Fender Strat Advice

bump/update even though im about to go to sleep so i won't be replying till tomorrow if anyone post anything tonight. . . .

just sent this guy an email. i know some of you have warned me to stay away from CL, but i have bought tons of guitars (and my tacoma) off CL and i wouldn't walk up to the guy and just hand him money or anything. . . .anyway, just sent this guy an email asking for more details and pics. this guitar sold new for $2000 5 years ago, so i think it's a damn deal if there's not anything sketchy about it.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/2431662107.html

any thoughts/opinions on this is appreciated. thanks.
will post pics when/if i get them.

 

You might end up being the happiest by just putting together what you want the most. That is what I have done for years, including doing luthery work, and building a "neck-through" Ric 325-inspired 25.5" scale length from scratch.

My #1 right now is a Stewart-Macdonald swamp ash strat body with flame maple top/tobacco sunburst finish, Stew-Mac white pearloid 3-ply pickguard, AllParts "D" CBS-style headstock maple neck w/ 7.25-9.25" compound radius fretboard, AllParts solid aluminum block tremolo bridge (with all 5 springs and flush on the body), Torres single coils, a bone nut, Kluson tuners. I think the total cost of this one was about $750 3 years ago but it is, for my purposes, the best and most playable guitar I have ever had or played. Tonally, I consider it superior to any Fender I have played (and I have played TONS of Fenders). I am not a huge fan of contemporary Fender guitars, but I am absolutely a fan of Fender amps

PS, sorry if this was adressed in earlier post(s), but if you do your own action/intonation setup, as well as internal wiring, you will never be at a loss!

 

holy crap that's cool man. I would love to have the time to build my own one day. I love carpentry and have always been interested in luthery. and that's amazing how well you consolidated your costs on it, very impressive. . . . and as i pretty much addressed in my earlier posts (though me and hendoman got very off topic lol) im what i'd call an "experienced" acoustic player. I own quite a few and i teach a few kids in the summer time to make some side money. im just looking right now for a good electric to help expand my abilities and play good music! I like strats and always have and am trying to find a quality american model to have and play for many years to come. but about the action/intonation setup advice, thank you, noted. . . . any personal opinion on the CL ad i posted? i love the look of those sunbursts strats, as that one is (assuming the guy sends me pics). though ive been looking at other used and new ones in guitar stores and other places. Thanks again!

 

yeah, if you're looking for a guitar to last you a long time and kinda "grow into" for electric playing, an American Strat should serve you really well.

As for the CL posting, it seems like a good deal and hopefully he will send you high res pictures. Sunbusrt is definitely the way to go, and locking tuners don't hurt either. Even if you buy the guitar and end up being dissapointed by its playability or clarity of the pickups etc, you can really adjust or customize just about anything on it. For example, the height and *angle* of any of the pickups can have unique effects on high/low/mids and can also slightly alter the effect that any given overdrive has on the sound. Just don't adjust the trussrod without researching how to do it first, if you don't already know! And in the long run if you ever sell it, the name 'Fender' will obviously help a lot with resale.

It's taken a lot of electric guitars--many of them being some form of Strat--for me to know exactly what I want regarding playability, sustain, and "tone" in general. So if you know what you are looking for, and have a chance to play this CL American for a decent amount of time (preferrably through a good amp, since a cheapo/bad amp can easily make a great guitar sound like poop), go for it!

 

Well, if you end up going for the Strat on CL, post up some pics!

 

he never replied, but im gonna send him an email again. . . if not, there's more out there. im not rushing myself, just trying to get my hands on a quality guitar before the summers over and i head back to college (when expenses go up, yet my income goes down lol). but if i get the pics, i will post for sure. thanks for all your advise again.

 

I had a 69 strat with a rosewood fretboard that was extremely mellow. These days i play American standards from the 90's, with maple necks that are better suited to my style. A good delay pedal and a compression/sustain pedal can make any guitar sound better. If I'm not mistaken Jimmie Vaughn plays mexican strats , or did at least for awhile.

 

Since you guys like guitars, here's a story of a stolen one to pass along:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/msg/2449158332.html

 

i would go on a shooting rampage. . . . . and also, hmmmmmmm BC Canada, i knew OZ-T was a thief

 

little update/bump. been looking a lot at Fender American Special Strats. with a current online coupon i could get one at GC new for $720ish. . . found this one on CL and asked the guy for actual pics and more info and if i could check it out (other guy never replied ) . . . i love the looks and setups of these guitars along with the fact that its american (per your suggestions). any opinions? . . . i'll keep you all updated. once again, thanks for the help.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/2414388148.html

oh and i told him i didn't want the case and bid $650.

