What a beautiful, great example, love the color! I have a new Fender CS ‘63 that is so good but despite the period correct heavy gauge metal shield plate on the pick-guard, had crazy 60 cycle hum. I shielded the entire body cavity, which reduced the hum by at least 75%.
Thanks for sharing, Drew - great to know you had such a big improvement with the extra shielding. I'm guessing that didn't affect the tone much if at all?
Thanks for taking us along for another fascinating stringed adventure! I’ve never owned a Novo. Generally, the typical aesthetic that I see with most of their models just hasn’t called to me. That said, I definitely think that there is room for multiple “new” Strats. Lately, my interest has been somewhat piqued by the LSL Saticoy models. Can’t even really say why. It’s not all that “boutique”, but…
My pleasure and thanks for sharing your thoughts as always! It’s funny because the aesthetic didn’t call to me either until I tried one and it grew on me. The feel and resonance won me over. I agree about the market. I enjoy the various interpretations of the s-type design. My Xotic, Lentz, Novo, Silver Sky, and partscasters can all get the job done, but each inspires me in unique ways.
I really like the Illitch noiseless system. I have the backplate on a fender strat, and one mounted under the pickguard in a custom tele and strat. They get rid of like 90% of the noise, in line with a humbucker level of noise, and you can use whatever pickups you like. Huge fan. Also your playing in this is incredible!
I'm not even a typical strat guy, but that one sounds RIDICULOUS. 😳As for hum, I've tried a few different things with various success. I play live at my church every week, and we have a lot of noisy lights. We moved to a new building with better wiring, so that has helped a lot, but here are a couple of things I've tried. Noiseless pickups - definitely work. But they move the sound of the pickup toward a humbucker sound. Even the "best" ones out there will do this a little bit. And even a subtle change will be heard and felt when you play, and eventually it got under my skin and I had to replace them back with the regular, noisy pickups. Hum Debugger - Electro Harmonix makes a pedal that removes hum from your signal chain. I don't really know the science behind it, but it 100% works. To my ears, it didn't sound noticeably different. I eventually had problems with it shorting out and I didn't replace it, but that was a great solution with the best compromise, in my opinion. I would be curious if you heard any sonic difference. My ears are good, and I was trying to listen to the difference, but I never tried recording clips back to back to hear. I just did an A/B on stage. It could be that in the time it took to change my setup, I couldn't remember what it was before. HOWEVER, I took that as a good sign. Since I know my instrument, I wasn't able to hear or feel a significant change. Noise Gate - I've had mixed results with this. On one hand, these are in every DAW and every multi-effects unit. So currently, if I need some extra noise reduction, I will resort to a light gate if I need it. But some gates work better than others, and then even your straightforward plain gate has controls you have to learn. And the nature of a gate is to open and close the sound source, and you can hear that in certain parts of a song. I have found that for me, setting my plain-jane gate at -67dB threshold with a 300ms decay is a decent tradeoff. It doesn't seem to cut off my notes or sustain, and reduces the noise pretty significantly, though you may hear the noise start to come in at the end when the gate reopens. Your mileage my vary, but it might be a setting to try. Some people will use two noise gates. One at the beginning of their signal chain, and one at the end. That probably is best for high gain settings, but I usually only use one at the beginning. There's also some really good noise gates out there too with fantastic default settings, like the Horizon Devices Precision Drive, which I will use in my Helix sometimes (with high gain amps). Shielding - this is a good idea for every guitar, and it will help with some noise, but not the 60 cycle hum. Again I don't know the science of it, but shielding a guitar (I have found) helps with stray noise like radio signals and phones, etc. But the 60 cycle hum is something inside the pickup itself. However, shielding a guitar is pretty easy if you get some shielding paint (on StewMac, or even eBay). It applies like regular paint, but is conductive, so it shields the inside cavity. They say to apply 2-3 coats. They also have copper tape you can use as shielding, but it's just easier to paint. But the tape is great for the underside of pickguards. And of course, having a high quality, shielded cable is a great defense too, though you probably have one of those. :) I have heard that Suhr offers that last option you mentioned in the video. It's like a dummy coil that has an active battery circuit (I think) and takes away the noise. I don't have any experience with that one, but I looked into it a while back. Seems like another great option. Great playing as always!
Regarding hum - best option IMHO: I installed "Ulbrick NRS" into my Fender CS Strat and hum is almost completely gone (quiet like humbucker) with zero tone loss: Highly recommended upgrade!
