The Blue Rune Stratocaster

[blueruins]

This is the first guitar I've "built" on my own...still got a few tweaks to get her 100% (such as a switch tip because the one I bought wasn't big enough for the post).  Every choice I made on this guitar was guided by the the tone formula of my EJ strat which is the best strat I've ever played.  My EJ is a maple neck, so direct comparison is somewhat compromised.

The finish is Old Fashioned Milk Paint custom mixed color...It is an extremely thin finish that allows the wood to "breathe"...this is a philosophy that I think borders on absurd, but since my EJ sounds so good I have suspended my disbelief and chose to roll with it.  I also just thought it was different enough that it might be interesting. The guitar can definitely breathe...you can see the grain through the finish close up, it also changes quite a bit in the light from a robin's egg green-blue at night to a powder-blue in the sunlight.  The body is finished with a beeswax polish.

The neck:
Vintage Modern Warmoth from the showcase.
59 Roundback profile
Quartersawn maple
Brazillian Rosewood
Stainless Steel 6105 frets
MOP dots

The Body:
3lbs 11oz
2 piece Alder USAGC
Web Special

Bridge:
Callaham Vintage S model

Pickguard:
Callaham S model with Aluminum Shield

Pickups:
Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Surfers

Tuners:
Gotoh vintage tuners
(Thought I was ordering staggered but I got my auctions mixed up :tard

Acoustically, I would say this guitar is @90% as loud as the EJ.  The EJ has a more open sound very similar to an acoustic steel string.

The build has a more hollowed out tone with a lot more high sparkle and an extremely percussive attack.  I think the bridge is a major factor here, I do detect a difference in tone from the Stainless Steel frets, but it is very subtle.  An extra dallop of extremely high shimmer and slightly less weight and warmth on the bottom end of the spectrum.  The guitar is very bright for a rosewood neck.

The Surfer Antiquities are really cool pickups!  They definitely nail the vintage vibe.  The sound is sparkle and twang...very early 60's sound.  Not your hot-rod by any stretch, but since I play a lot of old surf covers it is perfect for that. 

The neck joint on this guitar is about as tight as it can be...It stays on just fine without the screws, but I screwed it on anyway.  The sustain is unbelievable for a strat...that is probably the only quality in which this guitar totally outshines the EJ.

I would appreciate any recommendations for a custom decal supplier.

 

[llmtelecaster]

Beautiful vintage vibe strat. I'm really curious about the surfers. I was debating going with those on my last build but went with the callaham special winds. But I really want to try these eventually.

Also, what do you think of the aluminum shield? How much does it help cut down the noise?

 

[blueruins]

The only place I've played so far is in my living room, so I'm not sure how she'll do in the real world...so far I'm impressed with the aluminum shield.

I'm really enjoying the Antiquities.  One thing about them was the middle r/w is much louder than the  bridge or neck so I had to sink it to balance with the others.  The set of Fralin's I had in the past sounded great, but the magnets were so strong that I felt I was limited to the adjustment...they would start warbling if they got anywhere near the low E.  The Duncan's are really dynamic and you can really hear the note bloom when you get into the sweet spot.  The neck pickup is not quite as  "Little Wing-ish" as I prefer, but it's an unusual sounding strat acoustically and it doesn't seem to have that sound in it.  Great for smack-laden Keef sounds and spanky Brad Paisley pick'n,,,but not a great SRV strat.

 

[blueruins]

Started dialing these Surfers in more today and finally got to turn up the Super Reverb past 2 :icon_biggrin:

This is by far the best set of pickups I've had in a strat.  I have to say I'm surprised because I've never been overly stoked with Seymour Duncans I've tried in the past.

The Fralin Woodstocks I had were beautiful and chimey but that lacked the complexity that this set has...I imagine it might be a product of the fewer windings on this more vintage-correct set.

I love the pickups in my Eric Johnson, but they are definitely more refined and warmer...like sitting on a warm cloud...resting your face betwixt a silky pair of huge milky-white breasts while she fans you with her wings...(momma???) :dontknow:

The Antiquity II's are way more like a rough session in the backseat with the bad girl in High School...cigarette included.  They really spank and growl on the attack almost like a tele but the tone is thick and bell-like.  The bridge absolutely quacks and kills...this is definitely the bridge I will stick with from now on.  I did not opt for the overwound option BTW.

Middle gets a cool Lucille like cry that I've not experienced on a strat before.  I see Seymour's sig on the back of this one so I guess he wound it himself?  As I said it's quite a bit louder than the other two.

The neck is super articulate with upfront grinding glass with a pretty smoky aftertaste...once I dialed some of the highs out of the amp it's bluesy nature popped right out...beautiful sound.

If you like a real vintage sounding ,super-sensitive, complex pickup with a lot of twang...these pickups are wicked.  They'll give you Sybil-like personality changes depending on how hard you hit them...and they love to be hit hard!