Current Guitar Lineup

[Zodiac]

Well spotted. It's a partscaster.
Bought it cheap from a mate.
Large 70's logo on small headstock. He had a weird sense of humour.
Having said that, it plays well, sounds good, and I'm never selling it on.

 

[Jarick]

Periodic update:

I'm really loving the Ibanez AZ with the Dimarzio Area 61 and 67 noiseless single coils with the Suhr Thornbucker bridge. It's just a fantastic guitar. I'm not sure how much is the guitar vs pickups but not only are they noiseless but they seem to cut really well.

So I'm going to put the Dimarzio Injector set back in the Strat. The true single coil pickups when compared to the Ibanez just seem to lack that midrange cut. They have a little more open high end but of course are noisy. I dunno, maybe it's just the Ibanez being such a killer guitar. Anyways, I've got new covers coming in and going to do the mint green / aged white thing.

Also ordered a standard Area T bridge for my Tele. I've been using the Area T neck for years and lately using the Chopper T bridge, but I miss having more of a traditional Tele tone. The Area T Hot is a little dull sounding while the true singles are too bright. I've never used the standard Area T bridge but I think it should have a similar tone to a typical Tele bridge with a little high end roll-off.

And after a honeymoon period, I haven't been playing my Jazzmaster at all. It's just so noisy all I hear is buzz. I triple checked the wiring. I think the lack of shielding is playing a part. But I think I'll end up ordering some noiseless pickups for this one as well.

 

[Riffraff]

All players, no museum pieces in my collection.

From back to front:
Epi inspired by Gibson ES-335 (new & stock)
Charvel San Dimas Pro Mod '59 neck, JB bridge
Ibanez RG520QSB stock
PRS SE Soapbar II stock (actually has nice sounding P90's)
Squier Classic Vibe Tele w/Bill Laurence Keystones
MIM Tele, Kent Armstrong Chaos bridge, stock neck
Les Paul Standard Super D bridge, 36th Anniversary neck

 

[Jarick]

Tele is back to the front of the rotation now.

I swapped out the Chopper T for a plain old Area T bridge which I had never used before. I've had the Area T Hot twice and the Area T 615, but not the original. I find the Area T Hot to have too much midrange which makes it sound kind of mushy. You lose out on the high end kerrang sound like a good Tele. The 615 seemed too bright and kind of scooped sounding.

Well the Area T may be the Goldilocks pickup. It sounds like a slightly overwound Tele bridge in a very good way. It has that kerrang tone in the highs but dials out the harshness. And it has balls in the low end which the Area T Hot didn't seem to have (it was either boomy or mushy). Also it's super quiet as a hum canceling pickup. Sounds great clean and with all kind of gain. Really a great pickup.

Plus the middle position is excellent with the Area T neck. There's a great amount of cluck and clarity, that good scooped middle position sound. With the Area T Hot, the middle position didn't have enough clarity and scoop, and with the 615 it was too scooped and bright.

So these Area T pickups are my favorite Tele pickups I've tried yet. Currently I have the K-Line Signature Tele set, the Suhr Classic T set, and previously had a pair of Fralin Vintage Hot with an overwound bridge. So no slouches in any of those sets.

Another thing to keep in mind, the Dimarzio Area bridge pickups need a non-steel bridge. There was a lot of noise with the stock bridge, which I changed out for a stainless steel baseplate. Now I have the Gotoh Modern bridge which is brass and that also works fine with the Dimarzio Area, but the saddle screws were super high. I ended up ordering a set of neck shims off Amazon (basically knockoffs of the Stewmac ones except about $10 for three instead of $10 each). Tried a couple and the smallest one seemed to allow me to raise the saddles enough to make it all comfortable.

Now it's a killer guitar that's nicely hot rodded. Locking tuners, versatile noiseless pickups, all new quality electronics parts, and a modern six saddle bridge.