Thanks as always, Dave! This is incredibly helpful info and appreciate you sharing your experience with us! I've had good luck with a Decimator live, but prefer not to use a gate pedal in the studio. I had not heard of the EH Hum Debugger until now. That seems like a no brainer to try first as it's more cost effective and I can use with all of my noisy single-coil guitars. I see ISP makes something similar which I may consider as it sounds like you and others have had some bad luck with the EH units failing. Thanks again!
Yeah, there is something great to be said for a thin nitro finish, so resonant especially Ash. I made the finish like this kinda by accident after sanding and repainting my ash strat. Take care, very nice tones and playing my man.😊
Great catch, wonderful color and beautiful tones. I have heard those Frail Vintage hots before on another IDRIS and then on the same Gtr after some pickup replacements that were hum-canceling Fralins; his Split-Blades pups. While that option did sound really good, to my ear, (through YT compression) the original Vintage Hot pups were more desirable. I have seen that adding a dummy-coil set-up under the pickguard does a great job on removing the hum while maintaining the SSS tone. Another set that I do have 1st hand experience with are Mojo-Tone Quiet Coils ( their 58' set) where they use a side-by-side coil approach instead of coil-stack. Again, great walk-through video, love the Gtr and tones. Cheers!!
Thank you and I appreciate the your thoughts on noiseless options. Those Mojo tones seem like the best option from my research as well. Glad to know they work well! I have their 59’s in my partscaster and love them (though noisy).
I just used shielding paint on my strat type recently and it calmed the noise down to hardly noticeable levels. Sadly, I wasn’t in troubleshooting mode and I also reflowed the solder on the single point pickup ground connection and also the trem claw ground… so I don’t know which step made the bigger difference. I should’ve done things incrementally but wasn’t in that mode. I’ve got another, small builder guitar with 60s Japanese single coils I need to try next. That will be an interesting test. I watched a video done by Dylan Talks Tone channel where he looked at the things they tried on Stevie Ray’s Strats and it was pretty wild. Rene loaned Dylan a set of SRV’s pickups to test and clone. They had gone so far as to add shielding tape to the coils of the pickups themselves. I can’t imagine that’s necessary. If you do end up going with the dummy coil method, I’d love to see a video on that. I’ve always been worried it would have a large effect on tone. As far as the Novo spot in the strat market goes: I think there is room for them, because it’s not really replacing anything. This is a company that doesn’t make “hey this is my only guitar” guitars, and with enough buzz, the folks that are in the market for a novo can find room for it alongside their Suhrs, their silver skies and their CS fenders. What I’d pose to you, as the player who made this one sound so sweet today, is: Is there a reason to pick this up over another S type when they’re side by side? I think my answer would be absolutely, but I’m talking speculatively. I might prefer a Solus or Serus with Strat configuration because I know those body types inspire me to play differently, but that’s just because I haven’t actually gotten my hands on an Idris yet to know how it feels. It’s probably just as good as the rest of their lineup and there’s always room for more good guitars if they inspire you! I liken it to having essentially five Les Pauls in my collection (only three are single cuts, but the other two I’m counting because 24.75”, H-H, TOM guitars all have similar dna and can be made to sound similar…ish). I can’t figure out which one to let go of because they all have a specific niche. The Gibson is a banger with a p90 in the neck, the SG is the most articulate, the McCarty 594 SC does everything the others do just about as well, and the ESP explorer (I told you I was stretching the definition a bit) is there to scream its head off. The only one that doesn’t have a solid niche is the Heritage, but it’s my longest owned guitar by twenty years so it’s always going to feel like home.
Yeah man please do both of those comparisons. Great vid. Appreciate that nuance in describing bass response. Those are the types of things I look for, especially running a Benson Monarch. What are your takes on Suhr S antique/vintage?
Thanks! Glad that nuance was helpful! I have only tried the Suhr stuff unplugged so I don't have enough experience to say, but can say the build quality is top notch. That said, not much I've tried resonates like the Novo tempered pine, which adds to the fun of playing it.
Great playing and awesome review! I think you’re dead on with your assessment. I just converted my Idris to HSS with Fralin Vintage split blades and a Fralin Sunbucker. Very happy with the results so far. Also added their blender pot for a tele middle position like tone. Might be my new #1.
