68 Custom Shop Strat

[Guitar-Sam]

The thing with relics is they may look the part,be built exactly etc.. etc... but when was the tree cut down.IMO wood aging and drying and mellowing and laquer aging is the real mojo of an old guitar.....asuming it was a good guitar to begin with.

[razelfrax]

I'm sure that there isnt enough Light resonent air dried wood for Fender to make American Standard Teles and Strats but given the Custom shops resources I believe that there percentage of "Magic Mojo Guitars" is very high compared even to the fiftys. Its like what George is doing here, blueprinting excellent instruments. Not all Marshalls sounded great. When I took the neck off my CS S1 Relic the screws were snug all the way out and the neck was a very very tight fit in the neck pocket. The wood grain of the neck is very straight and plain wich makes for a very stable neck. I could live without the "relicing" but the nitro finish is super thin wich combined with the very light swamp ash body makes this guitar really resonent. I've played some nice vintage Fenders and Gibsons and would still say that my CS Tele is the best guitar Ive ever had in my hands. I know that Northern Electric would agree as he had a stunned look on his face when I dragged him down to the Guitar shop to give me a reality check. He has a really nice strat but when his jaw up off the ground he said "I didnt know a guitar could be that good". lol

[razelfrax]

That should read when he picked his jaw up off the ground

[basile865]

I dont really buy into the whole relic thing. Its cool in its own way but even vintage stuff too...its just cool, it doesnt mean that it sounds good. The only reason I am at all interested in vintage SPEC gear is because all of my favorite music is created on it. Keep in mind when the music was created that gear was only a year or a few years old not aged. Age doesnt mean anything on an instrument except maybe a lack of playability or need of adjustments to me atleast. The tone was in the craftsmanship I think. Also as far as aging I think fender may have allowed wood to settle for a while before using it. But still those great tones and bands are the only reason vintage stuff is worth what it is these days. They were just crafted with more care.

Also you didnt have 6 billion options. You just had the fender stratocaster. Not squire, not HSS, not lace sensor, not multiple radius options, or 20 finish options. In some years not even wood options. So they werent worried about tailoring the strat to satisfy all genres of music they just made the Fender Stratocaster and that was that. No cost cutting or target markets in mind.

Thats why I like the vintage spec. No frills about it, just tone, and some of the worlds best music ever created to support that claim. Thats the tool that I want to use.

[yngwie308]

basile865, to me there are only two types of Fender Stratocaster, apologies to WOT upfront........ . Actually three to be fair, actually four...see how it goes!!
The changes in the neck profile, boat in 1954, V shape in 1957, both mapleboard, then in 1959 transition to Brazilian rosewood, with the famous slab neck construction.
Many like the year 1964 (Chief, for example). I had a 1965, what is called a transition logoed headstock,just prior to the 1966 large CBS era headstock, also the mapleboard had been dumped some time earlier('59), these two or three, the 1954 first spec, the 1957 spec and the 1959 transition to rosewood, then the 1966 CBS era with large headstocks, rosewood boards only, until 1968 then the re-introduction of the maple board, with the famous maple cap construction. Until later in 1970 this is the fifth type, then the transition to micro-tilt three neck bolt construction, with two string trees.
So for my money the coolest Strats would be the 1954, the 1958 maple board, the 1959 transition to rosewood board model (slab), the last of the spaghetti logos, 1964, then for me the 1968-70 maple cap 4-bolts, that is it, the 1971 and up have shot up to ridiculous numbers. I might mention my 1983 '57 reissue, which I love, it's true specs a little weird to the purist, but I love it very much (so did Gilmour, Beck,ect.).
So at 0600 in the am without my Duchossoir bible, off the top of my head! I would love a '59 slab, very cool and a 1970 vintage white of course!!
See you just can't have one Strat.........
yngwie308

[worldoftone]

Tilt-necks 4 PREZ!

- WOT

[Freedom]

Had my birthday yesterday so i said what the heck, i love my black (modded) Fender Japan RI 68 so i've just ordered a vintage white '68 one...can't wait!!!!

[basile865]

nice man, where do you get them through

[Freedom]

nice man, where do you get them through

The first one came one year ago from Ishibashi (they stopped exporting brand new FJ guitars outside the Japan couple months after i bought mine)...this one is from Stringnet...

[basile865]

ah, stringnet doesnt seem to sell any guitars off the U.S. website.

[Freedom]

ah, stringnet doesnt seem to sell any guitars off the U.S. website.

http://stringnet.co.jp/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Their site is under construction so just send them an email and ask them...

[basile865]

damnit this is the second post I've seen this guy do that is irrelevant or trying to sell stuff, he's a hacker. Some one kick that guy out!

[Freedom]

Probably a stupid bot...