Question about my strat..

ZoSo58LP

ZoSo58LP

rock guy
i've had my baby since back in '03....she's a 1989 Fender USA Strat. i think it's the "plus" strat, or something? it's got the three lace sensor pickups instead of regular single coils. it's this crazy cool blueburst color, and it's got that roller nut...the non-popular one, i believe it was the wilkinson? also has a trem setter in there, and fender locking tuners. so i started noticing that the wood piece where my truss is on the neck is like, popping out....and i can't remember if it looked like this like 7 years ago when i got it! also realized there's some metal under the one side of the nut. wtfs up with THAT?

any guitar guys in here have any clue if somebody botched up my guitar or something before i bought it? haha..i remember paying about $850 for it at guitar center back in the day!

here's some shots of what i mean, and just a pic of it in general!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9OwuGxocRarIKguv6yWR0A?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/686xBSPbJOwZyeT7nR_36Q?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9LhWNHxv_gxQRVK18B26Eg?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hygIZzc9Tmqz_gtYQJ0ONQ?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-bpi_z4GhEpXeRLxdZ6irA?feat=directlink

pretty cool finish tho, huh? haha
 
It looks like someone put a metal shim under the nut. It could be that the neck has a twist in it and they were trying to raise the action on that side to keep it from fretting out. That way they could sell it to some unsuspecting person for way to much money.
 
Fender WAS putting locking nuts and tremolo bridges on some Strats in the 80's, so that could well be original. I don't think the Lace Sensors are, though, they rarely (maybe never) were.

Fender will reply with the kind of info you want, if you email them via the address you can find on their website. You will need to include the serial number of the guitar.
 
awesome stevie, i'm gonna do that actually.

i do know for a fact though that this setup WAS offered as a stock model:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Fender-..._Guitars_CV&hash=item35ac016e95#ht_872wt_1137

lace sensors stock, so yeah it was called a Strat PLus Ultra apparently

http://cgi.ebay.com/1991-Fender-Str...?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e5c7e8430#ht_10102wt_988

closest i've found to mine so far..

also:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1989-Fender-USA...5?pt=Guitar&hash=item3a5e68c737#ht_500wt_1154

replaced lace sensors with EMGs, notice the 2 point bridge and roller nut setup.

also back in HS, friend of mine's father owned an '85 strat that was the SAME exact setup as mine.



guess i'll give fender an email and ask!

*edit*
guess i don't have to email fender lol now that i know it was a plus series:
http://www.xhefriguitars.com/page2.html

damn, and you learn something new everyday:

"Plus has a Fender TBX tone control on the lower tone knob. This is not an active system, as some believe, (using a battery as found on the 25db boost on the Clapton Strats), but it is simply a stacked set of potentiometer that cuts either treble or bass, where as the standard tone control only cuts the treble. So we have: T (treble) B (bass) X (Cut) thus TBX. When you turn this knob, you can feel a halfway point (detent)—this is tone neutral (#5 on the knob!). This TBX control gives the bridge and middle pickup a unique variety of sounds! When the 5-way switch is in the 4th position, by turning the tone control you can get a bell like sound to a honking out-of-phase mid-range sound. Put the switch in position #2 and, you get a quack, or a hollow twang!"

i always felt that point in the middle, but i figured it was just telling me where it was in the middle haha...so technically all these years i've been playing with this thing with the tone all the way up, aka extra treble!? damn.
 
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As far as the truss rod plug goes, don't worry too much about it. They are just that, a wooden plug. In days of old the route stopped where the fillet on the back is but when they started making necks with the adjustment at the headstock they drilled out loads of necks right through. Some got used with the adjustment at the heal and the hole at the headstock was plugged. These days you even see some necks with the plug alone added because thats what people expect to see.

If the truss rod works don't worry about it. You may be able to tap it back flush you may not, it doesn't really matter.
 
cool! thanks muttley! still weird about that shim under the nut though, huh? i never did get this thing setup in all the years i've had her...maybe i finally should just so someone can tell me if there are any problems with it lol
 
ZoSo58LP said:
damn, and you learn something new everyday:

"Plus has a Fender TBX tone control on the lower tone knob. This is not an active system, as some believe, (using a battery as found on the 25db boost on the Clapton Strats), but it is simply a stacked set of potentiometer that cuts either treble or bass, where as the standard tone control only cuts the treble. So we have: T (treble) B (bass) X (Cut) thus TBX. When you turn this knob, you can feel a halfway point (detent)—this is tone neutral (#5 on the knob!).
Click to expand...

