should I buy an old '73 stratocaster or a newer one?

[jemke]

As a great-Vai -Jem and great Hendrix-fan, I am looking for a stratocaster.

I'm looking for a good strat. For me old strats have some magic. I know the history of Fender. PreCBS and so on. I know the quality diminished...other materials, 3-point-bolt-on neck etc...

I have the oportunity to buy an all original 1973 stratocaster. Is it stupid to buy it for 1500 euro (dollar)? Is it a better decision to buy a newer clapton stratocaster?

Will the nostalgic feel result in a bad guitar comparing to the new ones? It has no lace sensors, old (bad) tuning heads? Or does the guitar becomes better with age?

[PerpetualBurn]

Well, im no expert, but, a guitar like that, from the ones ive seen (ive seen maybe 20 1970s strats so far) they are more guitars to gaze at in awe and think...woah...this thing is a real relic. than something to plya jeff beck on. think Malmsteen, he loved the tone of 50s and 60s strats, but the tuners were useless, and the pickups where rubbish, so he had th best of both worlds, vintage bodies, with moden tuners, dimarzio pups and custom scalloped necks made to his fancy, now, obviously thats not an option for the average consumer, but id say, if your gonna PLAY the thing, id get a modern strat with decent electronics and useable features, not a 70s relic. But thats just my opinion, and as i said, im no expert. But remember, if your gonna buy new, Fenders vary HUGELY, make sure your try before you buy, some are great, some feel like they got 'Fender' printed on the headstock by mistake, and it should say 'Squier' up there

Rob

[jemke]

Indeed; the combination of ald woodwork and modern electronics is the best.


For me, the problem is: There are tons of new Fender stratocaster models...You have cheap american ones, you have signture ones...

I don't know a store who has every strat so I can play and feel the difference.

I am afraid that when I buy a new one, I walk the week after into another store and find a strat that has that little edge more.

With Jems I know how good or bad she can be played. I know how they must sound, smell, feel and play. I do not have the experience with a stratocaster.
I 've had one bad japanese stratocaster experience so I am afraid of stratocasters.

[darren wilson]

Personally, i wouldn't buy something like a '70s Strat without playing it first. They vary so wildly that you can easily get a dud.

But then again, some people are extremely picky about their instruments, others aren't so much.

I fall into the latter category, and most of the guitars i've bought in the last couple of years were off eBay without trying them first. Granted, they are all modern instruments, so consistency is pretty good, but there are very few guitars i've tried that i didn't like or wouldn't be able to play for extended periods. I can play just about any guitar these days and am comfortable with the fact that it'll pretty much end up sounding like me. The only guitars i haven't been too big on were ones that had necks that were too thin or narrow.

[dcord]

My advice is this: Go to the store and play every Strat, and narrow em down by feel. *Then* decide based on country of manufacture, if you feel strongly enough about it. I wouldn't count out Squier just because of the name. Strats are, IMO, a great *feel* guitar, so you need to goof around with many to find the perfect one *for you*.

I own a '56, so what do I know?

~d~

[spacenuke]

Originally Posted by dcord

I wouldn't count out Squier just because of the name.

ditto that. i played a Squier Tom Delonge Strat and a Fender Tom Delonge Strat back to back at a Sam Ash and I thought the Squier, which was 1/3 the price was the Fender, wasn't too shabby at all. In fact, i was so tempted to buy it.

Made-In-Mexico Fenders are also pretty decent these days.

[Gresh]

I'd vote for getting something newer with some better electronics or get a Mexican one and use the saved money to put some Lindy Fralins in it or something noiseless. Whatever you buy, my opinion is to make sure you get something with an alder body....some of them are poplar which doesn't sound quite as good to me. If you get something in a sunburst/transparent finish, it will be alder.

I have a 50's reissue and I like it very much. Needs to have the nut slots filed down to fix some action issues, but otherwise it is a fine guitar and it sounds like a strat should sound.

