Some of the Best Strats

[basile865]

Been working with an american standard for quite a while now and want to eventually step into something totally vintage spec. 7.25 radius
42mm nut width, vintage frets etc.

I know a lot of guys on here have more experience than I do owning a hell of a lot more guitars than I have So Im interested in your advice.

I've been playing 13 years and have had a custom shop 60, and a japanese 68' reissue outside my main and only axe now, the 05 american standard.

What would be a great strat to invest in? - not from an investment standpoint necessarily but some of the really best assembled/playing strats from over the years? Are 70's strats worth any time at all? Or should I really look into early 80's 50's reissue style strats.

Even todays brand new models Im interested in. Like the american 57' or the CS 69.

The problem is you cant really sit down and compare 5 or 6 $3000 guitars and choose the best. Unless someone reccomends a great place to go to.

I understand most of it is just being in the right time at the right place where money in your pocket and a great strat meet and the stars align and it happens. BUT I just want to be educated on really REALLY what to look for.

No matter what input youve got, I'm interested in any kind of advice hunting down the real players strats. This is by no means any kind of collecting thing - Im looking for some real tools here.

Any input on pickups and Tremelo Bridge/Block assemblies is cool too.

Thanks everyone.

[F#m7]

I have owned more strats than I care to remember, always looking for one that had "that" sound. Now let me preface this by saying I have never been a fan of the Eric Johnson strats, never played one that sounded right. The craftsmanship seemed good, but the pickups just seemed wrong. That was until about 2 months ago when on a whim I picked a blonde one off the wall at my local shop, and was absolutlely blown away. The stratiest sounding strat I've ever played. Period. It sounds great unplugged, you can hear these harmonics and overtones UNPLUGGED! Which is something that's a great indicator you have a good one. I bought it on the spot, and would not even allow it out of my site until I put it in it's case and removed it from the store! My point is, you're just gonna have to play a bunch of 'em until you find one that's got "it". Your "it" is probably different than mine, but you understand. Granted the neck is not vintage spec, having a 12" radius and a soft v at the nut, and gradually going to a c as you go up the neck, but it's about as close to a '57 as I'll ever come! Good luck!

[basile865]

Thats a good story. It was like when I picked up my american standard. Just one of those grabbed it off the wall on a whim and it was it.

Well itll be a strange but good feeling saving up for a guitar that you dont know will even look like. I'll just be preparing to get knocked out by one one day.

[yngwie308]

Quick before WOT chimes in.. !!
Depends what you want out of your Strat.
I like all different types of Fender Strats, but my favorites are vintage radius 7.25", alder bodies, maple fingerboards, maple cap boards. Slab board rosewood, 1968-70 Strats, 1965-66 Strats.
Probably the best bet for what you describe would be a Custom Shop '50's style Strat, you have your choice of neck profiles.
I would look for a John English Masterbuilt Strat, there are a few on Ebay.
John was a great builder and had a good touch. The Fender Custom Shop Strats are so good these days.
I love my 1983 '57 Vintage Reissue as it is light as a feather and has bell like resonance.
Fender may be the best guitar builder out there for mass production at the moment, no matter what I may have said about the business side, the product is great. My 2004 Malmsteen is also a fantastic guitar, even with it's bowling ball finish !
Maybe the EJ I picked up in the past wasn't the most representative of it's ilk, but I didn't care for it.
I loved the $24K Blackie I played, but if you try enough of them, a used Custom Shop, not reliced, as they cost more , is probably the best out there.
Good luck.
yngwie308

[F#m7]

Maybe the EJ I picked up in the past wasn't the most representative of it's ilk, but I didn't care for it.

yngwie308

No, it was representative, most I've played were completely forgettable.. I just happened upon a good piece of wood.

[Guitar-Sam]

I've had a battered 79' 25th anniversary strat for 14yrs now and no matter what guitar I get I end up back to the old girl,really sweet warm blues tone.
I have a super distortion in the bridge of mine but the wood itself is warm.
I also had a 1987 Japan squier start that would kick the crap outta about 9 of 10 new strats.

[basile865]

To answer what I want out of my strat is basically this:

A back to basics Fender Stratocaster - vintage spec everything. I read all strats had 7.25 radius and vintage fretwire up until 1980 I believe it was. All of my favorite music comes from prior to 1980. I want a tool that is exactly what was available back then which created some of the greatest music of all time. Hence - a back to basics model. Even a 3 way switch. Alder body, maple neck/fretboard.

Tonally hopefully itll be woody punchy percussive and beautiful on the clean tones, and then soar with mammoth fat blues single note leads. haha pretty much what we all wish every strat could be.

I tend to like C and also V necks. I think Id like to go maple cap this time instead of 1 piece with the skunk stripe. Chances are I'd like to go with a 69 Custom shop. Nobody stocks them though to try out it sucks. Ive also seen pictures of some 69 custom shops having the wood plug up where the truss rod would be and some not. How are we supposed to know what we're getting if we order one ya know?

