Electric Guitars On eBay

In part I of this review, I told you the story of how I zeroed in on the Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster model. In this follow-up, I’ll fill you in on the numerous features that make it stand out from the other models available.

Beyond the gloriously thick, 50s style neck on this model, the next thing that jumps out at you is the highly resonant sound. The sweet tone created by the heavier neck and the alder body provides a fat, punchy tone in the lower and midrange frequencies as well as fantastic sustain rivaling any Les Paul. Even though alder is a lighter wood compared to maple or mahogany, the Jeff Beck Stratocaster is not the lightest guitar I’ve ever played, but the beefy tone makes it worth the extra weight.

Probably the biggest question I had about this guitar before I ordered it was the Lace Sensor pickups - I had never played them before and didn’t think anything could compete with a traditional pickup - even with a little hum. Well, long story short, I love the Lace Sensors and I wouldn’t take them out for anything - even Fralins. Consequently, my Jeff Beck Strat is a ‘98 model and since 2001 Fender has since started putting their own Noiseless pickups in the JB Models. To be fair, I had a set of the Noiseless pickups in an American Deluxe Stratocaster with no complaints, but you definitely get a little more “quack and chime” out of the Gold Lace Sensors - and those things are just dead quiet in any room I’ve ever played. Try’em both and see what you like - hard to go wrong with either one.

I’ve covered the neck of the guitar pretty well, but haven’t mentioned much about the fingerboard. I’ve picked up a lot of Strats over the years with those skinny little frets that look like tinsel on a Christmas tree - well, Jeff was having none of that. This model has 22 medium jumbo frets laid into a sweet, 9.5″ radius rosewood fingerboard that plays fast and furious when duty calls. Equally important, the back of the JB neck has a satin finish that won’t slow you down like a sticky lacquer finish common on most other Stratocasters.

On either end of the neck are some cool features too. The Jeff Beck Signature Model features Fender/Schaller Locking Tuners, an LSR Roller Nut and a 2-point synchronized Tremelo with individual string saddles. First off, one of my favorite features are the locking tuners. These modern marvels hold the string like a vice-grip and easily cut the time to change a set of strings in half. But what about the tremolo? Will it stay in tune after some serious dive bomber whammy action? In all honesty, for a non-Floyd Rose system, it’s work pretty well, but it ain’t a Floyd Rose. Most of my vibrato action is pretty tame, but I’ve never had a problem with tuning. Even after sitting in the case for a week, this guitar holds it’s tuning extremely well.

So that covers all the features, but how does it sound? Well, this is my main guitar for the local Monday and Wednesday night blues jam around town and anything can happen - blues, jazz or rock. I typically use a Fender Deluxe Reverb provided by the club and take along a Voodoo Sparkle Drive for a little added dirt around the edge. To date, I’ve never played a set where someone didn’t come up to me and compliment the tone of this guitar - and I still get a rush everytime I plug it in myself.

For blues, the rhythm, rhythm-middle in-between and middle pickup are just about the closest thing to tone nirvana I’ve found. I string this guitar with GHS Boomer .011s, so it’s got a lot of volume and punch to spare. And the Lace Sensors hold their chime even when you turn down the volume on the guitar - I just love that!

For the rock stuff, I typically split the Dual Lace Sensor in the bridge for rhythm work and then just go full humbucker for the solos. I usually don’t go for a heavily saturated distorted tone, so I run the Voodoo Sparkle Drive about 60% up on the gain and mix in 25% of the original signal with the “Clean” knob. This settings gets a real funky lead tone with a ton of a punch and balls deluxe - I think Mr. Beck would be proud of the tone he inspired. Long live the King…

To wrap up, the Jeff Beck Stratocaster is hands-down the favorite guitar in my arsenal. In fact, I’ve been crusing eBay for another JB Signature Strat in the ‘93 to ‘98 model years with an Olympic White or Aged Yellow finish. Although I’ve played the newer models, I find the older JBs have a little fatter neck and I really prefer the Lace Sensors pickups that used to come stock. Another major change in the newer models is the switch from a dual coil to a single coil pickup in the bridge. Moreover, the ability to split the bridge pickup just provides another set of tones I’ve come to rely on - strictly personal preference. Old or new, go find one of these pups to try out and see what you’ve been missing!