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Which one would you prefer?
Ibanez AT300 or Fender YJM
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Well I have never played one but I heard from my guitar tutor that the YJM is fantastic, if set up properly. Of course, you need heavy gauge strings or it is likely that you will raise pitch if you press on the fret any harder than the tension required. But as I said, I haven't personally played it, so I don't know.
I can only comment on the YJM, since I own one.
IF you get one, you will probably want to swap out the original pickups and bridge saddles.
The vintage bridge is very rough and "sticks" to your hand.
The pickups are fine, but are really low in output. REALLY LOW. They sound great once brought up to level by a booster, or whatever. But this also brings up the noise. The neck is great, IF you like thick necks. Don't even think about comparing it to an ibanez neck profile. Don't string it heavy, that will defeat the purpose. Just slap on some 9's. It makes you play lighter and thus, faster for a lot of people. The thing I personally love about the scallops is the crazy amounts of grip you have on strings while bending or executing vibrato. The trem system isn't worth much. I'm an avid trem user on my ibanez's, but on the YJM, the bar isn't even in and its screwed flat against the body. Due to the staggered middle pickup, I had to lower it, making the middle position of the 3-way switch useless. Inbetween settings ( 2 and 4 ) aren't notched, but are there. It's not a very versatile guitar, but the strange thing is..... I just can't put it down
I can imagine the AT300 to be more versatile. Probably a thinner neck profile. I just hate the way it looks ( the first AT ruled ! ).
Same thing seems to go as always : Try them both !
IF you get one, you will probably want to swap out the original pickups and bridge saddles.
The vintage bridge is very rough and "sticks" to your hand.
The pickups are fine, but are really low in output. REALLY LOW. They sound great once brought up to level by a booster, or whatever. But this also brings up the noise. The neck is great, IF you like thick necks. Don't even think about comparing it to an ibanez neck profile. Don't string it heavy, that will defeat the purpose. Just slap on some 9's. It makes you play lighter and thus, faster for a lot of people. The thing I personally love about the scallops is the crazy amounts of grip you have on strings while bending or executing vibrato. The trem system isn't worth much. I'm an avid trem user on my ibanez's, but on the YJM, the bar isn't even in and its screwed flat against the body. Due to the staggered middle pickup, I had to lower it, making the middle position of the 3-way switch useless. Inbetween settings ( 2 and 4 ) aren't notched, but are there. It's not a very versatile guitar, but the strange thing is..... I just can't put it down
I can imagine the AT300 to be more versatile. Probably a thinner neck profile. I just hate the way it looks ( the first AT ruled ! ).
Same thing seems to go as always : Try them both !
as for the YJM. It's made for Yngwie. If you don't play like Yngwie or w/ a similiar setup to him, good luck. Although most shredders like paperthin necks, Yngwie uses a vintage strat profile. Most shredders like high output pups, Yngwie likes single coils. He also does use like 8-48s stringwise and only uses switch positions 1 and 5. As for the trem, it's just a strat vibrato, can't get too crazy on it.
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I'm not trying to be a smart-azz but, if the pickups aren't single coils, then what are these?
I'm sure the output problem could be solved easily. Most Strats don't have a high output to begin with, so I'm sure it sounds fine. I'm thinking that perhaps the pickups could be raised pretty high as well?
Personally, I would buy the YJM over the AT. The biggest difference you will encounter between the the two guitars is the weight. The AT probably weights just as much as an S series. I would probably get an SAS36FM and put the same pickups the AT has:
Jimmy:smile:
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YJM and HS-3 stack pickups are standard on Yngwie strats. These look like single coils but are really humbuckers...I'm not trying to be a smart-azz but, if the pickups aren't single coils, then what are these?
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I'm sure the output problem could be solved easily. Most Strats don't have a high output to begin with, so I'm sure it sounds fine. I'm thinking that perhaps the pickups could be raised pretty high as well?
Jimmy:smile:
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71 Posts
The YJM is with out a doubt the best Fender guitar I've ever had or played and I've had tons of Strats. The scalloped board will take some getting used to but on the other had its well worth it. I wish all my guitars were scalloped like this (my other strat is). The pickups are weak as stated above. I have to use two different presets for each preset on my Voodu Valve - one for YJM and one for everything else. I can nail his tone (not his playing ) with this guitar. I did use a SD Hot Rails in the bridge for years but recently took it back to the stock configuration. I could live with just this guitar if I had to pick just one, but it would be a hard decision between it and the 550 RFR.
) with this guitar. I did use a SD Hot Rails in the bridge for years but recently took it back to the stock configuration. I could live with just this guitar if I had to pick just one, but it would be a hard decision between it and the 550 RFR. Err... Hold on... Let me get my YJM handy..
Yes, they are single coils. But you are right, they are humcancelling. What is referred to as humbuckers nowadays is a double coiled pickup. The windings are wound around two core magnets. In a single coil, the windings are around only one coil. As is the case with the HS-3 and YJM pups.
So yes, they buck hum (
), but aren't humbuckers in the regular sense of the word. ( semantics, I guess )
The hex nuts can be raised or cut down. That doesn't change the shape of the saddles. The bent part stil "sticks". Stringsavers are flat/rounded squares.
The middle pickup IS staggered. I bought mine new. original pups. Maybe a spec change, unsure.
( On the dimarzio site, the same image is featured for the YJM and HS-3 pickup, in spite of the comment : "He also swears by our HS-3™, and he's always wanted a vintage magnet-stagger version to go with his best guitars." )
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I was under the impression that the YJM and HS-3 were "stacked humbuckers" as opposed to "side by side" 'buckers. And the fact that they are both 4 conductor type lead me to think that they are humbuckers. I know you can have 2 conductor single and 2 conductor bucker but I've never heard of a 4 conductor single coil. I could very well be mistaken though.
Yep, that's what I meant to say. They have all the properties of single coils, magnetic window, output and sound.I was under the impression that the YJM and HS-3 were "stacked humbuckers" as opposed to "side by side" 'buckers. And the fact that they are both 4 conductor type lead me to think that they are humbuckers. I know you can have 2 conductor single and 2 conductor bucker but I've never heard of a 4 conductor single coil. I could very well be mistaken though.
Still, wires around one vertical coil.
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63 Posts
I'd have to go with the AT300 for a lot of reasons: The body wood is mahogany giving it a much thicker more midrange sound than the YJMs alder body, the cruiser pickups sound great as does the bridge humbucker(some kinda breed style pickup), the bridge is a gotoh and will stay in tune way better than the fender bridge, and finally while the YJM is scalloped the fretboard radius is 9.5" while the At300 has a 12" radius-flatter necks are way easier to bend on without fretting out with low action. Both guitars are available for around $ 1300. you could find a some very good used JS/Jems/Prestiges for that kinda of money....just a thought.
I'm changing my mind a bit. I still would rather have the AT300, but I did borrow a Strat the other day for a gig and it was darn nice. He had a mid-boost pot installed in place of the bottom tone pot. It give you a lead mild boost right at the guitar. Pretty cool.
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YJM! YJM all the way!
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Jeff Beck Strat!!!:lol:
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