OffsetGuitars.com

This one! This will always be my Strat. It's got an Ilitch noise cancelling system, Bill Lawrence Microcoils in there, plays like a dream.

Now, I would like an AVRI Strat, like what the other person here was posting the other day, he got that tremendous first generation AVRI Strat and I would kill for that.

But ol' Brown Betty above ain't that.

Larry Mal wrote: ↑

Thu May 14, 2020 8:17 am

Larry Mal wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:39 am

countertext wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:33 am

Put a black guard on that! Such chocolate! So mocha!

At some point I'll get a aluminum pickguard... what do you think, should I go black, or maybe a gold? I thought the gold might look OK on there also.

Gold would look killer. Black would be a great ‘70s vibe, but gold would be differenter.

Larry Mal wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 03, 2021 4:57 pm

The only reason I have it is because I was trying to sell it for a buddy, and it wasn't moving, so I offered to buy it from him. It gave him some financial comfort and allows him to keep yet another guitar that was on the block, one that he wants more.

To me it's just a pawn.

Ah, fair enough. That’s a very generous thing to do - i hope your friend was appreciative.

Anyway, you might as well have a little fun with it while it’s in your hands.

Geez. I go away from OSG for like a year or something, and come back to find a ten page thread all about how I've infected Andy with my Stratinfatuation. Nice.

* If it's the guitar I think it is, it's all kinds of un-Strat-like in execution, even though I went out of my way to keep it's Stratty looks.

badform wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 01, 2021 10:22 am

Geez. I go away from OSG for like a year or something, and come back to find a ten page thread all about how I've infected Andy with my Stratinfatuation. Nice.

* If it's the guitar I think it is, it's all kinds of un-Strat-like in execution, even though I went out of my way to keep it's Stratty looks.

yeah it's that guitar

Yeah, that's a (I think) 1993 Mexican Squier, made in the same factory using the same parts as Mexi Fender Strats.

I made weird pickups by breaking down generic ceramic pickups to just the wind and bobbins, and rebuilding them as if they were a P-90. I had a love/hate relationship with them, but I proved (to myself) that the idea is valid.

The controls are master volume / bridge tone / neck tone. The volume pot is a push/pull that lets you turn on the bridge pickup regardless of switch position.

Here's a quote from an ancient thread where I babbled about this guitar's history:

"Once upon a time, I met a girl and mistook anger for passion. During our somewhat brief relationship, we shared a lot of music, saw some great shows, and at one point, she asked me if I'd clean up and sell her old guitar for her. When her parents were in town, they brought an old Squier that was filthy and covered with stickers. Once I got my hands on it, I realized it was a pretty nice guitar, and after I removed three layers of stickers (and her personal musical history), I found a looker underneath as well. Good deal.

When we did not-so-eventually break up, she was pretty pissed at me for removing the stickers, and on top of that for not selling it. I gave her the cash she was asking for the guitar (I got a pretty good deal, actually), and we parted ways with only a heap of drama thrown my way. For all the trouble this damn thing caused, I doubled down and played the heck out of it, and kind of fell for it (the guitar, not the girl)."

I was offset cautious so this is what I did...
Might put everything on an offset body one day. But not just yet.

Nevets wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:54 am

I had an older Chinese 50s Squier Classic Vibe and it was a great guitar. Never should have let it go. I almost bought one of the new Indonesian ones but the lake placid blue one sold before I got to the store, so I passed. The ones I played in the shop were very nice. I found the contours and edges of the classic vibe smoother and more comfortable than my other strats.

So true- the CV Strats are the only ones under the $2K mark that gets the contours right. I've got three Strats- a 1981 '57RI (Blackstrat), a 1982 '62RI (Skippy The Wonderbeast), and a 2015 Squier '50s Classic Vibe (Oliver), all of them have the smoooth body chamfering that matches the early Strats. They're a lot like the Johnny Marr Jag, which also has that sweet, smooth, rounded body.


Oliver On Display, November 12, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr (I replaced the pots, the pickguard, the switch, and put a Callaham bridge on it. Worth every penny. The Tonerider pickups are fantastic.)


1981/82 Fender Stratocaster With 1975 Pickguard And Electronics, Aug 06, 2019 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr


Skippy And Scooter, January, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

Accidental office guitar...



Never thought of myself as a guy that would own a white guitar, or a Strat, but here we are. The roasted maple neck from the Vintera 70s Mod Strat is soooo nice...

That looks great.

Thanks! If I had my way it'd look more like your black one... but the white is kind of growing on me.

Ol' Brown Betty is coming along:



I got the Kinman pickups in, Woodstocks, they sound great. At the same time I put in a new wiring harness with values appropriate for the new pickups, but I also got a wiring set in which the second tone knob now functions as a blend knob for the neck pickup.

So you can dial in the neck pickup to any amount you want in tandem with the other two pickups if you want, or the bridge pickup.

And that means now there is a master volume and tone knob. I like this arrangement.

I also went crazy and put in a super heavy brass vibrato block and unit- all brass. That unit weighs over a pound.

It's got a no account aluminum pickguard on there now, but in time I'll put on brass knobs, a brass pick guard, back plate, etc. So to whoever suggested I brass the shit out of thing thing, message received.

It'll look sharp.

Not, though, a brass nut... I had a bone one put on.

Larry Mal wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:31 pm

So to whoever suggested I brass the shit out of thing thing, message received.

You're welcome.

Jonesie wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:54 pm

You're welcome.

Seriously, thanks- it looks a little crude now, that pickguard doesn't really fit right and the fake ass aged copper output jack looks pretty dumb, but once I start sinking money into it it'll look sharp and I'll really like it.

I honestly had no idea what would make me like it until you suggested that.

Larry Mal wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:58 pm

Jonesie wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:54 pm

You're welcome.

Seriously, thanks- it looks a little crude now, that pickguard doesn't really fit right and the fake ass aged copper output jack looks pretty dumb, but once I start sinking money into it it'll look sharp and I'll really like it.

I honestly had no idea what would make me like it until you suggested that.

It's big, stupid and 70s. What's there to hate? (Other than the weight.)