MIM Classic 70's Strat or Hwy 1 Strat?

[turn_up_the_tele]

Hey Guys;

Need some help here.
I want to buy a new strat. I want one with that 70's vibe.

I have narrowed it down to the MIM Classic 70's strat and the Hwy 1.

I have played em both, and enjoyed them both. I think the fret work on the Hwy 1's is better, but the pale white neck leaves something to be desired.

Also, the Classic 70's has schallers as the hwy 1's have the fender ping tunere (should this matter?)

Overall which is you you go with?

btw, I am going with a 3 tone 'burst with rosewood

[tele12]

I would go with the HWY 1 for a couple of reasons. I had an older pre-upgraded HWY 1 which has the same pickups as the MIM 70s Classic, I now have the newer 70's styled HWY 1. I thought the pickups were thin and bright on the older HWY, the newer HWY 1 strats have hotter pickups which I prefer.
The HWY 1 has a steel bridge block compared to the zinc in the MIM 70s classic. The new HWY 1's also have pickups that are RWRP so you get hum cancelling in positions 2 and 4, the MIM classic pickups do not hum cancel in those positions.
The new HWY 1 has the tone control wired to the bridge pickup , which I think is more versatile than tone wired to the mid pickup. I found the bridge pickup on the old HWY to be pretty much unusable.
Schallers are generally better tuners than Pings, the Pings on my HWY 1 keep it in tune fine but they don't feel the best.
I really do like the bullet trussrod on the 70s Classic, I wish Fender would have done that on the new HWYs when they went with the 70s style. Both come with a pretty crappy gigbag. At the new prices the HWY is a little cheaper. If you have a GC near you you might be able to find a HWY for the old $749 price.

The neck on the Classic 70s has a 7 1/4" radius and 21 vintage frets, but it does have the microtilt adjust which the HWY doesn't have. The HWY has a 9 1/2" radius and 22 jumbo frets, most people would find it faster and easier to bend on.

Depending on what kind of music you play you might like the 70s Classic, good for really clean stuff. If you like any kind of crunch or distortion the new HWY pickups will do that much better.

For the reasons I mentioned I would go with the HWY, I like the pickups better plus hum cancelling and tone on the bridge pickup.

[boris bubbanov]

I don't like the hudigeous frets on the "Upgrade" Highway One so I select the 70's.

As for the "Upgrade" pickups, I kept them in my Highway One Strat (not in my H1 Teles!)
but I prefer the earlier ones, so another plus for the 70's.

I do not know the tuners on the 70's model; I do know the tuners on the "Upgrade" Highway One have to go. I retrofitted Gotoh split shafts, but then I pulled the neck altogether for a fatter one -honestly the stock H1 has ambered quite nicely so relax on that count.

[tele12]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

I retrofitted Gotoh split shafts..

Where did you get the bushings to put the Gotoh's into the HWY 1?

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by tele12

Where did you get the bushings to put the Gotoh's into the HWY 1?

Stewart MacDonald has them, they're the smaller of the 2 sizes they offer, the 3/8ths-10mm version. The new 10.5 mm version is for Squier conversions, Mighty Mite, that sort of thing.

Allparts dealers will often have them as well, if you cannot think of enough stuff to buy to justify a shipping fee. Notably, Warmoth has the tuners at a good price but no conversion bushings for sale.

[tele12]

Thanks Boris, I have the tuners already, just need the bushings.