DIY Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat Build | Part 2

In Part 1 of our DIY Stevie Ray Vaughan strat build series, we detailed budding blues guitarist Shuen's choice of a quartersawn flamed maple guitar neck. After the first few coats of nitrocellulose lacquer were applied, the gorgeous figure of the flamed maple is finally starting to really show through.

Nitrocellulose lacquer takes several days to dry between coats, and longer if humidity is high. While she waits for the neck to receive its final coats of lacquer, she could now turn her attention towards purchasing a guitar body.

Your (SRV) Body Is A Wonderland 

I don't know if she was being serious but Shuen initially indicated to me that she wanted to go with a cheap Squier body. Which went against the grain -- pun intended -- of her original intent of getting the best possible after-market parts for her DIY SRV strat build. My reaction to that of course was why would she want to couple a beautiful 450 dollar quartersawn flamed maple neck with a glued-together-from-5-or-more-pieces-of-wood, el cheapo Squire Statocaster body?

No offence meant to any Squire guitar owners out there. Your guitars rock. But only if it was made in Japan in the 1980s.

After trawling eBay for a good fifteen minutes in between sets at my regular Saturday night gig, I suggested that she look into getting an actual Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan signature model guitar body . EBay seller The Stratosphere had a few nice ones on sale, loaded with Stevie Ray-approved lefty gold Fender bridge, neckplate, neck screws and backplate. After a few messages back and forth the next day, we both agreed on the one that had the nicest wood grain of the four, made from two pieces of alder and joined right down the middle.

Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan body in 3-tone 'burst

The good thing about guitars with finishes like the Fender 3-tone sunburst is that the grain of the wood is plainly visible and for this reason, guitar companies also typically save their better-looking woods for their guitars with transparent finishes. No ugly knots or unsightly grain -- those are reserved for solid colors.

Dig that mellow 3-tone sunburst!

Ebay seller The Stratosphere has an interesting business model. They seem to routinely take apart various models of Fender guitars -- even the Custom Shop ones --  and list the necks, bodies and hardware separately.  Perhaps they move stock more quickly this way, rather than selling complete guitars.

Wherefore Art Thou UPS?

The Stratosphere shipped the SRV body via UPS.

Now I don't know about the quality of service of UPS anywhere else in the world, but the service of their Singapore division leaves much to be desired. They seem to require more than one delivery attempt, which makes me wonder if the first delivery attempt was even made at all.

Case in point, my own recent experience with UPS prompted me to advise Shuen to leave a clear notice outside her office door. In spite of the sign, she received an SMS message from UPS that a delivery was attempted but was unsuccessful since no one was there to sign off on the package. And since they had her cellphone number which was stated clearly on her door sign and the package, they could at least have called when attempting to deliver.

Shenanigans.

The now famous UPS sign that UPS missed

At any rate, after a phone call to UPS customer service in which she made her dissatisfaction clear, she received the package with the SRV body the next day.  The phrase 'Hell hath no fury..' comes to mind.

Pickup The Pieces

Shuen and I entered into a heated debate on the merits of purchasing a loaded pickguard versus obtaining the pickups, potentiometers, capacitor and 5-way switch separately and doing the soldering of the electronics ourselves. And by 'ourselves' I meant bringing it to a professional who could do it properly.

Loaded pickguards, on the other hand, are off-the-shelf units that come complete with pickups and soldered electronics. The only soldering that needs to be done is the connection of the ground wire and the output jack. She decided, wisely I think, to go the loaded pickguard route.

After another round of debates about pickup choices -- this one more testy than the first -- Shuen decided that the Fender Custom 69 pickups were the most pleasing to her musical sensibilities. And lo and behold, there was another seller on eBay, Twilight Guitars, offering a loaded pickguard with this very pickup configuration.

Tortoiseshell pickguard loaded with Fender Custom 69 pickups

On her initial enquiry email, I suggested that she ask if they could do a simple wiring modification where the second tone knob controlled the bridge pickup. The conventional 3-knob Stratocaster wiring is master volume and two tone controls, one for the neck pickup and one for the middle.

The shrill beast that is the bridge pickup is untamed by the tone controls and, in the wrong hands, has been known to blow audience's minds but not in a good way.  She checked with the seller and they replied that they already include this mod as a standard feature on all their loaded pickguards. Awesome.

Loaded pickguard wired by Twilight Guitars

Shuen chose a tortoiseshell pickguard and white parchment pickup covers, knobs and switch tip which look stunning against the sunburst of the SRV body. Yep, it's all coming together very nicely.

(Photo credits: Shuen Ong)

Stay tuned for Part 3 of Shuen's DIY Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat Build!

DIY Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat Build | Part 1

A good buddy of mine, Shuen, recently mentioned that she wanted to put together a Stevie Ray Vaughan-style strat from after market parts. A capable guitarist steeped in the Texas blues tradition, she wanted to know what the best options were as far as neck and body woods, neck profiles, pickups, electronics and hardware.

Having gone this route very recently with my Warmoth/MJT strat-style partscaster (an article on which will appear very soon), I felt I could give her the benefit of my experience as far as some of the potential pitfalls of assembling a DIY guitar. As well as the frustration she might encounter with a certain well-known courier company. But more on that later.

My first reaction when Shuen told me that she wanted to get the best parts for her DIY build was why not just buy a regular Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan signature model Stratocaster. After all they were pretty common on the used market for 500 to 800 bucks below retail.

Wring That (Guitar) Neck

Her response was an expletive-fueled rant about the shape and feel of the SRV necks from Fender.

When the dust had settled and I had stopped blushing, I gathered that the stock SRV necks were too big and chunky for her relatively small hands. And the glossy polyurethane finishes on them were something she just couldn't jive with.

Fair enough.

I tried to steer her towards ordering a Warmoth roasted maple neck with stainless steel frets which I felt would give the best bang for her bucks.

