RobB Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Been on a Japanese guitar kick lately. Saw this in San Jose and made the purchase through Reverb. According to the web, it could be any year from a 1997 to 2000 Blackmore Strat. Body: Alder (I think...) Bridge: 70's-style with steel block Tuners: Fender "F-stamp" with Safe-t-posts Pickups: SD Quarter Pounders neck/bridge. Dummy middle pickup Fingerboard: Rosewood with graduated scallops and vintage frets It's a very nice guitar, and in excellent condition. Just under 8lbs. The SD 1/4lb pickups are very beefy and loud. The combination of both pickups has a sweet, chimey sound not unlike the middle position of an LP. Weird, but sounds great. At the first fret, the scallops are shallow, even more so on the bass side Deeper around the 12th fret. Notice how they are shaped more like a Nike "swoosh" than a symmetrical scoop. And deeper towards the high frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 Thanks, man! It took some time to setup the SDs to get a good signal without too much magnet-pull. The volume/tones are very useful, a very nice taper. I still need to do a proper setup, balance the bridge, etc. I don’t think the previous owned played her much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FGJ Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 I always thought a scalloped neck sounded like a good idea, playability-wise. And then I tried one of the IM signature Strats at GC and I hated how it felt. I realized then that I dig in so much that I'm used to feeling the board under my fingers. Those scalloped necks seem to require a light touch, which I don't have. It guess you have to develop the skill to play that or maybe start out early using them. By now, I've already formed my bad habits and refuse to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Nice guitar, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 13 hours ago, FGJ said: I always thought a scalloped neck sounded like a good idea, playability-wise. And then I tried one of the IM signature Strats at GC and I hated how it felt. I realized then that I dig in so much that I'm used to feeling the board under my fingers. Those scalloped necks seem to require a light touch, which I don't have. It guess you have to develop the skill to play that or maybe start out early using them. By now, I've already formed my bad habits and refuse to change. I can see why you were turned off by the YJM neck. They're not for everybody, and you do have to "relearn" left-hand technique to exploit their benefits. I've always preferred jumbo frets on my guitars, so moving to a scalloped Strat was not so difficult. As stated in another post, it helped me immensely with playing my other, standard electrics. Bad habits are made to be broken, but only if it's necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 The swoosh shaped scallops are interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FGJ Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 Now I feel stupid writing "IM" instead of "YM". I knew that looked strange when I wrote it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 So you were not referring to the IM Strats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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