Mechanical Pencils: Find the Best Performer!

[turbo]

Damn, I want an old Fender someday (preferably a Strat) and an old amp would be cool too, but I don't even know where to start.

You can buy a Tradition Strat copy with vintage-stagger pickups for cheap, and it will play and sound better than most of the lower-tier Fenders. I've got one and it's great. BTW, I owned a real '59 strat and in 1970 I traded it for a Gibson Les Paul Custom and $300. Dumb!

Anyway, if you have the hand-strength or are willing to develop it, you will get the maximum tone out of this guitar by fitting it with pure nickel-wound strings with a wound G-string. The G pole-pieces on vintage-stagger pickups are high because of the very tiny steel cores in old nickel-wound strings, and they can give you a very harsh edgy tone if you use plain steel G-strings.

 

[turbo]

Also, many of the early Silver-face Fender tube amps (mostly the smaller amps) were not really that different from the Black-face (60's versions) and they sound great. You'll need to have someone check the tubes, replace weak ones, bias the amp, and just give it a good going-through.

 

[Dr Transport]

I've got a .9 mm Pentel that I use all the time at work, can't break the lead off and it makes a bold line. My advisor gave me a .5 mm Cross that is a great pencil, but I won't use it at work, not bold enough.