I'm puzzled. How can a passive tone control have a "tone neutral" spot in the middle of its travel?
 
My friend just sold a mint one for $350 at Guitar Center Mart this week..... beautiful blue burst.

I didn't have the cash, but GC will put it on the rack for $700 (no case).
GC usually offers 50% of their book for mint condition items they want.
I find this true on several things I took in and sold. So basically you sell wholesale, they sell Book Value. Mint book was $675 to 700.
seemed so strange a beautiful US Fender Strat Plus Ultra (predecessor to the Deluxe line, I think)But a guitar like this for a miniscule $350! while MIM are more...Epiphones are more than $350? This one was mint condition, never out of the house.....wholesale vs resale I guess?

Anyway, this one had the Lace Sensors stock.

I agree it is a beautiful Blue Burst.
 
oh man someone else out there has my color too!? haha i JUST found a guy on youtube who bought one off craigslist, same color as mine..

$350? yeah. that's why you DON'T EVER sell to guitar center. is your friend insane, man? he could've gotten such a better value selling himself. ugh. but yeah, apparently mine is the Strat Plus Deluxe, as it's got the blue/silver/silver lace sensors...so yeah, it's not even a regular Plus! awesome haha

also, i was confused about the tone pot being passive as well. apparently when you're on 5, that's like being all on at 10 on a regular strat in the bridge position. when you goto 10 on this one, it's as if it adds MORE treble i believe. it does something lol who knows
 
ZoSo58LP said:
oh man someone else out there has my color too!? haha i JUST found a guy on youtube who bought one off craigslist, same color as mine..

$350? yeah. that's why you DON'T EVER sell to guitar center. is your friend insane, man? he could've gotten such a better value selling himself. ugh. but yeah, apparently mine is the Strat Plus Deluxe, as it's got the blue/silver/silver lace sensors...so yeah, it's not even a regular Plus! awesome haha

also, i was confused about the tone pot being passive as well. apparently when you're on 5, that's like being all on at 10 on a regular strat in the bridge position. when you goto 10 on this one, it's as if it adds MORE treble i believe. it does something lol who knows
Click to expand...
That was my point. It cannot add more treble; you can't have boost without active circuitry and a power source.
 
ggunn said:
I'm puzzled. How can a passive tone control have a "tone neutral" spot in the middle of its travel?
Click to expand...

In the center detent position it functions like a standard 250K pot on 10. When you turn it fully on it functions as a 1 MEG pot which increases the brightness.
 
ocnor said:
In the center detent position it functions like a standard 250K pot on 10. When you turn it fully on it functions as a 1 MEG pot which increases the brightness.
Click to expand...
Interesting. How do they do that? Dual wipers? And does the amount of resistance to ground through the pot really make that much difference when the pot is all the way up?
 
ggunn said:
Interesting. How do they do that? Dual wipers? And does the amount of resistance to ground through the pot really make that much difference when the pot is all the way up?
Click to expand...

Yes it's a dual pot. The amount of resistance to ground has a huge affect on the sound. And not just the tone pots but the volume pots as well.
 
ggunn said:
I got that, but can you explain why that is?
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure what you are asking. If you want a technical breakdown of the inner workings of potentiometers then mshilarious is the one to ask.
 
ocnor said:
I'm not really sure what you are asking. If you want a technical breakdown of the inner workings of potentiometers then mshilarious is the one to ask.
Click to expand...
No, I know how potentiometers work. What I am asking is how the resistance to ground through the tone and volume pots affect the high frequency content of the signal when the pots are turned up all the way. I'm not asking if it does or not, I am asking how the circuit works.
 
ggunn said:
No, I know how potentiometers work. What I am asking is how the resistance to ground through the tone and volume pots affect the high frequency content of the signal when the pots are turned up all the way. I'm not asking if it does or not, I am asking how the circuit works.
Click to expand...

If you're asking how higher value pots cause the pickups to resonate at a higher frequency, then I don't know. I only have a basic knowledge of this stuff.
 
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