|
Post by Sérgio on Jan 7, 2020 14:51:06 GMT -5
Let's post and discuss our strats! 2013 1994
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 7, 2020 18:22:56 GMT -5
SWEET. There is just something about a Strat that a Tele and a Les Paul just don't have. But it works all three ways, so you gotta have at least one of each of the Holy Trinity. I have several Strats but this Fender CS 1960 Strat is the only one that really matters to me. It is haunted with love from my hunnie, and the story of how I ended up with it back in 2004 is truly spooky. If that wasn't enough, my hunnie had a pair of custom shark skin boots made for me by J.B. Hill in El Paso Texas: Get a good woman and hang onto her
|
|
|
Post by stratcowboy on Jan 7, 2020 19:39:20 GMT -5
My #1. Best I've ever owned or played--bar none. Including Custom Shop stuff. Not sure why.
This is one I built. A very good guitar, but not as good as my #1.
|
|
|
Post by Sérgio on Jan 7, 2020 19:49:16 GMT -5
I have several Strats but this Fender CS 1960 Strat is the only one that really matters to me. It is haunted with love from my hunnie, and the story of how I ended up with it back in 2004 is truly spooky.
I'd like to hear that story!
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 7, 2020 20:34:39 GMT -5
Sergio, I told this story years ago over on the FDP, so the old-school folks here will know it. I received it on Christmas day, 2004.
I first saw it on the wall in a little mom-n-pop music shop in 2002, and I had taken it down and tried it out. I was a surf green fan for many years and it caught my eye. It was used, and was probably a trade-in. It was a real sweetie of a guitar, with a light factory relic treatment. It played great and sounded like no other Strat I had ever played. Big and throaty. But it was *expensive*, and justifying the cost would probably kill me if I bought it. It had a very unique serial number.
A year went by. I thought of that green Stratocaster whenever I picked up any Strat because it was now my gold standard, and I couldn't not compare other Strats to it. I would look in on it every few months, and there it hung, up there on the wall behind the counter. Waiting.
Christmas morning 2004, there's a guitar-case-shaped something for me under the tree. It was a brand new Fender tweed case. Beautiful! I can always use a tweed case! So after opening gifts we were having coffee and tossing all the wrapping paper into the fireplace, and my hunnie says, "oh, I forgot something." She went upstairs and came down with a surf green Strat in her hand.
THE surf green Strat. I didn't think it was possible, but it was THE guitar. I cried like a baby.
Here's where it gets weird. She's not "guitar smart." They are just wood and wires to her. I never once mentioned that Strat to her, or the color, or the shop (which is a ways from where she lives, BTW). The shop owner didn't know me, and certainly didn't know she and I knew each other when she walked in. I asked her how she came to buy this for me. She was simply driving past the guitar shop. She stopped in on a whim only because she saw the sign for the shop, and she knows I'm a guitar freak. She said to the owner, "I know nothing about guitars. If you were going to get a gift for someone you're nuts about and they are a guitar freak, what would it be?" The guy turned around and took down the green Strat and put it on the counter.
I joke around a lot and make up goofy stuff all the time, but this story is 100% true. I have a tear in my eye every time I tell this story.
|
|
|
Post by jonnyblooz on Jan 7, 2020 20:59:02 GMT -5
Japan '57 Reissue w/Texas Specials. This is the Ebay purchase that moved me to join the FDP to ask questions.
