Stratocaster appreciation thread

[hulakatt]

Ok, thanks. I didn't think so and I have no idea why that suddenly was in my head. He's certainly been down an interesting gear path, that's for sure.

[MKR]

Does anyone have experience with push in trem arms on a stratocaster? I have to replace the bridge on my strat and i am looking at a wilkinson unit with a push in trem arm.

Just wonder if anyone has experience with these? Are they good?

[Futuron]

Only one I've used is the one on the American Professional. It's fine, I suppose, but I think I prefer a greased screw-in arm with a spring, over the push-in type, for which you often have less control over its tightness.

[Steadyriot.]

Latest project. Gimme some HT love!

How far along is this one getting?
Strats were never my thing but somehow a metallic ht has been playing around in my head for a while now.

[hulakatt]

Latest project. Gimme some HT love!

How far along is this one getting?
Strats were never my thing but somehow a metallic ht has been playing around in my head for a while now.

Exceptionally slow. It's just not the top project on my bench and behind a Hiwatt SE4122 resto and a DR504 build. Also been wasting too much time at work and not enough time working on this stuff lately.

[Kinx]

I've been hoarding gear to forget about my problems.

I had a really weird and kind of shitty start to the year. Since I recently stopped drinking (at least for some time), I had to find myself a different source of dopamine. Unfortunately, it's a pretty expensive one: vintage Strats. I decided to sell some of my guitars (including my 11lb 1979 Strat that sounded amazing but was so heavy I couldn't use it live after my spine surgery) and invest some of my remaining savings into another '60s Partscaster, because why the fuck not? I could've spent that money on a nice vacation, but I bet tourist traps in Thailand don't sound remotely as good as this thing:



Here it is with my other Partscaster (I posted about that one earlier in this thread).



I flew to Milan just for a couple of hours (the airfare was super cheap) to get it, and I don't regret it.

The neck, pickups, and pots are from 1969, the body is from 1971, with pickup covers, pickguard, and knobs by Crazy Plastics, AVRI bridge, no routing underneath the pickguard.It sounds wild, way more treble-focused than the other one, almost venturing into Jazzmaster territory. It sustains long 'boomer' bends surprisingly well and, most importantly, it has a little extra 'something' that makes it work better in the band mix than most of my guitars.

I'll do some proper demos tomorrow.

[MattK]

That is a fine, fine thing. I have a 77 Greco which slavishly copies it! Hope you get some peace and joy from your changes.

[ldp54002]

I throw my two Strats into the ring.



Left is a somewhat new addition, a Fender JV Modified 60s Stratocaster. I picked it up used not too long ago for a steal, due to it being a floor model missing the original gigbag and trem bar. I don't think it saw a lot of action, as it was in pristine condition when I got it. It now has a Dimarzio Injector in the bridge that sounds phenomenal.

It also has what may be the best feeling neck I've ever played. I was scared when I saw "thick V" in the specs, but it feels wonderful. It fits my hand perfectly.

On the right is a partscaster with a bit of a story. My first Fender was a 1998 Deluxe Fat Strat Floyd Rose. I was chasing that CBS headstock glory and this was the only one on the wall at our small town music store. I'm sort of glad I ended up with a FR so early in my playing life, as it made string changes on non-FR guitars seem 10x better! Floyd issues aside, I absolutely loved that guitar; it was basically the only thing I played until the mid-2000s.

At some point about 15 years ago, the neck and body were separated (I'm sure I was planning something) and I ended up losing track of the body when my wife and I moved to our new house. The neck sat in the closet for a decade, occasionally acting as a guinea pig for me to practice fret leveling and crowning. After the 4th or 5th time, the frets were basically gone.

Last year, I got the wild idea to resurrect the neck. I found a loaded burgundy mist Vintera Strat body on Reverb for a good price and decided to take the plunge. I worked with my favorite luthier to develop a plan to bring the neck back to life. We decided to use a Gibson-style nut to fill in some of the locking nut shelf space, and he found a perfectly matching piece of rosewood to take up the rest. It was refretted with 6150s.

Some people would probably think it was a dumb use of money to save a beat up old MIM Strat neck, but I have a lot of sentimental attachment to that stupid thing so money be damned.

[marqueemoon]

^ I love it. I bet Leo Fender would approve too.

[Salfaromeab]

Spent a few lunchbreaks looking through this whole thread. I've never been able to get on with Strats and have only ever owned one (a Squier Standard from when I was first learning guitar). But every time I listen to Dick Dale I get the bug for a Strat. I've been really considering parting one together and trying to get in the DD realm (as a fun project if nothing else). There are some very nice guitars here...

[Kinx]

I just got this cool worn '77 mocha brown strat in a trade. It came with Fender Hot Noiseless pickups in it - I was never a fan, but I love it! I was really surprised how good they sound and how much it still retains that 70s bite. It's also the lightest 70s strat I've ever had, about 3.7 kg (8 pounds)






this thing is pretty beat, but feels so cool!

here's my quick demo

[MKR]

this thing is pretty beat, but feels so cool!

yeah... just a little beat up. Only a few dings LOL.

[Chippertheripper]

What’s that pattern behind the bridge??

[Kinx]

What’s that pattern behind the bridge??

That's top layer of poly lifting off. It stays in place, but it looks like this. Looks a bit like troll's head.

[MKR]

here's my quick demo

your playing is incredible.

I don't think i'll ever muster up the courage to put up a video of me playing after watching that.