My own experience with Warmoth necks is that they require minimal fret dressing since their frets are already so meticulously installed and level.  And she could choose the neck profile that best suited her, out of dozens of neck shapes. Roasted maple necks also do not require a hard finish, a plus since she liked the feel of raw wood so much, and the stainless steel frets were likely to last for a couple of decades before they were even worn enough to require a fret dress.

And it's a heck of a lot more fun wringing that neck for those huge Albert King bends on slippery smooth stainless steel frets, let me tell ya...

But of course, off she went shopping to Singapore's guitar haven, Peninsula Shopping Centre, in search of a new neck.

What she purchased wasn't half bad, although pricey at 450 bucks. It wouldn't have been my personal choice but she chose a quartersawn flamed maple neck, with a rosewood fingerboard and medium jumbo frets. Quartersawn flamed maple is one of those rare wood types that one doesn't see very often, hence its higher price tag.

Regular flame and quilt maple is commonly derived from flatsawn wood, so to see a combination of flame maple on quartersawn is only less rare than finding a pearl in a dinner plate of oysters, as far as guitar necks go. Even Warmoth charges a premium for it.

But most importantly though, she felt the neck profile fit her hand perfectly.

What every girl wants - a nice dark rosewood fingerboard with medium jumbo frets

I recommended that she go with a gloss nitrocellulose finish for the headstock but a matte nitro finish for the back of the neck since she was averse to the sticky, tacky feel of a gloss finish. Nitro finishes I feel, allow for maximum resonance and are not as thick as polyurethane finishes which basically encapsulate the wood in a layer of plastic polymer.

What every girl needs - a quartersawn flamed maple neck

And as luck would have it, the same shop she bought the neck from also offered guitar finishing services in nitrocellulose. Nitro, I might add, is one of those hazardous materials that require a  spray booth, full protective gear and a respirator mask when being applied.

But about a week after sending in the neck for finishing, Shuen suddenly remembered that the edges around the headstock felt sharp to the touch -- a testimony to the accuracy of CNC machining technology, no doubt. Unlike polyurethane which covers quite thickly, the nitro finish would only yield a finished sharp edge. She called the store only to be told that they had already sprayed the initial coat. They didn't mind sanding over the sharp edges on the headstock but informed her that it would add another two weeks to the finishing process.     

Nitro tint comparison with a vintage Stratocaster

The pictures of the partially finished neck they sent over as a teaser are nothing short of stunning! Nothing like glossy nitrocellulose lacquer to bring out the natural beauty of wood.

Highly figured quartersawn flamed maple!

(Photo credits: Shuen Ong)

Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 of Shuen's DIY Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat Build

Fender ST72-80SC Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster | Part 3

I mentioned in Part 2 of this series that I wanted to completely rewire my Japanese Fender ST72-80SC Stratocaster from Ishibashi. This guitar is an unofficial Malmsteen model from 1992 or 1993, for sale in the Japanese market-only, so just for kicks, I decided to up the Yngwie pedigree and change the front and bridge pickups to DiMarzio HS3's.

So off I went to Singapore's Haven For All Things Guitar (Peninsula Shopping Centre to you readers from these parts) in search of supplies for the big rewire.

I managed to procure a CRL 5-way switch, two .047 Russian military-grade paper-in-oil capacitors, and of course the two DiMarzio HS3 pickups. In addition, I also bought three Seymour Duncan YJM 250k potetiometers. The pots are made by Bourns and are probably the smoothest, fastest pots you can buy. Great for quick volume swells but one must be careful when using these puppies in a performance setting. It's really easy to accidentally turn a tone pot down to zero.

Duncan YJM volume pots

But why two capacitors you might ask? I wanted to get the guitar wired so that the centre tone knob controlled the neck and middle pickups, while the second tone knob controlled  the bridge pickup. That bridge pickup can be a beast sometimes, especially through a bright-sounding amp like a Twin Reverb.

Russian paper-in-oil .047mf caps

The stock Stratocaster wiring never made sense to me. In the stock layout, the first tone pot was wired to the neck pickup while the second tone pot controlled the middle pickup. The bridge pickup, the brightest and potentially most brittle sounding of the the three was tonally always wide open.

I found that I had to constantly compromise on the amp settings when using a stock Strat. When I got the bridge pickup sounding warm and full, the neck pickup sounded muddy. When I dialed in a bright, twangy, ballsy tone on the neck pickup, the bridge pickup became a raging banshee -- absolute shrillsville.

What to do? Take a cue from tone guru Eric Johnson and dedicate the second tone pot to the bridge pickup.

In this very early article, I mentioned how Joe Bonamassa is also a fan of this mod. Although I'm not sure if his suspiciously overly simple description in the video of moving one wire on the 5-way switch to the left (or was that the right) would actually work.

I'll leave wiring my guitars to the pros.

Luckily for me, my go-to guy for guitar electronics, our good buddy and film location sound recordist Arnold San Juan, had just wrapped on a TV series he was working on and was on a two-day break before his next project. Arnold, if you remember, also rewired my Gibson BFG Les Paul, replacing the pots and caps, reconfiguring everything to traditional Les Paul wiring -- killswitch be damned.

After unsoldering the old Gotoh pots from the stock pickups, Arnold proceeded with installing the Duncan YJM pots. As expected, the shafts of the Duncan pots were a tad larger than the Gotohs which meant that the holes in the pickguard had to be enlarged. Good thing there was a circular file lying about.

Unsoldering the Gotoh pots and 5-way switch

After seating the new pots in the pickguard, it was time to break out the DiMarzio HS-3's from their packaging.

Duncan pots installed. Time to unleash the DiMarzios!

The store I bought the HS-3's from only had them in black and white. White would have looked fine, but a single black pickup would really have looked out of place. Fortunately, the store a few doors down had a set of three DiMarzio pickup covers in cream. And they weren't too expensive at 15 bucks.

