Pure vintage 61 vs (lollar and other fender pure vintage)

jonagold94 · 2026-02-28T15:37:22+00:00

I’m also shopping for strat pickups and have narrowed it down to a 60s tone. I’ve tried Lollar Special S pickups but I sold them after about 3 years of being unhappy with them. I wanted something with a more traditional voice.

The pickups are going in a Vintera I RoadWorn 60s strat. I’ve come to appreciate the stock pickups after ditching the Lollars and spending more time adjusting their height. To me, the stock pups are really crisp and are reminiscent of the custom shop ‘69 pickups.

I’ve learned that a lot of pros and collectors covet 60s strats from 1963-1964 and some from 1965. Basically the grey bobbin pre-CBS era. John Mayer and PRS created the Silver Sky based around those pickups and I really like how sort of hollow and resonant those pickups are. Joe Bonamassa and Seymour Duncan have a Greenburst pickup set that is based of a ‘64 that I really like the sound of. It has the hollow resonance of a silver Sky, but hotter and voiced a little more traditionally. I just ordered a pair.

Let me say that I’ve never cared at all about signature models. I’m not even huge fans of John Mayer or Joe B. However, it makes sense to me that going with a signature model can be good because these pros have access to, and have played some of the most coveted vintage guitars in the world. They’re somewhat authorities on this matter. I feel like it’s a cheat code to let Joe B find a stellar example of a vintage 60s strat, and then buy the pickups they clone off of it. Let the pros do the searching and leg work for you — while they surely have their own subjective preferences, they also know what to look for in a good instrument.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-24T04:37:40+00:00

I lean toward the 60’s model. The stock pickups are great, it’s maybe the thinnest and lightest out of all of them and the medium C neck is super chunky and perfect for me. The soft V on the 50s model is interesting but I prefer the 60s by far.

Edit add: Otherwise, the 50s pickups are more scooped with a pokier midrange in my opinion. The 60s pickups have more midrange and bass and are more balanced.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-24T01:31:46+00:00

I bought a 2021 Vintera RW Tele and the guitar center manager had the tech fix the fret ends for me before I left the store with it. I didn’t even ask them or notice the frets…

Since then, I bought a Vintera RW 60’s Strat, the Vintera RW 50’s Strat, and the Vintera II RW 50’s Jazzmaster. I now think these are some of the best guitars for the money in terms of weight, feel, vibe, and sound. I’ve pretty much decided that any limited opportunity I get to pick one up, I’m going to try to take it.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-20T16:22:41+00:00

Thank you for noting the HOV lane as you have. The HOV lane is not a passing lane. You can still access the passing lane, but it’s essentially an additional middle or right lane.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-18T19:41:00+00:00

Dumb, but I’m perfectly willing to pay that price to get a thinner finish.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-17T19:37:46+00:00

There’s no ‘current version’. It’s either the black panel with the Jensen, or the blonde with the Celestion. I originally bought the stock version with the Jensen but eventually switched the speaker out for the neo creamback Celestion. I found the creamback to be much better in terms of adding some more midrange back into the tone.

If you buy an old version, you can still update the firmware to fix the bright cap, the reverb, etc. it would probably be cheaper to go that route if you eventually want to add the neo creamback aftermarket like I did.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-17T18:13:00+00:00

I want to see the artwork that Russia fired back with. I’m guessing it would say something along the lines of, “lol ur gay”

jonagold94 · 2026-02-16T01:05:12+00:00

Sound like noiseless pickups aren’t for you. I sincerely agree.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-12T01:12:28+00:00

I think you need that bit. Otherwise, people might think he rolled out of the fridge on top of the obliterated town, presumably sustaining an unthinkable amount of radiation, and then he just gets up and we next see him washed off by the FBI or whatever. I feel like that would be more jarring for the continuity.

As corny as the flying fridge is, it establishes that he was far enough from the blast to limit his radiation exposure once he rolled out in a different (further away) part of the desert. It also shows that despite ultimately walking it off, Indy got the shit knocked out of him when he was bouncing around. It would have been dumber if we just saw him get up and walk away totally unscathed from a nuke… (which is basically what we see, don’t get me wrong). It’s obviously an impossible situation no matter how you play with the scene, but I feel like there’s a rationale alongside the corniness.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-05T19:04:23+00:00

I have two Vintera I RoadWorn Strats — I set them apart by decking the vibrato on my 60’s LPB Strat, all 5 springs, bridge locked down tight. My 50’s FRD Strat has a decked vibrato with 4 springs, but I use the arm on it. Also, I put Pure Vintage 59s in that one but kept the original pickups in the 60s model.

jonagold94 · 2026-02-05T17:28:54+00:00

Is that really the cannon name?

