My dream guitar..

spantini

COO of me, inc.
I want a Fender American Professional Series Stratocaster with SSS, Maple fingerboard, and Daphne Blue body, but...

...they don't come in the classic colors, and I don't want it repainted. So.. It IS available in the Classic Series, which are about half the price of the Professional Series. My worry is that will be half the guitar. But the description says it's loaded with all the original period goodies to make it sound just like...

That's here Classic Series 50's Strat Daphne Blue [Page removed by Fender]
 
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In my experience, some Mexican Strats can go head to head with American ones. You just never know until you get your hands on one. That said, I don't have any experience with the Classic series. Nice-lookin' for sure! :)
 
I love those vintage colors. If you want a USA Fender in that color, you might look into Fender's custom shop. Of course you would pay a premium. As far as USA v Mexican Fenders, nobody will ever hear a difference. Will you as a player feel the difference? You might. I do.
 
I just DL'd the Custom Shop buyer's guide. Wow..

So many possibilities, even for a pristine, like-new '50s classic. The guide is like looking through a DNA catalog for humans. I mean, what do want in your guitar.. ya know. Just name it.
 
Turns out I have a classic series 50s strat.
I wasn't sure, because I bought it used, but I emailed Fender and got the info.

I love the thing, but I can't really give you any meaningful comparison to a USA Strat, other than to say I didn't pick up on anything obvious playing clients' US strats.

Not sure if the specs are of any interest or use, but here they are anyway.

Model Name: ‘50s Stratocaster®
Model Number: 0131002303, 0131002304, 0131002306, 0131002340, 0131002357
Series: Classic Series
Colors: (0131002303) 2-Color Sunburst, (0131002304) Daphne Blue, (0131002306) Black, (0131002340) Fiesta Red,(0131002357) Surf Green, (Polyester Finish)
Body: Alder
Neck: 1-Piece Maple, Soft “V” Shape,
(Gloss Urethane Finish)
Fingerboard: Maple, 7.25” Radius (184 mm)
FRETS: 21 Vintage Style Frets
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Nut: 1.650” (42 mm)
Hardware: Chrome
Machine Heads: Fender®/Ping® Vintage Style Tuning Machines
Bridge: Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo
Pickguard: 1-Ply White, (8-hole)
Pickups: 3 Vintage Style Single-Coil Strat® Pickups with Staggered, Alnico Magnet Pole Pieces and Aged Covers
Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup
Position 3. Middle Pickup
Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup
Position 5. Neck Pickup
Controls: Master Volume,
Tone 1. (Neck Pickup),
Tone 2. (Middle Pickup)
Strings: Fender Super 250R, Nickel Plated Steel,
Gauges: (.010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046),
P/N 073-0250-006
Case: Deluxe Gig Bag, P/N 0991512000
Unique Features: Aged Knobs and Switch Tip,
Vintage Styling,
Synthetic Bone Nut
Source: Mexico
Accessories: Deluxe Gig Bag
U.S. MSRP: $799.99
INTRODUCED: 1/1999
DISCONTINUED:
DISCONTINUED COLORS: (344) Shoreline Gold, 1/2008,
(305) Olympic White, 1/2005
(354) Dakota Red, 1/2005
COMMENTS: Price drop from $1,190.00 to $999.99 1/2010,
Replaces Japanese Collectable Series ‘50s Reissue Strat in 1999
WRENCH SIZES: Saddle Height Adjustment Wrench, (.050” Hex), P/N 0018531000
 
Turns out I have a classic series 50s strat...

Not sure if the specs are of any interest or use, but here they are anyway.

Thanks for the specs. What color is yours?

My local store has one in the color of my choice (Daphne Blue) for $799.00. They're having a big guitar sale now, but I don't believe this one is included.
 
I went to the store to get some new medium strings tonight. I had been using D'addario Phosphor Bronze Lights which were somewhat on the bright side. I went in looking for some D-R Rare RPM-12 Mediums for a first time try - they didn't have them. So... I got two sets of Martin Acoustic SP MSP4200 Phosphor Bronze Medium. These sound a lot better. Warmer and .. newer.

Well, ya know.. that wasn't the only reason I went up there. I had to check out the Classic '50s Daphne Blue Strat with Maple fingerboard and SSS p-ups.

Man! The description is accurate. This sounds terrific. Feels great. Plays nice. The strings on this one were a little stiff, but it's a Strat - so they sounded good and I could bend a few barre chords. Only thing I couldn't try was the tremolo bar. The store has removed all tremolo bars, from all guitars - you get it when you buy the guitar. My worry with that is, when I buy this baby, will they retrieve the correct tremolo bar - the one with the period-aged end piece.

They didn't have a Fender amp hooked up at the time so I had to play through an amp I can't recall the name of now.. but it had master volume, gain, reverb - also a 3-position switch for Low-Mid-Hi on the overall sound. The reverb sound from that Strat was like a time machine.

