83 Strat.....where's the love?

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mrface2112

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So i scored an 83 Strat yesterday (with TKL case) for $500. This is one of the "standard strats" with a solid back (the rout for the springs is under the pickguard) and freeflyte trem. seems a previous owner modded it to have a "regular" jack and added the 2nd tone pot (the 83 standards only had a single tone pot). they also swapped the pups for something we'd never seen before, but they sound great.

the thing that made me fall in love with it was the neck and fretboard. it's a 12in radius! where have i been? this is the first strat i've ever played that i've actually liked the feel of the neck on. it's very reminiscent of a PRS in a lot of ways.

anyway, it looks like the 12in radius boards were only on the 83's and a handful of custom shop strats (like the current eric johnson). i've always been a tele guy (love my 87!), but i think i've found my new #1 guitar.

this thing has tone for miles. it's completely changed the way i play guitar.

any other 83 strat lovers out there?


cheers,
wade
 
A friend of mine when I was in high school had one. I think he actually got it as a graduation present. They are definitely weird. there is one for $500 at the music go round here in town:

http://www.musicgoround.com/gear/inventorydetails.asp?id=431725

The trem under the pickguard seemed like a production cost cutting move, as did the non-strat output jack. I haven't touched one in years and years, so i don't know about the feel. We thought the one back in '83 was cool, but we were all playing shitty stuff like hondos.
 
absolutely, all those "changes" incorporated on the 83's *were* cost-cutting measures. i mean, it's a lot cheaper to not have to route the guitar as much.

however, the fringe benefit of the solid back is that the guitar's got more sustain than any strat i've ever played. i don't have the bar for the trem, and i don't ever use trems anyway, so i don't care too much about that. as long as it stays in tune (and it does), i'm happy about it.

i'd seen that one on Musicgoround's site. mine's sunburst with a maple board.....cosmetically it's the strat i've always wanted to pick up eventually. but in terms of the neck/board.....i feel like i've finally found a guitar that gels with me.


cheers,
wade
 
Do you have another strat to compare it to? For some reason the body looks like it has a slightly different shape. Like the waist is thinner.
 
cephus said:
[T]he body looks like it has a slightly different shape. Like the waist is thinner.
Click to expand...

Ha! An Anorexi-caster! Or, maybe, since it was the early 80s, that guitar kept its weight down...with coke.
 
BrentDomann said:
Ha! An Anorexi-caster! Or, maybe, since it was the early 80s, that guitar kept its weight down...with coke.
Click to expand...

HA! (everyone's a comedian)
 
cephus said:
For some reason the body looks like it has a slightly different shape. Like the waist is thinner.
Click to expand...
the 83's were a bit of a weird bird. the "dan smith" 83's (with 3 pots and back route) are really heavy guitars......where as the 83 "standard strats" (2 pots and solid back, like mine) are generally lighter guitars.

the waist on mine definitely looks a bit thinner than other strats I've played. i know that it fits/feels just right sitting on my lap, whereas most strats feel a little too "bulky". i'll have to take a pic of mine and post it. from what i've read, the shape of em was more of a return to the strats of the 60's.

but it's the neck on this thing that's just to die for. i've never played another strat that feels like this. the only one that comes close is the current Eric Johnson one.

as for coke's effect on the guitars.....i think that was more prevalent in the workmanship and more in the 70s than the 80's. ever played a 70s guitar that's been worth a damn? i haven't (or at least, with a few exceptions). and i've played many martins, fenders and gibsons. that's one reason it floors me to see the prices these 70's POS's are commanding these days. just b/c it's old don't mean it's "vintage".

and that's another reason for scoring some of these 80's guitars while they're relatively cheap.


cheers,
wade
 
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