 

[Stratzrus]

]Now I have the Gotoh Modern bridge which is brass and that also works fine with the Dimarzio Area,

I have the Gotoh bridge in my Tele as well. I had it installed by my tech when he did a pickup swap (also noiseless, Fender N4s) and there were no issues with bridge height when I got it back. He may have installed a shorter set of screws.

 

[Jarick]

I have the Gotoh bridge in my Tele as well. I had it installed by my tech when he did a pickup swap (also noiseless, Fender N4s) and there were no issues with bridge height when I got it back. He may have installed a shorter set of screws.

I had planned to get some shorter screws, but saw some people recommend that it's likely neck angle that needs to be corrected, and since the shims were cheap I figured I'd give that a shot. The old bridge(s) also had saddle screws that were too long, so I do think the neck angle was likely a bit flat.

 

[Eagle]

I had planned to get some shorter screws, but saw some people recommend that it's likely neck angle that needs to be corrected, and since the shims were cheap I figured I'd give that a shot. The old bridge(s) also had saddle screws that were too long, so I do think the neck angle was likely a bit flat.

The neck should be flat. Don’t put in a shim just because the saddle screws are made to accommodate a wide range of guitars. Just get a set of short ones.

 

[Eagle]

I’d be interested to know why anyone would think a Tele should have an angle on the neck. The only reason you would do this is to accommodate a non standard bridge that even in it’s lowest position still leaves the action too high. Status Quo for instance put tunamatics and stop tails on .

 

[Jarick]

The neck should be flat. Don’t put in a shim just because the saddle screws are made to accommodate a wide range of guitars. Just get a set of short ones.

Appreciate the feedback!

I put in an order for some shorter screws (4mm and 6mm height, as the ones currently go from 6mm to 10mm). Also picked up a set of radius gauges and an action gauge ruler so I'm not just always setting up by eye and feel.

 

[Eagle]

Appreciate the feedback!

I put in an order for some shorter screws (4mm and 6mm height, as the ones currently go from 6mm to 10mm). Also picked up a set of radius gauges and an action gauge ruler so I'm not just always setting up by eye and feel.

Just use the action gauge. The radius sets itself if you get the action right. Start with a relief of around 7thou ( at fret 7 when you fret 1 and 14 on the g) and an action of 50 -60 high to low E at fret 12 no capo on 1.

 

[Jarick]

Just use the action gauge. The radius sets itself if you get the action right. Start with a relief of around 7thou ( at fret 7 when you fret 1 and 14 on the g) and an action of 50 -60 high to low E at fret 12 no capo on 1.

I got the tools in and apparently my action was super high at the 12th fret. Somewhere between 80-90 thousandths (2 - 2.25mm). I dropped that way down to 70-75 and there's a fair amount of buzz. I think my relief may be a bit high though, I didn't get any feeler gauges so it's hard to tell, but it looks like I'm around 10-15 thousandths on the G with a capo on 1 and fretting 14.

Also, the "stock" screws in the Gotoh modern bridge were 8mm for the high and low E strings and 10mm for the rest. I ordered 4mm and 6mm, so I replaced the outer strings with 4mm, next two with 6mm, and the inside strings used the 8mm from the outside. Those may be a tiny bit low but eliminated the issue with screws sticking up.

 

[Jarick]

Alright I tightened up the truss rod to remove some relief, and that brought the action way down. Then I raised the saddles up, and now I've got solidly medium action with only a bit of buzz. I may still raise up the action a bit because I'm used to it being pretty high.

Boy, I wish I would have bought one of these $15 action gauge ruler tools 20 years ago. I've been blindly adjusting the relief and action forever.

 

[Eagle]

Alright I tightened up the truss rod to remove some relief, and that brought the action way down. Then I raised the saddles up, and now I've got solidly medium action with only a bit of buzz. I may still raise up the action a bit because I'm used to it being pretty high.

Boy, I wish I would have bought one of these $15 action gauge ruler tools 20 years ago. I've been blindly adjusting the relief and action forever.

Yes its good to put numbers on how something feels. I find people get it pretty uneven when they don’t have a rule. .