MIJ strat fails against US standard...

[John Boulden]

Having a bad time. I own a MIJ 57 re-issue strat which I have been very happy with. Then the other night had a chance to compare directly with a US standard strat about ten years old. It blew mine out of the water. We're talking early vintage tone here. The US strat seemed to have so much more bite and brightness and when played aggressively, al a HBM it produced a most wonderful tone. Plugged mine into the same amp socket, no changes anywhere and my MIJ sounded lame in comparison. I am devastated!

So, any point in asking my local shop to fit US standard PUs (from approx ten years ago) onto my guitar. Anyone know what these PUs might be? Am I going to waste my money. Could it be the wood etc etc? Should i just go and buy an American Strat. If so which one?

Help! Going potty here...


John Boulden

[Hank2k]

Hi john. I own a couple of guitars among them are 2 mex classic strats and a 10 year old american standard strat. The american start does have more bite in my opinion thats because the pickups are hotter but also I feel the american is made of better materials. The neck is much nicer and I prefer the trem but the mex classic ones have their own benefits too. If you can afford to get a us one as well then you have both bases covered. All the best. Steve

[JimN]

John,

You won't go wrong with a secondhand American Vintage Reissue. I have two of the '62 reissues (both in Fiesta Red), and whilst the Japanese reissues are excellent, the USA has the edge for construction where it counts (steel block with properly-cut threads, circuitry, 100% accurate neck dimensions, etc). You have heard one of them at Hersham.

I also have a MIJ Stratocaster '62 Reissue in sunburst (1982, one of the first ever made there) from the days when they were fitted with USA pickups anyway. The neck dimensions are accurate (just like the original sixties American models), but it is slightly let down by the hardware (especially the cast bridge block) and the circuitry. The newer MIJ reissues also seem to have a fairly deep 'chunky' neck (though my 1982 MIJ doesn't suffer from that).

I'm not knocking the MIJ Strats - they're great guitars and as I say, I've had one for 27 years. But just like you're getting more (however much more) when paying £2500 for a Custom Shop model, you're paying more for, and getting more with, a USA Vintage Reissue (the unsung gems of the Fender range, in my opinion).

I was dead lucky getting mine for £700 and £550 respectively, both on private deals (one in the UK and one in Italy).

Try eBay. This one looks OK:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-USA-Vintage-63-Reissue-Stratocaster-Strat-Relic_W0QQitemZ260483993483QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3ca60e4f8b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Best of luck,

JimN

On second thoughts, perhaps the owner of that eBay Strat has "reliced" it a bit too enthusiastically...

[Bojan]

If you ask me John, I would advise you to get a good luthier (Alan Brason comes to mind) to make you a custom hand-built "Strat" to your exact specifications. You get to choose and decide about every single detail. Alan's necks are as straight as an arrow, his workmanship is awesome. You end up getting Fender Custom Shop quality, or even better, at less than half the price. The only thing is that formally this would not be a Fender guitar, and if you are a collector, that could be a serious drawback. Otherwise, I think that is your best bet, and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who thinks so!

[asimmd]

Fender Fat 50's are excellent but not cheap.Last time I looked they were £149.

It all depends what sound you want to achieve as to what pickups you choose.

Bareknuckle Apache's are also nice.

Problem with pickups is that you can't try before you buy.

Fender 57/62 are also popular,it's such a personal thing I would stop short
of actually recommending a particular set.

You could always just order a new guitar anyway,so much more fun.

Alan

[BarryH]

Hi John,

You're not comparing like for like.

I have both American and CIJ Fenders, the American Vintage 57 re-issue is to my mind better than the CIJ 57 re-issue but having said that there is a massive difference in price. If I remember the CIJ strat cost me a little over £600 where the American Vintage was almost double that.

As JimN has already been mentioned, the American guitars have better components and different timbers, you would expect a better guitar as it costs more to produce and install better components.

Cheers
Barry

[David Martin]

There is no such thing as too many guitars... just too little space!!

And if HRH makes the comment along the lines of "you can only play one at a time..." just check out the number of handbags and shoes...

(P.S. And I'm not knocking the purchase of handbags and shoes either... my beloved can have as many as she likes... and I can have... )