jimistone
long standing member
i haven't noticed less sustain in my maple fretboard strat. i agree that maple is a l;itte brighter in tone than rose wood...but with a poplar body (mexican) maybe that brighter fretbord tone blends well with the darker tone of the poplar. it seems like the last few strats (american) that i have played have not been bright enough...the bridge pickup sounds good (not the classic razor thin tone...a more mellow tone) but the neck pick up is too muddy and lacks definition. i like a neck pick up to sound good...cause in my style of playing when i go to the bridge pickup i want it to be razor thin. sometimes when i grab a high note i will switch to the bridge and it just screams like a bitch in heat...yeah...thats the ticket.
i have played alot of strats and to me its hard to beat a mexican strat/maple fretboard/texas speacils combination ...tone wise anyway.
i like the new american strats...the hwy 61 series or something to that effect. they use the 6 screw design on the tremelo plate and vintage style saddles instead of the modern strat saddles. thats one of the reasons i liked the mex strat...i want vintage style tremelo and saddles and don't want to have to pay a "reissue" price to get them (if it ain't broke don't fix it). they have vintage style SINGLE COIL pickups ...you get all the hum... along with the unbeatable sound that made all strat players want a strat. it is a sound that humbuckers can't acheive...even if you stack them and put a single coil pick up cover on them...SINGLE COILS RULE! (if it ain't broke don't fix it...again)
they have faded laquar finishes that should age very nicely...probably vintage looking after 2 years of giging.
and at under 600 bucks they are way cheaper than the american standards...hell, if i had one i wouldn't trade it for an american standard
then i would have to go out and buy new saddles, tremelo plate, and pickups
i have played alot of strats and to me its hard to beat a mexican strat/maple fretboard/texas speacils combination ...tone wise anyway.
i like the new american strats...the hwy 61 series or something to that effect. they use the 6 screw design on the tremelo plate and vintage style saddles instead of the modern strat saddles. thats one of the reasons i liked the mex strat...i want vintage style tremelo and saddles and don't want to have to pay a "reissue" price to get them (if it ain't broke don't fix it). they have vintage style SINGLE COIL pickups ...you get all the hum... along with the unbeatable sound that made all strat players want a strat. it is a sound that humbuckers can't acheive...even if you stack them and put a single coil pick up cover on them...SINGLE COILS RULE! (if it ain't broke don't fix it...again)
they have faded laquar finishes that should age very nicely...probably vintage looking after 2 years of giging.
and at under 600 bucks they are way cheaper than the american standards...hell, if i had one i wouldn't trade it for an american standard
then i would have to go out and buy new saddles, tremelo plate, and pickups