EMG's fitted, a Washburn 'Wonderbar' Trem which is basically a 'Kahler'. Also a micro distortion circuit (yeah i know, WITH active EMG's!).

Its taken me all morning to put it together. The wiring was a complete nightmare! The neck pup was disconnected, it had no jack and no battery clip for the EMG's.
Once i got it working... WOW! Plays great, and sounds monstrous!! The tone is unreal.
It was a bit of a gamble but its paid off. The pickups and Trem (rare to find) alone are worth nearly double what i paid for this guitar!

Here's some pics...



A close up of the Kahler shows previous bridge positions, i'm not concerned, its not meant to be pretty.. just Rock!


WTF?


Notice the micro circuit board to the right..


Nice fast neck with medium jumbo frets..


When the other arrives i shall take pics.

Ahhh, I saw this on the bay and spotted your question at the bottom. I was going to ask you about it, but I dun forgot.

Looks a nice deal.

Now aren't you glad you bought this instead of the "Mexican Restaurant" superstrat a while back?

where did those knobs come from???

benecol wrote:Now aren't you glad you bought this instead of the "Mexican Restaurant" superstrat a while back?

Lol, aye.

The knobs are amazing. I hope the other hath them.

Yaldy.

odd but kinda cool. hows the distortion circuit sound?

also what are active pickups like? I dont get the point of them if you're not going to have the EQ cut/boost sliders, like on an active bass. how are they different to just having powerful humbuckers and turning the gain on the amp up??!

aphasiac wrote:odd but kinda cool. hows the distortion circuit sound?

also what are active pickups like? I dont get the point of them if you're not going to have the EQ cut/boost sliders, like on an active bass. how are they different to just having powerful humbuckers and turning the gain on the amp up??!

Fran wrote:When the other arrives i shall take pics.

Using Active Pickups is not the same as turning your amp up for crying out loud.

Jesus.

Lol, you get more punch, boost and richer harmonics aph, they will also push a valve head way before passive pickups.
The boost circuit sounds like a weak Fuzz on clean settings. But going through distortion it boosts the low end, it gets a bit muddy as well. I've noticed the tone pot has two stages as well, dunno what thats all about. Sounds good though.

Fran wrote: Lol, you get more punch, boost and richer harmonics aph, they will also push a valve head way before passive pickups.

ok, maybe my question should be "how's it different to having a transparent boost pedal between your passive guitar and the amp". Anyway I've had a read-up, and kinda get the point of actives now.

Fran wrote: I've noticed the tone pot has two stages as well, dunno what thats all about. Sounds good though.

It's not boost and cut is it, rather than just passive cut?

aphasiac wrote:

Fran wrote: I've noticed the tone pot has two stages as well, dunno what thats all about. Sounds good though.

It's not boost and cut is it, rather than just passive cut?

God knows, there's that much going on with the circuitry. All i know is it sounds good.
I'll have to let mike take a look at the electronics sometime in the future, he may be able to shed some light on wtf is going on!

aphasiac wrote:odd but kinda cool. hows the distortion circuit sound?

also what are active pickups like? I dont get the point of them if you're not going to have the EQ cut/boost sliders, like on an active bass. how are they different to just having powerful humbuckers and turning the gain on the amp up??!

In my experience it's so that the player can panic and create a 5-minute hiatus while they try to find an effect that still uses a 9v battery that they can afford to lose to power the guitar, and replace the dead battery.

Yeah if I see it in person I'll be able to figure it out. Is the 9V in the back of the guitar?

Mike wrote:Yeah if I see it in person I'll be able to figure it out. Is the 9V in the back of the guitar?

Yeah. Originally these had a side mounted jack but it has been dowelled and a standard jack placed on the front of the body. I used the old little jack compartment for the battery.

If you need a HS decal I think I have an extra one I can send you.Let me know if you want it.

I need a decal for sure, what is an HS decal?

I would assume headstock.

Fran wrote:I need a decal for sure, what is an HS decal?

Huge Sexy

Lol. Okay i get it.