@ it’s pretty great. I did keep the original pickguard and electronics completely intact so I can swap back and forth easily. The Idris is perfect for that because of how the jack is in the pickguard. Just needs a quick ground wire and done.
I love it… looks great and sounds great, absolutely keep it in the collection brother. I’m a believer in picking up new tools for new projects… I love it when my wife asks me why I don’t write a song like this or that… that’s my que, I tell her, honey, I would, butI need some different gear… works most of time. Funny how she always follows up with, hey saw these new boots the other day… 😮
@@RatherBeRiffing I think I've told you before that I live here in Nashville and I've been looking for a NOVO. I would like one with Humbuckers or P 90's. I really like the color of yours, but you said it's discontinued.
Wow man, I really love your playing! I just found your channel as this video was recommended to me. I saw you had an Xotic, do you still have it? How would you compare the Novo and the Xotic? You’ve really set me off wanting an Idris haha - best demo I’ve heard of one! I feel inspired to play from your playing - will keep checking out your stuff!
Thanks for the kind words and glad you found the channel! Xotic makes a killer s-type as well. I still have mine. It also has an amazing feeling neck. I have a slightly easier time switching between the Xotic and Les Pauls as it has the same nut width (1 11/16) and chunkier neck carve. It’s also resonant, but the Novo tempered pine resonates like nothing else I’ve experienced. Both great options!
@ thanks so much for the very useful reply - hmmm … I think my next guitar has to be an SSS Idris! Great info on the nut width, I’m a fan of wider nut widths myself. I wish Novo offered that on a 25.5 inch scale length!
I personally would very much like a shootout between the Idris and your strat. I also would like a comparison of both your Novos. That Idris sounds great despite the hum. The fact it’s a pine body harkens back to the earliest Fenders. Even Fender rarely does pine bodies anymore. I think there’s always room for another S type guitar. Women never have too many shoes or purses.
Noted! I find the tie back to early pine Fenders so cool as well! I read they stopped using it because it was too soft. I wonder if the torrification helps with that.
@ You bring up a very important point regarding the pine I hadn’t heard before. I’m sure the process Novo uses does help. Always appreciate your content.
I've been trying to get Novo to build me a lefty for quite a while now... they offered the Serus J for a little while but when it was finally for me to order, they told me they offer NO lefties anymore. It always bothers me when a company purposely excludes an entire sector of the market. I can understand the need for retooling (though it's unclear as Novo used to do a lot more by hand, as seen in Rhett Shull's tour a few years ago) however for a company like Novo who has previously offered lefties to just stop offering lefties... leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They sound and look great though. Thankfully I managed to get my Danocaster Double Cut a couple years ago, so my Strat needs are more than met, so I have given up on Novo ever releasing the Idris (or any other models!!) for lefties. PRS is also guilty of this, however they still do limited runs of lefties, and I have had my 1999 Custom 22 for many years now, so that is less painful. Anyways, great playing as usual! Congrats on the new guitar!
@@RatherBeRiffing I'd definitely recommend trying one out if you can - I would love one of his Mongrels one day as something different, his necks are thus far unbeatable feel-wise for me! Side note, your videos are what pushed me over the edge into getting a Jan Ray, and have been loving it ever since!!
@@imgonnagetbanned Sounds like I would connect with a Dano for sure. Glad you are enjoying the Jan Ray! It was a game changer for me. It is so touch sensitive and stacks well with any other boost/fuzz/overdrive that I’ve paired it with.
@@RatherBeRiffing Totally. I have been hitting the front with a KTR. I have my first gig since I got the Jan Ray in a week or two, but based on what I'm hearing in my studio, it should work very well in a live mix. I really like how it does not compress, so hitting the front end with the KTR gives me a good mids boost without squashing it to nothing! Fuzz faces sound awesome into it too, into my clean amps.
I like it. I have a hard time paying large price tags on tele/strat style gutars. Shabat, Novo,, LSL and fender Customs have a huge tag, but it is hard for me to pay that for bolt on necks. The time and energy to produce it versus a Baker or Mcinturff I just can't justify it. Do you completely disagree? Is so, why? Maybe I need to rethink my thoughts on them.
I felt the same way about bolt-ons for a long time. I still do to an extent, but I found that the time, attention, and materials that go into a build are a big part of the equation which drives price. For example, my partscasters are really nice, but I don't think they are quite on the same level as this Novo or my Lentz. Whether the price differential is worth it is up to the player.
