Damn you Dan, see what you’ve done. Having managed to put up the actual physical instrument for years in favor of virtual ones I had forgotten the pleasure of actually handling an object. I had purchased a Schecter Omen about a year ago when looking for a cheap instrument that I could use for various guitar related duties. Cheap I found, literally $150 on Amazon. You get what you pay for though. Not wanting to besmirch Schecter in the slightest; I absolutely adore their instruments for their balance of quality and economy. The use of laser routing and standard parts and practices makes for very high consistent fit and finish. Unfortunately, I aimed too low in the model I chose.

There is a special place in my heart for white guitars. I don’t know why, I just like them. But, being too cheap for my own good I ended up with a red one. Does the color make a difference in sound? No, but it can affect how you bond with the instrument. A guitar is not merely a tool; the sum of its parts can be the genesis of inspiration. When you don’t like something, you don’t look forward to picking it up and using it. The red color isn’t a cool red – like a Ferrari – but more akin to a Radio Flyer wagon. Being a bottom rung model the pickups are also less than inspiring. This problem affected me the same way as a junkie that doesn’t like his spoon.

I started shopping for a new guitar and found a few things that I like. I had a Stratocaster years ago that, alas was also red, I never bonded with. Despite that there was something about it that I liked. There are certain anatomical and mechanically practical constraints on what can be constituted to form a guitar, obviously. When we consider that fact we see the genesis of what we would consider “classic” designs. Leo Fender gave us two classic designs that have endured for reasons of aesthetic and parts re-use. Having been enchanted by the “vintage mojo” of guitars that age a certain way it lead to seek a guitar with a nitrocellulose finish rather than the polyester based finish that is normally standard for reasons of manufacturing ease. The poly finish holds up under much more abuse and play than a nitro finish does, and it is easier to apply. All net wins, when you want that.

Blissfully for me, Fender has been producing a series of guitars in their Highway One series that had this finish and a few other features that made it unique and attractive to me. Chiefly it was priced to sell. Often the large brands make three levels of guitar: an entry level model that satiates nobody; a mid-level model for the player; and a “custom shop” level for people with more money than brains.This was a decidedly middle of the road player model, nothing fancy. The Highway One series started in 2002 and for two years had a vintage theme with small frets and a 60s style headstock. There were minor cosmetic changes until 2006 when a major overhaul of the series added jumbo frets and a 70s style CBS headstock. The standard shape was enlarged by CBS to be more viewable on television. This gives it a comical, larger-than-life size that just adds to the wonkiness of the guitar. Sadly, they didn’t ever make it in white, so I settled for a sunburst. My sunburst P-Bass has treated me well so I think it is just a trope for me now that I play them.

Fender decided to discontinue this series in 2011 so they are becoming increasingly rare to find new on a shelf. Which is fine by me, if I never buy another guitar new I won’t be sad.  Used is the place to be when you want to “relic” a guitar. It happened that Guitard Center in Maryland had a model on their fantastic used gear site for $450. $17 in shipping and a phone call later I had myself a Stratocaster. I knew from recommendations from multiple people that the Vox amps built in China were a great buy, so I had been skulking for a used one for a while when I came across an auction on eBay that listed an AC15 at $361. A few bids later I ended up nabbing it for $381. The best part was that it was played in a church band until the dude upgraded to the AC30; I get to corrupt it’s soul with hard rock and metal. This pleases me.

One thing you notice when sticking high gain single coil pickups through a tube amp with the gain cranked into overdrive is a rather annoying HUMMM right at 60 Hz. This is probably the only thing I don’t like about the Strat. I like the neck, I like they way it fits my body, and I’ve even come to appreciate the temperamental floating tremolo bridge. The nice thing about a guitar you never intend to sell is that you can aftermarket the hell out of it without worrying about destroying your “resale value”. To me resale value is for cars and ex-wives, when I buy something that I will personally identify with I want it to be thrown onto the pyre of my viking funeral. DiMarzio makes a line of single coil sounding humbuckers that would do the trick. After looking for a while though, and looking at what styles of music I’m playing, a set of “hotter” humbuckers might be more up my alley.

Billy Corgan, of the Smashing Pumpkins and general douche-baggery, has a Fender sponsored guitar that the pickups were designed to his “spec” by DiMarzio. When they say the artist designed it what they mean is that he probably gave some nebulous phrases to an engineer who then made something interesting based on that idea, and then figured out how to make it cheap enough to sell. Engineers are awesome like that. There is a recommended set that goes by the branding High Power. These are some pretty hot pickups. While I wanted some more overdrive, I didn’t want to go so crazy as to limit what this guitar can do. The Billy Corgan setup seems to be a mid-point between the super hot and the hum canceling single coils. While I don’t really like the single coil sound I didn’t want to lose the “chimey” center pickup. I went with his setup ordering the pickups individually instead of on the pre-made pickguard.

I came across a product designed specifically for Strats branded the ToneShaper. Instead of wiring up the three pots to the three pickups with a cap somewhere in the mix this is a prefabbed circuit board with dip switches to change configurations. It is a solderless setup that crimps the pickup leads down to a terminal. This is a nice convenience for anybody who wants to play with a range of cap values for the tone pot as well as different configurations for the knobs. The one I’m most interested in is the ability to blend the third pickup in based on the second tone pot. That will be the first that I’m trying. I went with a black pickguard to steal some Stevie Ray Vaughn mojo and to mix it up a bit.

Due to some shipping problems the ToneShaper won’t be here until the end of the week. I’ll post some more pictures and words when it gets here and I have a chance to play with it. After that will be some video of the beast as initially wired up.