mj46
Member
Posts: 64
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Strats
Apr 22, 2010 21:48:36 GMT
Post by mj46 on Apr 22, 2010 21:48:36 GMT
Good grief I read so much on these posts that I get utterly confused. So here is my twopennyworth for what it is worth. My strat is a Fender Japanese 59 re-issue which I bought from an importer some 6 or seven years ago. It is flame red of course and I do like it. Whenever I open the case amongst other guitarists it brings a wave of admiration.It plays well, I wouldn't sell it for the worls but I notice that whenever I come across friends and guitarists with their Fenders vary so much compared to mine. For example mine is heavy compared with others I have tried and the various combinations of pick-ups and bits vary. I have a friend whose Fender strat has humbuckers and an on/off switch but the sound isn't much different than standard. All this really surprises me because I kinda presumed that a Fender strat is a particular and immoveable design (albeit with various production routes) I mean if that isn't the case then why the heck does anyone buy Fender when there are hundreds of decent copies around? And just as an aside I happpen to have just bought a Fender Precision bass copy from our local French supermarket - improbable but true- for 179 euros and it is faultless. So what is my point? How come a Fender strat isn't consistently the same?
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 1:51:31 GMT
Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 23, 2010 1:51:31 GMT
Fenders have never been consistent but it does seem to me that newer ones are a bit more consistent than older ones. I think the average quality of the better Fender single coils like the Custom Shop ones and the 57/62s is better than the average quality of older ones with the possible exception of some original 50s pickups. Thinking back to 3 different original 60s Strats I have owned, none of them sounded as good as I wanted them to, and while they seemed good acoustically I think the pickups were not as good. They seemed to have a slightly nasal sound that I could not relate to the good sounding Strats I had heard on records, however these were almost always recordings from the 50s. In those days you couldn't customise a guitar as parts were not available like they are now. Your only real choice back then if you weren't happy with a guitar was to sell or trade in and hope to find a better one. These days with so many models and countries of manufacture, the variables should be much greater but overall, I think the newer models tend to sound better, and the cheaper ones like the Squier models are far better than anything that could have been bought for a similar relative cost in the 50s or 60s. It is possible to put together a very good guitar from good quality parts, often for much less cost than a Fender. The good sounding copies can sometimes also have similar good quality parts. Regards, Charlie
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 2:51:49 GMT
Post by JohnJ on Apr 23, 2010 2:51:49 GMT
I agree with Charlie there are some good copies out there but i think that the timber has a lot to do with the sound my strat is a 62 US reissue i bought in 1987 and the sound is quite good the body is as i was told very old swamp ash and has standard 62 pups so would the variation in timber in the strats be the difference in the sound according to the age and quality of the timber ?
Cheers John
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 10:20:46 GMT
Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 23, 2010 10:20:46 GMT
Hi John, The woods can make a huge difference. Each type of tone wood is classed as having a certain type of tone. But even two good pieces of wood (body and neck) are difficult to predict as sounding good when put together. I also think there is another possible issue with many bodies being made of laminates, quite the opposite of a one piece body. Regards, Charlie
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 13:35:14 GMT
Post by shawbridge on Apr 23, 2010 13:35:14 GMT
Hi there, I have allways wondered what a standard strat was having seen so many different strats owned by others and have them tell me they are standard but sound and feel different to mine, here below is a picture of my 78 strat now classed as vintage. the guitar cost £420 in 1978 and i'm told it is standard but also told it has a good biteing sound when compared to other standard strats, why is this so. Excuse the ugly mush was in full shads mode. the guitar was originaly dark sunburst and still is on the back. cheers
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 17:17:25 GMT
Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 23, 2010 17:17:25 GMT
Hi shawbridge, Your guitar might sound better because of the top finish having gone. Did it happen on its own or was that done deliberately? Some years ago a local guy brought a 70s Strat to me to set up and partly put back together. It had been stripped of the original finish and refinished with an ugly looking stain. I was amazed at how good it sounded after I had finished working on it, and I will always be convinced that the refinish was the reason for it. Regards, Charlie
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 17:34:40 GMT
Post by garystrat on Apr 23, 2010 17:34:40 GMT
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 17:40:12 GMT
Post by Charlie Hall on Apr 23, 2010 17:40:12 GMT
Hi Gary, I didn't know about that degree of automation at Fender. While it must make the manufacturing process more efficient and predictable it still wouldn't make up for variations in woods. Regards, Charlie
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Strats
Apr 23, 2010 18:38:42 GMT
Post by garystrat on Apr 23, 2010 18:38:42 GMT
Hi Charlie
Of course you are absolutely right about the wood, but I guess everything that makes the process more repeatable helps.
Gary
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Strats
Apr 24, 2010 0:25:26 GMT
Post by shawbridge on Apr 24, 2010 0:25:26 GMT
Hi charlie, The paint started to come off at the back were the buckle of a belt stated to were away the paintwork and to cut a long story short i peeled away the paintwork with a heavy Gibson plectrum from th back and onto the front leaving to my amazement the laquer ovr the wod surface. the paint that still remains is there because it appears fixed to the body and doesn't pick away so easy so i left it. here are a coupl of photos showing the rear and front. cheers
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