The original owner of this guitar had replaced the front pickup with a generic Fender single-coil, so rather than buying three HS-3's, I decided to switch this pickup to the centre position, with the two HS-3's bringing up the front and the rear.

Original Japanese Fender single-coil pickup. Note additional magnet below

'Bringing up the front and the rear'. Bet you've never heard that phrase applied to guitar pickups before.

The cream pickup covers slipped over the HS-3's without a hitch, but the Fender pickup's coil was too short for the DiMarzio covers. The polepieces were just buried underneath, so I chose the best looking of the three original pickup covers and used that for the lone Fender pickup instead.

Using the supplied DiMarzio pickup screws and springs, Arnold mounted the two HS-3's in the neck and bridge positions. Oddly enough, we found that none of the original screws fit the mounting holes of the Fender pickup. All of them simply slid through the mounting holes without engaging the threads. Very strange, considering that the neck pickup was securely mounted with the old screws. Arnold managed to dig up a pair of pickup screws from his tool box that fit nicely although they were a little rusty.

Okay, very rusty, but they'll do for now.

Installing CRL 5-way switch

So why not the new Seymour Duncan Yngwie pickups, the ones that Malmsteen has been swearing are the best ones he's ever heard? Believe me, I was tempted.

But after hearing the Duncan Yngwie's and comparing the two, the DiMarzio HS-3's just sounded juicier to my ears. There was a slight compression to the tone of the Duncan's I didn't quite dig, and the overall tone was a little more scooped around the mid-range. But hey, Yngwie swears by them.

Our other good buddy, Sherman, recommended I give paper-in-oil capacitors a try when I wanted to rewire my Les Paul BFG. I liked how they sounded on the BFG so I decided to go with .047mf PIO caps for this rewire. So out went the stock dark green mylar capacitor along with the three Japanese Gotoh potentiometers.

Russian military-grade paper-in-oil capacitors

But does it all really make a difference? To be honest, with better pots and better quality capacitors you can expect a 10% improvement in tone. The pickups and the wood on the guitar itself make for the other 90%, player notwithstanding. But hey, we're replacing 20-something year old parts for a few bucks so why not?

It's like wearing a nice, clean pair of socks. No one can really see 'em, but at least you know they're there.

Wiring done!

When Arnold did the obligatory screwdriver tap-test on the pickups, we found that the Fender pickup, relocated to the middle position was the loudest of the three.

DiMarzio HS-3's are known to not be very hot, but I found it a little strange that they would have less output than a generic Fender single-coil. Setting the middle pickup low and flush to the pickguard a la Yngwie helped to even out the volume difference.

And I'm glad I didn't go with three HS-3's. The stock Fender is a nice contrast tone-wise and I often find myself playing off the middle pickup by itself, something I never used to do.

DiMarzio HS-3's installed in neck and bridge

The DiMarzio's by themselves do the job very nicely. They are smooth and creamy at high gain -- a very even sounding pickup with no surprising frequency spikes. But I do miss that typical ballsy Fender twang.

Leo Fender wasn't messing around, he certainly got it right way back when.

Fender ST72-80SC Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster | Part 2

If you read Part 1 of ordering this early 90's Fender Japan ST72-80SC Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster from Ishibashi's U-Box, I mentioned that I would be peering under the hood for a peek at the pickups and internal electronics.

In Part 1, I also mentioned that I would be installing KTS Titanium Saddles. Which didn't go too well as I'll detail later.

Taking a Strat's pickguard off to check for cracks in the body wood is something I have been doing since buying my very first Stratocaster on 1989.  I had returned home in the evening after a day of guitar shopping and was plugging in my new pride and joy, a black, rosewood-neck Japanese Fender Stratocaster into my 60-watt Ibanez IBZ amplifier. It sounded great as I put it through its paces and explored its different tones while 'Good Morning Vietnam' was showing on TV.

But over Robin Williams' histrionic dark humor, something told me to take a look under the pickguard. And lo and behold, there was a huge break in the wood where the neck pocket meets the front pickup. The bare wood was visible through the black finish. It was as if someone had dropped the guitar head first, which would have also left a huge dent in the headstock at the very least. Oddly enough, there wasn't a single mark.

What made me look under the pickguard? It was just one of those things -- something I can't explain to this day. And somehow, that memory still haunts me whenever I buy a new Strat-type guitar. And checking under the pickguard of any bolt-on guitar I might buy, regardless of manufacturer, has become a ritual of sorts.

The happy ending to this story was that I brought the guitar back to the store the next day, expecting to show the damage to the store's owner and have to explain that the guitar was already damaged when I bought it. Surprisingly, he didn't even ask to look at the guitar but offered me an immediate exchange. I asked how much a Fender American Standard would cost -- four extra bills -- and went with one of those, a black Strat with a rosewood fingerboard.

The store owner fetched it himself from the storeroom, the guitar in a molded black Fender ABS hardcase, still in the factory sealed cardboard carton. I offered to open up the carton myself and had to ask for a pair of pliers to remove the large brass staples. I didn't even have to try another American Standard to compare it with. It just felt right and it definitely had that Hendrix at Monterey vibe.

That black American Standard Stratocaster became my main workhorse instrument for many years and is a guitar I still own. Some things are just meant to be, I guess.

But back to my latest acquisition.

Brass nut and chrome bullet truss rod nut 

 After cutting the strings off the ST72-80SC, I proceeded to remove the eleven pickguard screws, which I noticed, were brand new. I'm guessing the old screws were replaced as a courtesy by the good folks at the Ishibashi setup department since 20-something year old nickel-plated screws would be seriously tarnished with rust, grime and who knows what else.

Popping the pickguard off, I noticed no splits, cracks or breaks in the wood -- phew.

