Best Strat for Jimi?

[CrazyNinja8730]

Personally, I'd prefer a righty guitar. Not that lefty thing. I'll probably go CS. Thanks for some help.

[Roe]

a good metal tremolo block really helps. a lot of the strats since the 70s have had light blocks made of cheap alloys that kill sustain, punch and definition

[VintageCharlie]

Hi CrazyNinja,

(this is ling - so, please bare with me, i hope there's something interesting for you that will help on the search)

i've been thriugh these considerations too and my main aim for the strat were also Jimi tones.
The thing is, except the iconic strats of some concerts, Jimi had loads and lods of strats, new ones older ones an he played many of older ones (pre CBS) in the studio - there's man many pictures where in studio you can tell the newer ones weren't necessarily a favorite.

Depending on budget - if it's no object - Custom shop would be a good choice. A better chocie would be a guy called Gil Yaron - check out his work. Or even better - Lashing - it's a guy who can build you a pre-cbs strat that a pro collector won't be able to tell apart from an original one. All hthe correct tools, tooling marks, etc. - into the last detail In this regard better than CS, with better woods and specs you want.

For my medium budget i sold my mexi classic player 60, which i found was a good guitar for its price - not Poo at all, and got myself a 62 Hot Rod. I could see where the tone suffered from on that one - mainly from the cast tremolo bridge. If you'd upgrade a mex iwith a propper steel bridge, it will be a whole different league. But, mexi strats have a narrower neck at the nut - that was something i couldn't get over in the end - it's just hard playing on it (to me atleast). It had the CS69 pickups that had Jimi vibe. For the money it was a great buy.

The 62 Hot rod i compared the mexi to directly, before selling it off, was a completely different story. I had new strings on the mexi and old transport strings on the hot rod at first and the 62 hot rod had all the chime, definition and base one couldn't get from the mexi wihich had new strings on it - i was floored - never thought the difference might be THAT big (though the bridge should be most presponsible for that).

The hot rod has nitro finish, the correct bridge, a 9.5 radius and jumbo frets. rosewood neck - all the specs i wanted. I changed the 57/62 pickups, that i, though i didn't try them on the mexi, think are better for Jimi than the CS69. THough they are meant to be of the early 60 type with the thicker wire gauge and more mids than the 69, etc, they still are scooped-sounding a bit in the mids and get a great chime and quack, sparkle in the inbetween positions, very pronounced. I put a 50's style set from LEosounds in there and only then i got the SRVish type full midded round fat strat tones - the 57/62 were really thin in comparison. The leosounds are nothing special - 50's style pups, handwound (scatter) like all the good clones, with right materials, magnets, sizes, etc. I would recommend some handwound pickups with the later thinner gauge - 68/69 style for Jimi tones and not the CS69 - they were thin and shrill - imo even the 57/69 were better.

As for the 62 hot rod - i thought it sounded great, but as it's big money to me, i brought it to a friend who's a professional musician and like a tone guru in my country. I would have giuven the guitar back, if hed say it's nothing special.
Well, he didn't want to part from that guitar.... (and he HATES strats usually) - that was even with the original 57/62 that were in it. He was playing around with it like a little kid, he was hyped.
It is possible i got lucky with a good specimen with a great neck wood or a combo of neck and body, but this is my experience. As for quality - there's nothing to say bad about it - stays in tune perfectly, has a sustain on par with a good Les paul clone of mine! (really true!) And it's sustain really rings, not that you get a crappy thin note going for ages - the whole chord rings out in a very balanced and musical way.
The thing about the 62 hot rod is, it has a pretty fat neck. Afaik it's the fattest of fender necks. It's definitely a part of the sustain and fattness, i think. Now, when i WOULD have enough money to get a 3TSB heavy reliced 59-61 strat from the CS, which always used to be my dream guitar, i'm just not doing it because i'm pretty much sure i won't get something that sounds THAT good even from the CS. Also i've read a lot of negative stuff on CS guitars. People are not always honest as they for out big $, but some have told that there's plenty of CS guitars that are dead dogs, rotted.

So, what i wanted to say with all this - don't go by the CS or not CS thing. Go by your ear and get a "second oppinion" from a friend just to be on the safe side - try out different guitars. I Wouldn't say that it's wise to dismiss the mexis - check them out too, at least to compare. (though the bridge is something that makes them sound dull automatically and it's hard to compare. I would suggest the CS and the 57, 62 or 70s reissues and hot rods - depending on specs you're interested in. There are also lots of limited runs of reissues with nitro finish, etc. Honestly i do think CS is a bit of a ripp off and that the quality isn't as high as the hype - for CS money i think i would go with a Yaron or Lashing, which are indistinguishable from originals. If you want yours to glow in UV light, like the originals, Lashing can do that too

As for a parts caster - well it's russian roulette with money. The idea of putting together specs you want is very appealing, but imagine - you get some dog-parts (which you find out when the guitar is put together) and you have no warranty for that and the resale value is half of what you pay, already on the day you pay.... I wouldn't recommend it.

