Stratocaster appreciation thread

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
Post Reply
User avatar
RobDux
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:02 pm
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by RobDux » Fri May 29, 2020 8:01 am

After having the parts sitting around for far longer than I'd have liked, my time off work because of coronavirus meant I finally got round to putting this together. Walnut baritone conversion neck mated to a cheap body from ebay that I painted in an approximation of a Salmon/Coral sort of colour.
Image
Image
To anyone who hasn't considered a baritone or played one before, I'd now highly recommend it. It's an absolute blast to play.... I do need to toughen up my finger ends though.

User avatar
sessylU
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 533
Joined: Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:33 am

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by sessylU » Sun May 31, 2020 6:13 am

That looks great. What is the pickguard?
a total idiot jackass

User avatar
RobDux
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:02 pm
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by RobDux » Sun May 31, 2020 8:02 am

Cheers. I can't lie, the finish looks a lot better in those photos than it does in person.
The pickguard is an anodized aluminium one that I bought off ebay. It's not the best quality; none of the mounting holes are countersunk and the notch for the bridge seems to be off centre (the bridge is touching one side of the notch but the strings still line up over the pickups, go figure) but it does it's job and got me the look I was after for a lot less than I was expecting to have to pay.

User avatar
sessylU
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 533
Joined: Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:33 am

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by sessylU » Tue Jun 02, 2020 4:01 am

Nice. The pickguard looks a lot warmer and more orangey than you would normally see on an anodized gold guard. I like it.
a total idiot jackass

User avatar
bah humbuck
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:38 am
Location: seattle-ish

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by bah humbuck » Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:55 pm

Well folks, this is it - GAS officially got the better of me.

I wasn't a Strat guy for the longest time, I'm not sure why. But then I borrowed a 1980 Ibanez Blazer to use for a session and something just clicked. The guitar felt "right" and the neck was... well, I honestly didn't know it was possible for a neck to feel that good. I've always put up with guitars that need more work than they're worth, so it was a real treat to play an instrument that worked with me. I had been lusting after a Blazer of my own for what seems like forever, but never pulled the trigger on one because while I like the natural finish, I am extremely picky about wood grain. Then I saw this:

Image

Before you could say "total lack of experience", I decided now is the time that I will build a partscaster. Click! $200 later and it arrived on my doorstep yesterday, from Perle Guitars in Plainfield IL. I'm incredibly lucky to have a couple knowledgeable semiprofessional gearheads in my life that are willing to be my Strat-Spirit-Guides throughout this process so I don't make any irreversible mistakes. But I'm excited to learn as much as possible throughout the process and hopefully end up with a solid instrument that I can hold on to for some time.

But it will take me a while to acquire and assemble all the parts to make a playable instrument out of this hunk of wood. How do I get my sound-fix until then? That's when I made another totally financially irresponsible decision and bought this:

Image

Aria Pro II Fullerton. I don't know whether this is an MiK or MiJ because there doesn't seem to be any record of Aria's serial
number scheme post-Matsumoku, but wherever it comes from, that pickguard shape got me good. Now the only question is what pickups I should put into it... I've been looking at these Russian Fat 50s clones - they sound amazing in the YouTube demo. I don't use the bridge pickup, ever, for anything, so that's not too much of a concern just yet, but I have a JB lying around that I might throw in there if something extraordinary happens.

User avatar
JVG
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1401
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:54 pm
Location: Sydney, Straya

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by JVG » Sun Jun 07, 2020 4:00 pm

Nice! It’s almost a strat :P

The old Ibanez are awesome, i know what you mean.

What’s wrong with the current pickups in the Aria, that makes you want to swap them?

Cheers
J

User avatar
bah humbuck
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:38 am
Location: seattle-ish

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by bah humbuck » Sun Jun 07, 2020 5:11 pm

JVG wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 4:00 pm
What’s wrong with the current pickups in the Aria, that makes you want to swap them?
Well to be honest, I only snagged it off Reverb yesterday, so haven’t actually got the chance to hear them for myself yet. It’s very possible that they will be fine. I sometimes need to be reminded that my knee-jerk reaction to the words “stock pickups” isn’t always warranted. I’ve just had a few bad experiences that maybe have colored my viewpoint a bit. We’ll see!