I also noticed that despite the pickguard having been on for two decades, the paintwork underneath was the same shade of yellow cream as the rest of the body. I was expecting a 'shadowing', where the paint under the guard would be a much lighter color than the rest of the body that was exposed to light for 20 years. Interesting.

The pickup cavity of the ST72-80SC

But I was most curious about the pickups. Johan Lindh at Ishibashi informed me that the front pickup had been exchanged for a Fender USA model number 016730. Which turned out not to be a model number at all, but a part code one of Fender's pickup bobbin suppliers used. Part number 016730 can be found stamped underneath the stock vintage-wound pickups used on many Fender USA and Mexico models.

Note additional grey magnets underneath the middle and bridge pickups

Fender Japan's brochure from the '90s lists the pickups supplied with the ST72-80SC as 'ST-Current'. Note the additional magnet under each ST-Current pickup in the middle and bridge positions. Not your typical stacked single-coil configuration. And they sound pretty good -- a little higher output than regular single-coils, but without the screechiness especially at the bridge.

DiMarzio HS-3 pickups, Yngwie's personal choice at the time, came standard on model ST72-950SC in the bridge and neck positions. The ST72-950SC is identical to the ST72-80SC in specifications except for the pickups.

The wiring on the ST72-80SC features Japanese-made Alpha potentiometers, ubiquitous green capacitor and typical cheapo plastic 5-way switch. No fancy cloth-covered vintage wire here. If you ask me, even the soldering is a little sloppy.

Alpha potentiometers and ubiquitous green Fender Japan capacitor

Perfectly functional, but I might upgrade the circuitry at a later point with a CRL 5-way switch, Bourns 250k pots and a nice paper-in-oil capacitor. And yes, some braided cloth-covered wire, just for kicks.

I found out that the Fender Japan ST72-80SC and ST72-950SC were not official Malmsteen models -- hence the absence of Yngwie's signature at the headstock. Although the US-made Fender Yngwie Malmsteen model had already been around for a few years, Fender Japan had yet to strike up a deal with the Swedish maestro and were producing these unofficial Malmsteen models for sale in Japan's domestic market only. And the best part is that they were more like Yngwie's famous 'Duck - Play Loud' 70's Stratocaster, than the American Standard-style Strats that passed for the official Malmsteen signature model at the time.

An unofficial Ritchie Blackmore model, the asymmetrically scalloped ST72-75SC was also available at the time, decades before the current Mexican-made Fender Blackmore signature. No surprise really, seeing as how popular both Messrs Blackmore and Malmsteen were in Japan.

Scalloped, lightly figured maple fingerboard

Speaking of scalloping, the ST72-80SC is not as evenly scalloped as the current USA Yngwie signature models. Fender Japan seems to have played it a little safe and the scallop starts about 1mm after the fret, leaving each fret on a slight ledge. Not a bad thing really, it's just something I noticed when taking these pictures up close. And since each fret is on its own ledge, it might actually be easier to refret should I ever need to.

Closeup of scalloping

I also noticed that this guitar has an unusually thin finish for a Japanese instrument. The ding you see in the picture below -- one of several -- shows the thinness of the urethane finish against the bare wood underneath. Most polyurethane finishes render the guitar almost bullet-proof.

A ding to the bare wood shows how thin this finish actually is.

And about those KTS Titanium saddles..

These KTS saddles were a gift to me some years ago by a good friend of mine, but I never had a Strat lying around that needed a saddle replacement. I'd always been a GraphTech guy and would replace the stock bent steel or diecast saddles on a newly acquired Strat as a matter of course.

KTS Titanium saddles

When this guitar arrived I immediately thought of replacing the die-cast saddles with the KTS Titanium saddles at the next string change. I had never experienced playing a Strat with titanium saddles and I was definitely curious as to how differently the guitar would feel and respond. But I made sure to bring the guitar with its stock die-cast saddles to my usual Monday night gig first so I would have at least some remote frame of reference for tonal comparison later.

Original die-cast saddles and KTS titanium set

Things looked rosy as I removed each die-cast saddle and replaced it with a KTS saddle. I had replaced the saddles for the low E, A, D and G strings when I started noticing a problem. Instead of lining up in a straight row, I could see that the saddles were starting to fan out in an arc. The KTS saddles I had were too wide for this Japanese bridge!

Dang!

Saddles starting to fan out

Browsing the KTS site, I realized that the KTS saddles I had were from their PR-11 set which fit American and Mexican Fender bridges. The bridge that came with the ST72-80SC, probably made by Gotoh for Fender Japan, required the narrower saddles from the KTS PR-04 set.

Nothing to do then but to put the old die-cast saddles back on. I used the different hex screw heights on each saddle to determine their original order on the bridge and also so I wouldn't have to do a massive readjustment re-setting the saddle heights.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where I will upgrade the electronics and pickups on the ST72-80SC.

Ordering A Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster From Ishibashi's U-Box | Part 1

Watching a couple of Deep Purple and Rainbow videos recently had me hankering for a Strat with a scalloped fingerboard. Preferably one in Olympic white, with a rosewood fingerboard and black Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder single coils. Just like you-know-who used to play before he went medieval.

Ishibashi's U-Box had a Mexican-made Fender Ritchie Blackmore signature Stratocaster for ¥84000 or US$690 at the prevailing rate. Which was a bargain considering that a new one sells for ¥165000 or US$1350 on the Ishibashi site.

I must admit that I have long gotten over my Mexican vs Japanese vs American biasness when it comes to guitars. My Mexican-made EVH Van Halen is a good case in point -- it plays amazingly well and the workmanship is top-notch. A lot of great guitars are coming out of Fender's Ensenada, Mexico plant these days.

But as with most guitars on the U-Box that are a great value, the Blackmore signature was snapped up quickly by another customer.

Beat me to it. Foiled. Dang.

So continue browsing I did.

