Máistir Nádúraí: Keeping Fender in Business ...

2.28.2022

Keeping Fender in Business ...

"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

― Mick Jagger

This is a Fender American Stratocaster Ultra HSS in Arctic Pearl & Red Tortoise Shell ― plays like an absolute dream. So, I've been reading about G.A.S. (guitar acquisition syndrome) and watching YouTube videos about it. I'm not trying to be a master guitar player and I get that one guitar or more multiple guitars can make you a better player in different ways ― knowing one instrument intimately or being versatile with the tone and feel of several. This can't go on forever as one eventually runs out of funds, and this is documented among others suffering from G.A.S.

HSS = Humbucker, Single Coil, Single Coil ― the pickup configuration of this guitar. I spent about an hour adjusting the pickups to my preferred sound/tone. David Gilmour is a big proponent of three single coil guitars and that's typically how I've been running until the EOB Stratocaster. Anyway, I quite like the deeper, smoother, and thicker sound a Humbucker pickup renders.

And ya just gotta love locking tuners.

Bio:

Mike McDowell has been documenting southern Wisconsin’s flora and fauna since 1987 and began leading field trips in 2002. Prolific at Pheasant Branch Conservancy, other highlighted natural areas include Pope Farm Conservancy, Spring Green Preserve, and the Baraboo Hills. His nature photography has appeared in various publications, newspapers, magazines and was even featured on a Wisconsin Endangered Resources license plate, a Capital Brewery beer label, and a National Geographic publication. He began journaling nature observations on this blog in 2005. He's the recipient of the 2012 Bronze Passenger Pigeon Award from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in their local communities or state to promote the field of ornithology. He was a finalist in Swarovski’s Digiscoper of the Year photography contest several times. His other interests include insect macro-photography (especially tiger beetles, treehoppers, and robber flies), fossil collecting, amateur astronomy, botany, natural history, and marksmanship with long-range rifles. Once a gigging musician, collecting Fender Stratocasters is a recently revived interest—most prized being a 1957 Vintage Custom Shop 'Mary Kaye' White Blonde. A former IT Professional, he's spent the last 24 years employed in the sport optics industry.