Surfcaster STD

[mark123]

I've always liked the Surfcaster look and I've always wanted a guitar with 3 lipstick tubes. I happened upon a Surfcaster STD locally and picked it up.


It seems there is conflicting information concerning the STD model. It's supposed to come with Chandler lipstick tubes but mine and another I've seen both have Kent Armstrong SLHC-1 with a reverse wound in the center position.


It's also supposed to come with Gotoh tuners but mine has Grover Deluxe tuners that look correct.


Is it possible that the Kent Armstrong pickups are original equipment or were the Chandlers commonly replaced? There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information about this guitar as if it slipped under the radar because of the time it came out. I'd say it's a bit underappreciated.


So far, I'm enjoying it. I may have overpaid a bit but I like it.

[DonP]

What did you pay for it?

So far, I'm enjoying it.

That's all that matters. What do you play on this?

[mark123]

What did you pay for it?

$400 but it needed a new nut ($30 installed) and a new pickguard (~$50). I got the nut replaced already and I may just live with the cracked pickguard. So $430 so far.

That's all that matters. What do you play on this?

I'm an old metal head from way back in the 80s just looking for inspiration to start playing again. Going to try some new stuff. Probably Southern Rock or something like that.

[SignoftheDragon]

I've seen other Surfcasters that mention the Kent Armstrong pickups, so I'm reasonably sure that yours are stock from the factory.

Checking through some of my research it seems like the Armstrongs are mentioned only on the later ones- they probably switched from the Chandlers with the '94-95 revision that introduced the humbucker'd HT model and your STD. (and also discontinued the trem-equipped models)


I own 5 Surfcasters at the moment, so when I get a chance I'll open an early one up to check the pickups. Actually, the 3-way switch has been acting up on my main one, so it might be sooner than I thought.

[DonP]

I'm an old metal head from way back in the 80s

Same here, so I couldn't really imagine what the heck I'd play with those pickups LOL!

[mark123]

Same here, so I couldn't really imagine what the heck I'd play with those pickups LOL!

You may be surprised. I'm really liking the change. They "feel" so different. I've always been an active humbucker user just because that's what you use for POWER!!! :p I've got to learn some new stuff.

The noise does bother me a little tiny bit but position 2 and 4 are humbucking with the reversed middle pickup.

[straycat]

Noise gate will fix that 60 cycle hum.I'm used to the hum so it's no big deal.
Very cool guitar I have always looked for those.

[mark123]

Noise gate will fix that 60 cycle hum.I'm used to the hum so it's no big deal.

I've got a Noise Suppressor on my GP-100 but it doesn't seem to work as well as I'd like or maybe I just don't know how to set it up. Any suggestions? What do you use?

Very cool guitar I have always looked for those.

Thanks, man. I do dig it.

[mark123]

Hey friends! I still have this guitar but I’ve changed things over the years. I tried different switching, 5-way, an on switch for each pickup, I settled on a 3-way with the center pickup always on so that it was always in humbucker mode for most of the time. Unfortunately, I found that I just didn’t like the lipstick tubes so I made a new pickguard and installed some Lollars. They really woke this guitar up.



i need to find a way to make the tailpiece and bridge gold to match.

[DonP]

Hey friends! I still have this guitar but I’ve changed things over the years. I tried different switching, 5-way, an on switch for each pickup, I settled on a 3-way with the center pickup always on so that it was always in humbucker mode for most of the time. Unfortunately, I found that I just didn’t like the lipstick tubes so I made a new pickguard and installed some Lollars. They really woke this guitar up.



i need to find a way to make the tailpiece and bridge gold to match.

Impressive that you kept it for so long. I wouldn't mind trying out a surfcaster, but I wouldn't want to pay a high price unless I could try it first to see if I'd like it. I still play mostly metal, but use both low output (Gibson T-Tops) to higher output pickups. Even go with single coils every once in a while.