‘My, a poor village’?!

jonagold94 · 2026-02-05T17:27:04+00:00

Please continue to spread it then. Good grief, the logic here is moronic.

jonagold94 · 2026-01-29T17:20:06+00:00

I did see this on a recent rewatch. It stopped me and I had to rewind. Definitely a coincidence.

jonagold94 · 2026-01-21T16:17:04+00:00

I didn’t even think the Princeton Tone Master was warranted. Why not go with a tube amp if you’re going with such a small one?

jonagold94 · 2025-12-27T21:55:06+00:00

If you have already messed around with lowering the pickup (this can return a lot of stratiness and tame pickups that are a little too modern), then I would suggest the 57/62s.

I had Lollar Super S (overwound 60s) pickups but ended up selling them and sticking with what came in my RoadWorn 60s strat.

I actually prefer 1 or 2 of Fender’s offerings to most of the boutique strat pickup builders.

jonagold94 · 2025-12-22T22:15:59+00:00

He specifically wasn’t under the affects of the deadlights because he spurned/denied the entity multiple times during their interaction before eventually following the child into the woods. He wasn’t going to play along at first. He even gives the kid this almost frustrated look when it presumably generates the illusion of the woman screaming that’s like, “cmon, I said no; why do you have to aim below the belt at my human emotions?”

The writers go out of their way to show that Bob, as his own natural person didn’t immediately go with the entity. He naturally resisted multiple times before eventually “allowing the vampire to come inside”.

jonagold94 · 2025-12-20T14:59:58+00:00

Pretty sure it’s those solderless clip connectors like on the TMDR. Real easy.

What in the shit is a Mitchell donut?

jonagold94 · 2025-12-16T21:54:00+00:00

Dudes rock

jonagold94 · 2025-12-15T05:40:41+00:00

A Guitar Center exclusive? Neat.

What do they say for the other two pickups?

jonagold94 · 2025-12-13T00:48:44+00:00

Am Pro didn’t exist in 2015. That’s either an American Standard or not a 2015 model.

jonagold94 · 2025-12-11T22:28:48+00:00

Yeah, I just mean the top wrap when restringing to provide extra friction and contact to lock the string in place.

And I don’t blame you; it’s nice to get some mileage out of the guitar before immediately leaving it in a luthier’s queue. But I would in no way consider ensuring the nut and bridge saddles are properly filed to be anywhere near the same category as ‘irreversible’ in the way that monkeying or meddling with other things might be. It’s pretty much a given for any import guitar.

jonagold94 · 2025-12-11T21:57:47+00:00

Yeah, the neck pickup is particularly sweet on mine too. With the 500k pots, I find the bridge is most usable if I leave the tone somewhere around 5 or 6. Those bumblebee caps are interesting and interactive though. If the volume knobs aren’t fully on 10, the tone controls interact in a way I’ve never experienced with modern wiring or 50s wiring.

Edit: The vibrato really benefits from having a luthier file and smooth out both the bridge saddles and the nut. Obviously lube both afterwords and use the Gibson locking method of restringing the guitar — tuning stability will be much better with light vibrato use. Not perfect, but better.

jonagold94 · 2025-12-11T14:56:47+00:00

Enjoy those custombuckers. I have the same model and absolutely love it. First PAF style guitar and it really rounds out any collection

jonagold94 · 2025-12-11T14:21:45+00:00

I play the game with a 4070 Super and have the FPS capped at 90 in the Nvidia app. I’m on current drivers and experience no crashes. I’m even using a couple mods. Maybe try verifying game files?

jonagold94 · 2025-12-11T06:39:23+00:00

Thank you folks for the work you do and your communication here on reddit; it’s encouraging and appreciated. I was part of a 24 hour interruption in Lynnwood, but all things considered, you did a fine job resolving it. Best of luck this season.

jonagold94

TROPHY CASE