Another outstanding video! Please keep up the awesome content, those tones are just awe-inspiring and make me want to play more and more.
Thank you, Steven! That's what I love to hear!
What a beautiful, great example, love the color! I have a new Fender CS ‘63 that is so good but despite the period correct heavy gauge metal shield plate on the pick-guard, had crazy 60 cycle hum. I shielded the entire body cavity, which reduced the hum by at least 75%.
Thanks for sharing, Drew - great to know you had such a big improvement with the extra shielding. I'm guessing that didn't affect the tone much if at all?
Another great video, thank you. The solo to end was great, lovely restraint and phrasing. Keep up the amazing content my friend.
Thank you for the kind words - will do!
You still have my favourite recorded tones on RUclips, not to mention superb playing. Wishing you a good year ahead.
Wow - thank you. That means a lot knowing how much guitar content is out there and how important inspiring tone is to me. Happy New Year!
Best tone I’ve heard! Outstanding playing as well!
Thanks for taking us along for another fascinating stringed adventure! I’ve never owned a Novo. Generally, the typical aesthetic that I see with most of their models just hasn’t called to me. That said, I definitely think that there is room for multiple “new” Strats. Lately, my interest has been somewhat piqued by the LSL Saticoy models. Can’t even really say why. It’s not all that “boutique”, but…
My pleasure and thanks for sharing your thoughts as always! It’s funny because the aesthetic didn’t call to me either until I tried one and it grew on me. The feel and resonance won me over. I agree about the market. I enjoy the various interpretations of the s-type design. My Xotic, Lentz, Novo, Silver Sky, and partscasters can all get the job done, but each inspires me in unique ways.
Great channel and great videos! Love your tone, rock on bro 🤘
Thank you so much! Appreciate the kind words!
I really like the Illitch noiseless system. I have the backplate on a fender strat, and one mounted under the pickguard in a custom tele and strat. They get rid of like 90% of the noise, in line with a humbucker level of noise, and you can use whatever pickups you like. Huge fan.
Also your playing in this is incredible!
Thanks for the info and kind words, Jake! It's great to hear about your experience with the Illitch. That solidifies it for me. I'll have to get one.
Great tone and playing bro. Do a video on both Novos and the Strat and Idris. I am dying to get a Solus but I want two P90s.
Would love to see the comparison between the Novo models :-)
Noted, Wayne - thanks for letting me know!
I'm not even a typical strat guy, but that one sounds RIDICULOUS. 😳As for hum, I've tried a few different things with various success. I play live at my church every week, and we have a lot of noisy lights. We moved to a new building with better wiring, so that has helped a lot, but here are a couple of things I've tried.
Noiseless pickups - definitely work. But they move the sound of the pickup toward a humbucker sound. Even the "best" ones out there will do this a little bit. And even a subtle change will be heard and felt when you play, and eventually it got under my skin and I had to replace them back with the regular, noisy pickups.
Hum Debugger - Electro Harmonix makes a pedal that removes hum from your signal chain. I don't really know the science behind it, but it 100% works. To my ears, it didn't sound noticeably different. I eventually had problems with it shorting out and I didn't replace it, but that was a great solution with the best compromise, in my opinion. I would be curious if you heard any sonic difference. My ears are good, and I was trying to listen to the difference, but I never tried recording clips back to back to hear. I just did an A/B on stage. It could be that in the time it took to change my setup, I couldn't remember what it was before. HOWEVER, I took that as a good sign. Since I know my instrument, I wasn't able to hear or feel a significant change.
Noise Gate - I've had mixed results with this. On one hand, these are in every DAW and every multi-effects unit. So currently, if I need some extra noise reduction, I will resort to a light gate if I need it. But some gates work better than others, and then even your straightforward plain gate has controls you have to learn. And the nature of a gate is to open and close the sound source, and you can hear that in certain parts of a song. I have found that for me, setting my plain-jane gate at -67dB threshold with a 300ms decay is a decent tradeoff. It doesn't seem to cut off my notes or sustain, and reduces the noise pretty significantly, though you may hear the noise start to come in at the end when the gate reopens. Your mileage my vary, but it might be a setting to try. Some people will use two noise gates. One at the beginning of their signal chain, and one at the end. That probably is best for high gain settings, but I usually only use one at the beginning. There's also some really good noise gates out there too with fantastic default settings, like the Horizon Devices Precision Drive, which I will use in my Helix sometimes (with high gain amps).