 

he sent me pics!! they are a little grainy but i think its cause he just took them through his phone. my email . . .

his reply . . .

im feeling pretty good about this. seems like a straight dude (email address indicates US Airforce) and i would probably be good with $700, especially with the case.

will try to get pics up later this afternoon, but anybody have any other opinions or suggestion for what to look for and so on? thanks.

 

ok people, the time is among us! im going to go down with a friend to look, and probably buy this guitar tonight! its the fender american special strat. i never go the pics up, but the ones he sent me are just like the one in the picture and i see no obvious problems. the case is also very awesome.

any advise on what to look for or anything along those lines would be HUGELY APPRECIATED! (and rewarded ) . . . i'll check back here when i get off of work at 5:45 EST, cause im heading that way around 7. YIPEE!!! lol.

EDIT: it's still this one btw http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/2414388148.html

 

well since ive been talking to myself in here for a week, why stop now. . . I BOUGHT IT TODAY! thanks to all ya'lls help at the end when i really needed it . . . , just kidding, im too happy right now to even act mad anyway!

my camera phone pics suck, but they get the job done. so without further adieu, my Fender American Special Stratocaster.

 

Very nice! Rock on!

 

hey thanks man. And for anybody who still reads this, last weekend i bought a peavey VYPYR amp (30 watt) to finish my setup. I was very hesitant about it when i told the guy at the shop i go to what my price range was and he started saying "peavey" so much. ive always associated that name with good for LOUD, crap for quality. though the more he showed me, the more he had me sold. this amp will do everything, and its LOUD! only problem so far is that ive learned im not quite smart enough to use it lol. its a working progress and ive been able to pick up on a few things. i'll master it in a week or two im sure.

 

ah. you should really get a tube amp to bring out the tone of that strat.

 

oh yeah i thought about tube amps. and i plan to one day, but this modeling amp has impressed me pretty well. espessialy considering the price of tube amps compared to the $200 the peavey amp was. . . it's actually got setting that IMHO replicate that tube amp sound pretty damn good. look up the VYPYR amps, they are pretty impressive.

 

congrats on your new gear! I predict that somewhere down the road you will get a tube amp. I am a tube amp player all the way (and my main amp is actually a Torres kit version of an upgraded 1x12 Fender Princeton Reverb with an Eminence 12" Screamin' Eagle). However, this last weekend I played a show with my blues/southern fusion band and I brushed the dust off of my original solid state amp and ext. cabinet. Custom gear is so fun to make...

Here's a short story, since I like stories...
The electronics chassis is that of a Fender Frontman 25R, complete with a genuine spring reverb tank. Yeah, yeah, I know, the Frontman is just about at the very top of the tonal food chain and these amps make seasoned musicians sound like all kinds of bad words... if the amps are stock.
Back in high school, a few months after I bought my Frontman, a kid I knew was playing his bass through it and blew the cheap 10' stock speaker. So I did a little research and learned some about impedance and speaker wattage/power handling, and read tons and tons of speaker reviews on Musiciansfriend. After building a 2x10 tweed combo cabinet inspired by a Carvin Belair, my research led to the purchase of 2 Fender 75w "special design" 10" speakers. Wired parallel, they required 4 ohms, which was half the 8 ohm output of the Frontman chassis. Hmm, I thought... why not bring that 4 ohms up to the full 8 ohms and have a rig capable of killing small rodents within a 10 yard radius? (this was back when I was on the verge of getting into "tone" and away from sheer volume) So I built a blond 2x10 cabinet, but this time I used 2 200w Eminence Delta Demons (absolutely marvelous speakers, especially with a Princeton Reverb through them!). Wired up a 1/4" speaker-out from the 2x10 combo, and KABOOOM!! When I used this 4x10 "stack", people used to always ask me what tubes my amp used, and I would always say with a chuckle "it's really only a 25w solid state whose surroundings have been altered". It was fun to revisit my early days with this setup last Saturday, but however sweet I feel the tone from my custom 4x10 rig may be, it's still nothing like a true tube amp...
Cheers!

 

Nice guitar Bluto

Congrats