Chandler Superstrat

[jgcable]

I have always been a big fan of the USA Chandlers of the mid 80's. I am awaiting the arrival of my newest baby. A approx. 1986 Chandler strat equipt with hum/sing EMG's, gold OFR and a red snakeskin body. It is one of the pointy headstock Chandlers that is unlogo'd except for the Chandler San Francisco logo's burned into the back of it. It is all Chandler and is either a made to order guitar or a Chandler factory model. Red Snakeskin is very rare for Chandler. When I receive it I will post many pics and a full description. They are great guitars. I paid a ton for it but I really wanted it. You know how that goes.

[Drsracing]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

I've never seen red snake skin. Sounds awsome with the gold floyd though. Gold almost always brings the best out of graphics

[jgcable]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

I have been trying to get my greedy hands on this guitar for almost 2 years. It is practically mint and it really screams. Very high quality. The EMG's really do it justice. Chandler calls the color and graphics "red stretched snakeskin". I should have it on Saturday.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Its funny you should mention this. I bought an 80's Chandler pointy headstock maple neck today at a guitar show. This one has a black painted headstock face with a gold "Chandler San Francisco" gold decal under the clearcoat.

[ July 20, 2003, 10:44 PM: Message edited by: Jim Shine ]

[jgcable]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Its nice, isn't it. Chandler makes a really nice neck. They are usually unfinished and tung oiled with a pretty thick fret board. Similar to the old San Dimas IMHO. I have seen some with the black headstock and the gold Chandler logo too. I am pretty sure that they came on the USA production models in the mid 80's. Most of the unfinished headstock necks were assembled guitars. Most of the time they were assembled by a Chandler dealer who would take an order from a customer who was choosing Chandler parts out of their catalog. The dealer would get the parts in and assemble them per the customers request. I know this because I ordered on back in the early to mid 80's. It was a red and white striped body ala EVH in a traditional strat style with a strat head and a maple board. I had it loaded with 3 dual stacked single coils and a preamp with a vintage trem. It was $1200.00 which was a considerable amount of cash for a guitar back in the early 80's. I think it was 1983 to be exact. Chandler had a very good rep back then and was one of the few companies that allowed a player to design a strat style dream guitar from scratch. Mighty-Mite was doing it too.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

This neck is very similar to a San Dimas Charvel neck. The 12th fret dot spacing is the giveaway it isn't. This neck is factory finished with a lacquer or poly, so it is glossy (which I prefer over oiled).

[nor]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

I believe if the logo is on the front - it's from a guitar. If it's on the back, it was a replacement neck.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Either way, it was a good buy at $20.

[jgcable]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Thats nice for sure. The Chandler necks turn that "nice color" on the back after a while. Sort of a grayish color. The headstock logo on yours looks like one of the early custom shop models. I would bet that the guitar that was on was an ordered factory built guitar. I had a pointy one like yours and it had that nice heavy gloss (ala Jap Fender) finish on it too. Very well made. I had one with a walnut body and a rosewood neck, 1 hum, 1 vol, and a Kahler Patend Pending Flyer. It was a dark stained body with a pearloid single hum pickguard. I was told that Chandler was the first company ever to offer a guitar with a Kahler locking trem. I am pretty sure it was the top mount Flyer.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Yep. they had one for $100 or so at the local music store, but I played it and didn't like it much. What do the chandlers usually go for?

Pete

[Snoogans]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

I had a guitar, a loooong time back, that had a "Paul C's" neck, that a colleague had imported from the US. Am I right in thinking that these were Chandlers?

[jgcable]

Re: Chandler Superstrat

Pricing depends on the model and the vintage. Mid 80's models can sell as high as $600-$800. They have some lower end models that sell for around $250-$400 too. I clearly remember how expensive a cusom build Chandler strat was back in the mid 80's. They were very exclusive and very hard to get with a long lead time (around 8-12 weeks). In todays standards I would say you could compare them to GMW, Waynes Guitars, Ed Roman or to Performance Guitars in CA. Lots of very serious players used them as their main guitars although they would always whip out their Kramers or the Charvels for their endorsement magazine pics. High end Chandlers featured excellent electronics (Switchcraft, Centralab, Clarostat),Kahlers or Floyds, different neck profile choices, pointy headstocks, lots of different wood options and the exlusivity of owning a custom made low production superstrat with a traceble serial number that was made entirely in the USA. Chandler/Mighty-Mite/Boogie and Schecter were the guitars to own back in the early to mid 80's. Of course, we all owned Charvels too!! They were a mandatory shredders tool.