Ok how many strat and or fender guitar lovers?

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How about Clapton?

I bought my strat in 1975 for $200 (a lot at the time because it was 'vintage') and it's always been my favorite. No guitar comes close to it in regards to the intangible qualities of an instrument. When I play it, I feel as though I play better, sound better, I'm more inventive, ect. The fact that they haven't changed very much and that they still make reissues of the older ones is testament to the quality of the basic design. It's the guitar version of the Porsche 911.
 
wow!!out of the threads,guitar players really know how to stick it to each other.yeah ,i got a stratocaster in 1982,for my 16th birthday,actually i paid 250$,my parents paid the other 200$.brand new strat in sienna sunburst,anybody know this color?it was the sweetest stratocaster i have ever played,some guy in sweden taught me that those six screws right in front of the bridge saddles?if you put them at the exact same tension,your bridge stands a better chance of staying in tune,plus,there is the obvious trick of pulling it up in reverse in order of putting back in tune,but i had played it so much for so many years,it becomes second nature keeping it in tune.but anyway,when i moved to s.f. with that strat,this deadhead i knew,let himself in when i was at work,and stole the strat and disappeared(he didn't play guitar,he stole it for cash,and it was the day aftert i told him that the only thing in life i ever cherished was my stratocaster)if i ever ran into that guy ,i would seriously put the hurt on him for ever stealing my first love.ironically enough,about 12 years later,i went into real guitars(a vintage store in s.f. )and saw that strat hanging up for sale for 850$!!!the guitar had gone full circle,and doubled in value,i was livid!!!!i said "hey that's my guitar!!!where did you get that?!!!"their attitude abruptly changed from amiable salesman to untrusting sheister. they started really getting defensive,but i reached back in the vaults of my limited brainspace realized that i filed a police report in 1987,back when cops wrote up police reports on small pieces of paper,and filed them in the forget me file,computers had not quite hit the crafty san francisco police department until the mid 90's,so,i had no way of proving that was my guitar,some people would say,how do you know it was your guitar?but every guitar player i know ,understood the story,if you know your ax,you know it,the original whammy bar had broken off ,so i replaced it with the vintage wider angle bar,which i thought looked cool,that whammy bar was still on it,and if you know strats,you know that wasn't the whammy bar they came with in '82.but the guys in the store when i pointed it out claimed ignorance,like what was i talking about,plus the distinct dings i left on the neck,and the way i play rhythm is very rough and leaves a serious kind of markings on pickguards,besides that feeling when you walk in a room and something just smacks you in the face until you wake up and take notice.the guitar was screaming at me"hey!!!where ya been!?"ok i have gone into tangentville,so then who's bitching?i had owner's insurance and bought a nice 1962 reissue strat in 1988,i forget if japan made them ,or america,anyone remember?that took me about a year to get a right feel for,and then that was stolen out of a van,for shame,no insurance money this time!!!!!!arrggggh!!!my stratocaster luck hasn't been the same since!!!though i am missing having that amazing tone.a lot you peoples are talking about these souped up hot rodded strats,i like the way they are completely stock,ok,they definitely need serious adjustments,but once you get intonations,action,all that good stuff worked out,the guitar plays itself. iwent to teles in 1998,because,i thought i needed a new sound ,and all these young cats had all bought strats because of srv(i have asshole opinions,about a lot of things,so i'll keep my mouth shut)but i needed to sound a little different and tele be the answer,but i miss being able to switch the tone gradually,and bending the notes,and that chicken clucking sound only a real strat can produce.anybody play the new american series?should i invest in that vs. the re-issues,which cost like 500$?
 
Well like i said before i have a '72 reissue made in mexico. I love the sound of this guitar. I came to know this beautiful thing trying out one of my amps, this was the guitar i tried it out with. I wasn't interested in it at first. But the more i tried it out, the more i liked it, the guitar i mean! Ok so i kept in touch with the owner and it of course and eventually bought it when the guy sold it. I now have my mexican beauty in my room so i can do whatever i want with it. American vs Mexican? The only truth is the wood. If it's a good wood then buy the mexican and spend serious money adjusting it, replacing the electronics, if needed. I've seen all kinds of problems with both types, american AND mexican, so i'm not biased. Good Hunting!
 
I finally got myself a Fender strat

I just bought an American Standard Strat, it has the DeltaTone pickup system and is a burgundy color. I'm real happy with, I've been waiting to step up from that Kramer strat I've been using. I tested it out against one of those new "American Strats" and I liked the Standard better. I'm use to a wider shallower neck that the Standard happened to have with a rosewood fingerboard. The "American Strat" had a slimmer fattier feel with a maple fingerboard, which was kinda nice but not what i'm use to. And I think that the DeltaTone pickups sounded better than "American Strat"'s. Well, i'm happy to say that i'm a proud (and almost broke)owner of an American made Fender Strat :D
 
Strat lover

I have owned 4 Strats in my life.My favorite was a 1965 Strat.It had a shoreline gold finish; I paid $300.00 for it in 1978,later I found out it was worth big bucks.Unfortunately I had to sell it in 1991.It was a sweet ax.I've also had a 59 and a 61,but the 65 was my favorite.
I have also owned a 78 Gibson Les Paul, My complaints about Les Pauls are they are toooo heavy. when playing 5 hours a night you know you have had something substantial hanging off your neck.Also,I have found that my Fenders stay in tune better.
Right now I have a 91 vintage reissue,and I am very satisfied with it. I guess it depends on the individual,but for me the Fender Strat is best.
 