I noticed one particular guitar, listed as 'ST72-80SC YWH Mod' had been languishing on the U-Box site for a couple of weeks. From the model number I could tell it was a Japanese '72 reissue Fender Stratocaster, but what was with the 'SC' delineation?

'SC', it turns out, denoted a scalloped fingerboard, which meant that this particular guitar was an Yngwie Malmsteen signature model of some ilk.

Fender only ever produced scalloped fingerboards on two of their artist's models -- the Ritchie Blackmore signature, which came with an asymmetrical, gradated scalloped rosewood fingerboard, and the Yngwie Malmsteen signature models which came with evenly scalloped maple or rosewood fingerboards.

Asymmetrical scalloping on the Blackmore signature Strat

I wasn't sure if I was ready to bring a Malmsteen signature Strat out on gigs, since I don't associate my style with Yngwie's by any stretch of the imagination. You know how it is -- whip out an Yngwie Strat and people immediately start wincing, in anticipation of a barrage of swept arpeggios and a flurry of 16th note triplets. But a Strat is a Strat, is a Strat, right? Whatever that means.

My consolation was that the ST72-80SC YWH lacked the ubiquitous Yngwie signature at the headstock, found on all Malmsteen models. So for all intents and purposes, other than the scalloping, it was a just another blond, large headstock 70's style Strat.

And like the cherry on an ice cream sundae, that chrome bullet truss rod nut looks very cool. And you don't have to pop the neck to do a simple truss rod adjustment.

70's style bullet truss rod 

Listed at ¥60000 or US$493, I thought it was pretty good deal. Actually, it was an amazingly good deal. And why no one had jumped on it so far, I just couldn't figure.

So off went my ever hopeful email to Johan Lindh at Ishibashi who handles all the English correspondences with overseas customers.

And he replied with this description:

Thank you for your inquiry. Below, I will list all information we have
available for this item, and information on how to order.
=======================================================================
03-316479209 (used) FENDER JAPAN ST72-80SC MOD YWH M
Basswood body, 1p Maple neck / fretboard. Scalloped fretboard.
Neck pickup is a non-original Fender USA 016730 and the switch has been replaced as well.
Overall scratches and dents. Larger dents and chips in the lacquer/wood. No playability issues. Frets, truss rod and neck in good condition.
Serial: MIJ N043967
Made in Japan 1993-1994
WEIGHT: 3.6kg
Non-original gigbag

Item price: 60,000 Yen (excluding tax)
Shipping cost including insurance:  10,000 Yen
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total cost: 70,000 Yen
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderful. It hadn't been sold yet.

And seeing as how it was built between 1993 and 1994, this guitar, as of this writing, is 21 or 22 years old!

Fender ST72-80SC YWH M

But the basswood body, I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled about. The wood snob in me was hoping that it was alder, the standard body wood for Stratocasters.

Basswood is softer than alder, which, to my ears, gives more of an emphasis around the lower midrange. Alder is a harder wood and sounds a little brighter and springier. But since this was an all-maple neck, I reasoned that the basswood body would balance off nicely against the maple, tone-wise. And we've all played Strats with the alder body and maple neck combo that sounded a little too bright haven't we?

Basswood it is.

See, if you set your mind to it, you can rationalize almost anything.

The guitar shipped out from Tokyo International last Saturday, October 31st, and was at my doorstep on Tuesday evening. Or rather, the postman was at my doorstep with a large Ishibashi carton on Tuesday evening, with nobody home to receive it.

I immediately had a flashback of my last Ishibashi order, the Tokai L173. And like that last experience, the postman rang me on my mobile and sounded a little disappointed when I told him no one was home. He then told me that he had to go back down 14 floors to the van to get a delivery notice to slide under my door.

What? You mean you don't carry around a bunch of those in your pocket just for these instances?

But of course I didn't tell him that. I didn't even dare suggest it. The last thing I wanted is for a disgruntled postal worker to hurl my precious Fender ST72-80SC -- SC mind you -- into the back of the van in a huff.

Yeah, I'm paranoid that way.

And what do I find when I get home? A crumpled delivery slip jammed in the handle of my front gate. What happened to putting important documents into the mailbox or slipping it under the door where no one can get at it? Wake up, SingPost!

The next day, with delivery slip in hand, I made my way down to my neighbourhood post office in the afternoon to pick up my guitar.

The young lady who assisted me had some trouble finding the carton in the backroom, walking back to her workstation a couple of times to re-check the shipping number. She left the door slightly ajar as she went back to search for the third time and through the crack I noticed the Ishibashi logo emblazoned on a carton standing against the back wall.

I found it a little strange that she told me in Thai to go to a security side door where she could hand the carton over to me. Stranger still that I actually understood her. A new guitar will do that to ya.

The carton looked very well packed and felt well-padded from the inside so I decided against asking for a pen knife to check the contents for damage. I also didn't want to draw the attention of the somber looking people queuing to pay their bills and traffic fines by whipping out an ostentatious scalloped blond Fender Stratocaster in their midst.

Guitar in carton under my soon-to-be aching arm, I trudged my way home, stopping for a leisurely sushi lunch along the way.

My self-restraint these days is amazing.

In my impetuous youth I would have hopped into a cab, ripped open the carton with my bare hands and teeth in the backseat, tuned the guitar and then enthralled the cab driver with the plinkety-plink of my hottest licks along the way.

When I ordered the guitar, I expressed to Johan Lindh at Ishibashi that I needed the guitar to be very well packed since it had to endure a long trip in a softcase all the way from Japan. And also that SingPost could at times be quite rough in handling items. He told me he would take care of it and pack the guitar personally.

And man, did he oblige.

The famed Ishibashi carton. Good things do sometimes come in large packages 

He bubble wrapped the guitar thickly in its softcase, enclosed it further in a cardboard frame and placed it snugly into the carton surrounded with lots of packing paper. The guitar would probably have survived a drop from the cargo hold of a plane at take-off.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you properly pack a guitar for shipping.

