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So i finally got the gas to buy a Jap 80's fender strat, and a laney VC30 1x12. Only thing is though, i'm alittle dissapointed with the strat. Sounds pretty much identical to my 100 dollar ( US ) Yamha eg 112. The pickups feel sterile almost. It has alittle quack, but no fatness. No 'balls'. But i'm thinking it could be the Amp, but ive fiddled with the Treble/Bass/Middle, and it doesnt do much i'm afraid. Any suggestions?

What Strat is it??
How do the pickups look, flat poles or staggered?

Some guitars just aren't meant for some people, and It's a pain when your dissapointed with the sound of something you've been expecting great things from. When I first played my Peavey classic 30, I'm like, **** this is as bas as my solid state, but I fiddled with it for a few minutes and I'm gettin a great tone now. Your new gear is meant to be pretty good so try to fiddle with it, if its not for you....

Oh and those 112 are amazing value, maybe thats why your dissapointed

EDIT: What genre are you aiming for anyway? Where you live in Aus?

they are flat poles. i'm up in townsville. The pickups just sound cheap thats all. Not as 'full' as a typical fender. I'm thinking the tone i'm looking for is maybe Sting/police ( tink Roxanne ) or Mike Mcready ( pearl jam, he uses alot of Fenders, Alive/Even flow)

Ok..those are bad pickups
How does the strat sound unplugged??
Any life?

hmmm, sounds alittle bland, i think it just needs a proper set up. The strings are up to high, and they look about 2 years old, there is some buzzing on the frets too, ******, shouldve checked all this before i brought it home. So i'll take it back to the shop, get them to set it up decently. If that doesnt help, i'll try play with the amp more. If that doesnt help...i might just have to get a set of noiseless plus

do all guitars sound bad in that amp? did the amp tone start to go downhill at some point? tubes ...

Might be a bad connection with the pickups somewhere. When I installed some Hot Rails in a Yngwie Strat it sounded really thin and had no life. Opened it back up and found that one of the connections was loose. Fixed that and viola, a neo classical shred machine became a new beast.

hmm i think i should get some JJ tubes, because it doesnt break up well at all. Maybe a celestion Blue in there, or a G30H? But the pickups...hmm..they lack presence. They are ok, straty, but sound artificial, its over trebley

Do you guys think i should post this in the Pickup/Guitar thread? I'm also thinking of getting a celestion blue, and some jj's, turn it into a more rockin vox...1 grand australian later...also thinking of weberVST speakers, specifiaclly the Ceramic Blue Dog (C12B). Any one had any experinces with this brand/speaker?

alnico speakers (even if they r more expensive) are usually warmer then ceramic (like with pickups)

hmmm fair enough. So no one tried out any WeberVST Speakers?


Originally Posted by viewaskew2k5So i finally got the gas to buy a Jap 80's fender strat, and a laney VC30 1x12. Only thing is though, i'm alittle dissapointed with the strat. Sounds pretty much identical to my 100 dollar ( US ) Yamha eg 112. The pickups feel sterile almost. It has alittle quack, but no fatness. No 'balls'. But i'm thinking it could be the Amp, but ive fiddled with the Treble/Bass/Middle, and it doesnt do much i'm afraid. Any suggestions?

I've got an 80's Japanese Fender strat and the sound is the one and only thing I'm dissapointed in. It sounds weak, a bit thin and seems to have no umph when compared to my 80's Tokai. Its definately not my amp as everthing else sounds brilliant through it. So I've invested in a SSL-1 California Set as recommended by Lew (arrived today the only disapointment is that I can't get them fitted in time for christmas!) hopefully they will give me the classic vintage strat sounds I'm after.

The Japanese made pickups need replacing. THAT's the problem. Most of my Strats are 80's MIJ Strats but I have replaced the pickups in every one of them with Duncans or Fralins...mostly Duncans. Most MIJ Strat guitars are very well made and potencially excellant guitars...but the stock Japanese pickups are medicocre. Lew

THanks lew! Now about my amp! Turning it into of a somewhat VOX ac30. JJ tubes? ( el 84's) plus a Celestion blue, or a G30H, or a WEBERVST

i say celestion blue because nothing compares to it but some of the ALNICO copies are still good

hmmmm how close is a G30h to a blue? Is the extra cash worth it? If i can get close, i'm happy ( since, its more of an orignal sound rather then a straight copy of an AC 30).

Restring and set up the guitar, take it to a store and try it in different amps. If the guitar sounds bad through several different makes and models. It might be the guitar. If different make and model of guitars sound cheap through the amp, play with the settings, check the tubes for adnormal glowing etc.

All else fails, bug us again.


Originally Posted by viewaskew2k5THanks lew! Now about my amp! Turning it into of a somewhat VOX ac30. JJ tubes? ( el 84's) plus a Celestion blue, or a G30H, or a WEBERVST

They're all good speakers. The Weber P12B (Ted gives it a differant number these days but mine is labeled P12B) is similar to a Celestion Blue but not as bright. The Weber has more of a thumby tone to it than a Celestion Blue. The Celestion is one bright speaker...I love them in a real AC-30 though.

Kind of depends on the personality of your amp. If it seems super bright and a little thin then the Weber P12B or G12H30 might be a better choice than the Celestion, but generally I prefer the Celestion Blue in a real Vox AC30.

The Blue is over $200 these days...pretty steep.

My Matchless SC-30 is a one 12quot; amp that's similar to the Vox AC-30 and it has a Celestion Vintage 30 in it that has been doctored by Matchless...possibly by playing music through it and then brushing acetone repeatedly on the surround to remove some of the dope and loosen up the suspension. That's how my brother Bruce ( from : localhost/doctors a speaker to open it up and it may be the same method used by Matchless. The acetone trick increases the bass response and loosens up the tone. It's a good trick!

The G12H30 already has a a deeper, fuller tone than the Vintage 30 and it would be great choice too. Cheaper than the Alnico Blue too.

i think i'm going to go for the G30H, Matched quad jj's and some EH Preamp tubes