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Author Topic: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0  (Read 4633 times)

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Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #15 on: Time Format »

Hey Dante,

     Okay, the Duncan Custom. I've heard a couple of good things about those. The JB, (SH-4), was never intended to be used as a split coil. They were just supposed to be a full-on Humbucker with a lot of power.

    Yes, I'd been checking out the Vega-Trem for some time now. It seems to transfer the string vibration and wood resonance pretty well, but that starts with the guitar itself. A lively piece of wood is the difference between a good guitar and a great one! My Ibanez Strat copy that I modified eons ago is like that. That's why I kept it. I thought about replacing the neck with a 22-fret neck, but I don't want to change the way it sounds now.
    The blade of the Vega-Trem would make it feel smoother. I'm curious how that will feel and respond in a couple of years with heavy use. The Floyd felt very smooth when I first installed it, but I probably need to replace the posts, as I'm sure they are grooved after all these years. It's the same thing with the stock Fender Strat bridge, You have to replace the six screws after a while because they are not hardened and they will wear a groove from the fulcrum edge of the bridge plate.  I forgot to mention that in the last post.

    That's a good thing about the intonation, I'll look for some shorter setscrews when I get one :thumb-up:

Harley 8)
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Dante

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #16 on: Time Format »

Man, we live in a small world, you and I.

I was thinking the same thing...it feels fantastic now, let's see what happens after a good year of abuse. I can't stop playing with it right now. I agree, good wood makes a good guitar, I like to try new guitars without the amp for that very reason. Heavy or light really doesn't seem to matter, which seems strange, but I find that to be true. My Korina Vee is very light, but has ringing tone, unplugged or with the amp. Strange...but I digress

The Vega transfers vibrations through that blade and right into the body, so yeah, it seems to get good resonance from that hunk of wood. The feel is smooooth and soft. I cut my teeth on a Kahler trem back in the day, it had very light tension on the springs too  - that was all I knew, until I got my first Floyd. Man, what a bunch of work that seemed like - haha - that first one was stiff, had all 5 springs on it (duh). That said, the Floyd stayed in tune much better than my Kahler, so I stuck with them.

Many years later, I figured out that I needed to rebuild my Kahler to get it back to working order. The roller saddles were not rolling at all...they're supposed to spin  :facepalm:. I bought all new bits for the trem and now she stays in tune really well. Smooth up and down on the bar too, I can get all crazy.

The Vega is fast becoming my favorite though, for the tiny size, ease of installation (no routing), and for not requiring a locking nut or fine tuners. That is a nice luxury. With locking tuners, I could easily change a broken string between sets. Can't do that with a Floyd...  :nono: ...bring another guitar
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #17 on: Time Format »

Hey Dante,

    I totally agree! That's a definite advantage the Vega-Trem would have over the Floyd. Still, I would think Locking tuners and some kind of nut that has no chance of pinching a string would be a must with it. I prefer the LSR because it does that, but it also gives me the same tonal response that I would get if I added a "Zero" fret, (additional harmonics down the neck), to the guitar.

    I am going to get a few things for the Floyd though. New posts, springs and a Trem stop to keep it centered if a string breaks, but mostly so I can put my D-tuna on it. The D-tuna is meant for a Floyd that will dive only and the strings do come out of tune slightly when the bridge floats. But you're right, bring another guitar anyway. I usually have a spare at a gig anyway.

Harley 8)
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Dante

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #18 on: Time Format »

Harley - I have a couple D-Tunas m'self  :thumb-up:

Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #19 on: Time Format »

Harley - I have a couple D-Tunas m'self  :thumb-up:

They're nice when you can get your guitar to play with them. That eliminates the need of one extra guitar!

Harley 8)
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #20 on: Time Format »

Thanks to you Dante, I'm going to pull the trigger on a Vega-Trem for the GC-1 Roland ready strat ::)
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Dante

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #21 on: Time Format »

You won't be sorry! And, you're welcome  :thumb-up:

Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #22 on: Time Format »

Hey Dante,

     For that guitar, I don't think I will be. It comes with a vintage style six-screw bridge, ( a little narrower than the USA version), and it's basically a cheap version of the old style trem. It has a lot of slop in the bar right out of the box, junk metal block, and not very stable. The guitar also comes with Fender/Schaller tuners, but they are not as solid as the ones on my 2007 VG-Strat, (the 2007 will hold the tuning very well for non-locking tuners), so they slip a lot. Those will get replaced with Schaller Locking tuners. and the nut will be replaced with a LSR roller nut. That will stabilize the whole system.
     I'm going to replace the ceramic single coil pups with a set of Zexcoil Legacy Hybrids, and that should give me a pretty wicked, basic guitar tone/performance set up without the Synth unit even hooked up.

Harley 8)
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Dante

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #23 on: Time Format »

It's a very cool toy, I find myself imitating Jeff Beck all the time now. I can't stop using the dang ol' whammy bar (up & down) on every dang ol' song. haha

Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #24 on: Time Format »

It's a very cool toy, I find myself imitating Jeff Beck all the time now. I can't stop using the dang ol' whammy bar (up & down) on every dang ol' song. haha

Okay, now for the crucial question: do you go sharp when you palm mute it? (Unintentionally)

Harley 8)
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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #25 on: Time Format »

I do not.

I do hate the sharp little string height adjustment screws. I tried putting a dot of silicone on a couple (high e string) and it was a terrible idea. It didn't leave a bead like I wanted, and it totally deadened the sound of the string. I had to take it off, sacrifice a toothbrush to clean out the silicone, and restring. Glad I only tried one.

The trem is very stable, and I cannot explain why. It makes nonesense. And, it should sound like a chainsaw buzzing (it's small), but it rings like a bell. In fact, I noticed my springs warbling while tuning when I had it unplugged.

Every 'screw in' bar I ever had, had some slop in it unless you had it TIGHT. I bought an aftermarket replacement arm with the collar attachment for my floyd and it works great. The Vega arm doesn't flop when the collar is loose, but it's easy to push outta the way. It has a plastic shim inside that holds it in place. Very nice craftsmanship, very well built machinery. I'm curious to see if the blade edge wears out with use.
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: NGD! Mexican Strat Plus Top :0
« Reply #26 on: Time Format »

Yes Dante,

     I remember you saying how the height adjustment screws were a pain in the a$$ when you first posted about it. My local Luthier has a solution for that. Replace the set screws with shorter ones. IIRC, the saddles on this bridge are machined, so that means slightly shorter screws will end up below the surface. That should be alright.

     It's good to know that it's stable, and the fact that it rings like a bell means it's made of good quality steel. The fact that your springs warble is mostly due to the resonance of the body of your guitar, but the transfer of that vibration through the hardware is a good indication of the quality of materials in the bridge. That was something else that I was skeptical about, the size of the bridge and the rather smallish block under it. It does kind of go against the physics of what we know about electric guitars. It sounds like it's very dense steel.

     If the blade is hardened steel that is anything like my guitar picks, it won't wear out, but it makes me wonder about the "V" groove of the block it rests in. Possibly, that could wear with time.


Harley 8)
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