Questions about the Cyclone II

quilted

Hi all!

I've been lurking around here for a while and I finally got myself registered.

I've been playing LP/PRS-style humbucker guitars ever since I started playing (14 years now I think) and now I'm thinking about getting something different something with a bit more bite to it. So I thought single coil, maybe even a Fender. I never like strats or teles though, but I've always had a soft spot for the Jaguar as I think it's one of the most beautiful guitars ever made. I tried a Jap Jag at the local shop and perhaps I had my hopes set to high but I wasn't very impressed with it. The pickups were probably the weakest part I guess. It just didn't seem to give me enough value for the money.

So I discovered the Cyclone II on the Fender site and while it isn't as beutiful as the Jag it still looks really cool. I've read a lot of reviews and it really seems like the guitar for me. I can't find it in any store around here though, and I don't want to order it unless I'm going to buy it. So I hoped I could get the answers to a few questions here since there seems to be a few Cyclone II owners hanging out here.

1. A lot of people say that the sound is really bright. I'm afraid that it might be too bright. How wide is the range of sound on that thing? Can you get warmer fatter sounds with it? And I'm not meaning humbucker sounds, just something with a bit warmth to it.

2. Looking at the pics on the Fender site I intantly fell for the red one. But then I saw that it's Candy Apple Red. I've never seen that finish in real life, but isn't that a metallic color? I really dislike metallic guitars. I've looked at costumer pictures of CAR guitars and they look too metallic, but that might be the flash of the camera making it too shiny.

Also the finish looks a lot darker on the Fender site than elsewhere, it looks more like the Old Candy Apple Red used on those Japanese Fenders, which seems nice. So would you say that the images at Fender.com represents the looks of the Cyclone II? Otherwise I guess I'll have to go with the Daphne Blue even though I think it's a bit bright.

Yeah, I know I'm picky about the looks of my guitars 😀

3. How does it feel to play? is there any other more common model that feels about the same, so I can try that before buying? Like the strat or mustang perhaps?

I think that's pretty much it.

I'm also considering buying a Squire Jagmaster as a backup guitar since it looks so good and is so cheap 😀 Would you recommend those?

Thanks in advance!

Henrik

echelon

quilted said:
I'm also considering buying a Squire Jagmaster as a backup guitar since it looks so good and is so cheap 😀 Would you recommend those?

Hi - good call on the Cyclone II its certainly an unsual mix of guitars - but very unique!

I've played one for about 25mins in a guitar shop in Central London, so i can help answer your questions to a very limited extent.

As far as i saw it, it's bright but not TOO bright - certainly equal or less bright than a jaguar or Telecaster. Remember it uses 500k pots, while a real jaguar usings 1meg..so it's not ear piercing.

Also i found i could get some really nice warm sounds by combining the bridge and neck pickup..something you cant do on a strat!

The number of pickup switching options is mindblowing though - i still hadnt heard everything properly after 25mins!

in real life it's quite a bit darker than the Candy Apple red strats and Jaguars..but yes it is metallic. i think it looked cool, though i'd get the blue one (just my preferance).

The neck felt bigger than i thought it would - i have a jag-stang, which has a vintage mustang neck, and believe me this felt nothing like that. Closest comparison was my Jagmaster..but if you cant find one yeh it's a bit strat-like, execpt thinner and shorter and just nicer feeling.

End of the day you have to try one!

yeh ive got a Black 24" scale Jagmaster II..and yeh theyre great guitars for the money!! looks really cool, plays pretty well, i used it as my main guitar for practise/gigs/everything for about 6 months. a definitely powerchord monster..and the neck is beautiful!

However, most people say the bridge pickup is too bright (it uses high quality fender Duncan Distortion clones), so whoever had it before me stuck in a SD Invader (hate it!)

Just make sure you get one of the newer 24" scale Jagmaster IIs from China, and not the 2000-2004 25 3/4 scale ones...they sucked!!

quilted

Thanks a lot for the reply echelon 😀 You have convinced me on the Cyclone. I'll be getting one as soon as I get my next paycheck 😀 Still haven't decided on the color though. I guess it will have to be whatever I feel like that day and I'll have to live with it or refinish it 😀

I'll go ahead and order a Jagmaster II as well since they cost practically nothing to order from Germany. I'm very tempted to mod one of those beauties. I'm actually thinking of replacing the humbuckers with SD lipstick pickups. It would make it look even cooler I think, and I'm interested in how it would sound 😀 And I'll stick the original pickups in one of my older LP-style guitars instead. The only problem would be to make the holes in the pickguard look nice. But it seems that a couple of guys on this board has managed to do a decent job doing that. I'm not tempted to make a new pickguard for it.