Shielding - this is a good idea for every guitar, and it will help with some noise, but not the 60 cycle hum. Again I don't know the science of it, but shielding a guitar (I have found) helps with stray noise like radio signals and phones, etc. But the 60 cycle hum is something inside the pickup itself. However, shielding a guitar is pretty easy if you get some shielding paint (on StewMac, or even eBay). It applies like regular paint, but is conductive, so it shields the inside cavity. They say to apply 2-3 coats. They also have copper tape you can use as shielding, but it's just easier to paint. But the tape is great for the underside of pickguards. And of course, having a high quality, shielded cable is a great defense too, though you probably have one of those. :)
I have heard that Suhr offers that last option you mentioned in the video. It's like a dummy coil that has an active battery circuit (I think) and takes away the noise. I don't have any experience with that one, but I looked into it a while back. Seems like another great option.
Great playing as always!
Regarding hum - best option IMHO: I installed "Ulbrick NRS" into my Fender CS Strat and hum is almost completely gone (quiet like humbucker) with zero tone loss: Highly recommended upgrade!
Thanks as always, Dave! This is incredibly helpful info and appreciate you sharing your experience with us! I've had good luck with a Decimator live, but prefer not to use a gate pedal in the studio. I had not heard of the EH Hum Debugger until now. That seems like a no brainer to try first as it's more cost effective and I can use with all of my noisy single-coil guitars. I see ISP makes something similar which I may consider as it sounds like you and others have had some bad luck with the EH units failing. Thanks again!
Thanks! I was not aware of that product but it looks super cool! How was the installation process?
@@RatherBeRiffing Simple, instructions are with the product. Its also very light, not much additional weight to the guitar. 🤟
@ thanks - great to know!
Yeah, there is something great to be said for a thin nitro finish, so resonant especially Ash. I made the finish like this kinda by accident after sanding and repainting my ash strat. Take care, very nice tones and playing my man.😊
Thank you! I agree and really enjoy that resonant quality.
Great catch, wonderful color and beautiful tones. I have heard those Frail Vintage hots before on another IDRIS and then on the same Gtr after some pickup replacements that were hum-canceling Fralins; his Split-Blades pups. While that option did sound really good, to my ear, (through YT compression) the original Vintage Hot pups were more desirable. I have seen that adding a dummy-coil set-up under the pickguard does a great job on removing the hum while maintaining the SSS tone. Another set that I do have 1st hand experience with are Mojo-Tone Quiet Coils ( their 58' set) where they use a side-by-side coil approach instead of coil-stack. Again, great walk-through video, love the Gtr and tones. Cheers!!
Thank you and I appreciate the your thoughts on noiseless options. Those Mojo tones seem like the best option from my research as well. Glad to know they work well! I have their 59’s in my partscaster and love them (though noisy).
I loved the guitar, but I could just listen to you play for hours.
Thanks for the kind words, Jeff!
Please…. Can you make a comparison between the 2 Novo guitars? Thank you
Will put it on the list!
I just used shielding paint on my strat type recently and it calmed the noise down to hardly noticeable levels. Sadly, I wasn’t in troubleshooting mode and I also reflowed the solder on the single point pickup ground connection and also the trem claw ground… so I don’t know which step made the bigger difference. I should’ve done things incrementally but wasn’t in that mode. I’ve got another, small builder guitar with 60s Japanese single coils I need to try next. That will be an interesting test.
I watched a video done by Dylan Talks Tone channel where he looked at the things they tried on Stevie Ray’s Strats and it was pretty wild. Rene loaned Dylan a set of SRV’s pickups to test and clone. They had gone so far as to add shielding tape to the coils of the pickups themselves. I can’t imagine that’s necessary. If you do end up going with the dummy coil method, I’d love to see a video on that. I’ve always been worried it would have a large effect on tone.
As far as the Novo spot in the strat market goes: I think there is room for them, because it’s not really replacing anything. This is a company that doesn’t make “hey this is my only guitar” guitars, and with enough buzz, the folks that are in the market for a novo can find room for it alongside their Suhrs, their silver skies and their CS fenders. What I’d pose to you, as the player who made this one sound so sweet today, is: Is there a reason to pick this up over another S type when they’re side by side? I think my answer would be absolutely, but I’m talking speculatively. I might prefer a Solus or Serus with Strat configuration because I know those body types inspire me to play differently, but that’s just because I haven’t actually gotten my hands on an Idris yet to know how it feels. It’s probably just as good as the rest of their lineup and there’s always room for more good guitars if they inspire you!