I tried one of those 25th anniversary strats and it was beautiful. I think it had a 4 bolt and great feeling neck I remember. Maybe it was a U shape?

I think what would be my best bet is the 69 strat AND a 57. Then Id be happy. Then toss in a 62 lake placid blue with rosewood for good measure.

Does anybody with a custom shop strat feel its necessary to change out the tremelo block/bridge to like a callaham?

[Tone Slinger]

Rob, Man I would just get another neck for your extra body. Is it a vintage routed alder strat body ? Get the exact maple cap specs as the ones Hendrix used (the maple was only a 'custom' order option until '70 I think). I would purposly order the back contour a little bigger than what you would use. This way you can file and sand it down to EXACTLY what you want. Also, if there is ONE thing (and this isnt a biggie) that I would change about the original Fender strat style guitar (we know the specs), it would be the frets. The original wire is just a bit to 'little'. I hate big frets way more though. A 6105 is perfect to me. It is just a little bit taller, but just barely wider. Keep in mind fret wear , the little frets dont last real long. I would still have your A. Standard modded for the 6 screw bridge though. You will probably always 'go back' to it anyway's, no matter what guitar you buy, so just make it into what you want. My strat looks like a late 60's, but has a back neck contour like a '56 Tokai neck I have. Very close to the clapton one, but a hair fatter.

There is a BIG guitar store in Gafney S.C, right off the interstate (south 85 I think) a little before you get to the outlet mall. There is a GIGANTIC peach, you cant miss it. A few yrs back ('03 I think) I played a great CS '69 reissue there. It was real good. Too bad it was a sunburst, or I might have tried to have gotten it. My wife ordered me a black (yes, she knew I loved the BOG's )'69. It arrived and I played it, but it wasnt NEARLY as accurate OR good as that sunburst. The salesman ordered it with only a $1200 down payment (he wasnt supposed too), so, I told my wife to get her money back.

[Yngve]

My Favourite is my Sonic Blue Malmsteen Strat. It resonates and plays like butter, cant go back to normal fret boards feels weird that l havent got control over the strings.

Thought of getting this scalloped neck 10 years ago but l wish l did back then. There is something special about this Strat that l cannot explain, its feels so good l cant put it down.

Heard that people say cant play fast on this thing, well thats b&llS&it! I play faster on this scalloped neck than a normal neck... go figure, arpeggios are easy to pull off. Maybe its not everybody.

[jcmjmp]

Do you need it to be a Fender branded product? If not, why don't you get a custom made guitar, built to your specs. You could pick every single element of the guitar and end up with what you really want. Just throwing it out there.

Just get a nice resonant piece of alder and a nice neck from these guys http://www.relicmasters.com/snecks.html and you have the basic building blocks.

If you want the Fender look and feel, you could even put on a logo in Fender font. A lot of guys do this and it looks real sharp.

[worldoftone]

I've got several old Strats that will knock your socks off. A general consensus is that 1963 was a GREAT year across the board for Stratocasters. I have one and it is killer. Played several throughout my lifetime, and there was only one dog out of the bunch (and it wasn't all that bad). I have played a lot of good 66's as well. There seems to a be a lot of '66s around for whatever reason.

- WOT

[Yngve]

jcmjmp l do have a custom made strat here in Australia made from Australian woods that was my first strat. I got it custom made to my specs, at that time Fender Customshop wasnt up to standards.

[jcmjmp]

jcmjmp l do have a custom made strat here in Australia made from Australian woods that was my first strat. I got it custom made to my specs, at that time Fender Customshop wasnt up to standards.

Yeah... I'm not surprised you prefer the quality of your own. I build guitars and play my own guitars. I have a Fender, a Les Paul and other brand name guitars. Some are sweet but my favorites are my own custom guitars. Although, the Fender Custom Shop can put out some real nice axes. I love my Strat Ultra.

For a vintage, period correct neck, the guys at Relic Masters can't be beat. I wouldn't even bother in building a Strat neck if someone commissioned a Strat style guitar from me. Make/get a nice body, finish it in Nitro lacquer, slap some Lindy Fralin pickups and you're set.

[spaceace76]

If you're looking outside of Fender for a good repro/reissue Strat, then Callaham is probably what you want, especially if you're willing to shell out close to 3 grand.

http://www.callahamguitars.com

I used their bridge in a "from scratch" build, and another in a mexican strat, both have great sustain and stay in tune extraordinarily well. I plan on picking up a pre-wired pickguard and another bridge from them for a vintage spec project I plan on doing later this year. They use top-quality stuff and the owner burns any guitar they make that doesn't meet his standards. You've got to wait over a year, though.

[Yngve]

Callaham make awesome guitars, that are what they are made for " Playing" not cosmetics only. But l wish they had Scalloped neck up for options. Pity cause l would have ordered one.


Guys any websites out there to show great examples of Pedal Notes eg. Bach