|
|
|
Post by Sérgio on Jan 7, 2020 21:18:31 GMT -5
Sergio, I told this story years ago over on the FDP, so the old-school folks here will know it. I received it on Christmas day, 2004. I first saw it on the wall in a little mom-n-pop music shop in 2002, and I had taken it down and tried it out. I was a surf green fan for many years and it caught my eye. It was used, and was probably a trade-in. It was a real sweetie of a guitar, with a light factory relic treatment. It played great and sounded like no other Strat I had ever played. Big and throaty. But it was *expensive*, and justifying the cost would probably kill me if I bought it. It had a very unique serial number. A year went by. I thought of that green Stratocaster whenever I picked up any Strat because it was now my gold standard, and I couldn't not compare other Strats to it. I would look in on it every few months, and there it hung, up there on the wall behind the counter. Waiting. Christmas morning 2004, there's a guitar-case-shaped something for me under the tree. It was a brand new Fender tweed case. Beautiful! I can always use a tweed case! So after opening gifts we were having coffee and tossing all the wrapping paper into the fireplace, and my hunnie says, "oh, I forgot something." She went upstairs and came down with a surf green Strat in her hand. THE surf green Strat. I didn't think it was possible, but it was THE guitar. I cried like a baby. Here's where it gets weird. She's not "guitar smart." They are just wood and wires to her. I never once mentioned that Strat to her, or the color, or the shop (which is a ways from where she lives, BTW). The shop owner didn't know me, and certainly didn't know she and I knew each other when she walked in. I asked her how she came to buy this for me. She was simply driving past the guitar shop. She stopped in on a whim only because she saw the sign for the shop, and she knows I'm a guitar freak. She said to the owner, "I know nothing about guitars. If you were going to get a gift for someone you're nuts about and they are a guitar freak, what would it be?" The guy turned around and took down the green Strat and put it on the counter. I joke around a lot and make up goofy stuff all the time, but this story is 100% true. I have a tear in my eye every time I tell this story.
Pretty cool. Something similar happened to me, but my story has some opposites to yours thrown in.
The black strat you see in my first post is an American Standard, it's my favorite guitar. Bought it new a good handful of years ago.
Back when I first saw it hanging on a guitar shop wall, I too couldn't justify the money it cost (US made guitars are very expensive in Brazil , due to currency, taxes, import taxes, some other taxes, importer and dealer profit and so on). I didn't play in proper bands, and back then I owned an Epiphone that suited my bedroom dreamer/garage apprentice needs. But of course, I drooled all over when I held it at the shop.
Some time passed, I was already in a band, and as I was downtown with my then girlfriend, I casually entered a music shop and saw a very beautiful American Special strat, with a big 70's style headstock and all... I tried it, liked it, and decided to buy it. But something just wasn't feeling right, and I stopped and gave up when I was about to give my credit card to the salesman.
I went out and we went to have lunch at a cafe nearby. As I ate I suddenly remembered the black American Standard that I had tried at the other shop, I remembered how it felt so much better in my hands and ears. A good deal of time had passed and of course the guitar would have been long sold. But I called that other shop nevertheless, and guess what... The strat was still there. Brand new, nobody had bought it, though every guitar dude that came in fell in love with it.
Well, I finished lunch, went there and bought the black American Standard strat. It ended up being the guitar I played the most, live with real bands.
Now, as I came home, my GF and my mother wouldn't speak to me for three entire days, given the fact that I had spent a good sum of money on it (they don't understand these things). I said "to hell with it". It was worth it.
|
|
Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 851
|
Post by Ryder on Jan 7, 2020 21:26:23 GMT -5
My only strat. 1983. American. I had a black one long ago and sold it. i bought this beauty last year from our own Blacksunshine.
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 7, 2020 21:55:44 GMT -5
Sergio, we sometimes have to do things we cannot expect everyone to understand Some things are just meant to be! Most women understand the concept when you present it this way:
|
|
|
Post by Goodyear57 on Jan 8, 2020 8:12:29 GMT -5
Peegoo and Sergio, those are both great stories with happy endings. Guitar endings anyway, not sure about the girlfriend Sergio. I own three Strats but my favorite is the Hot Rod 62. I first saw it in a mom & pop store. I visited the store every month for about six months just to see if it was still there. Each time I pulled it down and played it. On my sixth visit I finally pulled the trigger and bought it. I figured it was still there for a reason and it was meant to be. No regrets. Even the cat approved.