I liken it to having essentially five Les Pauls in my collection (only three are single cuts, but the other two I’m counting because 24.75”, H-H, TOM guitars all have similar dna and can be made to sound similar…ish). I can’t figure out which one to let go of because they all have a specific niche. The Gibson is a banger with a p90 in the neck, the SG is the most articulate, the McCarty 594 SC does everything the others do just about as well, and the ESP explorer (I told you I was stretching the definition a bit) is there to scream its head off. The only one that doesn’t have a solid niche is the Heritage, but it’s my longest owned guitar by twenty years so it’s always going to feel like home.
Dude!! Mike is the BEST!! I live in the area. My son bought a guitar from him just the other day.
That’s awesome to hear! I had a great experience with him as well. So cool your son plays!
Sounds great! I’m allways impressed with your recorded sounds - and you like reverb like I also do😎.
Nice guitar
Thanks for the kind words! I love combining verbs and delays to create ethereal ambiance - so inspiring to play against!
Yeah man please do both of those comparisons. Great vid. Appreciate that nuance in describing bass response. Those are the types of things I look for, especially running a Benson Monarch. What are your takes on Suhr S antique/vintage?
Thanks! Glad that nuance was helpful! I have only tried the Suhr stuff unplugged so I don't have enough experience to say, but can say the build quality is top notch. That said, not much I've tried resonates like the Novo tempered pine, which adds to the fun of playing it.
Sounds incredible
Thanks!
Great playing and awesome review! I think you’re dead on with your assessment.
I just converted my Idris to HSS with Fralin Vintage split blades and a Fralin Sunbucker. Very happy with the results so far. Also added their blender pot for a tele middle position like tone. Might be my new #1.
I bet that’s awesome! The HSS version intrigues me.
@ it’s pretty great. I did keep the original pickguard and electronics completely intact so I can swap back and forth easily. The Idris is perfect for that because of how the jack is in the pickguard. Just needs a quick ground wire and done.
@@thegardner18did you need to route the body or was the cavity already compatible?
@@RatherBeRiffing nope, all idris’ are swimming pool routed. Couldn’t be easier. Just had to email Devon at Novo and buy a new pickguard.
@ that’s awesome! Thanks for the info.
I love it… looks great and sounds great, absolutely keep it in the collection brother. I’m a believer in picking up new tools for new projects… I love it when my wife asks me why I don’t write a song like this or that… that’s my que, I tell her, honey, I would, butI need some different gear… works most of time. Funny how she always follows up with, hey saw these new boots the other day… 😮
Thanks for the kinds words, insight, and humor, as always, Lenny! Full support from me on the new tools for new projects justification!
Wonderful quality video as always! Wasn't even aware of the brand. Any update on when we can see a video on your Yaron Bone 59?
Thanks as always! I hope to get to it in the earlier part of the new year. Thanks for your continued interest.
I really like that guitar!
It’s a ton of fun to play!
@@RatherBeRiffing I think I've told you before that I live here in Nashville and I've been looking for a NOVO. I would like one with Humbuckers or P 90's. I really like the color of yours, but you said it's discontinued.
Wow man, I really love your playing! I just found your channel as this video was recommended to me. I saw you had an Xotic, do you still have it? How would you compare the Novo and the Xotic? You’ve really set me off wanting an Idris haha - best demo I’ve heard of one! I feel inspired to play from your playing - will keep checking out your stuff!
Thanks for the kind words and glad you found the channel! Xotic makes a killer s-type as well. I still have mine. It also has an amazing feeling neck. I have a slightly easier time switching between the Xotic and Les Pauls as it has the same nut width (1 11/16) and chunkier
neck carve. It’s also resonant, but the Novo tempered pine resonates like nothing else I’ve experienced. Both great options!
@ thanks so much for the very useful reply - hmmm … I think my next guitar has to be an SSS Idris! Great info on the nut width, I’m a fan of wider nut widths myself. I wish Novo offered that on a 25.5 inch scale length!
This is by far my favorite Novo model but I’m not a strat guy so would like to see some other configurations of this model.
