metropolis_4
Rock Star
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New Again Old Strat Day!
I bought this guitar new on my 16th birthday in ‘96. I’d worked all summer to earn the money for it and my parents chipped in a little for my birthday so I finally had enough.
I drove across town to a guitar shop and originally wanted a Tele because I saw a picture of George Harrison playing one. But the guy at the shop (who was an ‘80s metal guy) told me “Tele’s are for country, what you need is a Strat. Rockers play Strats”. So I got a Strat
It was my only electric for a long time and I can’t even begin to guess how many gigs and how many hours of practice I’ve spent with this guitar. It’s the guitar I really learned to play on, it’s the one I grew as a guitarist and musician with.
It’s been through a ton of changes over the years. The original pickups were terrible. I’ve had more different pickups in it than I can even remember. I routed the neck and bridge for humbuckers and as you can see also roughly routed a battery compartment (it had EMGs for a long time).
The tuners are from an old American Deluxe Strat I had for a while. And the threads for the trem arm stripped out and I replaced the whole block with a Calllaham. It had GraphTech saddles and nut for a long time.
Eventually the frets wore down to nothing. I’d already had them leveled and crowned a few times and there was nothing left. For some reason I was worried about getting it regretted, so I just bought a new neck. But the new neck never felt right. I tried several necks, including some fairly high end ones, but the guitar just didn’t feel the same. It lost something that made it less enjoyable to play, so it’s been sitting in its case more often.
Last month I decided to finally have it restored to its former glory. I had the original neck refretted and put back on, a new nut, and DiMarzio HS-3 and HS-4 pickups with all new wiring. (Those DiMarzios were the first pickups I ever put in the guitar!)
I finally got it back last week and playing it for the first time I got all choked up and teary. It was like being reunited with an old friend. This guitar hasn’t looked or played like this in 20 years; it was just like the day I bought it almost 27 years ago.
This neck has worn in to match my hand and my playing (you can see the spots where it’s worn to the wood) and it feels better than any other neck in the world to me. It’s so perfect, it’s like an extension of myself.
I took it straight to the theater and played that nights show with it and it was such an amazing experience. Like being transported back in time. I don’t have words to express how happy I am to have it back.
I bought this guitar new on my 16th birthday in ‘96. I’d worked all summer to earn the money for it and my parents chipped in a little for my birthday so I finally had enough.
I drove across town to a guitar shop and originally wanted a Tele because I saw a picture of George Harrison playing one. But the guy at the shop (who was an ‘80s metal guy) told me “Tele’s are for country, what you need is a Strat. Rockers play Strats”. So I got a Strat
It was my only electric for a long time and I can’t even begin to guess how many gigs and how many hours of practice I’ve spent with this guitar. It’s the guitar I really learned to play on, it’s the one I grew as a guitarist and musician with.
It’s been through a ton of changes over the years. The original pickups were terrible. I’ve had more different pickups in it than I can even remember. I routed the neck and bridge for humbuckers and as you can see also roughly routed a battery compartment (it had EMGs for a long time).
The tuners are from an old American Deluxe Strat I had for a while. And the threads for the trem arm stripped out and I replaced the whole block with a Calllaham. It had GraphTech saddles and nut for a long time.
Eventually the frets wore down to nothing. I’d already had them leveled and crowned a few times and there was nothing left. For some reason I was worried about getting it regretted, so I just bought a new neck. But the new neck never felt right. I tried several necks, including some fairly high end ones, but the guitar just didn’t feel the same. It lost something that made it less enjoyable to play, so it’s been sitting in its case more often.
Last month I decided to finally have it restored to its former glory. I had the original neck refretted and put back on, a new nut, and DiMarzio HS-3 and HS-4 pickups with all new wiring. (Those DiMarzios were the first pickups I ever put in the guitar!)
I finally got it back last week and playing it for the first time I got all choked up and teary. It was like being reunited with an old friend. This guitar hasn’t looked or played like this in 20 years; it was just like the day I bought it almost 27 years ago.
This neck has worn in to match my hand and my playing (you can see the spots where it’s worn to the wood) and it feels better than any other neck in the world to me. It’s so perfect, it’s like an extension of myself.
I took it straight to the theater and played that nights show with it and it was such an amazing experience. Like being transported back in time. I don’t have words to express how happy I am to have it back.
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