Help me decide....fender style....

[kremit]

I've recently been bit by the Stratocaster bug. Can't seem to shake the fact that I want one in a bad way. The question here is, is the American that much better than the Japanese or Mexican, or they pretty much the same with only the American being just that. If there are differences, which between the Jap and Mexi would be better. Are there any years in perticular to stay away from ? I'm looking for a fat strat with a maple board. It will be a player, so no relic or collector stuff - I could care less about that anyway. Just kinda dreaming right now until the financial situation turns good again. Want to make sure I'll be getting a good one, to me right now they kinda all look the same. Thanks guys [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[VitaminG]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

I was fancying a trad strat end of last year. There was sweet dark metallic red Japanese model hanging on the wall. I played the arse off that thing. Thought it was the nicest Fender neck I'd played. And then, shortly before Xmas, they got a lovely Charvel Model 1A in. I just couldn't go past that neck. It had that strat styling - single coils, trad trem, pickguard - plus a pointy headstock and THAT NECK!! Needless to say, I went home with the Charvel. Didn't hurt that the Charvel was in better condition, and half the price too!

Does it have to be a Fender? Have you checked out the Model 1A? I've seen some nice old Schecter strats around too. I don't know how their price stacks up against Fenders though.

[kremit]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Not dead set on fender....well, maybe I am -I dunno [img]graemlins/help.gif[/img] . I would check out a model 1a one if the guitar center (or anyone) here in Cincinnati had one to try first. This will be kind of a new thing for me, I'm a KV person, so I want to play a few before I decide. Just trying to narrow my search a little bit and know what to avoid. I have 2 Schecter C-1's (musicians friend stealth and C-1 Classic) and the Stealth is by far the best $500 guitar I have ever played. I don't know why still, but I feel like I must have a Strat now.... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[VitaminG]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

I'm not real familiar with the new Schecters, but when I first started playing guitar, my teacher had a great Schecter strat. Lovely woodgrain finish, gold hardware, sounded great thru his Mk III Boogie. There was some discussion here a little while ago about the old Schecters, shouldn't be hard to find. They used to make lawsuit strats & teles.

[SARJ]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

I have a Mexican Standard Strat and I love it. The main difference in Japaneese Strats and Mexican Strats is that Japaneese Strats are hard to find anymore and arn't much better than a Mexican Strat. USA Strats have 22 frets, 2 point trems and well.............that's about the only difference and the price is way to high. You can get a Fender Fat Strat for around $400. You can upgrade the humbucker to something better and you can modify the hell out of em for realitivly cheap. I'd say go try the Mexican Fat Strats out. I've played loads of em and like em alot. I like single coils in all 3 positions on my Strats so I have never been in the market for a Fat Strat, but they sound and feel good. For $400 it wouldn't be a big loss if you ended up not liking it after a while, but do try one out.

[mariner99]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

I got the same urge a few years ago...HAD to have a strat. Played everything I could get my hands on and just didn't see much difference between the America and the mexican. Bought the MIM and I've been happy since. Did a lot of mods to it and would up ultimately returning it to its original state.

[RacerX]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

There's a Tom DeLonge for $399 at the local GC...

[Ace]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

I had a Jap strat years ago that I really liked. I would buy another one if the price were right. I would only buy one used though.

[kremit]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Whatever I get, it will be used ! I'm sorta inclined to stay away from the Tom Delong....

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Don't knock the Delonge.....

First off, I'm 35 and the only thing I know about Blink or Delonge is that my teenage daughter loves them. I bought this guitar for it's own merits as an instrument.

I bought a Delonge strat in surf green last year. The Duncan Invader is just a killer pickup, and is IMO the best pickup out there for heavy music in a bright guitar like a strat; thickens it up nicely. I actually have a custom Warmoth strat with an Invader in it already, so oddly enough I didn't buy the Delonge for that feature.

I like the 50's colors (surf green and daphne blue), the hard tail, the large CBS headstock, and medium jumbo frets like the USA models (because the Delonge is part of the deluxe MIM series it has the better frets) - all options not available together in one package except from the custom shop and that's too much $$. So I yanked the pickguard assembly out (it's got the regular H/S/S routing underneath by the way) and I first used Fender custom shop fat 50's on pearloid, and then an EMG DG-20 in it. I ended up selling it but regret doing so. So I bought another one in Daphne blue and it also got the EMG DG-20 setup. Check this picture of my first fat 50's modded Delonge in surf green (haven't uploaded pics of the blue one yet). I also added Sperzels to both.

Bottom line is don't be turned off because this is a sig model and you don't like or know Delonge/Blink. This is a great guitar with some cool features and is a prime candidate for hot rodding. Incidentally, the only reference to being a sig or to Delonge is his name engraved on the neck plate (easily remedied with a new $5 neck plate and the twist of 4 screws). Other than that, it just says it's a deluxe series stratocaster.




Also, the Mexican strats are great bang-for-buck, but are made from lesser quality woods than the USA stuff, and the USA necks have a better feel with the rolled edges and bigger frets. Just have to decide if its worth the extra $$ for you.

Here's some pics of the body blanks in the Fender Corona factory, you can tell the solid from the laminate pretty easy.

Mexican blanks




USA blanks

[kremit]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Nice ! Good info - think I'll check one out

[j2379]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

try alot of them there are good ones & bad ones from mexico & japan the USAs seem more consistent. as for the delonge i played one when tryin amps at GC other than the fact i hate hardtail bridges it was pretty nice. i prefer the smaller headstock & i would probably shave the neck a tad but not a bad start. when i was im college doin guitar work, i must have modded more fenders than anything else. some of the import models are great if u do a few mods. pickup/pots, tuners & maybe steelwool the neck to take the finish off or shave it down. graphtec saddles also help if it got the vintage type saddles not the solid ones like american standards have.

[kremit]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Ok....I've sorta got a clue now - I'll probably go Mexi-standard. I was gonna swap pickups and tuners regardless. Are the LSR roller nuts worth the money ? Can a hardtail bridge easily be swapped for the trem ? Then would the lsr be useless with a hardtail ? That is about all the questions I have left [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Jerry From Ghana]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Buy a used G&L Legacy or Hamer USA Daytona in the $450-550 range.

game over.

[toejam]

Re: Help me decide....fender style....

Originally posted by kremit:
Can a hardtail bridge easily be swapped for the trem?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nope. You'd have a big hole in the guitar and would need to fill it with wood in order to mount the hardtail in there. You're just better off getting a hardtail guitar, or blocking the trem then.
In September 2001, I totally had to have a Strat, but I'm not big on single coil pickups or vintage-type trems, so I got a 2001 USA Double Fat hardtail that I totally love. The two humbucking pickups ('59 neck/Pearly Gates Plus bridge) and the super five-way switching rule! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Or just take Jerry's advice and buy a Hamer or G&L. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[ September 04, 2003, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: toejam ]