NAFTAcaster update

[Michael Martin]

Took it apart (not all the way) and thoroughly cleaned it up last night. Restrung it. Plays like a dream. Sounds great too! Althougn I would like growlier sounds from the bridge PU. Anybody who is into Strats know anything about aftermarket PUs?

 

I would ask at the Electric forum, but there's some crazy people over there. More inclined to trust all y'all anyway.

 

But damn, what a deal! I must be living right.

 

 

 

 

Nah. That can't be it.

[bsman]

I tend to like the sound of a humbucker in the bridge of a strat, and since you probably don't want to cut up the pickguard, I would recommend a single-sized HB. If you want to go Seymour duncan, good choices are JB fr., 59 Jr, and Hotrails. If you want to do it cheaper, I might recommend the GFS Lil' Killer.

[chiro972]

I put fender custom shop texas specials in my tele and I really like them. Very hot and able to get pretty crunchy too. I would assume the strat versions are also good. They're not cheap, but much less than Fralins or other botique brands

[JasmineTea]

Lots of good "looking" aftermarket pups. I would try Seymour Duncan. You can listen to the pups at this site.

[JasmineTea]

Here's another idea: I play Teles and Strats and I find the neck pup is always much bassier than the bridge pup, and I always end up having to re-dial the amp when switching between the two pups. So what I did was have a tech change the capacitor on the neck pup so that it filters out more bass. This way I dial in the amp for one pup and it sounds good for both. Cool mod, IMO.

[ziganaut]

If you want classic strat sound with growl go with the Fender Texas special. Don't get the set, just the bridge pup. They're not all that for neck and middle unless you're into SRV way too much. If you're talking about high-gain type of growl you should consider either a single size humbucker (Seymour Duncan JB Jr. is a good choice) or a noiseless single coil like Fender Vintage Noiseless or Fender SCN (not sure if you can get just the bridge pup for those). Of course there are many other "boutique" brands like Kinman, Fralins and others that people swear by, but Fender and Duncan are tried and true. Basically, if you don't do the high-gain thing go with a Texas Special but remember that if you decide to lay down some heavy distortion you'll get hum... lots of it. Some people will argue that using a noiseless or single 'bucker pickups doesn't sound like a strat (and I tend to agree), so its a trade off between authenticity and versatility really.

 

Hope this helps

[Stackabones]

GFS pups get great reviews in those other forums (you know the ones ... with all the cussin' and weird topics and trolls). Real low prices, real high quality.

 

I think it'd be a shame to put some real high price boutique pups in your NaftaStrat. Just seems wrong! For the price of a full set of GFS single coils, and if you installed them, you'd have a custom git for under a Franklin. Probably have a little money left over to get one of those sparkly pickguards.

 

GFS.

[0rbitz9]

I replaced the stock pickups in my

Naftacaster with the Fender noiseless

ones. They sound a little better than the

stock Squire pickups, still very strat like,

except all of the hum has been nuked.

If you're looking for something with more

growl, I probably wouldn't go in this

direction.

[Hudman]

NAFTA went into effect on Janurary 1, 1994.

[Michael Martin]

 

Originally posted by Hudman NAFTA went into effect on Janurary 1, 1994.

 

Well then. It's a '89...what should I call it? An enchiladacaster? Tequilacaster? Josecuervocaster (hmmm--I'm liking this association) Anejocaster?

[Hudman]

 

Originally posted by Michael Martin Well then. It's a '89...what should I call it? An enchiladacaster? Tequilacaster? Josecuervocaster (hmmm--I'm liking this association) Anejocaster?

 

 

I was just having fun with NAFTA.

 

I owned a Jimmy Vaughan Strat. I just called it a Mexican Strat.

 

For the record: It was an excellent guitar. The current plant in Mexico is almost identical to the one in California.

[JasmineTea]

Chinga-to-madre-caster.

 

I still hav'nt decided if I like the MexiFenders. I own a MexiTele. I want to like them, but two things: The pickguards don't always lay flat, sometimes there's a gap near the neck pup. And the neck seems to be set at a slightly different angle, tilting out, compared the americans that most often seem to tilt back. IMO, of course.