NGD - 2015 Fender Blackout Stratocaster with Ebony Fretboard

smcrosby

Power User
The Mistress 2015! :D :D :D

Until yesterday, everyone had their hands on this little trollop. :eek:

That is until I took her ... right there on the floor ... of Guitar Center in Time Square. ;)

The moment I discovered this little minx can effortlessly soar through Little Wing ... I knew I had to have her.

Welcome to the collection and here's the executive summary:

  • 2015 Fender Limited Edition American Standard Ebony Fingerboard Blackout Stratocaster Electric Guitar in Mystic Black.
  • A stealth rocker with Custom Shop pickups and ebony fretboard.
  • Simple and elegant, this a great American Standard Stratocaster cloaked in an all-black finish complemented by a black pickguard, black control knobs, black pickup covers and—in a rare touch for a Fender instrument—a smooth-playing ebony fingerboard.
  • Its Mystic Black finish lends an air of noir-ish sophistication, complemented by fleeting hints of sparkle. Its three single-coil Custom Shop Fat ’50s deliver warm and crystalline classic Stratocaster tone. Includes hardshell case.

The Mistress 2015.jpg
 
Me too! The strings feel like they are elastic playing on this particular ebony fretboard ... it's incredible! Not the prettiest ebony board I own (4 of my guitars are ebony) but it sure feels and plays smoothly. Very expressive.


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My favourite "Stratocaster" has an ebony fretboard too. Great feel. I'm glad Fender has "upped" their game and made one. Very cool. If it had a matching black headstock I would have a hard time not buying it :)
 
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Hey - any recommendations for amps with good break up, blues and rock rhythm and lead for the above configured Strat?

How do you all deal with the single coil hum in positions 1, 3 and 5.

The clean tones I am getting with FW19 on this beast are simply breath taking - just FAStastik.

I'm looking to achieve the same level of FAStasticy for SRV, Hendrix and Jeff Beck tones.
 
I just ordered Sigler Music's "Andy Timmons DP224F" pre-wired pick guard (HSS-style with a DiMarzio AT-1 and a pair of DiMarzio Cruisers) for this guitar. :D


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I just ordered Sigler Music's "Andy Timmons DP224F" pre-wired pick guard (HSS-style with a DiMarzio AT-1 and a pair of DiMarzio Cruisers) for this guitar. :D


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Cool. I had a 57 heavy relic once upon a time with the custom shop pickups. They didn't stay in long. I'm interested to know how you like these pickups (I still play a strat for the most part).
 
A Strat with ebony?!? Yes please!

Here's an edge of breakup patch for use with the neck pickup. Be careful with a bridge single, it's set bright for the neck and can be a little ice picky clean with the bridge. Kick in the OD for fattening. Sc1 - Clean, Sc2 - OD, Sc3 - clean delay, Sc4 - OD & delay. This was dialed in with my Strat with Fender Select series pickups. I'm not sure how they would compare to the 50's but I'd imagine they aren't radically different. Also the guitar is all maple neck so that may make a tonal difference as well.

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Chieftan - Dirty Blues - by HellBat
 
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Cool. I had a 57 heavy relic once upon a time with the custom shop pickups. They didn't stay in long. I'm interested to know how you like these pickups (I still play a strat for the most part).

I'll report back ... the Timmons pick guard is being delivered today! I have to decide whether to install the treble bleed circuit (Timmons uses a cap and resister in series I believe) and would welcome anyone's comments on this topic. I typically play with the volume knob rolled back and the amp pushed.


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A Strat with ebony?!? Yes please!

Here's an edge of breakup patch for use with the neck pickup. Be careful with a bridge single, it's set bright for the neck and can be a little ice picky clean with the bridge. Kick in the OD for fattening. Sc1 - Clean, Sc2 - OD, Sc3 - clean delay, Sc4 - OD & delay. This was dialed in with my Strat with Fender Select series pickups. I'm not sure how they would compare to the 50's but I'd imagine they aren't radically different. Also the guitar is all maple neck so that may make a tonal difference as well.

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Chieftan - Dirty Blues - by HellBat

You are the man Hellbat! I'll try this preset with the stock Fender Fat 50s Custom Shop pickups and then with the Andy Timmons AT-1 and 2 Cruiser pickups (all three are DiMarzio "bridge" pickups BTW) positioned in an HSS config. and report back. But this is a great great guitar for neck and feel [emoji2]


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I used to use the treble bleed circuit ala Lincoln Brewster, but somewhere along the line I stopped. It's handy if you want a do-it-all tone. You can dial in a pretty thick lead tone with the volume all the way up, then when you back down it thins out a bit for rhythm work. You can adjust the cap value up/down to adjust the frequency of the bleed, and the resistor value up/down to adjust how much bleed you get. That's with the two in series.

I hope this info helps!
 
It does - thanks Jakel. :encouragement:

The tech at Sigler Music (the source of the pre-assembled Timmons pick guard) talked me into ordering it without the bleed circuit installed as "most of their customers don't like it."

But, the tech included a serially-wired resistor and cap in the shipment for me to experiment (Timmons purportedly uses the resistor and cap configuration in series).

Hmm, I should probably run a pair of testing wires out of the cavity between the pick guard and body so I can experiment on cap and resistor values in parallel and series to see what, if anything, I want in the way of a bleed circuit. Any suggestions for cap and resister ranges and pairings?

I'm really looking forward to using the DiMarzio AT-1 and Cruisers in positions 1, 3 and 5 without suffering that annoying single coil hum. ;)
 
You will love the AT-1. It's in my top 2 favorite bridge pickups. I always use treble bleed circuits because I hate having my pickups get muddy when I roll the volume back. If I need to take off some top end sizzle, that's what the tone knob is for. Make sure to use your ears and adjust the pickup height for optimum tone! The AT-1 in my single cut is absolutely killer.
 
Dats what I want to hear! [emoji106]

What C&R values are you using?


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I always use PRS volume and tone pots because I prefer their tapers. So its whatever they come with on their volume pots. However on my single cut I am using a Bournes push pull pot on the tone for coil splitting. I'm using a PIO cap from Emerson custom guitars with the .22k or whatever rating.
 
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She's here but I need to choose the right treble bleed circuit components. I gots work to do! [emoji2][emoji106]


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I would immediately change to white pickup covers, solely because of my Gilmour love!

If the guitar plays half as good as she looks, you have a keeper!
 
I settled on a Kinmon-style treble bleed mod (Timmons purportedly uses a series circuit with .001uf cap and 150K resistor located between the non-ground terminals of 500K CTS vol pot) which I installed last night (see center of pic below just under the pot-to-pot ground jumper wire passing above it):

Timmons 2.jpg

I'm still getting used to the sound of the treble bleed and I have not had a chance to tweak any presets to accommodate for the hi-freqs from the mod with the vol pot rolled back. Also, this is my first time playing DiMarzios so I have to get used to the character of the AT-1 and Cruisers (all humbucking).

All-in-all, it sounded pretty good with very little hum, but I had a moment when I got some sputtering fizzle with soft volume dips - like a cap was repeatedly discharging and recharging - that appeared for a minute and then was gone.

I'm thinking that I'd like a little less treble so I may try to either redesign the bleed circuit and or put in a switch ... or just go ahead and live without it - I'll keep you posted. :)
 
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