Scott Henderson Discussion

[rudomat]

hi scott,
could you maybe have a hint for me? i have to chose between two strats:

on one hand a fender custom shop 59 strat (on the inside of the body it reads NAMM, so i guess it´s been made for the show…) with rosewood board, 9,5“ radius and 21 6105 frets, so it´s kind of a vintage strat and i think it´s a really, really lovely one…not too heavy, very resonant, also acoustically very loud with many overtones…

the other one, my 10 year old rocketfire strat (built by nick sorensen) with an allparts neck with rosewood board, 22 jumbo frets (6100) and 12“ radius…so a more modern neck…the rest is pretty vintage specs as well…of course steel block, saddles, etc, 5 raw vintage springs…this guitar seems to produce less overtones when played acoustically, as if it´s kind of dead, where the fender shines with overtones…
i can´t remember which pu´s are in it - shame on me - i´ve tried so many and lost overfiew...i guess they are some custom made ones from a luthier from austria...neck joint is perfect on both guitars...

after playing them acoustically, i´ve been pretty much convinced to sell my rocketfire to be able to buy the fender custom shop, but after A/B-ing them very often on the amp, i´m not as convinced any more…

what i´m sure about:
1. i definitely love my modern neck much more and play better with it
2. my rocketfire with the modern neck has got way more low end and is fatter and more even sounding through all strings, especially playing single notes through g, b- and e-strings…
3. the fender has got a range (i guess it´s in the midfrequencies), where it definitely sounds more authentic, more fenderish (that kind of hollow, throaty, ringing sound...) but it definitely has got much, much less low end, which – compared to the fatter rocketfire – can sound almost cheap, especially on the b-string ...it´s breaking down on the b-string, when i play arpeggios f.e. on the high strings...
4. so actually, in my ears, the fender really only wins for chordal clean stuff, while the rocketfire with it´s much better low end is way better for rock or funky stuff and especially single lines, allthough it´s missing this ringing, authentic strat sound a bit (at least compared to the fender)...can it be that this excludes each other....that the louder low end overlaps the hollow, throaty, ringing areas
5. so actually i´d love my old rocketfire more, the only thing i wish is, if it could add a little more of that typical fendery chime…maybe by changing pu´s or so…?
6. but sadly, what i have to say is, i tried this…i changed the pickguards, and i was totally surprised that it basically changed nearly nothing!!! so it seems, at least these pu´s here won´t make the difference…

what i want: soundwise as close to vintage and authentic strat sound as possible (i love this video of carl verheyen f.e. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnwa_LTpsjs and of course your blues stuff ), while – if possible – sticking to my rocketfire strat with it´s fat low end and modern neck…i´ve thought about cryotuning…could that possibly help my guitar in the desired direction? any hint about a certain pickup that could help me? any other tunings? or should i go for the fender and could a cryotuning make this guitars´ low end more prominent and make it more even on the higher strings, especially the b-string and get used to play a vintage neck…?

i´d be so happy for any hint,
thanks a lot,
best,
a big, big fan of yours,
rudi

[Scott Henderson]

Wow, that's a lot to digest, but unfortunately without hearing the two guitars compared side by side, I'm not going to be much help. It seems there's always a compromise when comparing guitars, so if you like certain aspects of both guitars, I'd figure out a way to get both of them. I've found that one guitar rarely does everything - I have Suhr guitars which are made with the same wood and hardware but they sound completely different. Some are better for recording, some are better on stage. I don't think I've ever owned a guitar I was happy with for both recording and live - the mic hears a different thing than our ears do while standing in front of an amp.

About pickups, the only two pickups I recommend are the Suhr V60LP and ML Standard. The ML is wound a little more so it's fatter sounding, and the V60LP is as close as you can get to the vintage pickups of the 50's and 60's.