Re: I now have the SQ Japanese Stratocaster
- From: "Lawrence Logic" <lawrence-OmitThisBit-logic@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:44:07 GMT
"Squier" <squier@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:010220100829147286%squier@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lawrence Logic <lawrence-OmitThisBit-logic@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I picked up the SQ Strat yesterday and, while there was a handful of
problems with my new beasty, it looks really nice.
It was virtually unplayable because the action was so low, causing the
1st
and 2nd strings to hit upper frets whenever I'd bend them (a difficult
task
because I couldn't really get a grip on them). The tremolo springs were
so
taut that the bridge was flat against the body (presumably that was the
intention) but the string heights hadn't been raised to compensate. I
relieved the spring tension and also adjusted the string heights (they
were
still too low once the bridge was floating), but then ripped the strings
off
and opened her up.
The entire cavity has now been shielded with copper tape (with conductive
adhesive), as well as the underside of the pickguard, and the Gold Lace
Sensors have been installed. It's been restrung with my usual D'Addario
XL
9-42's.
At least one of the "original" pickups probably wasn't original because
the
neck pickup had shielded hookup wire and the middle pickup just had two
wires. The bridge pickup was already known to be non-original. None of
the
pickups had anything to identify who the manufacturer was.
There were two tremolo arms in the case, neither of which had the correct
thread size. The one depicted in the eBay photo was the worst fit. The
other one was a bit better and was sufficient to illustrate that the
floating bridge will cause me grief. My next trick will be to insert a
block of wood to stop it moving and then adjust the string heights and
intonation accordingly.
The socket was rewired (a necessity anyway after completely removing the
pickguard) and it seemed OK but it's still a bit dodgy. I'll chuck in a
new
one and it should be sweet after that.
The guitar has a great neck and feels very comfortable. I can highly
recommend the Gold Lace Sensors after my 15 minutes of playing them,
first
through the Ibanez bass amp and then through the Peavey Valve King. This
will now be the #1 guitar, superseding the black E-serial (although I
usually just play the acoustic anyway). Aside from the sound and feel, I
prefer the look of the 70's-style headstock with the large lettering.
The following picture shows the "Fujigen Mafia", being the SQ flanked by
the
E-serial and the T-serial Mustang bass.
http://crockershit.com/ag/fujigen-mafia.jpg
I've just bought some Mighty Mite Strap Locks - black ones and chrome
ones -
on eBay. The gold ones will come off the E-serial and go onto the SQ.
Obviously I'll put the black ones onto the E-serial and the chrome ones
will
go onto the Mustang.
All in all, I reckon the SQ was a bargain at AU$660 (about US$586 at the
current exchange rate) and I'm very happy with my purchase.
just the necks alone are worth the price.
Those old Sq and E series Squiers have great necks!
all the other stuff (as you mentioned like electronics, hardware.. etc)
can always be upgraded or changed.
The only thing sometimes you have to do is to give a little tweak on
the truss rod if it has slightly bowed over time - but that's about it.
just curious - does yours have the smaller 'vintage' sized frets
or the medium frets ?
I don't know what they are, but they appear to be the same as the E-serial.
And did it come with 'mini pots' or full sized pots ?
It came with full-sized pots. The E-serial had the "mini pots" but I
replaced the volume pot due to the original having the "wrong" taper.
--
Lawrence
"Butters, we're done talking about girls' balls right now. Pay
attention!" - Eric Cartman - 14 November 2007
.
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