Strat Newbie

Hey this is my first time posting in here. I'm a long time Tele guy but I got my first Stratocaster today. I traded a MIM 50s Esquire for this MIM 60s Stratocaster. It appears that this guitar dates back to 2000 and I'm assuming it's alder. I must say for a Fender guitar with a 25.5 scale it feels completely different to my Telecasters and sounds different as well.

As you can tell the body is obviously 3 pieces.
http://www.geocities.com/supertwangreverb/strat.jpg

Good call man. I just bought a 60's Classic Strat too. If I can make a couple of suggestions (Mark Davis will agree too). If you want to make that the best it can be think about swapping the bridge for a Callaham or US 62RI with a steel block. Also you may want to swap pickups. I've just bought a set of Fralin Vintage Hots for mine - I'll give you a report once it's all together, but by all accounts these two changes will make a 60's classic as good sounding as just about any Strat out there... (I have a Callaham bridge in my '82 Strat and it really made that guitar come alive - stock pickups too)

Of course, you may want to just play the snot out of it just as it is for a while too!

Congrats on the new Stratocaster. Cool.

Sure looks like alder. Hope you're digging it; the Strat is a different beast. And that's the fun of it -- different guitars that bring out different things in your playing!

Good call man. I just bought a 60's Classic Strat too. If I can make a couple of suggestions (Mark Davis will agree too). If you want to make that the best it can be think about swapping the bridge for a Callaham or US 62RI with a steel block. Also you may want to swap pickups. I've just bought a set of Fralin Vintage Hots for mine - I'll give you a report once it's all together, but by all accounts these two changes will make a 60's classic as good sounding as just about any Strat out there... (I have a Callaham bridge in my '82 Strat and it really made that guitar come alive - stock pickups too)

Of course, you may want to just play the snot out of it just as it is for a while too!

Congrats on the new Stratocaster. Cool.

BBB,
When you do those mods would you please tell me which one you think effected the tone the most? I'll probably be able to only afford one for awhile.

Is the sonic blue a finish they don't do anymore?

BBB,
When you do those mods would you please tell me which one you think effected the tone the most? I'll probably be able to only afford one for awhile.

Is the sonic blue a finish they don't do anymore?

Hi Mate,
The sonic blue was a special run (according to the guy I bought it from - in '03 or '04). It's being shipped today so it hasn't arrived yet but I'll give you a full run down when it does.

I would suspect that the bridge swap would have the most profound change although others may disagree... I'm planning on doing both mods at the same time so it'll be a little hard to tell which affects the tone more but like I said, my '82 has the stock pickups and the change in tone after a bridge swap was quite amazing...

Can any other 60's Classic Strat owners give us an opinion...?

Cheers!

I just put Fralin Vintage Hots in my strat, talk about voice. Beautiful blues/jazz sound.

Just to add a little clarification, these are also my options for a build. I've asked before and didn't quite get an answer. Iknwo the Callaham is cold rolled steel. Is the 57/62 RI also?

Just to add a little clarification, these are also my options for a build. I've asked before and didn't quite get an answer. Iknwo the Callaham is cold rolled steel. Is the 57/62 RI also?

I can't answer this, but I believe yesterday when I did a search through the old posts Mark Davis said the AV block is pretty close to the Callaham and it's atleast not made of zinc which is what is on the MIM Classics.

Hi Mate,
The sonic blue was a special run (according to the guy I bought it from - in '03 or '04). It's being shipped today so it hasn't arrived yet but I'll give you a full run down when it does.

Cheers!

That sounds about right because when those first came out I remember all the Beatle guys buying them because they are essentially the same gutiar John and George had. At the time I was playing in a band with a guy who was Beatle impersonator and he had one. It was a very nice guitar.

I would suspect that the bridge swap would have the most profound change although others may disagree... I'm planning on doing both mods at the same time so it'll be a little hard to tell which affects the tone more but like I said, my '82 has the stock pickups and the change in tone after a bridge swap was quite amazing...


Cheers!


Bill Callaham always says to try his bridge before you change pickups. Of course, if you've got the money........most of us do both at the same time just like you did.

Nice one, Fred! It's funny, but I've played strats for years, then started hanging around this place and I've now got more teles than strats! :shock: They are two very different guitars in both feel and sound. And I'd definitely always one at least one of each. Enjoy!

BTW, the idea of getting a Callaham bridge sounds like a good one. I'm planning on one of those for one of my strats in the very near future.