That's the only gripe i have about strats the wang bar, the only one i like is the floyd, but it takes too much poersonality out of the guitar both tone and aesthetic -wise. So mine has the normal hardtail bridge. Sustains like hell!
 
try what i was saying with the bridge adjustment.the screws right in front of the six saddles(6 roundish screws closer to the pickup)make them all the equal tension,the closer with accuracy,the more in tune it will stay.i realize,that part of keeping in tune is an art in itself,the strat whammy playing,but the screws will help.you can do dive bombing low note rumbling,with a regular whammy.but when you put itr right back in ,pull up a little to over compensate and it will put in close to being in tune.i don't know any strat fans that use the rose.it ruins the whole strat and defeats the purpose.if the floyd rose is crucial to your playing it seems as though,you could get those customized higher end things,maybe esp or ummm i dunno,but if you need the strat as well have you checked out,the custom shop strats?or even squire makes one with a floyd rose ,and even a reverse headstock
 
I know i have another strat with a floyd for that, actually a kramer strat body with a fender maple topped neck. I'm looking into getting into a strat shape with a rosewood or ebony topped neck, maybe a Chromeboy a jem or a universe (what can i say i dig Vai and Satch!)
 
Whoa this post is still rockin!

HIIIII!
Hey satch and via rule.
Satch uses a esquire(ya know the teli with one pickup).
Via has used strats before.
HEHEHHEHE.
-Reco
 
Hey man i'm not putting those guitar down i'm just saying i'd like to buy one of those other guitars too!

I love my Strat but i'm not going to limit myself to one type of guitar you know?

I've got an explorer style shred monster which i only use to play heavy stuff with, and its also amazing in its own way?
 
jvasey said:
Just curious how many of the Fender diehards here, have a had a nice Gibson or PRS, and still prefer Fender?
Click to expand...
Well, I don't wanna get in the middle of a squabble :) I have owned 'em all at one time or another in my nearly 40 years of playing. I am torn between the sweet playabilty of a Gibson, and the absolute tonal clarity and versatility of a Fender ( namely Strats and Tele's). I think Fenders are much harder to play, but the rewards are greater. Everybody likes something different and we're not always gonna agree, for sure. I've played a Fender Tele right now for the past 4 years. I had to get used to the longer scale length because I have small hands. I have played a PRS, but not enough to have an opinion on one. So I gotta straddle the fence....I want something that plays like my 55 Les Paul did and sounds like my Tele :) For heavy stuff...the Gibson. For everything else...Fender! Rock on! bOb
 
OK here's my story....

Here's my "Strat" story, you diehards please try not to sneer...

Its 1976 and I'm just getting into High school. A friend of mine had shown me some chords on his guitar and I thought "gee he's terrible and he's been playing for years...I could do better than that in a week!". So I told my parents I wanted a guitar. Of course they bought me an acoustic (still have it!) but I HAD to have an electric because I HAD TO ROCK. So I went into the local music store and told them what I wanted to do. Walked out with a Japanese Strat copy, maple neck, sunburst, $120. Next week I went into my first lesson with a excellant local guitarist of some note. He was playing a Les Paul with Dimarzios. He looked at my Strat copy and asked to play it. As he ran up and down the neck he had a stunned look on his face. "You got this for $120?" He went on to say how much he liked the frets, and how most copys had cheap wiry frets so he had never considered buying one.

Next week I go into my lesson and the Les Paul is gone, my teacher is playing a Strat copy from the same store, same lot (cream colored). However in place of the cord jack was a black plastic panel. This was a Stratoblaster, a pre-amp powered by a 9 volt battery which rested underneath it. In addition to the pre-amp my teacher had removed the pickups and painted the pickup housing with some special metalic paint, which dramaticly reduced the hum. And added the (then new) 5 position switch.
Of course I had to keep up, so in short order I got my own Stratoblaster and had a second 3 postion switch put in (lets you select the two outside pickups without the center). Never did get the paint though. The Stratoblaster required restraint, because turning it up too high was a sure way to destroy an amp. But from that moment on I had what was unquestionably the biggest bitch guitar in my high school. Imagine a Strat on steroids.

Ah, now many years have passed. I eventually moved on to a Les Paul (with Dimarzios no less!) as my main guitar. But I still have that old "Fender Pretender". I have played countless American and Japanese Strats and I still have not found one I like better, although some were no doubt built more solidly. And my teacher was right - it is the frets that make all the difference between "cheap" vs. top end gear. Somehow the guitar gods must have just smiled on me. While I now prefer the sound of fat humbuckers for playing leads, nothing beats the single-coil fender sound for background chords and sheer ability to cut through that wall of noise known as Rock'n'roll. I can't maintain that one or the other sound is "better", but I do maintain that they sound just beautiful together. Like red wine and white, there is no "Best"... RW.
 
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