Nash would be good if they wouldn't come standard with that horrible unrealistic looking "aging" or wear or whatever it is supposed to resemble - it just looks fake and cheap. Otherwise might be good value.


So, thats that, sorry, a long message, but that's my experience and thoughts about strats - maybe it helps.

Best regards,

VintageCharlie

[Xplorer]

very interesting. i like this kind of view on the strats.
i don't think that the hot rod has the fatter neck. The early 91 jeff beck strat has more than 1 inch of thickness under the first fret. i'll check out lashing, seems interesting.
yeah,nash looks cheap, fake...
fatboy in england offers some great parts, steel blocks, polystyren pickup covers, rounded edge, aged stuffs, very nice.

there was this guy, can't remember his name. he can age a guitar like no others, nothing like these cheap fake Fender CS or any others. one picture o his job , froman ebay auction some months ago

[Xplorer]

oh yes, i remember : clive brown.

[VintageCharlie]

Over one inch neck is that possible?! wow... i think my 62 hot rod has .960 or thereabouts under the first fret - but it's definitely under 1, slightly at least. I personally find it a very comfortable thickness for my medium hands. Especially for blues-rock type playing and also for parts where you do lot of barre stuff. My hand gets tired fast on thin necks and barre stuff.

But from current production, including CS models - is the 62 Hot rod with the fattest neck? The neck is a true highlight - with the nitro and all, great shape - it's the main reason i love this guitar so much. Are there any CS models with a .960 neck thickness?

Xplorer, to you CS aging looks fake? I don't know, from pics there are quite some guitars i've fallen in love with - sometimes they seem to me to have "aged" better than some originals - at least in a aesthetically more pleasing way.

Lashing takes a big upcharge for the aging, if you want it, but afaik he does it in a way that's indistinguishable from real deal. The funniest thing is the glow in UV thing - if you want he can make it glow on the day you buy it or, like it was with originals, this quality evolves with some years and exposure to sun light. That's a great option on your strat - imagine it on the fender spec list for CS strats: -glows under UV light
He quoted me 4k for a strat and 6k for a reliced one.
Reason is it's very time consuming to do the relicing right.
Afaik he also makes Les Pauls, didn't dare to ask for the price, but anything he would charge would definitely be nowere near the overpriced gibson stuff they put out in last years... with woods that are sub par - so they keep up with some eco-laws (being a big company). The small guys are still allowed to kill a nice old growth Honduras mahagony tree, once in 1000 years or so.
I think Gil Yaron is almost at the same level as this guy, but to me his relic stuff doesn't look right.

If 3-4k is the budget, i'd probably go with Lashing or Yaron.

If one would want a guitar you don't have to be afraid to go wild - a reissue or hot rod is best bang for buck / less stress deal. Buy used and you have a great resale value too.

[yngwie308]

Fralin's Woodstock spec single coils, in a 69 CS Strat, I have been saying this for years, but..
yngwie308

[Brandon]

Fralin's Woodstock spec single coils, in a 69 CS Strat, I have been saying this for years, but..
yngwie308

Totally am doing this

[stratcat56]

[ToneBone]

The '97 reverse tribute strat is the best at doing Hendrix.

[JimiJames]

The Voodoocaster for righties.
I thought that this was a good representation by Fender.
Or... the '60s Reverse Headstock Strat
I played a Sunburst one (that's all that Cigar Center had at the time) that played and sounded good. Captured the vibe.
Slap in some closer sounding pup's and your right there...

Welcome stratcat56.
Nice first post !

[JimiJames]

oh yes, i remember : clive brown.

The Tom Murphy of Euroland.
And...yes VintageCharlie , he does do LP's and conversions.
He was just here at the Dallas Guitar Show. What a great show

[T.L.]

I'd go for a reverse-angled bridge pickup...

[windjamma]

my vote goes for the fender 69 custom shop strat i have a rosewood and maple neck beautiful guitars indeed. the rosewood has been my number one since 2001. pure

[AJW]

I have one of the Mexican built 60s reverse strats. It's what I reach for when playing Hendrix songs. I know there are better candidates out there, but this was a bargain. I think I paid $300 or $400 for it new when it was a Musicians Friend deal of the day.

I have Callaham H/SRV pickups, and a Suhr hum canceling backplate on it now. Next upgrade will be the bridge. I have been happy with it since day one though, and it sounded good when new.