Sauerkraut
Expat
Expat
Posts: 2827
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:23 am

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by Sauerkraut » Thu Jun 11, 2020 7:47 am

This ugly thing was my first guitar, a 2003 Chinese Squier Strat (Affinity). Those are probably among the worst Squiers ever made. I figured since it's not worth selling, I might as well change it into something fun. So I got rid of the old, cracked 1-ply pickguard and had one custom-made (by Axion in England, highly recommended!) for this odd pickup combination.

It now has a USACG Jazzmaster neck (broken truss rod, still useable, just not on my JM), Tele neck and bridge pickups (latter with a baseplate) with a Jaguar pup in the middle. I wired it with master volume, master tone and blend knob to mix in the neck or bridge pickup (depending on the switch position).

Looks pretty bad, sounds really good.

Image

I like the Tele + Jag combo:

Image

User avatar
JVG
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1401
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:54 pm
Location: Sydney, Straya

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by JVG » Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:42 pm

An interesting podcast (from 2018) with Rod from Sliders Pickups in Australia.

(For those unaware, Sliders have become some of the highest regarded vintage-correct strat pickups, with an especially big fanbase in America).

https://guitarspeakpodcast.libsyn.com/ ... ups-gsp-81

J.

User avatar
Futuron
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1213
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:19 am
Location: Australia

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by Futuron » Tue Jun 16, 2020 1:57 am

Brand new affordable sherwood Strat, whhhaaaaaaaaatttt?????

Sorry USA, you get all your FSR, exclusives & special editions dialled up to 11 time after time. Today, I win.

Fender Made In Japan Hybrid 60s Stratocaster SSS in sherwood green metallic. In a plain old normal Aussie local-business retail music shop.

Image

Image

Image

and the 3 Strats together:
Image

User avatar
Maggieo
Expat
Expat
Posts: 13446
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:36 am
Location: Nebraska, USA
Contact:

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by Maggieo » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:45 am

You know it's coming...

wait for it...

Needs tort. ;) :ph34r:

See?

Image
Oliver On Display, November 12, 2015 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.

User avatar
DarnWeight
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 244
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:13 pm
Contact:

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by DarnWeight » Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:16 am

Long-time Strat-averse guy here, who's just bit the bullet. Teles have always been my thing, but I've recently been really enjoying the in-between positions on a Nashville-style parts T-style I built a few years back. One thing led to another, and I just traded something for this...a mint AV 56 RI in Aged White Blonde. I really, really dig it.

Image

Big ole neck, vintage radius/frets, A3 pickups, beautiful finish. Just restrung with 11s (with a wound third), and it sounds and plays fantastic!

User avatar
MKR
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1702
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:06 am

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by MKR » Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:18 am

Maggieo wrote:
Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:45 am
You know it's coming...

wait for it...

Needs tort. ;) :ph34r:

See?
I have a lake placid blue strat and recently I swapped the pickguard for a tort one. I'm happy with the results.

Image

User avatar
Maggieo
Expat
Expat
Posts: 13446
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:36 am
Location: Nebraska, USA
Contact:

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by Maggieo » Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:34 pm

:-* :-* :-*
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.

User avatar
s_mcsleazy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 18423
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:30 am
Location: glasgow

Re: Stratocaster appreciation thread

Post by s_mcsleazy » Mon Jun 22, 2020 3:41 pm

RobDux wrote:
Fri May 29, 2020 8:01 am
After having the parts sitting around for far longer than I'd have liked, my time off work because of coronavirus meant I finally got round to putting this together. Walnut baritone conversion neck mated to a cheap body from ebay that I painted in an approximation of a Salmon/Coral sort of colour.
Image
Image
To anyone who hasn't considered a baritone or played one before, I'd now highly recommend it. It's an absolute blast to play.... I do need to toughen up my finger ends though.
reminds me of when the baritone neck of mine was on a strat.
Image

i ended up not vibing with the body so changed it over to a jazzmaster body. now it looks like this.......
Image
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

Post Reply