NGD: Super-sonic!!!!

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Picking up strings this afternoon, I ran into this guy sitting behind the counter waiting to be tagged and well within my semi-impulse buy price range today and jumped on it:



2012 Fender Pawn Shop Super-Sonic

Someone blocked the bridge and I'm not a fan of the Atomic HBs in there (at least through the AC15 I plugged it into) but it felt great and was too funky and cool to pass up. Pretty hyped to have run into one of these in the right color for me and in such good shape

Gonna tear it down a bit tonight and see about unblocking the trem. I'll probably pull the stock pickguard and wiring as is and cut a new guard and backplate for it from bakelite too once I decide what kind of pickups I want to drop in.

[HNB]

Nice! Looks beautiful!

[s_mcsleazy]

love these guitars. my one issue is they seemed to go from shops straight to their forever homes. i think since the 5 years they've been off the market, i've seen 2 used ones locally.

[raindog13]

What would you call that color? Like, a Charcoal Frost Sparkle? Either way, beautiful!

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Turns out the bridge just had the mounting screws cranked down, 5 springs installed, and the claw run all the way up to the body rather than any kind of blocker installed so ~45 minutes of twiddling later I had it floating pretty well at just about spot on a full step up w/ 3 springs and it's got a really nice action for subtler vibrato work. The mini JM/Jag body would be awesome enough IMO but the flip makes it somewhat irresistible to me and the gunmetal flake finish (been wanting a grey metallic guitar for years) and a really nice chunky neck profile (seems really close to the Warmoth '59 roundback shape maybe scaled down ~ 2.5-5%) are like icing on top

Playing it through a few of the amps at home, the pickups seem like they'd probably work out just fine for strictly distorted stuff but I still think I'll want some more range out of it. Still brainstorming but first idea was to try a pull off 80s Seymour single blade tele bridge pup I've had stashed for a bit and the second hand Fralin Firebird neck pup I had in my Cyclone, keeping the reverse angle on both. I'm starting to think I might need to get a lightly overwound Firebird from Lindy for the bridge though

Nice! Looks beautiful!

Thanks!

love these guitars. my one issue is they seemed to go from shops straight to their forever homes. i think since the 5 years they've been off the market, i've seen 2 used ones locally.

I was pretty surprised to run into one for sure. So far I can see why they seem to wind up not being sold all that often.

What would you call that color? Like, a Charcoal Frost Sparkle? Either way, beautiful!

I think they called it gun metal flake? It takes a pretty cool subtle plum cast at the right angle and/or in low light that I'm really into as well.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Awesome guitar!! I totally second the idea of Firebirds in this beast!!

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Well, as I'm often wont to do on a mid range guitar I'm excited about, I'm going a bit big on the upgrades for this one and have another Callaham V/N Strat bridge assembly w/ a black tip 5 1/4" arm on the way (roll off isn't super horrible w/ the stock vintage spaced MiM bridge, but it can feel a bit precarious up the neck and I've yet to regret going for the Callaham stuff from a tone and feel perspective), a set of Kluson Supremes (for the 18:1 ratio I like), and a Fralin Big Single Mini w/ 8000 turns of 43 gauge and a raw nickel cover for the bridge spot (to pair up w/ the Fralin Firebird I've already got for the neck spot). I'm gonna get my luthier friend to make one of his great bone nuts for it too (hopefully this weekend?).

I'm hoping I can manage to pull the guard tonight and grab a tracing and get started on the bakelite guard tomorrow.

Incidentally, does anyone know if this is a unique control plate on these? I'm thinking I may want to change up the layout a bit when I rewire and can't seem to convince myself what other Fender it would be borrowed from. Closest I could reckon is maybe the Mustang Bass plate?:

[RIORIO]

This sounds like a great layout setup! Got some Big Singles on the way too!

[Debaser]

Nice score, gotta get me one of these

[blimpage]

Very nice find! I've been waiting for one of these to pop up in Australia, but haven't found a single one in the time I've been looking.

If you wanna sell those Atomic Humbuckers, send me a message

[solfege]

Love this.

Another pickup suggestion: lollar low wind imperials (or something similar by someone who won't charge you lollar prices). You can keep an HH guitar but have it way, way way more dynamic and twangy.

[scottydanger]

Incidentally, does anyone know if this is a unique control plate on these? I'm thinking I may want to change up the layout a bit when I rewire and can't seem to convince myself what other Fender it would be borrowed from. Closest I could reckon is maybe the Mustang Bass plate?:

Hard to say for certain without measuring, but that looks exactly like my MIJ RI Mustang Bass plate.

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Thanks guys!

Turns out WD has a template for these and w/ my shop mate's reseller discount it winds up pretty darn reasonable to have them cut one for me sans pickup and pickup screw holes (like almost the same as a half sheet of the bakelite blank) and save me some time and potential frustration. From previous experience I feel pretty confident I'll probably wind up w/ a better looking guard that way too Only question is will they get it to me in time for my upcoming four day weekend from the day job so I can get this one pretty much finished up while I'm off. I'm guessing most of the rest of the bits should be here in time any way.

...
If you wanna sell those Atomic Humbuckers, send me a message

I'll certainly let you know if I decide I want to get rid of them. They're not without their merits for fairly distorted stuff but seem a bit picky on what amps they want to be plugged into and not my thing for "cleans"

Love this.

Another pickup suggestion: lollar low wind imperials (or something similar by someone who won't charge you lollar prices). You can keep an HH guitar but have it way, way way more dynamic and twangy.

I think I'm gonna be into the Firebird style set (at least I really liked the neck one when I had it in my Cyclone while I was waiting on the 3x3 minihum from Mr. Novak). In addition to the suggestion of Mosrite, I think this one hints at a non-reverse Firebird shape for me and I think the angled Firebird style pups might be a good way to bridge those two vibes visually. We'll see soon enough anyway I'd definitely like to try a set of those Imperials someday regardless.

Hard to say for certain without measuring, but that looks exactly like my MIJ RI Mustang Bass plate.

Yeah, that's Darren Riley's photo of the Mustang Bass plate so it oughta I went ahead and ordered one of these to check for myself. Seems like the closest match I could find from pictures any way...

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

I got a template together for the pickguard this evening and put together a quick mockup:

Now to figuring out what I want wiring wise and wait for stuff to arrive.

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Got the bridge mounted and set up last night:

Once again it does not disappoint. Feels great, sounds great, I'm liking the 5 1/4" arm length as well.

Turns out the Mustang Bass plate isn't a fit so I guess I'm sticking w/ the stock plate config for my wiring. Probably going straight forward w/ 1 vol., 1 tone w/ blower switch push/pull.

My order w/ Fralin was still in processing status as of yesterday afternoon and was starting to make me nervous so I went ahead w/ a contingency order of an Antiquity II Firebird for the bridge that should be here tomorrow, just in case.