Go HEaVy Or GO HOME

One Of the great things about being a guitar player is you’re always learning new stuff. Yes, even you, the forum know-it-all. i started playing guitar in 1986, the golden age of pointy axes and hair metal. While i never bought into all that spandex pants and cowboy boots Bs, i did stumble into the super-light strings/overwound anti-social ’bucker trap.

this year, i got my dabs all over a fender Custom shop ’69 stratocaster. i’ve been searching for that sweet Curtis Mayfield/ Pop staples/ike turner r&B tone. You can really hear the wood of the guitars on their records. same goes for Jimi hendrix and stuff like

Little Wing and Angel. Of course, those guys were using late-60s strats fuelled by the lowest powered single coils fender ever produced. You’re talking around 5.6k for these ‘grey bottom’ pups, as opposed to the 6.2k to 7.1k spread of a set of texas specials. Okay, it’s a small difference on paper, but the clarity those grey imports offer up is inspiring.

so, after 30-odd years of buggering around with guitars, my advice for the ultimate tone is use the heaviest strings and lowest output pickups you can handle. You’re welcome.