Strat Dilemma

Those are too funny OWA!!

Jim-Bone

ooh a double fat strat. I remember now. I think your jag is better.

KC. if you want to mess around with color and design this site let's you do that. you can even import patterns and apply them to the guitar body.

http://www.nymphusa.com/tele

scroll down and click on Kiskae. that will get you into the parts and assembly area.

Hi.
These are all funny/cool for sure.
And I hate to be the voice of reason here....

I have 2 strats.
My player is an 88 in olympic white w/maple board.
I love the elegant look of it. Sometimes though, like you... I get 'bitter' towards it.
For no good reason.
One day I'll just not like the way it looks; think it's generic looking or sounding and start looking for what new guitar
I want to replace it with.

When this happens, I usually take it off the wall and put it back in it's case and start playin' my acoustic a lot more.

Then - when I do pull it out - I can't wait to go electric and it looks great too.

I've had it for 19 years and I haven't found anything I like better (besides my 71 strat).
I would surely hate myself if I had butchered it in any way.

Just my opinion.
Sorry to spoil all the fun.

Ken

Ken. I feel as you. I love the way my sunburst strat looks. I would never ever change a thing.
anyway, what is essentially the most important thing is how it sounds.
my participation in this thread is to help y'all out with ideas.
and everyone has posted some good ideas.

except Ken :wink:

My strat-copy (it's not really a strat, but it looks exactly like a strat) is a pretty cool guitar except that it's a dark blue colour and I've always wanted a sunburst strat, so maybe I'll get it painted someday (I don't even know who would do such a project, i'm not brave enough to paint it).

It's sad that I think I would actually pick up a sunburst strat if there was no way to paint that guitar because it's really a decent guitar, in terms of lower-end, non-brand name guitars.

My Strat has a Duncan Hot rail at the bridge and my name is engraved into the neck plate. That makes it mine, least mine enough. The one I really made my own though is my Les Paul Special. It just screams TR Guitar!

Umm, yeah, the right decal could do wonders.

Dogbite - yer crackin' me up bro!!!! :D
Sorry, I agree totally that sound is all that matters - except, there's a part of me that still fears my father I guess. :)
He raised me to take care of my things, and I feel that if I ever did anything to my strat that he would jump on a plane
just to come here to straighten me out - LOL

As far as a low end copystrat being changed to a sunburst....
Is the blue a transparent color????
If it's a solid color - what is the body made of????
The old color would have to be stripped off before a sunburst finish could be effectively applied. I think that having that
done might cost as much as the guitar did - and with no benifit to an increased value.

I had an old Harmony copystrat that I custom painted myself (I used to paint cars and motorcycles for a living).
The body was vaniered press board I think.
Not something that would look good in a sunburst finish.
Even real Les Paul Goldtops don't have a nice piece of maple on the top because it gets covered with paint (see Paul
Kossoff's 'paintless' goldtop)

My 71 strat is a 3 color burst on ash.

Ken

make it play better, feel better.
you had to have known you were buying the #1 selling guitar in the world.

so make it better, so others may see "another" strat, but you will say "yeah , but this one is mine. :wink:

As far as a low end copystrat being changed to a sunburst....
Is the blue a transparent color????
If it's a solid color - what is the body made of????
The old color would have to be stripped off before a sunburst finish could be effectively applied. I think that having that
done might cost as much as the guitar did - and with no benifit to an increased value.

It's a solid color, unfortunately I don't know what the body is made of but I know what you are saying, maybe i'll just have to pick up a sunburst strat and figure out what to do with the blue strat-copy (keep it in an alternate tuning maybe?? I know a ton of those).

Hi.
These are all funny/cool for sure.
And I hate to be the voice of reason here....

I have 2 strats.
My player is an 88 in olympic white w/maple board.
I love the elegant look of it. Sometimes though, like you... I get 'bitter' towards it.
For no good reason.
One day I'll just not like the way it looks; think it's generic looking or sounding and start looking for what new guitar
I want to replace it with.

When this happens, I usually take it off the wall and put it back in it's case and start playin' my acoustic a lot more.

Then - when I do pull it out - I can't wait to go electric and it looks great too.

I've had it for 19 years and I haven't found anything I like better (besides my 71 strat).
I would surely hate myself if I had butchered it in any way.

Just my opinion.
Sorry to spoil all the fun.

Ken

Personalizing it can make a guitar more you and represent you more. And make it more unque. Take this for example:

There's no way you could mistake that Strat for anyone elses. (Though I'd personally never put stickers on a sunburst, only on solid colours)

Angel -
That was a pretty unique strat.

