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i too have a black stratocaster. and i too decided to put on a black pickguard (had tortoise shell prior).

Sold my only Strat (a 1988 AmStd in black with anodized gold guard) a few months ago. It was the only strat I had so I decided to cobble together a cheap partscaster. The body is a hardtail from a Vista Squier series in IBM and it looks great. It's got a very metallized vibe and it really changes according to the light. I got a silver anodized guard and replaced the pups for some generic but better strat pickups., Also, silver retro knobs The neck is from my Mascis SQJMJM that's got a baritone neck nowadays. Plays and sounds really great, and man I love the look.

my sofa guitar ,it is the one i grab all days



i have put my string gauge pyramide 10 52 ,put a third spring ,cut the saddle screws ,dress the fret end and seriously it is very cool
stay in tune now with heavy bar use (i have put some ernie ball 10 46 before and they sucks ,one week and don't stay in tune with streching ,and 2 weeks after they were dead),the only miss is the gap in the screw for the arm ,but i work on it baby
now i am totally sure i can use it on live ,nice guitar for the price

Axolotl wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 9:24 am

Sold my only Strat (a 1988 AmStd in black with anodized gold guard) a few months ago. It was the only strat I had so I decided to cobble together a cheap partscaster. The body is a hardtail from a Vista Squier series in IBM and it looks great. It's got a very metallized vibe and it really changes according to the light. I got a silver anodized guard and replaced the pups for some generic but better strat pickups., Also, silver retro knobs The neck is from my Mascis SQJMJM that's got a baritone neck nowadays. Plays and sounds really great, and man I love the look.

Nice job! That is beautiful.

MattK wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:53 am

That’s OSG for you, two well considered opinions … opposite to each other!

Ha!

In that case, the obvious solution is to take a leaf from 1980s Ibanez JEMs: fluorescent green or pink plastics!!

Axolotl wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 9:24 am

Sold my only Strat (a 1988 AmStd in black with anodized gold guard) a few months ago. It was the only strat I had so I decided to cobble together a cheap partscaster. The body is a hardtail from a Vista Squier series in IBM and it looks great. It's got a very metallized vibe and it really changes according to the light. I got a silver anodized guard and replaced the pups for some generic but better strat pickups., Also, silver retro knobs The neck is from my Mascis SQJMJM that's got a baritone neck nowadays. Plays and sounds really great, and man I love the look.

I also love the look of this. Stop giving me Strat GAS! Lol

I have a offbrand sunburst strat that has a black fender guard, Alnico V single coils, fender saddles, a bunch cool stuff

I have a Strat that I (badly) put together from StewMac parts in the 90s (Alder body, maple 2-piece neck, Schaller VIntage S6 single coils and a DiMarzio HS-1 in the bridge) and I really don't like it. But I had sold it to a good friend and bandmate, and I was given it when he passed away. So I keep it for sentimental reasons.

That said, I really want to find a Strat that I actually like to play. And of course, in a color that I like.

I've always liked Clapton's Blackie, even though I'm not a fan of the man or his music. So I'm looking at Player series... I was looking at Black, but that Buttercream looks rather nice in person.



Any feedback on the new Player series?

tdksa90 wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 8:45 am

I have a Strat that I (badly) put together from StewMac parts in the 90s (Alder body, maple 2-piece neck, Schaller VIntage S6 single coils and a DiMarzio HS-1 in the bridge) and I really don't like it. But I had sold it to a good friend and bandmate, and I was given it when he passed away. So I keep it for sentimental reasons.

That said, I really want to find a Strat that I actually like to play. And of course, in a color that I like.

I've always liked Clapton's Blackie, even though I'm not a fan of the man or his music. So I'm looking at Player series... I was looking at Black, but that Buttercream looks rather nice in person.



Any feedback on the new Player series?

Dude that sounds sweet, and with the player series, I’m too broke to buy one

Alex! wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 8:52 am

Dude that sounds sweet, and with the player series, I’m too broke to buy one

I can't say I can afford one right now, but you know how it goes...

tdksa90 wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 8:45 am

Any feedback on the new Player series?

That's what i currently have. I have owned a lot of stratocasters over the years. older MIM's, japanese fender, squier classic vibe, old korean squier, etc.

I'd say the player series are pretty great. I have always liked mexican made stratocasters. The biggest difference between the player series and the older ones is the pickups are "brighter" on the player series ones. They're probably labeled as "better", but i always liked the ceramic pickups found on the older versions. These are almost too bright for my liking, so i use the tone control more that i used to. I will say it's nice to have a tone control on the bridge pickup too.

I really like that cream one too. I would so put a gold anodized pickguard on it.

Some absolute beauties in this thread!

I've owned a few Strats in the past but I never got on with the positioning of the middle pickup, but especially where the volume knob is situated. I'd always be knocking it whilst playing because I'm a bit of a belter, I guess.

I always loved Strats and always will, because of Michael Karoli, Ron Asheton, Jonathan Richman, Hendrix, Lowell George, Steve Winwood on the 1st Traffic album, etc, but just could never play the bloody things. I know they're supposed to be super ergonomic but I'm clumsy AF whenever I pick one up. That doesn't stop me from still looking at them on Reverb and thinking "I wonder if I should get another one and just persevere with it" but I don't know?

My last Strat was a MIM Fender Classic 70s series with a rosewood neck. Sounded great, but I really struggled with it, tbh. Plus, it was giving me Eric Clapton vibes which I found upsetting Eventually I sold it on ebay and the buyer was someone who played in the Spiritualized live band so at least it went to a good home.

MKR wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 9:11 am

tdksa90 wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 8:45 am

Any feedback on the new Player series?

That's what i currently have. I have owned a lot of stratocasters over the years. older MIM's, japanese fender, squier classic vibe, old korean squier, etc.

I'd say the player series are pretty great. I have always liked mexican made stratocasters. The biggest difference between the player series and the older ones is the pickups are "brighter" on the player series ones. They're probably labeled as "better", but i always liked the ceramic pickups found on the older versions. These are almost too bright for my liking, so i use the tone control more that i used to. I will say it's nice to have a tone control on the bridge pickup too.

Thanks for the info! Have you thought about replacing the pickups? I think I would prefer something darker... especially when my CIJ Jaguar is so bright.

tdksa90 wrote: ↑

Tue May 07, 2024 9:39 am

Thanks for the info! Have you thought about replacing the pickups? I think I would prefer something darker... especially when my CIJ Jaguar is so bright.

no. I like it enough and like i said the tone control does get some use now. The pickups do sound nice even if they're on the brighter side. I'm pretty sure there are good comparison videos on youtube of the player strat and the older mexican made standard strat.

It's funny because i also have a CIJ jag and i think the strat sounds brighter.

MattK wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 30, 2024 4:50 am

I do have cream knobs, but for some reason they creep me out, they look like soft candy or something. I agree the white is too white. I’ll try some black ones when I find some.

Try mint green. That'd look cool against the black IMO