It's $799 and comes with a soft gig bag. That'd be around $850 with the sales tax. My palms are sweaty... I couldn't take being so near and yet, so far away (sniff!). I left..
 
I would want to try out the trem bar before you buy, if you plan to use it. Ask them to go fetch it. Question is, how bad does it throw the git out of tune? The answer is usually, pretty bad. That's why I put another spring in mine and lowered the bridge plate down to the deck. Trem bar stays in the case where it is nice and safe.
 
all 5 springs on the trem...
Set the screws so that the trem can pull the string pitch sharp when pulling up on the bar. every time you depress the bar follow it with pulling the bar up an equal amount.

This works pretty well. It's the best you can do with a vintage trem. It's what hendrix did (you can hear him doing rhisnon "machine gun") but, when you get really radical and dive bomb a vintage trem, it's gonna go out of tune....even after pulling up on it.
 
Man I do 'get' the effect of wanting an instrument and wanting it the color you like. As well as the model etc etc....There's so many little things that make a guitar "great" ..."usable"..."poor"....There is , however, one simple factor I have found in getting an instrument that really "sings" and that is 'how does it sound acoustically'? Pickups, wiring, string height and gauge, bridges....can ALL be changed especially on a Fender, but getting one that's ALIVE without being plugged in is going to go a lot farther towards the "great" than anything else. I have a Strat that I built out of miscellaneous parts and it turned out perfect. It was luck. I do know a bit about fixing them and making them play well but this one was just simply GREAT from the beginning. And LOUD acoustically. You can actually mic it and get this cool sound from it unplugged. I've owned several pre-CBS Fenders and even though they command large investments these days, I had a couple that wound up being nothing more than decorations for a collector. There is a reason some of these elderly guitars might not have gotten played much. They might suck. I did have a 64 Strat in Burgundy Mist that was scarred and beaten and it basically played itself. Had I not been offered an unreasonable amount of money for it back in the day I would still have it.
 
Man I do 'get' the effect of wanting an instrument and wanting it the color you like. As well as the model etc etc....There's so many little things that make a guitar "great" ..."usable"..."poor"....There is , however, one simple factor I have found in getting an instrument that really "sings" and that is 'how does it sound acoustically'? Pickups, wiring, string height and gauge, bridges....can ALL be changed especially on a Fender, but getting one that's ALIVE without being plugged in is going to go a lot farther towards the "great" than anything else...

Picked this one up last week. I lucked out and got a "singer". I could hear it acoustically (a little bit) playing in the store, but it wasn't quiet enough to be fully appreciated. Now I have it home, it sounds great unplugged.

I've been playing with the tremolo bar a little as I've had a specific idea for it in a very small part of a newer song I'm reworking. I use such a light touch with it that it hasn't affected the tuning much, if at all.

The bar swings very loosely and I'd like to tighten that up just so's it stays put. Checking into that I've read there's an allen screw under the bridge plate for this. I'm not positive that's true for this exact model but I'm going to check it out later. Also a question about the bar.. are these all hard as hell to pull out? Are these snapped in like socket on a ratchet?
 
The only way to tighten the bar on a traditional bridge (which is what should be on a 50s) is to simply spin it around, i.e., screw it in/out, and hope to find a good spot. Don't overtighten, because it's not unbreakable steel these things are made from. If you can't get it quite where you want, try some teflon tape (plumber stuff).

Strats can be finicky, but I honestly think the traditional (6-screw plate) trem works fine, but it has to be set up to float a bit, and you've got to balance your spring tension vs string gauge. I like more springs, but with the claw backed out (vs less springs and the springs pulled tighter). And make sure the string slots in the nut are smooth and lubed with graphite. And lock the strings into those traditional tuners they way they're meant to be done. Than, happy whammying.
 
I don't know about your model (didn't read the whole thread)
But a loose vintage style screw in bar can be tightened up easily.
Get some of that teflon white plummers tape and wrap it atound the threads of the bar as needed.
It's specifically used in plumbing to seal up threads. Works like a charm.
:D
 


:thumbs up::D Many thanks! Mine is a screw-in job - I just discovered with your help. I screwed it all the way down and it stops exactly where I need it to - HA! Nothing is loose or wobbly at that point, so don't figure on needing the teflon tape but I'll file that away for future reference - thank you.

This was the only guitar in stock and it was on display without the bar, so when the salesgirl took it over to the shop guy to put it on I wasn't watching to see how it's done.

One more, just for the hell of it.. :thumbs up:
 
Had to dig around in an old WhatsApp thread from over a year ago. Here's a pic of a MIM Strat with what I think is a good float. ~3/32" after setup. (Before was about 3/8"! Crazy.)

mim-strat-bridge-float.jpeg
 
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