Thanks Johan! Much appreciated.

The guitar arrived strings loosened and in perfect condition other than the dings and dents on the body as Johan had described in his email.

On closer inspection, the few dings didn't look too bad, considering this guitar is 22 years old. They add a bit of real vibe and character unlike the faux scrapes, scratches and dents you find on the relic jobs coming out of the Fender custom shop these days.

Two dents on the lower bout. No fake relic'ing here!

Surprisingly, the entire neck of this guitar is in pristine condition with nary a scratch or even a spot of wear. Even the top edge of the headstock, where most guitars of this vintage would at least have a couple of battle scars, is absolutely immaculate.

There is also almost no fret wear on the thin vintage-style Fender frets, and neither has the shiny brass nut lost any of its luster.

Amazing. The previous owner really took care of this instrument.

The setup guys at Ishibashi had strung the guitar with fresh .009 - .042 strings and adjusted the neck nearly straight with a hair of relief at the seventh fret and also adjusted the intonation. Interestingly, they had set the tremelo bridge so that it sat flush against the body, which is how I always set up my Strat bridges. This allows for maximum transmission of tone from the strings to the body and the guitar doesn't go wildly out of tune if you break a string.

Perfect.

What I found a little odd though is the extreme angle the tremelo arm sits when it is screwed into the bridge -- it points up at nearly a 45 degree angle relative to the body. I guess I'll have to bend it back to a more reasonable playing position.

Stay tuned for my next post where I peer under the hood of this Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster to check out the internal wiring and pickups. I might even install a set of KTS titanium saddles for good measure.

Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Nylon-String Stratocaster | Random Guitar of the Day

Here's something we don't come across too often -- a scalloped Yngwie Malmsteen nylon-string Stratocaster!

This guitar was made by Fender Japan, who seem to come with all kinds of fun variations on the traditional US Fender models, exclusively for the Japanese market.

This particular guitar, listed in the Japanese Fender catalog as model STCL-140YM, features what appears to be GraphTech's Ghost pickup system and a single volume control.  No fancy parametric EQs here.  And from the sound of it, it doesn't need one.

Although it must be a real pain stringing up the nylon strings onto the Fender Kluson-style machine heads.  Nylon strings are extremely stretchy when new, and before you know it you would have more wraps than those tiny tuning posts can accomodate.  You really have to underestimate for the amount of string slack you will need to use when stringing up this baby, especially on the plain nylon treble strings!
  
Yngwie Malmsteen does a fine job on his nylon-string Stratocaster in the video below:



Check out the eBay listing for this rare bird.

And here's an earlier post on a Fender Yngwie Double-neck Stratocaster!  Like I said, all kinds of fun variations..

Aethertone Custom Guitars

Matt Hancock, creator of Aethertone custom guitars has started his own blog -- http://aethertone.blogspot.com/ -- and I'm definitely staying tuned!

Matt has customised three guitars so far, but hey, he's only been at it for a year and a half.

But anyone with an eye for detail can immediately spot the amount of painstaking work he puts into his art -- from the faux burnished metal plates to the hundreds of painted-on screws that appear, uncannily, to be almost 3-dimensional!

His second project -- a Steampunk'd Les Paul Studio is featured in this pic.

Check out my earlier post on Matt's Aethertone AE1 Stratocaster here.

An Interview with Jazz Guitarist Bruce Arnold

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with New York-based jazz guitarist Bruce Arnold via this email interview.  Although not quite yet a household name, Bruce has played with musicians as diverse as Stuart Hamm, Peter Erskine, Joe Pass, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, Lennie Pickett, Stanley Clarke, and even the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

As well as being a composer and prolific author -- he has written more than a hundred music instruction books -- Bruce is also the Director of the New York University Summer Guitar Intensive.  He has also taught at prestigious music schools such as the New England Conservatory of Music, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Berklee College of Music, New School University, and City College of New York.

The Guitar Column:  In addition to performing and recording, you're also deeply devoted to music education.  What is the state of jazz guitar education nowadays? How has YouTube affected things?

Photo:  Bernard Levy

Bruce Arnold:  I think YouTube in general has been good for guitar education.  There are so many categories of students out there and YouTube provides a place for students of all levels, all genres and all degrees of seriousness to join in on the fun of playing the guitar.  YouTube also gives students access to videos of all kinds of guitarists in performance, so they can evaluate what a player brings to the table and check out how certain techniques are executed.

One of its drawbacks though, is that anyone, qualified or not, can get on YouTube and 'teach'. In some cases this generates some misleading, and sometimes damaging information. If students would only approach the guitar like they approach their health they would be much better off in the long run.

I mean, if you broke your leg would you rather go see a doctor or go to YouTube? So I get upset when I see people teaching things the wrong way and I feel sorry for those students who will practice something incorrectly and then have to unlearn it later.

TGC:  Describe the jazz guitar course you teach at New York University.

BA:  During the NYU Summer Guitar Intensive I teach two courses:  Approach Note Theory and Set Theory for Improvisation and Composition.

Approach Note Theory covers the use of chromatic passing tones and the numerous ways this style of playing has manifested itself and the future possibilities of its uses. This covers Bebop and post Bebop applications and includes many advanced concepts commonly used by today's improvisers.

Set Theory for Improvisation and Composition looks at organizing sound in a much more logical way using Pitch Class Theory and the various ways it can be applied.

I've written a book called Sonic Resource Guide which the students use to look at various relationships found in music. For instance this book contains all possible scales and which chords could be used over all those scales. It also contains all possible three and four note chords that can be derived from any scale. There are also lists of all possible hexatonic 3 note divisions possible for any 6 or 7 note scale.

