The Electra Forums

Sadly, Ford Australia goes belly-up in 2016, and then the Falcon name might go as well...

Use the picks?! Are you mad?! One is already superglued to one of the family Macs underneath the one from EF 2012 and the other is sitting on the picture frame that holds a pick I got from Alex Lifeson in England after a Rush concert....

.... use the picks, indeed!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Thanks to all the guys that donated the stuff I sent out - Most of it I just boxed up and shipped. Rondo did the picks, and my daughter/son-in-law did the white logo, and the new electra team sent out some nice swag. We gave it all away, some to people at the show and remaining to those that responded to drawing - so it all went out. I am relieved it finally arrived! That should mean that fine tuner should be here any day now.

I will put that fine tuner on, and GFS said they are sending replacement tuners that are staggered (like these were supposed to be) - so I will swap those out. After that, the Vantage will be considered done. All in all a very nice guitar - decent pickups - and very versatile with the switching. I expect it will stay in tune well with the new staggered locking keys (it does OK with the non-staggered ones). Everything works as it should and the setup is pretty well tweaked - frets crowned and polished, and fretboard oiled. NICE guitar.

I probably won't do any more changes to it. So - essentially stock guitar, except for the string lock was replaced by locking keys. And LOTS of setup and config, minor repairs.

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Thorny

Got the fine tuner in today - I installed it and it fits perfectly!!!!!! Thanks Corsair!

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Thorny

Pics or it didn't happen!

Good one, John!

Now.. I reckon a Bareknuckle Nailbomb in there, with a couple of Irish Tour s/c and we're off and running!!!

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/p ... ss&pickup=

... I've heard them in the UK on a nondescript superstrat copy and they are mind blowing pieces of kit!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Yep, they are fantastic from what I hear. Lots of interest and buzz about them on the forums in the US. But they are QUITE expensive too - things usually are from England. I have not tried them yet. They are double what a typical Duncan or Dimarzio costs us. They are kind of like WCR pickups are in the US - super premium boutique pickups. I have had a few WCRs and they are fantastic. Sheptones are somewhat that way, but are ONLY in the vintage PAF reproduction space really (they don't stray from that too much). I am actually going to try some ultra inexpensive pickups I am ordering by their specs only. I ordered a pair of no-name strat sized bladed humbuckers that I like the specs of - and I ordered a bridge bucker I also liked the specs on - it has the wide sluds (non-adjustable), about 12K wind with ceramic magnet. Given this guitar has real wood the body (not basswood thank heaven) those pickups out to sound reasonably good, as well as reasonably good split too. I hope the guitar is not too bright with them, but i don't think it will be. The coils split will all be between 5-6K (traditional single coil territory) and the coils should balance well for the middle and neck. I won't have too much invested, and these are so cheap, that if I don't like them I can sell them and not lose too much. I have an idea what to expect, but we shall see if it is not acceptable, or is just acceptable, or it is better. It will have some potential. I am just not ready to pluck down twice of what the guitar is worth for a pair of pickups. At first I was looking at a bladed humbucker (blades were actually A5 magnets) that was wound a lot hotter for the bridge - and if it were not twice as much money to try it I would have done it quite frankly. Cost is an issue on this one. I already have a lot into it considering it is a rather inexpensive guitar. It IS a nice one, but still, a can't put $500 into a guitar that at most will be worth half that.

So I am waiting for a string retainer, two strat sized bladed humbuckers (moderate power, not HIGH though), and a medium output bridge humbucker. I also have an A2 magnet somewhere around here that I can swap out that bridge pickup ceramic with the A2 (if it fits). An A2 would be a good fit for those poles because it seems to be a bit sweeter sound, a little more rolled off output than a ceramic. I figure it will make the most of the wiring that is in the guitar with the three ON OFF ON switches (one for each pickup). GFS pickups are made by the same company that makes it for this company (at least the bridge pickup), and it probably is the same company (or similar competitor) to the company that winds them for the new Electra company. I don't know who makes these particular bladed strat-sized humbuckers. I'd love to have it sound something like the Andy Timmons model ibanez but with a bit more switching options, but his are dimarzios and frankly even those are more for one pickup than I am spending on all 3! Those models I don't frequently find available used either. It is a trick though, getting it to sound good in both single coil and humbucking modes, and all them sound good in the guitar in each position.

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Thorny

Got my $21 CALIG pickup in the guitar and I have to say it sounds GREAT. Still have not gotten the small strat-sized humbuckers in or the string retainers yet. This thing now ROCKS. The pickup is about 12K and ceramic magnet - with the giant pole pieces, where as the original is about 9K or so and I don't know the rest because it is all sealed up.

Oh, and the fine tuner is in its rightful place.

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Thorny

That looks sweet. How about showing it off to the Vantage fans at Matsumoku.org?

Last picture of this thing, I promise - it is FINISHED.

Some of you may want to look away a little bit, but here it is... with all the pickup mods, locking tuners, finally the roller/retainer arrived - and all 100% working the best it can. The pickups are good in humbucking and single modes, and lots of versatility.

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Thorny