So are these -
Very personalized....No stickers needed :D :wink:

My 88 strat has a maple board. Although urethane, not lacquer... I have (after 19 years) produced wear marks in the
open position. They match where my fingers hit the neck perfectly.
I've worked long and hard to accomplish that - It's what I always dreamed my guitar would look like. (Because of EC's Brownie Strat - Pictured)

I know you can rush right out and buy a strat from Fender with a wore out maple board these days.
That's not quite as satisfying as having worked hard to do it yourself.
That's how I personalized MY strat.
I can't help but stare and smile at my wear marks.
They are, to me, a badge of honor.
Not quite as quick as a sticker - I like it though. :D

Ken

Dude, I totally hear ya. I love the strat "off-colors" like Candy Tangerine. Just a little off-center.

I like the idea about the new pickguard. There are tons of ideas out there. I just made a Miller "the Champagne of Beers" beer label collaged pickguard. All shiney metallic and definitely dresses up a boring strat. I also made a Guinness pickguard for my Squier '51. You could make your own guard!

After re-reading my post today, I must have sounded pretty pathetic. :oops: It just seems that recent events have changed my perspective on a lot of things, including guitar. Not that it's a bad thing, I guess.

I think I am leaning toward changing the pickguard and I would hope that it's not perceived as butchering the guitar. I will probably go with a pearloid. A buddy suggested getting a pre-wired one from Guitar Fetish. Currently my strat is configured as an HSS. Isn't it possible to change it to all single coils? If so, any suggestions on which ones to use? I am playing (well trying to play) mostly classic rock.

Thanks for putting up with me! :wink:

Jim-Bone

Here's an idea for you. Get a sheet of clear plastic that exhibits Total Internal Reflection. Cut it to pickguard shape and engrave the face of it with any design you like. As light hits the sides of the pickguard, the rays will be retained within the plastic sheet, until they hit one or other of the sides or the lines of an engraving - wherever the rays hit will "light up".
You often see this sort of thing on exit signs - a sheet of clear plastic or glass, with the word "exit" lit up in the middle of it.

KC -
Pathetic???? - NO, not at all.
And no one here had to put up with you.
We should be thanking you for putting up with us. :D

You sparked a wonderful debate, and hopefully figured out what YOU want to do with YOUR guitar.
You heard from the more conservative types (or should I say TYPE, as I feel I'm all alone in the conservative dept. here :D )
And from some more liberal minded individuals as well as wilder ones than that.

Changing the pickguard sounds like a cool idea.
I love the green guards from the early 60's strats, and for a time wanted to put one on my 88.
And I really like Greybeard's idea 8)

As far as the pups go - I of course have a pretty old fashioned stance on these as well :wink:

My 71 has the stock, rough cut, staggered pole piece pups in that it came with.
What would be now days from Fender.... 69 strat pups I think they are.
They are pretty powerful for single coil pups. And I usually use that strat for playing heavier hard rockin' songs that
would normally be assosciated with Gibbo/Humbucker guitars.
It doesn't really like to be played quietly. It can be a bit harsh at low settings.
Although with the right amp, it can sound much like Clapton's Layla sound. That edgy.... sounds like the speaker is slightly blown kinda thing. It's a hard sound to explain. I personally think that sound has more to do with the ash body than the pups.

My 88 also has stock pups in it - flush cut pole piece single coils.
Very mellow.
You can get it loud and distorted - not quite the same as that 71 though. Very soft and subdued. Not as lively.
A much more versatile guitar in my opinion - though like having a more versatile amp, that leads to it not standing out at any one thing.

To me there would only be two kinds to choose from - the 69's or the 57/62's.

Think of the strat players you like most and there's your answer.
Guys like Richie Blackmore/Robin Trower/(post Woodstock) Jimi Hendrix/Dave Gilmour all used guitars with the 69 style pups.
Guys like Eric Clapton/SRV/Rory Gallagher/(pre Woodstock) Jimi Hendrix/Robbie Robertson all used 57/62 style pups.

I'm sure there's plenty to be said about Fenders other pups like the Fat 50's and Tex/Mex, as well as third party sources.

Speaking of that... I once heard that the single coil pups that were in the the old Harmony copystrats were fantastic blues
pups.
I really don't know. The one that I had was very thin sounding because of the cheap body. I never put the Harmony pups into my other guitars. And I gave that old Harmony away to a kid in my old neighborhood.

Has anybody tried using those pups in a sturdier guitar????

Ken