Fender Custom Shop 69 Strat

[basile865]

I went into the local Sam Ash and was just looking around as usual, trying this and that, talking shop with the guys and then I saw her.....and froze in my tracks. You never see custom shop 69 strats at stores atleast around here. It was a used closet classic in white with maple neck. It was beautiful. One of the most beautiful strats I ever laid eyes on. Thing was only going for $1449. "Can I play it?" "Sure"..........giddy like a school girl.......

Big Ol' U shaped neck, maple capped, vintage frets, big headstock, dark black fender stratocaster logo, 3 way switch.

And.........it sounded like a strat..........meh.......... haha. I was not thoroughly impressed by its sound. It was a bit noisy. I played it through a fender vibrolux (no thankyou), a vintage fender twin reverb and a reissue one (decent) and a jtm45 reissue through a 4x12 (much bigger and better).

It lacked warmth and power until I put it into the jtm45. It was really a different beast all together this guitar. The bridge pickup was about useless as it was the most tiny thin sound I ever heard a bridge have. Neck was really the best spot. The vintage style 6 screw bridge was really crucial to its character. Picking closer to it getting those woody nasaly tones was real cool and I could get a total Band of Gypsys "who knows" opening tone happening, which I didnt try until like 20 minutes of messing on it, and then I heard that and got a big smile on my face, and was like "what can I sell to get this?"

The longer I played it the more I warmed up to this guitar, until the point of where I just didn't want to put it down. The U neck took some getting used to and was a tiny bit fatiguing after a while. I dont have small hands, I'm just used to the medium C on my american standard.

What a shame it was to watch it get put back up on the wall. We had a good time while it lasted honey! When are you going to see a used one for $1449 again? never

Thats ok this one didn't take me on a magic carpet ride exactly, but it sure would find a lot of use in my collection. I will say that the custom shop 69 pickups I just put in my american standard sound a lot warmer and bigger, even in the bridge. But oh what a beauty that guitar was......Dreaming on.....

[basile865]

went back to play it again today one last time...felt even better than before. Now my regular strat doesnt feel right

[jcmjmp]

went back to play it again today one last time...felt even better than before. Now my regular strat doesnt feel right

I feel for you. Hate it when that happens.

[worldoftone]

That's a good price!

- WOT

[basile865]

God I have an itch for this guitar!

I went back and it was still there sure enough. I think the salesman was trying to play me a bit by saying he had a potential buyer coming in on saturday.

Well I tried to apply for the Sam Ash credit card so you can have no interest as long as you pay it off in 1 year. DENIED.

LOL

I haven't given up hope yet. Something tells me in this economy that guitar isn't going anywhere soon, but who's to say at that price.

[Guitar-Sam]

Do they do a Lay-Away program??
I'm tryin for ya man,I know what its like to lust after a strat and not have the cash.
Hell lately my credit card gets richer every month and I become one peice of gear shorter every month.......funny how that works.

[basile865]

Man I called back on the way home that day to ask about lay away, and theyre like sure you just have to put 20 percent down! and Im thinking sweet Im doing it, and then he's like .......annnd you have to pay it off fully in 3 months..... ERRRRRRRRR(tires screaching)

oh well.

I'm saving money and I might toss them my old jcm2000 dsl50. Although not an AMAZING amp its pretty sentimental plus they stop making them. I can see 10 years from now it being worth what it was new or a little more haha.

[yngwie308]

These are over $3k new now.
I would still like to play at least 3 of them, obviously not possible in a used situation, as there are wide variances in these for some reason, erm.. I know why this is but will reserve comment..
yngwie308

[basile865]

hey man go ahead its not like I bought it! Lay it on me, whats the secret to why theres wide variances in these guitars? Because some knuckleheads put some of them togther no doubt.

[yngwie308]

basile865 It's just what I have heard, btw the latest prices on these are for a NOS is $3200 and a Relic is $3700 !!
I think the variance between Custom Shop guitars is some what concerning. The Team Built and Master Built versions are more specific to the customers request and the Master Builts are obviously to a higher standard of detail.
Is the 1969 Spec Stratocaster more prone to this than others, I seriously do not know, because 1) I don't get to play that many guitars regularly and 2) I have read on the internet that people searching for say a 1956 spec Strat found those more consistent.
I was alarmed when first researching these guitars that some were much better than others, when you are up in this money for an American made guitar, it should be right.
Even with real vintage guitars, there are some that aren't as good as others, generally the more played a guitar is, the better it is and sounds, because a played in guitar would always be preferable to an under the bed guitar that wasn't played in. Cosmetically the unplayed guitar may look better, but it may just not sound as good!
Even in say a 1959 Les Paul Standard, these being big dollar guitars,I have heard of an example that had heavy flat wound strings on from new and these had introduced a bow into the neck, that when the new owner attempted to set the guitar up with modern lighter gauge strings, there was a set-up issue. This isn't always the case and we are talking about a set-neck guitar here, but still.
I would just like to pick one off the rack if I was buying one new. The variances might surprise you if you did that. Hopefully this guitar plays well, that is an awesome guitar with the maple neck and that color. I personally love the large headstock guitars with a vintage radius neck and vintage sized frets. That is an awesome combo.
The other guitar in that range is the Robin Trower signature Stratocaster which is rare to come across used and although I love the bullet truss rod combined with the four bolt neck, the pickup selection isn't my choice, but it lists at $3200. I am quoting from the Fender Custom Shop Winter 2009 catalog, reflecting the Febuary 2009 increase, which many dealers ordered like crazy before the increase to make more money after.
Who is to say that a competent luthier couldn't put together a Musikkraft neck and an alder body, with pickups and paint it for that price??
If the guitar has that vibe for you, that is a good price, go for it then.
Somebody like Ross WOT is probably somebody who has various examples of the actual older Strats and plays many more than me, but I know what I like when I play it!!
My 2004 YJM signature Strat is beautifully built, sometimes I wish it was the 7.5" radius, but the Duck or the Play Loud as they call it, has the new 9.5" radius..
yngwie308