Fender USA Stratocaster
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My main guitar is a 2002 Fender USA Stratocaster, in Transparent Honey Blonde finish. When I purchased this guitar in 2015 it was a completely stock SSS model. I have since made several modifications to the tremolo, pickups, electronics and tuners.
I have used two different aftermarket tremolos on this guitar, a Wilkinson 6 point tremolo, and currently a Vega-Trem VT-1 tremolo. I swapped out the Fender single coil pickups for a HSS set from Bare Knuckle Pickups. The VHII Humbucker in the bridge is perfect for rock and lead tones, with it's classic, vintage hot voicing. The '63 Pat Pend Veneer Board single coils in the middle and neck positions provide incredible clean and edge of break up tones, but also handle higher gain tones outstandingly well. Some of my main influences range from SRV, John Mayer, and Eric Clapton, through to Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, and Iron Maiden, and on to guitarists such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and it's great to be able to achieve all of those kinds of tones with this guitar. I originally swapped the Fender tuners for a set of Grovers, but after a year decided to upgrade again to a set of Kluson Vintage Style Locking tuners. These work great and reduce re-stringing times massively. Perhaps one of the biggest upgrades has been the stainless steel refret, carried out by Jaydee Guitars in Birmingham, UK. After two years of solid playing, the original frets had begun to wear down a considerable amount, so I had the guys over at Jaydee Guitars refret the neck with medium jumbo stainless steel frets. They also put on a new bone nut. The guitar plays like an absolute dream, and the steel frets are silky smooth! The electronics include CTS 500k pots, an Oak Grigsby 5-way selector switch, and a Bare Knuckle Pickups PIO tone capacitor. |
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