The Strat Thread

[CarlF]

Recently got a Richie Kotzen Strat. Big baseball bat neck. I love it.

 

[Stone]

I do love me a S style hence I have Ibanez and a Schecter, but me and Fender though we just don't jive, as most will no doubt know

 

[la szum]

Yes, I've got my eye on the Player II Modified series. The specs would be right up my alley, but I don't like the colour options.

I'm also considering trying a Henry's again, but I'm put off by the woods they use. When I buy a Strat, I want alder and maple, not okoume or paulownia.

I already own a MIJ Fender Modern Strat with two humbuckers and a mahogany body (fuckin‘ awesome guitar, BTW), but now I want a more classic SSS Strat as well.

That MIJ Traditional Strat is pretty fly, and you get Japanese quality with more traditional
Strat appointments. I believe they have made a 60's version and a 70's version with the big headstock.

Pretty sure there was a MIJ Aerodyne run done a few years ago in the SSS format, too.

 

[la szum]

Man, I’m dyin’ to play a Kotzen model, Tele or a Strat, just because the neck. I can get on with the Player necks but definitely prefer something beefier and I regularly consider ordering a new one for my red/Gilmour Strat as it’s .88.-90 and I definitely wouldn’t mind a straight up 1” fatass.

I actually kinda dig the blonde/white burst!

It's almost laughably chunky compared to a shredder neck. It's worth owning
one just because of the neck shape/size/contour.


I moved on from the Tele I had of his, because it wasn't really a Telecaster. Not sorry, Richie!

 

[la szum]

The larger rack is strats that are set up 1/2 step flat....
View attachment 56930

View attachment 56929

.

I thought that was one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses.

 

[aivoryuk]

I picked this deluxe strat 2nd hand a few months ago and it is great. The bridge pickup sounded really great to me (Fender Atomic) but I changed the 2 singles to Dimarzio’s.
Trem is great on it as well and I prefer it over a Gotoh 510 I had.

 

[AlbertA]

Technically, I only have one Fender Strat - an American professional II

 

[DrewJD82]

Of all the Strats that have come and gone, the one I most regret selling is my ca. 2002 YJM. Back then you could order one for about a grand and it would show up direct from Corona. Now it's about a $2500 proposition - not crazy, but... oops?

I still have a factory-scalloped Hamer Virtuoso, and a Californian that a previous owner had scalloped. I've been thinking about selling that one - maybe to help pay for another YJM?


I'm partial to the Supervee Bladerunner. Though after a few years of setting up Strats, I started to realize that you can make almost any stock bridge surprisingly smooth and stable if you get all the other variables (spring tension, nut friction, string tree height, etc.) just right.

There’s actually a YJM local for $900 right now that I’m REALLY having to fight myself on. I’ve never seen one that low and I’ve gotten just enough taste of the scalloped board without bending everything out of tune that I want to explore it more. If I didn’t “need” a Tele and a 24-fret shredder, I’d be scooping it up. I might just order a scalloped neck from one of the neck companies to give it a shot with.

 

[DrewJD82]

It's almost laughably chunky compared to a shredder neck. It's worth owning
one just because of the neck shape/size/contour.


I moved on from the Tele I had of his, because it wasn't really a Telecaster. Not sorry, Richie!

Yeah, it’s kinda funny how I can be with Strats/Teles/LP’s, I turn into a straight up traditionalist with them and the EMG’s in my Strat is far outside of that traditionalist thing I tend to go. While I’m shopping for a Tele right now I basically want a ‘52 Tele with a 12’ radius and med/jumbo frets, but despite the thousands of combinations of them out there, I’ll likely have to partscaster it.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Technically, I only have one Fender Strat - an American professional II

 

[Dez]

View attachment 56973I picked this deluxe strat 2nd hand a few months ago and it is great. The bridge pickup sounded really great to me (Fender Atomic) but I changed the 2 singles to Dimarzio’s.
Trem is great on it as well and I prefer it over a Gotoh 510 I had.

I didn’t know what the Deluxe model was, a quick google search told me it was replaced by the Elite series that I have, which was replaced by the Ultra series. Beautiful Strat!

 

[Dez]

View attachment 56853View attachment 56854View attachment 56855View attachment 56856View attachment 56857

That’s some serious fretboard wear on that Squier

 

[Chocol8]

I didn’t know what the Deluxe model was, a quick google search told me it was replaced by the Elite series that I have, which was replaced by the Ultra series. Beautiful Strat!

The American Deluxe Strats were what I drooled over when I had no money in the 90's! They had some cool subtle upgrades over the standards, but were still very much a Strat.

 

[FuzzyAce]

That’s some serious fretboard wear on that Squier

Yep! Some is mine, but I can't take full credit. It was well loved before I got it. Reason being, it still had the vintage frets installed up til about 3 yrs or so ago. Now it's got 6000s on it, so no touching wood.

 

[Dez]

Yep! Some is mine, but I can't take full credit. It was well loved before I got it. Reason being, it still had the vintage frets installed up til about 3 yrs or so ago. Now it's got 6000s on it, so no touching wood.

I never even thought about vintage frets, that must be why it’s more common to see that wear on vintage instruments. I have a heavy touch and you can kinda see where the finish has been very slightly polished lol but it’ll never get to that level.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I never even thought about vintage frets, that must be why it’s more common to see that wear on vintage instruments. I have a heavy touch and you can kinda see where the finish has been very slightly polished lol but it’ll never get to that level.

Yep! Until many years later, most my early guitars had smaller nickel frets. Which is fine, but I had a much heavier hand back then so wood wear was inevitable unless you change frets often (which I didn't).

 

[mbenigni]

There’s actually a YJM local for $900 right now that I’m REALLY having to fight myself on. I’ve never seen one that low and I’ve gotten just enough taste of the scalloped board without bending everything out of tune that I want to explore it more. If I didn’t “need” a Tele and a 24-fret shredder, I’d be scooping it up. I might just order a scalloped neck from one of the neck companies to give it a shot with.

Do you have a listing for that YJM, or is it local-only? I might be inclined to scoop it up if you don’t. :)

 

[DrewJD82]

Do you have a listing for that YJM, or is it local-only? I might be inclined to scoop it up if you don’t. :)

Hang tight!

 

[mbenigni]

Hang tight!

Thank you!

 

[la szum]

Yeah, it’s kinda funny how I can be with Strats/Teles/LP’s, I turn into a straight up traditionalist with them and the EMG’s in my Strat is far outside of that traditionalist thing I tend to go. While I’m shopping for a Tele right now I basically want a ‘52 Tele with a 12’ radius and med/jumbo frets, but despite the thousands of combinations of them out there, I’ll likely have to partscaster it.

That's why I don't even know what a "Strat" or "Tele" is anymore.



Is it just the body shape?