Fender strats

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:20 pm

Ok it seems that fender have more variations of the strat than the number of pie shops in Wigan. So which of the recent or current ones are decent (and why) plus I've had a cv50 strat which was lovely so where do you start seeing the extra money on the fender starting to take affect? Are there any 2nd gems to look out for?

Ta (for helping me scratch my itch)

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:07 pm

i played a classic player 60s strat in shoreline the other day that sounded great and felt great.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:10 pm

brainfur wrote:i played a classic player 60s strat in shoreline the other day that sounded great and felt great.

Felt great is good. It seems reading a lot of specs that there are a lot of different neck profiles about. I find a very thin neck don't suit me to well & cause a lot of cramping

George · Post by **George** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:13 pm

yeah i really liked the classic player 60s i played

12" radius to get your shred on though

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:29 pm

90s MIJ strats are great. mine is. Solid construction. just don't get the foto flame.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:48 pm

Dave wrote:90s MIJ strats are great. mine is. Solid construction. just don't get the foto flame.

In fairness my friend has a foto flame and it is a lovely guitar, it's just hideous to look at.

If you want a strat does it have to be fender? Depending on budget you might be able to find a second hand USA G&L (like mine) which are really solid guitars, although these are in no way shape or form that similar to vintage style strats, they have a floaty two point trem and a skinny-ish 12" radius neck.

In terms of fenders I like the American standards and the AV strats are really nice too.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:57 pm

Yerp, bloke I work with has a photo-flame, and it looks like shit but plays fantastically. The best off the peg strat I've had was my old Tokai *kicks self again*, but I've played a load of doozies; older MIM Classics (the 70s in particular) before they wussed out and made them all with the same neck profile, I reckon a CP50s could be right up your street. Also, a friend of mine used to have a Lonestar strat (H/S/S) and while I couldn't love the looks of a HB in the bridge, it played great. The Roadhouse strats are meant to be great value for money, too.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:44 pm

psssst I own that fotoflame too dudes. And I only say be careful for one reason.

It was hand picked by a wise old guitar wizard from a load of them that came in his shop. it was easily the best of the bunch and he hotrodded it with graphtec saddles, dimarzio HS3s, TBX tone pot and sperzals. He then sold it to me for pittance. it is TITS. BUT....the fotoflame finish and the neck varnish started coming off in slabs about 3 years ago (you mighta seen the stripping pics on the SS facebook page). But that must be something like 20 ish years after it was made and I bashed the crap out of it.

blane · Post by **blane** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:30 am

the different series are just different bridge/pickup/wood/neck option combos.

Took about 17 years but I realized i really like the vintage radius and the vintage size frets over the more modern ones. In the end, I just built a parts-caster from ebay finds... I found it was cheaper than a MIM and I like it better.

I've got an Ash body & a 6 pin vintage trem from a pro-tone squier. A neck from a 60RI Classic Series, American Std. Pickups and pots from allparts.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:36 am

if you are going to buy a strat you need one in a rare color that is still fucking cheap.

they are all the same god damn thing anyway. so get one in a rare color.

SAGE GREEN
made in mexico mid to late 90's
LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING WHEN YOU RIP OFF THE STUPID WHITE PLASTIC PICKGUARD AND PUT ON A MINT GREEN ONE.

AGAVE BLUE
made in mexico mid to late 90's
THIS THING WILL PHOTOGRAPH ANYWHERE FORM ICE BLUE METALLIC TO SOME FUCKED UP WHITE COLOR.

SKY BLUE
made in america mid to late 90's
ive never seen one in person so i don't know what fucking color it is. i want to buy one just to park it next to one of my daphne blue guitars to see the difference

anyways don't go buying a fucking red,black, white or sunburst when you can get a used one of these for the same fucking price as a brand new one

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:57 am

I love the 90s Japanese Strats. The American Special ones are sweet too as ase the new Squier ones. I've heard mixed things about the Mexican vintage type ones (name escapes me) My friend Peter bought one and brought it over to mine to get it set up. t looked lovely, great paint too but the neck on it was totally borked. It had a really bad twist in it and had to go back to the shop.

If you go for ANY Mexican guitar give it a really good going over before you buy.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:10 am

I was going to play a bunch on Saturday, I always love playing the CV series ones, but I'm interested how they stack up to the Fenders too.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:22 am

I have a US Standard Strat, it was my 21st birthday present. It's Crimsonburst or Crimson Red Transparent, which I think is a rare colour, but the paint is flaking off and showing the gold metallic paint underneath - which look kind of cool. It's easily the nicest guitar I own, but I rarely play it. I did take it to practice a few months ago and was blown away by how good it sounds. It's in the photo below.

George · Post by **George** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:33 am

until you get into the realm of special or renowned mij models i don't think it's worth stumping up the extra money over a cv in my experience. mexicans on the whole just don't feel like anything special to me (except the CP 60s), and having had a few open side by side i believe the cv has better craftsmanship and attention to detail.

it may be a specs issue - if you want a particular neck, fret size or finish for example then that will help lead your decision. the cvs push you down the gloss 9.5" medium jumbo route only, which i prefer but may not be for everyone

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:04 am

i haven't played all that many, but from experience, US strats feel much nicer than mexican ones (they're stupid pricey as hell now though). however, progrob's CP60s one (the sonic blue job) was lovely, i remember.

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:43 am

If you can pick up a MIJ Squier silver series (sometimes they say silver series on the headstock, sometimes Squier is just in silver), then you'll be in strat heaven. OK, pickups could do with replacing, but my mate's silver series is the closest thing I;ve ever played to my avri, and it's a good one too.

Generally around Â£250. There's a cool one on musicradar at the moment.

http://forum.musicradar.com/showthread. ... ratocaster

Nothing to do with me by the way

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:49 am

stewart wrote:however, progrob's CP60s one (the sonic blue job) was lovely, i remember.

I played it a coiple of weeks ago and it is really nice. The best colour for a strat too, especially with the aged guard. The two screw trem is the only minus point for me.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:10 pm

NickD wrote:
stewart wrote:however, progrob's CP60s one (the sonic blue job) was lovely, i remember.
I played it a coiple of weeks ago and it is really nice. The best colour for a strat too, especially with the aged guard. The two screw trem is the only minus point for me.

are those the ones with the 12" neck radius?

Some great tips btw, I'll be with mike trying a load this weekend as well I think to get a feel for them

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:16 pm

IIRC, yes

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 2:07 pm

I am not Strat guy or a 3 pickup guy typically.

I agree with getting a rare color to set it apart. I did once play a Japanese paisley strat that sounded fantastic.