The ergonomics are great as well. I bet it would be killer with some gold foils or p-90’s too.
The pine body looks incredible
It really does!
I have vintage hot Fralin single coil pickups, there really good!
I'm digging them as well!
I have not heard a Novo that hasn't sounded good. I think more companies should look into using pine for the weight and the tone more often.
Agree - I've had the same experience!
Hum cancelling is easy to fix by installing a aluminum pickgaurd shield and copper tape in the cavities.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Nice tones, nice playing!
Thank you!
I personally would very much like a shootout between the Idris and your strat. I also would like a comparison of both your Novos. That Idris sounds great despite the hum. The fact it’s a pine body harkens back to the earliest Fenders. Even Fender rarely does pine bodies anymore. I think there’s always room for another S type guitar. Women never have too many shoes or purses.
Noted! I find the tie back to early pine Fenders so cool as well! I read they stopped using it because it was too soft. I wonder if the torrification helps with that.
@ You bring up a very important point regarding the pine I hadn’t heard before. I’m sure the process Novo uses does help. Always appreciate your content.
I've been trying to get Novo to build me a lefty for quite a while now... they offered the Serus J for a little while but when it was finally for me to order, they told me they offer NO lefties anymore. It always bothers me when a company purposely excludes an entire sector of the market. I can understand the need for retooling (though it's unclear as Novo used to do a lot more by hand, as seen in Rhett Shull's tour a few years ago) however for a company like Novo who has previously offered lefties to just stop offering lefties... leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They sound and look great though. Thankfully I managed to get my Danocaster Double Cut a couple years ago, so my Strat needs are more than met, so I have given up on Novo ever releasing the Idris (or any other models!!) for lefties. PRS is also guilty of this, however they still do limited runs of lefties, and I have had my 1999 Custom 22 for many years now, so that is less painful. Anyways, great playing as usual! Congrats on the new guitar!
I started out as a lefty and switched. I would like to keep both hands up to speed though. So hard to find lefties!
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you found a lefty Dano. I’ve always admired his builds but haven’t been able to try one yet.
@@RatherBeRiffing I'd definitely recommend trying one out if you can - I would love one of his Mongrels one day as something different, his necks are thus far unbeatable feel-wise for me! Side note, your videos are what pushed me over the edge into getting a Jan Ray, and have been loving it ever since!!
@@imgonnagetbanned Sounds like I would connect with a Dano for sure. Glad you are enjoying the Jan Ray! It was a game changer for me. It is so touch sensitive and stacks well with any other boost/fuzz/overdrive that I’ve paired it with.
@@RatherBeRiffing Totally. I have been hitting the front with a KTR. I have my first gig since I got the Jan Ray in a week or two, but based on what I'm hearing in my studio, it should work very well in a live mix. I really like how it does not compress, so hitting the front end with the KTR gives me a good mids boost without squashing it to nothing! Fuzz faces sound awesome into it too, into my clean amps.
Way too much hassle for just another strat. Happy new year!🎸🤟
Happy new year!
What are the backing tracks ues here, there really great.
Original stuff I may put up on Patreon after 10k subs.
I like it. I have a hard time paying large price tags on tele/strat style gutars. Shabat, Novo,, LSL and fender Customs have a huge tag, but it is hard for me to pay that for bolt on necks. The time and energy to produce it versus a Baker or Mcinturff I just can't justify it. Do you completely disagree? Is so, why? Maybe I need to rethink my thoughts on them.
I felt the same way about bolt-ons for a long time. I still do to an extent, but I found that the time, attention, and materials that go into a build are a big part of the equation which drives price. For example, my partscasters are really nice, but I don't think they are quite on the same level as this Novo or my Lentz. Whether the price differential is worth it is up to the player.
Cool. Must be nice to afford all that gear.
Wait are you in Winston-Salem??
No, but I always enjoy checking out the local guitar shops whenever I visit somewhere. B String was a gem!
Maybe a very nice guitar at a premium price point but I just can’t get into the headstock, just like James Tylers.
Always room for another S.
Always room for just one more!
I definitely don’t think we need another Strat Style guitar. There are so many.. why not do a new design? Every company makes a Strat.
the headstock is ridiculous
It reminds me of the oversized Fender headstocks of the late 60’s and 70’s but with Novo’s advant-garde aesthetic.
Another Strat copy? 🥱