John Cordy Tries New Fender Player II Strat…

[paisleywookiee]

I just don’t see many issues with the MIM Charvel, EVH ,Fender apart from the odd fret sprout and even that is quite rare. Maybe the climate where you are is causing problems. It’s pretty consistent here with no extreme temperature or humidity changes. The only things I see that would make me pass is over rounding of the frets or fretboard edges. This is just as common with SEs and anything at that level. The MIM guitars from the Fender group have far better hardware and pickups than most, often branded and more than half the ticket price of the instrument in some cases. CTS pots , switchcraft and Oak Grigsby switches, Gotoh and Floyd bridges. All unheard of at this price. SEs have $7 pickups and alpha pots.

I mean, again, whatever floats your boat. But I’d rather replace $10 pots then figure out how to replace a twisted neck or a hump in a neck. As for the pick ups, it’s a non-issue because the pick ups in Mexican fenders suck too, so it’s an expense regardless.

 

[la szum]

I had 3 Made in Ensenada guitars, 3 strikes your out

3 for 6 here. I'd get another Charvel (likely Made in Japan), but
I addicted to risk and bad decisions.

 

[paisleywookiee]

3 for 6 here. I'd get another Charvel (likely Made in Japan), but
I addicted to risk and bad decisions.

I just do Warmoth builds if I want Fender style. Far superior to anything near the price.

 

[the-trooper]

SEs have $7 pickups

Any (credible) source for this? Cheap Indo and China guitars with ceramic pickups, I'd get it, but PRS, at least seems to, think a bit about what they put in SEs.

 

[metropolis_4]

An hour on the beach fixes 99% of any issues you typically see

Agreed

 

[paisleywookiee]

Any (credible) source for this? Cheap Indo and China guitars with ceramic pickups, I'd get it, but PRS, at least seems to, think a bit about what they put in SEs.

I believe they're still made by G&B in Korea, and are like $10-$16 pickups. 58/15 S use Alnico 2, 85/15 S use Alnico 5. They're a big upgrade over the previous pickups used, and don't necessarily require replacement. The DGT SE pickups in particular sound quite good. Thing with pickups and pots is, do they sound good? Subjective, but I think so. Are they microphonic? Not that I've seen, through dozens upon dozens of guitars. Do the pots work, and are not scratchy? If yes, then don't replace them right away. If it bothers you that much, buy a CTS or Bournes for $10.

 

[spawnofthesith]

SE pickups sound better than most Gibson pickups, but that isn't necessarily saying much

 

[paisleywookiee]

SE pickups sound better than most Gibson pickups, but that isn't necessarily saying much

I should compare the SE CE24 to the CE24, or Custom 24’s. It’d be interesting to see how much difference there is.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I should compare the SE CE24 to the CE24, or Custom 24’s. It’d be interesting to see how much difference there is.

I think PRS purposely makes them sound a little darker than the core pickups so that when compared people start talking about the "sparkle" of the cores :lol:

My ce24 has the core 85s, my bass player has an SE custom 24 with the S versions of those, haven't gotten those two guitars in the same room to do an unscientific comparison yet though


Perhaps a controversial statement, but I don't the the v-mod pickups in an american pro II sound any better than the SE silver sky pickups.. in fact I've kind of been enjoying the se ss pickups a little more I think

 

[Achilles]

I think PRS purposely makes them sound a little darker than the core pickups so that when compared people start talking about the "sparkle" of the cores :lol:

Kind of like the headliner purposely giving the opening band a shitty mix.

 

[Eagle]

I think PRS purposely makes them sound a little darker than the core pickups so that when compared people start talking about the "sparkle" of the cores :lol:

My ce24 has the core 85s, my bass player has an SE custom 24 with the S versions of those, haven't gotten those two guitars in the same room to do an unscientific comparison yet though


Perhaps a controversial statement, but I don't the the v-mod pickups in an american pro II sound any better than the SE silver sky pickups.. in fact I've kind of been enjoying the se ss pickups a little more I think

Budget pickups are often darker and lack the three dimensional qualities of better ones.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Budget pickups are often darker and lack the three dimensional qualities of better ones.

I like my guitars with the core pickups but I think they’re massively overrated and the asking price new or used on them is a bit of a joke

 

[Eagle]

I like my guitars with the core pickups but I think they’re massively overrated and the asking price new or used on them is a bit of a joke

What is good and good value IYO?

 

[spawnofthesith]

What is good and good value IYO?

I'm a peasant that typically gravitates towards SD IF I'm swapping pickups out at all. I despise every gibson bridge pickup I've ever run. I put fralins in a tele once. I'd say BKP is pretty much at the ceiling of what is reasonable in most instances (imo)

 

[synthpenguin]

Yeah and as such a small shop that we are, we sure do get a lot of Fender MIM turds. I guess Fender ships them all to Illinois (or wherever people are buying them and bringing them to us).

Wonder what the sales are on the Fender MIMs vs other guitars at similar price points (i.e. expensive enough that a larger % of people playing them know to go get them setup or fixed or want to pay to have them fixed)? To some extent, it might be that these guitars are simply more popular among your shop's potential customer pool. Fender overall is 1/3 of the US guitar market, and Fender Player guitars specifically outsell most other guitars on sites like Reverb that put out year-end statistics, especially when taken as a group vs individual models.

My anecdotal experience with Fender Player guitars is 2/2 owned (one of which was bought online and shipped to me) with no issues whatsoever, and I've played several in shops, all of which were fine, even if many needed basic setups. That said, I haven't tried a guitar in a Guitar Center in a long time, and there is definitely some in-house QC going on in local shops I'm trying them in, so I don't know.

 

[Stone]

G&B in Korea,

They also Make the Yamaha Revstar Pickups, and well i was not that Impressed with them, not terrible but not what i wanted or required for the Toanz

 

[Frankencat]

I believe PRS SE are made for them in their Cort factory Indonesia. They are decent but not great in my opinion. I have a brand new set of SE Silver Sky pickups sitting in a box in m shop if anyone is interested in trying them. I run EMG SA-SA-SA SPC in mine. FWIW I think Dimarzio makes the best bang for the buck “boutique” aftermarket pickups. I am a dealer for all of the major brands and I wind my own as well, but I keep going back to Dimarzios.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I believe PRS SE are made for them in their Cort factory Indonesia. They are decent but not great in my opinion. I have a brand new set of SE Silver Sky pickups sitting in a box in m shop if anyone is interested in trying them. I run EMG SA-SA-SA SPC in mine. FWIW I think Dimarzio makes the best bang for the buck “boutique” aftermarket pickups. I am a dealer for all of the major brands and I wind my own as well, but I keep going back to Dimarzios.

It’s possible. I know it used to be G&B, but that was also when it was World. Now that it’s in their own Cort-run facility, it could be different.
Personally, I’m pretty happy with Duncan stuff, some Dimarzio, Mojotone.

 

[spawnofthesith]

PRS loves to keep things cryptic and confusing with their pickups.


Don’t even get me started on the whole “TCI” thing…

 

[Eagle]

It’s possible. I know it used to be G&B, but that was also when it was World. Now that it’s in their own Cort-run facility, it could be different.
Personally, I’m pretty happy with Duncan stuff, some Dimarzio, Mojotone.

It is still G&B.