A question for the strat experts...

A week or so ago I played a strat that had a thinner body than any of my strats... it was nice too, great neck, more comfortable, nice sound. The owner said it was either a MIM or a Squier standard... he wasn't sure, the headstock had been sanded before he got it, and he didn't really care.
Today I looked at every strat at Dave's guitar shop... MIM, Squier's, Affinity's, new, used... there were no strats witha thinner body.
Did Fender or Squier ever make a strat with a slightly thinner body?? I wish I would have measured it...

Actually, if there is such a thing... maybe I want one.

Thanks...

Cassidy 8)

None of the MIM's have the body contours right.

It supposed to be real thin at the contour.

MIJ's have the contour right its probably one of those.

I'm talking like 1/4" thinner from top to bottom with correct contours... a very obvious, intentional design change.

Okay, worded another way... does any one know if there was ever a run of strats, Squier, MIM, MIJ or otherwise that was intentionally thinner?

Cassidy 8)

MIJ are supposed to have the rightest body contour and this should make'em a bit thinner than a standard MIA or MIM strat...

am I right?

I think I understand what you mean- the overall [maximum] thickness of the body, irrespective of contouring. I'd love to help, but I don't pay attention to those product lines.

That said, given the sanded headstock and 'used' status, it may be an aftermarket or non-Fender body, and the guitar may even be a non-Fender partscaster. That doesn't mean it isn't a nice guitar, just that it may not be easy to find something like it.

Sanding bodies to refinish them will result in slightly thinner dimensions, but what you suggest might be a bit outside those parameters.

It might be worth checking some of the aftermarket websites. They probably have dimensions listed.

affinty's have a thinner body by 1/4 inch. Did it have the little black plastic in the truss rod adjustment hole?

Affinity's do not have that black plastic, just a little hole in the maple. The standards do, but they have chunky bodies.

Could be an old MIJ, those have the traditional walnut truss rod plug on the headstock, adjustment on the heel.

I am real curious now about this... so I called a few people today... at four different guitar shops (I know... call me stubborn). Only one guy (a luthier) said he remembered a line of Squier Affinity's that was noticeably thinner... around 1998, 1999 or 2000. I also measured my son's affinity with a dial caliper... 1.833" just to the left of the jack (where there's no contour). My '68 strat measures 1.831". Then for the heck of it, a few minutes ago I called Tom the guitar's owner and asked him if he had a dial caliper... (I know... call me stubborn). He did, and he measured the same spot and it's 1.623", or just over 1/5" thinner.

So, do you guys think they'll think I'm nuts if I show up at Dave's guitar shop on Saturday with my dial caliper??

Cassidy 8)

(maybe gonna change my screen name to Curious)

hey, I picked up a squire bullet strat yesterday and I was amazed at how thin the body is... I would guess it is 1/4 thinner than my mij strat...

Chinese Made Affinity Series Strat.

They fit in between the Squier Bullet and the Squier Std.

all the squiers from 2004 are about half the thickness of a normal strat

hey, I picked up a squire bullet strat yesterday and I was amazed at how thin the body is... I would guess it is 1/4 thinner than my mij strat...

I have one of those (the newer hardtail) and it definitely is thinner, although I didn't measure.

all the squiers from 2004 are about half the thickness of a normal strat

Where did you see these Squiers?? No offense but this is simply not true.

Cassidy 8)

Found it. If anyone's interested, the body on the Squier Bullets are thinner... just came from looking at a few of them and was told they've always been thinner.

Assuming this is true, mystery solved.

Thanks for the help...

Cassidy 8)