NGD - Pro II Stratocaster in Dark Knight + String Gauge - I'm clearly getting old :-)

maw4neu

https://i.imgur.com/pKHfwfv.jpg

I finally bought a new ( to me ) guitar on Monday after lots & lots of deliberation . . . Its the USA Pro II Stratocaster in Dark Night with a Maple Neck and its a joy play & hear . . . No amount of photograph's seem to catch exactly what I see with my own eyes, but the colour is awesome . .  It belonged to a friend of mine, but he'd hardly touched in the months that he'd owned it . . . 

It needed a mini setup & tune plus I also had to adjust the spring tension to get the Tremolo to sit as I like it to, but that took 10 minutes at best. Intonation was pretty much spot on and after a quick Fast Fret refresh of the string I switched on my Amp and had a play . . . 

I absolutely love it, but it wasn't until then that I actually figured out that it had 9's loaded rather than my personal preference which would be 10's  . . . I rang my friend, the former owner, and he confirmed that they were indeed 9's and that 9's were his favourite.
I honestly  thought that 9's were too skinny until that moment, these are just divine, easier to bend , plus no real loss of tone  . . . It a complete revelation for me and I've ordered 3 x Set of Ernie Ball's finest . . . 

thebreeze

yes, I had the same revelation several years ago.  9's work for everything and I don't notice much loss in feel or tone or anything.

ditchboy

I’ve just sold my pro ii for a custom shop but I must admit I’m missing it. If I could pick any fault (and they are minor) I found the pups slightly weak, didn’t think much of the push/pull function and think it’s a bit stingy of fender not putting locking tuners on it. The neck though, absolutely superb!! 

maw4neu

ditchboy said:

I’ve just sold my pro ii for a custom shop but I must admit I’m missing it. If I could pick any fault (and they are minor) I found the pups slightly weak, didn’t think much of the push/pull function and think it’s a bit stingy of fender not putting locking tuners on it. The neck though, absolutely superb!! 

I'm ok with the pickups, in fact, I quite like them really. I play mostly rhythm and with my basic setup I'm hearing very Stratty tones which is exactly what I want . . . I totally agree though with regards the Tuners, even though they are staggered, they should have been locking tuners . . . The Push Push Tone Knob is a bit duff . .  It works and it sounds great but the mechanism on mine is quite slow . . . perhaps it will loosen up in time . . . Its the Fender Version of the famous Gilmour Mod . . The neck is a joy though, no question  . . . super smooth finish . .  Great guitar, definitely loving it . .  Great build quality too . .   

brucegill

Always laughed at 9.5 strings, thinking it was a gimmick. But have to say, on a strat, I really enjoyed them - best of both worlds 

ditchboy

maw4neu said:

ditchboy said:

I’ve just sold my pro ii for a custom shop but I must admit I’m missing it. If I could pick any fault (and they are minor) I found the pups slightly weak, didn’t think much of the push/pull function and think it’s a bit stingy of fender not putting locking tuners on it. The neck though, absolutely superb!! 

I'm ok with the pickups, in fact, I quite like them really. I play mostly rhythm and with my basic setup I'm hearing very Stratty tones which is exactly what I want . . . I totally agree though with regards the Tuners, even though they are staggered, they should have been locking tuners . . . The Push Push Tone Knob is a bit duff . .  It works and it sounds great but the mechanism on mine is quite slow . . . perhaps it will loosen up in time . . . It’s the Fender Version of the famous Gilmour Mod . . The neck is a joy though, no question  . . . super smooth finish . .  Great guitar, definitely loving it . .  Great build quality too . .   

If I ever feel the need to own two strats. I’ll buy another. Olympic white with a rw neck, change the pickguard for a mint green one, drop some fat 50s in and be happy. I do love that dark night colour though, very different. Very cool. Enjoy. 

fretfinder

Au contraire… I got a PRS recently (having not had one for several years) and could tell instantly that the strings were 9s, they just felt too sloppy to me. After a couple of weeks I changed them for 10s, much better! (Imho.)

Neil

Yep, 9's on a Fender  feel right to me. 10's on a Gibson though. 

maw4neu

ditchboy said:

If I ever feel the need to own two strats. I’ll buy another. Olympic white with a rw neck, change the pickguard for a mint green one, drop some fat 50s in and be happy. I do love that dark night colour though, very different. Very cool. Enjoy. 

Great choice . . . I may at some point try a Seymour Duncan SSL-1 pickup in the neck position as I've had one in a Stratocaster before and loved it, so much so, I currently have an SSL-1 in the Neck Position of my Telecaster . . . 

Mike58

9.5s for Strats… the extra meat on the wound strings ( only 2 thou of an inch) makes them feel much closer to a .046. And the first two being .0095 and .0115 mean there is only 5/ten thou of an inch more the a 9 so very close to 9s and nearer 10s on the bass side but they are Not 9-46 ( which I don’t like).

stickyfiddle

Always 9s on Strats to me. Gibsons virtually always 10s. Teles I can go for either depending on what I'm doing with it

mankytom

Neil said:

Yep, 9's on a Fender  feel right to me. 10's on a Gibson though. 

This… 

maw4neu

I may try some 9.5's . . . hmmmm . . . . do Ernie Ball do them . . ???  . . . . I'd better check :-)

noisepolluter

maw4neu said: . I totally agree though with regards the Tuners, even though they are staggered, they should have been locking tuners . . . 

I have a set of Fender locking tuners which are surplus to requirements if you’re interested? Looking for £40 delivered, happy to provide pics. They are staggered height, look just like the stock ones except they have the thumbwheel thingy on the back.

I fitted them to my American Pro ii Strat for a little while last year but decided I prefer Kluson split post ones on Fenders generally, so the lockers have had very little use and I still have all the packaging.

maw4neu

noisepolluter said:

I have a set of Fender locking tuners which are surplus to requirements if you’re interested? Looking for £40 delivered, happy to provide pics. They are staggered height, look just like the stock ones except they have the thumbwheel thingy on the back.

I fitted them to my American Pro ii Strat for a little while last year but decided I prefer Kluson split post ones on Fenders generally, so the lockers have had very little use and I still have all the packaging.

PM'd

noisepolluter

Replied

normula1

I'm in the process of dropping down a guage. I've used 10s forever on a Fender scale and 11s on Gibson and had tried upping the Strats to 10.5 which were great, but a fairly trivial issue with the fingertip of my (main bending) ring finger is seeing me going to 9.5 with 9s very much on the cards.

sweepy

Always 9.5 on Strats and PRS's with 10's on Gibson and Tele's, just seem to suit me

OilCityPickups

My own preference is for 9-46 on my Fenders 10-46 on my Gibsons and 10-52 on any guitar I play rockabilly on. For 7 strings I play heavier now and tune down. 
PS ... I used 8-38 when I was a teenager ... go figure

Teyeplayer

You lot need to toughen up, 11s or flatwounds only.

maw4neu

I bought and fitted some Ernie Ball 9.5's . . . they are on my Stratocaster and my Manson Evo and they are brilliant . . . I was going to switch to 9's but I'm happy I tried these first . . .  I've still got 11's on my Jag-Stang and I played it for an hour or so last night and that was fine, but its a reduced Scale, so easier anyway . . . I do like the 9.5's though . . Impressed :-)