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 8, 2020 8:40:49 GMT -5
Goodyear57, I've never seen a yellow Strat with a mint guard like that. It looks GOOD!
|
|
|
Post by Goodyear57 on Jan 8, 2020 9:06:00 GMT -5
Goodyear57, I've never seen a yellow Strat with a mint guard like that. It looks GOOD! Thanks. It started out as Olympic white and has since faded.
|
|
|
Post by stratcowboy on Jan 8, 2020 9:12:52 GMT -5
Yes...it's a nice one, indeed.
|
|
|
Post by Sérgio on Jan 8, 2020 12:36:33 GMT -5
Not a problem, I eventually broke up with that one and got a far more caring GF...
|
|
|
Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 8, 2020 16:46:01 GMT -5
I sold off most of my guitars about 6 years ago when I kind of stopped playing. I'm down to two electrics, both happen to be Strats. 1978 Fender Stratocaster. Walked into a little music shop that had a Washburn sponsorship but otherwise sold garbage generic guitars. Walked in and the light shone down from above on this one just hanging on the wall. It came complete with a story of a little old lady who brought it in for consignment, it having belonged to her son who passed. I didn't believe that for a second. I took it down and played it and it was like it was made for my hands, I mean just perfect. I had $20 cash on me, they wanted $150 to hold it for me until I could come back with the cash. It was the beginning of February, and my girlfriend (now my wife) volunteered to pay the deposit as a Valentine's Day gift. I told them I would be right back with the rest and I went to the bank. When I returned, there's a red '65 Mustang parked out front. I walk in, and you have to be kidding me, there's a little old lady who they had called and she was there for her money. Transaction was completed, and off she went in the Mustang. It was my main gigging guitar throughout my very short career as a gigging musician. It needed new saddles (Callaham) and now needs a new nut which I have not gotten around to doing. Still sounds amazing, even with hough maligned 70's Strats are, this one is just different. 2007 Fender Stratocaster Robert Cray Signature. Wanted a hardtail, and Guitar Trader had them for a great price and I ordered one. So did everyone else. It took forever for the order to get filled. It arrived, without my having received any tracking information, on the exact same day my daughter was born. I took her handprint and had it laser engraved on a neck plate along with her name and date of birth. Can't find the picture, will have to take a new one. Feels great, sounds great, and its the one I have recently re-strung to try to start playing again.
|
|
|
Post by Seldom Seen on Jan 8, 2020 19:56:04 GMT -5
Here's my oldest Strat, a 1965 in CAR.
|
|
|
Post by fuzztone on Jan 12, 2020 14:43:50 GMT -5
I don't have a Strat but my girlfriend lets me use her's. It is a 1993 Fender Mexican Strat(the amp is her's too).
|
|
stl80
Wholenote
Posts: 216
|
Post by stl80 on Jan 15, 2020 13:12:49 GMT -5
My wife bought me a guitar in the early 90's. She also went into a guitar store and asked the salesman what guitar would get if he could have any in the store. He pointed to a nice PRS in black and gray. It even came with a case. I hate to admit this but I have a 1982 Dan Armstrong 2 nob strat that I bought new that I prefer to play. I guess that all of my taste is in my mouth. Jim
|
|
|
Post by budg on Jan 15, 2020 19:06:39 GMT -5
Fender Custom Shop 59 ri
|
|
|
Post by Leftee on Jan 15, 2020 19:50:15 GMT -5
There are some nice Strats up in here.
|
|
|
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 15, 2020 21:20:11 GMT -5
stl80, "hate to admit" it? There is nothing wrong with a two-knobber with three screws from 1982 if it's a good one. Heck--even Gibson made a few dawg Les Pauls in 1959. The year of manufacture does not matter one iota. A great guitar is a great guitar. Here's a yellow Strat I built with a Warmoth neck and repro decal. And it has two knobs. I call it the "Bullet Strat" because...well...
|
|
|
Post by Blacksunshine on Jan 20, 2020 17:57:52 GMT -5
I'm not even sure anymore, I don't bring my Fenders out much anymore, but I think I have:
1964 Sunburst 1974 Sunburst 1976 Natural 1979 Natural Hardtail 2006 Black with rosewood
And I have one of the first EJ Strats from when they first came out, serial number is under 100.
There may be others, but I cleared out a bunch of Fenders a couple years ago. The sweet 1983 hardtail Ryder posted above was VERY HARD to part with, but it's better he has it rather than sitting in my closet.
