Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

[jhale667]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

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Duncan 1/4 pounders are great but they are pretty noisy.. especially on a high gain amp.

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Ok, so has anybody else tried the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage series? Sounds better than a quarter pounder OR an HS-3, and ABSOLUTELY NO NOISE (even on my Boogie's Lead Channel set to 'kill' [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]. I have them in two of my strats and they kick major ass!

[fuel0707]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

The 0.25-pounders are a bit noisy in my Blackmore, but they are single-coil, passive pickups. As for the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, those are amazing beasts though different in design from regular single coil pickpus. I have a Jackson with a VV Heavy Blues in the neck and a DiMarzio Norton in the bridge and the VV is actually quieter than the Norton, believe it or not.

[toejam]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

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I've tried both the Malmsteen and the Blackmore and I own one of the 500 Blackmore signatures built in Japan in 1997:
It was mentioned that there are different models of the Blackmore and that's correct. Besides this Japanese model, there's also a USA Custom Shop version. It differs in having only two pickups, both Lace Sensors. The Japanese version has 2 SD Quarter Pounders with a dummy plastic coil in the middle slot.

The Blackmore is also scalloped differently. The Malmsteen, depending some on the year, is pretty much scalloped fully from the nut to the end of the fretboard. The 1997 Blackmore (and I think the USA model) are scalloped in a unique way. The scallops get deeper the higher the you go on the neck and the scallops are also deeper on the treble side than on the bass side at any given fret. Therefore, the guitar exhibits very little scalloping for the first several frets.


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Cool. Thanks, John! That's exactly the info I was looking for. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[jhale667]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

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The 0.25-pounders are a bit noisy in my Blackmore, but they are single-coil, passive pickups. As for the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, those are amazing beasts though different in design from regular single coil pickpus.

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True. The VV's use a dummy coil that's not actually in the audio field of the PU, according to Steve Blucher @ Dimarzio. They LOOK like a stacked PU ala the HS-3 and whatnot, but they sound way more like singles. In my Warmoth Strats I have a Blues in the neck, a '54 bridge in the middle (also a Blucher recommendation), and a Solo model in the Bridge and they are impressive beasts to say the least. [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

[fuel0707]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

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Cool. Thanks, John! That's exactly the info I was looking for. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Glad to be of help.

[snc2716]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

I like scalloped guitars and have had a few over the
years including an early Schecter. Scalloped guitars
are a blast to play once you get used to them.

I bought a Blackmore Japan for a friend because he insisted
he wanted it. It must have been a freak because it was
the worst sounding strat I've ever played. period.
Terrible guitar that was completely dead tone-wise and
felt horrible playing it.
I'm pretty sure it was probably just a bad one as
most of the Fender Japanese guitars are very good.

[ckeer]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

I had tried an early YJM strat that belonged to a friend. I liked the scallops, had no problem playing them, but the pickups, even though they sounded great to me, always felt like they needed a little more "oomph" to them.

Recently, my friend sold me his '98 YJM. I think they solved the problem in the YJM pickups on this one, they are great. I love the scallops - it feels like your ice skating on the strings. I'm very happy with this one - its a keeper.

I've tried a Blackmore strat, I liked the neck on that one two, not as deeply scalloped as the YJM.

I think the YJM is an excellent sounding strat.

[jhale667]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

Aren't the YJM pickups just an HS-3 with a vintage magnet-stagger pattern? Do they sound THAT different from an HS-3 (which unless they've switched, was STILL in the bridge position on the newer YJM Strats)? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] Just curious...

[charvelguy]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

they have a little more top end to them like a vintage style single does, other than that, they are the same pup as the HS-3. I think they're a cool pickup, but I bought mine uber cheap on a GC clearance.. so no loss at all.

[The Chase]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

Yeah. If only I could scallop my SL2HT...
Haha! I've played a monster maybe half a year ago in Vietnam. It looked like a strat, but built soooo badly that I laughed of may ass. And guess what? It had a scalloped neck. I'll post you a pic one I get there.

[snc2716]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

Several ago I was dating a Vietnamese girl and at her parent's house I saw a video of an older American guy who was supposedly a fairly popular musician in Viet Nam. He had a Les Paul that was deeply scalloped and could play in a bizarre style with lots of micro-tonal bends. It sounded like very authentic traditional Vietnamese music to me.
Very strange to watch and listen to.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: Anyone played a Blackmore or Malmsteen Fender?

I have a set of VV in my Strat. They are my favorite single coils.