Anybody have a hollow-body strat?

[Snide]

I was in my local shop yesterday and he has a cool looking strat body of unknown origin. Its a hardtail and hollow body. I have a Genuine Fender replacement neck (its a 62 reissue) sitting around doing nothing. He's also got a set of Texas Specials we could throw in it, although with all the NAMM talk I would probably eventually get a set of Bill Lawrence's pickups.

I had a 72 Thinline Reissue Tele a few years ago and really liked the woody, airy tone. I've never heard or played the strat equivalent though.

The body is a deep maroon that would look awesome with my rosewood neck. I'm thinking about just putting it together and seeing what happens. We can always part it back out if its a dog.

Thoughts?

[nic'o'caster]

I have one. With a very nice Warmoth hollow body (no f holes, too ugly on a Strat body). Wood is mahogany with a flamed maple top. A beauty. Sonically it does not affect the tone that much. Acoustically, not as much as a Thinline vs a Tele. When plugged into an amp, it has a slightly more "airy" sound than a solid body, a little less mid-range and bottom. I have to say that this Strat does not sound exactly like other Strats I've owned before but I don't know if it's because of the mahogany, the hollowness, or the Lollar blonde pups... I guess a bit of all that. Definitely the lightest Strat I've ever played, which was the main reason for me to buy it.

If the price is interesting I would buy it. You've got the neck, the pups. It's not a big investment. About pickups, go with your TS, they're worth the try even if you might end up with keystones.

At the end, if you don't like it just sell it as is. It will be the refund for the body and a little money for the rest.