In a nutshell, it's a resource book that allows a musician to see the internal possibilities of any group of notes and then use these possibilities in playing. Students are very excited about this course because it allows them to see at least some of the possibilities of future sound combinations. I also play a lot of my music, demonstrating how to apply this information to jazz standards. This also clarifies things for the students a lot.

TGC:  What is a typical one-to-one lesson like at NYU? What are some of the things you work on with your students?

BA:  I initially put all students through a number of tests to evaluate their skills and the places they need improvement. Then I assign a different practice regimen to each student based on that assessment.

There are things I always stress, though; I work with ear training which is great for connecting what they hear in their head to what they play on their instrument. I also spend time on things like time, rhythm, sight reading and more advanced concepts such as Pitch Class Theory.

TGC:  Most guitar players start getting into jazz after coming from a rock background. Assuming that such a person gets their melodic minor, harmonic minor and diminished scales and arpeggios together pretty quickly, what would you have them do next, to get their jazz sound together?

BA:   I tell students that scales are just one possible way to improvise.  Jazz actually employes many other types of soloing ideas besides scales; for instance arpeggios, approach notes, other non 7-note scales which are organized in unique ways like octatonic scales divided into two groups of four notes, Hexatonic scales divided into 2 groups of three notes...I could go on.

Then there's harmonic and chord tones and available tension reharmonization...and of course, rhythm, learning all your basic rhythms along with rhythms that combine notes, rests and ties. Then there's superimposition of rhythm and rhythmic transformations within a piece of music. Phrasing is also another important issue. And finally there is also ear training, which considering the possible complexities that can be found in jazz requires a student to develop an acute sense of pitch recognition. I've written books covering all of these aspects of playing music.

Overall my teaching method isn't style based, it is musicianship based, so I have all styles of guitarists studying these various topics with me and applying them to all styles of music.

TGC:  What other musical philosophies do you pass on to your students?

BA:   I teach my students to hear music the same way they think of it. It is so common for students of guitar to find shortcuts that in the long run make them less musical.

For instance if you think of an altered scale as playing a jazz minor starting from the 7th. i.e. a B altered scale is a C jazz minor scale, then you are really missing the boat. If you are going to think about playing music you should use your ear to tell you how you are hearing any specific musical situation and then think appropriately. If you had a B7 chord and you were hearing that B7 chord as the key center then you should think of the B Altered scale in B, not C. If you are not in the key of C, why are you thinking of C?  It's very unmusical.  Once we get that straightened out, then it's getting the student to the point that they aren't thinking at all, but just reacting. This gets much easier to do once we fix that first problem.

TGC:   There seems to be a new jazz language developing on the guitar in the hands of players like yourself, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Ben Monder and Mordy Ferber. From your point of view is it an evolution of bebop or is an entirely new language being developed?

BA:   I think it is the latter. I've often said that rock follows jazz and jazz follows classical. Many of the techniques that the aforementioned players are using in their improvisation and composition come from the classical musicians of the 20th century.

For myself, the use of Pitch Class Theory and the idea of making your soloing more connected to the composition have been a main driving force. Having one improvisational language that you then play over everything with no regard for the compositional aspects of the tune strikes me as very dated. When I write a composition and it uses let's say, a half step and a minor 3rd as its organizational factors, when I solo I feel I should also use this same idea in my soloing.

Check out my CD 'Art of the Blues' for a great example of this, or any of my work with the band Spooky Actions, where I use this approach whether I am working with Early Music or Schoenberg.

TGC:   How can a student interested in this modern way of playing get a handle on it? Could you describe some of the approaches involved?

BA:   There are some good books out there covering some of these new developments.  Check out books by Jerry Bergonzi, John O'Gallagher and Tony Moreno.  I have a number of books that explain or show different aspects of these new techniques.  Here's a selected list:

1. New York Guitar Method Volumes One and Two
2. MY MUSIC: Explorations in the Application of 12 Tone Techniques to Jazz Composition and Improvisation.
3. Sonic Resource Guide
4. Time Transformation
5. Big Metronome
6. Ear Training books (too numerous to mention, so check out http://www.muse-eek.com/)

TGC:   Any bright shining sparks amongst your current group of students that we may not yet have heard of?

BA:  I always have a few students that shine. I also get students that aren't shining yet, but as they progress they get more serious and really take off. I think it's important to understand that becoming a renowned and respected musician is more about dedication and drive than talent.

I've been teaching for over 30 years and seen it all. You can be very good at playing at a young age but have no drive. You could be technically proficient but lack soul and creativity. I could give you a hundred other combinations but really it's the whole package that goes into becoming a great musician.

Then there is the difference between an entertainer and an artist and the rare breed that is both. So I don't feel right giving you a particular name of a student. They could play wonderfully but not have the drive to tackle the incredibly competitive world of the music scene. Or they might be a lackluster talent, but work like crazy and have a good business sense that sees them succeed in five years. You just never know.

TGC:   As an aspiring jazz student yourself once, who were some of your early influences, teachers and mentors?

BA:   My earliest influences were blues players like Johnny Winter and Duane Allman.  When I went to Berklee College of Music I got into the straight ahead jazz players like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. 

But at the time, the local Boston scene also included Bill Frissell, Mike Stern and Pat Metheny.  I loved and absorbed their music too. I was blessed to be at Berklee at a time when it attracted the Who's Who of guitar, and this made an immense impact on me.

Besides my Berklee teachers I also studied with Charlie Banacos, Jerry Bergonzi and Mick Goodrick; for my money they are still the three pillars of modern music education.  It was sad to hear of the passing of Charlie Banacos.  He was a truly brilliant and caring teacher and a treasure house of information.

TGC:   What's the jazz scene like in NYC nowadays? Are there more or fewer jazz clubs than say 20 years ago and are there any live venues left for jam sessions?