I probably should dig them out one of these days and see what treasures await that I forgot about!
|
|
|
Post by HenryJ on Jan 23, 2020 22:31:39 GMT -5
Here's what bedroom players play. Squier Affinity Strat. $169.99 plus tax in 1999. Plays good and sounds good. I think they manufacture things just for the fun of it in China.
|
|
|
Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 24, 2020 11:27:36 GMT -5
Heck--even Gibson made a few dawg Les Pauls in 1959. Imagine you find one for sale, you finally have the money for it, all of your dreams are about to come true, and you go to try it out and it plays and sounds like crap. Then you have to tell the owner how he has one of the crappy '59 Les Pauls and walk away.
|
|
|
Post by Joe Potts on Jan 25, 2020 16:36:30 GMT -5
I have owned a number of Strats over the years, including a 93 Am. Std. (black w/maple), a 98 Am. Std. (natural ash, maple), and a 2005 Custom Shop Am. Dlx (sonic blue, large painted headstock, ebony board) that I ordered special. They have all been sold.
My remaining Strat is a 2014 Deluxe Lone Star in burgundy mist metallic, maple board. It's a sweet geetar.
|
|
|
Post by Joe Potts on Jan 25, 2020 18:11:09 GMT -5
Whoops - I forgot one! I also had a 2011 MIM HH in sonic blue with maple board. I think they called it a “Blacktop.” It was a nice guitar but is also gone.
|
|
|
Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 25, 2020 22:27:20 GMT -5
Whoops - I forgot one! I also had a 2011 MIM HH in sonic blue with maple board. I think they called it a “Blacktop.” It was a nice guitar but is also gone. I had a Blacktop Tele back in the day and that guitar was a player!! The pickups were bad, so I switched them to GFS Retrotrons and that thing played so nice!! I recently find myself wanting a double humbucker guitar, and I checked for a Blacktop on eBay. People are selling them for $1,000! I think they were $399 new!
|
|
|
Post by Joe Potts on Jan 26, 2020 17:02:22 GMT -5
I think I paid around $499 for my Blacktop Strat. I don’t remember what I sold it for, but it was nowhere near $1000!
|
|
|
Post by roaddowg on Jan 26, 2020 20:53:42 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by guildx700 on Jan 26, 2020 21:27:13 GMT -5
I've currently got 6 Fender strats, 4 are American (one is a Malmsteen, my fav American), then 2 are Mex, a CAR one and a Burgundy Mist one, they are lovely but I hardly ever play them, hate their necks, especially the frets and the plastic neck finish. Eye candy at best. Impulse buys,,,,arrghhh..
Frankly some of my fav "Strat's" reside in my Parts O' Caster herd, of which I have 5 mutts.
My very fav "strat" however is the one I got for my wife many years back. It's a Hohner brand.
It has a really nice, lively body with a lovely, well done surf green finish. Everything about the neck is wonderful. Seriously. It has a thin satin finish, no plastic dip here. With use it has worn to a nice smooth,slick feel. The pocket fit is super tight, it has a beautiful slab of rosewood for the fingerboard, the frets are nothing short of amazingly well done with their fingerboard ends actually trimmed back into the neck so there are no fret tang ends visible, the slot ends are perfectly filled in with fingerboard color filler and are perfectly flush with the neck and fingerboard wood, you can't feel them at all. The neck profile is super comfortable and it can play clean with action set lower than one would ever want. Not sure if it's a typical example of that era Hohner, or a unicorn, but it will never leave our herd!
And although it sounded pretty darn nice with it's stock electronics, some occasional selector switch issues pushed me to take it to the next level.
I decided to go full monty with a set of Abby Custom 60's pups and premium, fresh electronics. That really woke it up, making it my #1 go to "strat. Much to the chagrin of my wife.
Seriously...the Abby pickups alone are worth probably 10 times what I paid for the guitar. But the combo really does it for me (and my wife, when she gets it away from me that is).
And I'm not the only one enamored with that lowly Hohner knockoff. Several of my friends as well as my older brother who was a 50 year guitar playing vet(now gone as of last year, RIP) really loved playing it.
Chances are the 2 Mex ones will be sold as well as 2 of the American ones. They just sit and look pretty, and rarely get played. I really dig the Malmsteem model, but the adjustment to the scalloped fingerboard is a bit much for me. Still love it though. Very well made, sounds great.
|
|