[mecca777]

I wouldn't count out CBS-era Strats - they're not all bad, and some of them are ace, like the '69 Strat on which I was lucky enough to start playing. But be prepared to try lots of them to find a real keeper - don't just buy the first one you see. My personal choice would be to buy something like a US Highway 1 Strat or one of the Mexican "vintage" reissues, and pop some Lindy Fralin or DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups in it (depending on whether you want spot-on vintage tone or prefer "noiseless" operation).

The Fender Mexico guitars are equal to most '70s Strats in my experience, and what they lack in vintage vibe, they make up with solid build quality and playability. The Highway 1 Strats are two-piece alder, with a 22-fret neck and a thin vintage-style finish, and will leave you a fair whack of change from 1500 euros, enough to install your choice of pickups.

[jemke]

I just checked the whole fender website and came to the conclusion that an American Deluxe stratocaster has it all for me. I prefer it to the old strats I to think.

It has an alder body, vintage noisless pickups, maple neck, 2 points tremolo and I think gotohs.

So good wood, pups and trem...it has it all

I checked them all on the website without knowing the price. The result is always that I like the expensive ones. Only the vintage reissues and the signatures are cost more.

I don't like the vintage models and the only signatures I like are the Clapton and the SRV strat. Only the Clapon has a maple neck and has also a midboost-thing. But it has a bad tremolo.

Does any of you guys have a American Deluxe strat?

[Mr Orange]

A wise choice you made, to stay away from '70s Fenders, young Skywalker.

As said, Fender's downhill started from '65, although "experts" say that '69 was the last goodie year, because they still used old parts/old working methods then. '70s was dismal, and 1979 is widely considered to be the worst year for Strats. In the early '80s Fender started to put some effort into their products again, which resulted in decent "high end" strats around '82-'84.

A vintage Fender collector once said in a magazine, "All the best old guitars, the real keepers, are out of the market already. Only the bad ones keep circulating anymore".

Give the Mexican strats a shot. Many people love them, and say that the quality of the best individuals is darn close to Americans, only the price tag has a lower number. And you can always put Kinmans in make them sing. Some say the Standards are not as good as the Classics, but I think you should go out and try them. That's what I'm gonna do.

I hear another cool axe is Jimmie Vaughan strat, med-jumbo frets and Texas special pups, and the list price is something like $650...

[jemke]

I didn't know Fender was going downhill untill 1979!! So they made 25 years only crap guitars... A record

ok...NO old strat for me...

I also don't like to buy a cheap strat and do some mods.
I like more to buy a guitar who is from the factory a great guitar. I don't like to change pups in an Japstrat. I had one about 2 years ago. I thought of changing the pups for Dimarzio's. But then I saw the crappy tuners...and I was seeing all the little details that makes the difference.

I am too critical I guess...

[RAI6]

Keep in mind what happened to Steve....
He was in the market to buy that "Vintage Strat", the kind everybody should at least own one of. He spent hours upon hours trying them all!
He finally picked up a cheapie, just to goof around, and he was sold.
You can hear the results on "ALS"..............

[Bogus]

He picked up a cheapie? What do you mean cheapie? Squire? Mexi? what?
I recentley picked up a MIJ 57 reissue with a green burst finish(foto finish). I must say it is super sweet. It has one of the best necks I have ever put my hands on. It is my understanding that alot of the MIJ strats are of better quality than the US made strats. The only thing I have noticed is that the 5 way selector is a little noisy, but that is standard on a 10 year old guitar.

[Mr Orange]

The Fender scene is almost as funked up as Ibanez scene is...

Japanese models: Everyone still spat upon them like 5 years ago, but now when they're moving production from Japan to Korea, everyone's going ape dung over them, "man they're at least as good as US Strats, just swap the pups, man....".

The only way to go is to check 'em out extensively. There are nice late '80s and early '90s US Strats going pretty cheap second hand, as well. Actually, I'd personally rather buy an older US Strat from evilbay than a Mex one... I dunno. Maybe I've been brainwashed.

If you want to make a sure bet, go for Suhr, Anderson or Melancon.

And the downhill, well, '69-'79 or early '80s is "only" ten years or so...

[Bogus]

It not really much or a concern to me. I love the way my strat plays regardless of were its made. I am going to get new pickups for sure.... though the stock ones aren't too bad.