BA:   The NYC scene varies a lot. Right now there are a lot more clubs opening in Brooklyn than Manhattan. There are very few musicians left actually living in Manhattan due to the exorbitant rents; most are in the outer boroughs, and so Brooklyn has a huge scene.

There has always been a great tradition of sessions, and that continues regardless of venues, so it's not very hard to find absolutely phenomenal musicians that want to do sessions at someone's apartment or studio.

Photo:  Michal Shapiro

TGC:   This interview wouldn't be complete if I didn't ask the obligatory gear questions.  Are you into effects pedals?

BA:   I use a Klon Centaur for distortion, Full Tone Clyde Wah and a Ground Control Midi Foot Controller or XKeys Stick to control patches inside SuperCollider.

TGC:   What is the SuperCollider?

BA:   SuperCollider is an object oriented programming language for real time audio synthesis and algorithmic composition.  It was released in 2002 by its author, James McCartney.  It is commonly used for acoustic research, algorithmic music and interactive programming. 

For a performing guitarist this means you could build any traditional guitar effect like reverb, delay, compression, pitch shift etc… or any synthesis like additive, subtractive, FM to enhance your guitar sound or as an addition to your guitar sound. It can also record, playback and manipulate prerecorded sounds including the traditional "loop" idea used by many guitarists. 

I could go on, but suffice it to say it can do just about anything you could think of when it comes to sound.  With SuperCollider I create personal, unique sounds and the beauty part is that I just carry around a laptop rather than pounds of pedals. 

It also allows me to program new sounds anywhere whether I have a guitar strapped around my neck or not.  So it's highly efficient and I commonly can be found programmming new sounds on a plane or train as I commute to gigs.

TGC:   I watched your Master Guitar Symposium dvd and you performed duets with your guest players entirely on a Fender Stratocaster.  Your choice of a Stratocaster seems to be unusual for a jazz guitarist although you do get a really warm sound out of that instrument. Do you have it setup in a particular way? What pickups and strings do you use and why is there a strip of velcro running along the top of your guitar? Some tone enhancing secret perhaps?

BA:   I usually use the 2nd position between the neck and middle pickup and roll off the tone to about 4 or 5.  I use Kinman pickups because they give you that vintage sound without noise.  Strings are LaBella. 

The Velcro strip is for attaching my XKeys Stick which allows me to run SuperCollider presets from the guitar. I don't always use it, so you only see the strip in some of the photos. I also use midi foot controllers and many other devices.

TGC:   How did the idea for the Master Guitar Symposium dvds on Mel Bay come about?

BA:   Each July I direct the NYU Summer Guitar Intensive. We usually have around 45 clinicians that come to talk to the students and play a bit.

The information they give is fantastic and Bill Bay at Mel Bay and I thought it would be a good idea to let people in on this great event through the DVDs. I had a ball hosting it and playing with all those great players. I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about guitar.

TGC:    Mel Bay seems very dedicated to jazz guitar education. They seem to have a pretty wide selection of books and dvds on the the subject -- moreso it would seem than any other publisher.

BA:   Yes, Mel Bay is really dedicated to guitar education on all levels.  They are also a great pleasure to work with.  Bill Bay and Colin Bay are great people who sincerely want to provide the best guitar educational products possible.

TGC:   What are some of the current musical projects you're involved in?

BA:   I'm about to release a duet CD with Dave Schroeder aka Woodrow T. Greenwich on harmonica and myself, aka Arnett Brewster on lap slide guitar. The duo is called Great Houdini and is a CD of all original music. We call it Great Houdini because we both get to be "escape artists" from our usual roles as sax player and guitarist.

I'm also currently recording a new Rock/Fusion CD with bassist Jerry DeVore and Kirk Driscoll on drums. This new CD only uses 025 in the compositions and improvisation. (025 being a major second and fourth.) I'm also starting to write new music for my jazz trio with Tony Moreno on drums and Dean Johnson on bass.  Once again, I'm exploring the idea of superimposing time levels in my compositions and improvisation, as I did in "Art of the Blues."

TGC:   Could you talk about your books a bit?

BA:   I've written quite a few books to help musicians learn everything from the basics of music to learning and applying very advanced topics. The subjects include Composition, Music Theory, Scales, Chords, Ear Training, Rhythm and Time.

You can find a complete list at http://muse-eek.com/ but I believe that learning music needs more guidance than just buying a book and working through the exercises. You need some personal guidance to make sure you are dealing with your weaknesses and practicing in a physically and mentally correct way.

To help musicians in this area I do quite a bit of email correspondance, Skype lessons, along with some new projects coming out soon. I will be doing online lessons with Truefire's Guitar Sherpa starting in a few months as well as a more robust interface at http://muse-eek.com as soon as the new website is finished. I also have a music blog on my artist website http://brucearnold.com/ where I discuss many of the topics mentioned in this interview.

TGC:   How about leaving us with a memorable road/gig story from your experience as a jazz musician.

BA:   Living in NYC you can get recommended for some unusual gigs.

About 10 years ago I was called on to work with a very serious classical group called the Absolute Ensemble.  They were performing a piece called "Blood on the Floor" by Mark Anthony Turnage that called for a jazz section. Peter Epstien was on saxophone, Peter Erskine was on drums and yours truly on electric guitar.  I was just in the middle of my SuperCollider explorations, and one night when it was my turn to solo, I just had this "aha" moment, and created an atmospheric sound collage, along with the notes.  Maybe I was channelling Cage or Stockhousen. 

Afterwards, Erskine said it gave him goosebumps, and as it turned out, the composer was in the audience and he wrote to me singling out that solo as something he really liked. You might not think of that as a great jazz story, but really, the use of sounds as music has its own precedent in jazz as well as other kinds of music. I also felt this great clarity while I was playing, that I usually associate with a good solo. And I remember that solo more than the millions I've played, for those reasons.