L00uie

I use the music nomad detailer sparingly, a few pumps onto the cloth for the whole thing. I have their polish, which I got for “tacky” feel on the back of the neck. 1 or 2 treatments and the tacky feel is gone.

I’ve played a studio, standard and a deluxe, and I think I’ve also briefly tried out a sustainable as well. To my ears the standard was a noticeable step up in tone from the studio, fuller richer sweeter etc. The deluxe I didn’t think sounded any “better” than a standard and visually it didn’t appeal. So I went with the standard. This was before the original series was released, which I think is a standard with a few cosmetic changes

No problem with the pick guard on my ‘20 HB, but it hasn’t sat on a shop wall for 2 years either. Action is perfect. If you want the etched nitro pick guard you can get it on the original series model, or the historic. I’m one of those players that often “anchors” my hand on the pick guard when playing fingerstyle and noticed my pinky was right on the birds head when I tried an original. I’d probably wear it off in a few weeks of playing! Ultimately I chose the best sounding bird and to my ears it was a standard over an original. Couldn’t care less about the pickguard being “flubber”. Frankly I like that the bird won’t be worn off in a few years.

Congrats on the new SJ. I got to play one of these recently. Visually a really arresting guitar. Had a nice, meaty tone with plenty of punch. Not sure whether “period correct” or not but it had a somewhat high action, at least compared to the modern series standards I’d been strumming on before I picked it up.