General Music Chat

I am seriously considering getting one of these. I have literally worn my old strat out. The frets are worn down, the tremolo has too munch play in it, the volume pot cuts out (reduces level) if I happen to bump it in the middle of a song. Thinking that the repairs will cost me about half what this guitar at $950.00 would cost.
My question is do any of you have any experience with the guitar?
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Amer ... 1502369.gc

no exp w any strat that had ANYTHING but S/S/S.

my thinking is this, if you really have a relationship w your current strat i'd say it's worth addressing it's issues. doesn't seem like it'd come to half the bread a new one is gonna set you back.

then again...if you're just jonesin' for a new axe........

The new Strats are hit and miss for quality, try a bunch out.

At the same time, take your old one and rework it.
Frets gone, replace the neck with one of these:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Strat-Style ... c_200.html (just have to mount the tuners)
Electronics giving you problems, just pop in a pre-wired pickguard, all you have to is hook up the output jack:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Hand-Wired- ... c_113.html
or
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Pre-Wired-P ... _c_25.html

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the guitarfetish stuff. For as little as $80, you could have a hardworking Strat again.

The new Strats are hit and miss for quality, try a bunch out.

At the same time, take your old one and rework it.
Frets gone, replace the neck with one of these:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Strat-Style ... c_200.html (just have to mount the tuners)
Electronics giving you problems, just pop in a pre-wired pickguard, all you have to is hook up the output jack:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Hand-Wired- ... c_113.html
or
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Pre-Wired-P ... _c_25.html

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the guitarfetish stuff. For as little as $80, you could have a hardworking Strat again.

i have exp w and dig GFS p/u's, their affordable tuning machines, and bridges ....but their necks? i had to send one of their bass necks back for a refund. not very impressive at all. ymmv.

I am seriously considering getting one of these. I have literally worn my old strat out. The frets are worn down, the tremolo has too munch play in it, the volume pot cuts out (reduces level) if I happen to bump it in the middle of a song. Thinking that the repairs will cost me about half what this guitar at $950.00 would cost.
My question is do any of you have any experience with the guitar?
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Amer ... 1502369.gc

I have played a couple and they are nice but I am still playing my ol 2000 with a Cool Rails at the bridge. Corona Strats are made about 20 miles from my house and one of my long time customers is the CNC guy cutting the body shapes.

FWIW a good luthier could probably have your axe fixed up for around $300. It's worth getting a quote if you know of a good guy in town. One of the custom "tricks" I have seen is putting a Tele neck on a Strat body. It's a shorter scale so the guitar is less jangly and string bends are easier due to lower string tension. Kinda looks strange though.

I am seriously considering getting one of these. I have literally worn my old strat out. The frets are worn down, the tremolo has too munch play in it, the volume pot cuts out (reduces level) if I happen to bump it in the middle of a song. Thinking that the repairs will cost me about half what this guitar at $950.00 would cost.
My question is do any of you have any experience with the guitar?
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Amer ... 1502369.gc

I have played a couple and they are nice but I am still playing my ol 2000 with a Cool Rails at the bridge. Corona Strats are made about 20 miles from my house and one of my long time customers is the CNC guy cutting the body shapes.

FWIW a good luthier could probably have your axe fixed up for around $300. It's worth getting a quote if you know of a good guy in town. One of the custom "tricks" I have seen is putting a Tele neck on a Strat body. It's a shorter scale so the guitar is less jangly and string bends are easier due to lower string tension. Kinda looks strange though.

john....tele necks and strat necks are both 25 1/2" scale. i've had several teles w strat necks (clapton played one during his Blind Faith days).

my thinline tele has a strat neck on it....this gtr here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA7_nE173GY

a strat neck has rounded contours on it's neck heel that allow it to fit into the squared off contour of a tele body's neck slot.

on the other hand the squared off shoulders of a tele neck will not fit in the rounded shoulders of a strat body w/o mods to the neck or body.

i know this to be as i have first hand exp trying to mount a cpl different tele necks to strat bodies. this was the case each time.

i had a go round w slacker about this awhile ago and even supplied photos....guess THAT's why he put me on "ignore"!

I sure do like my 96 Strat! I put a JB junior in the lead bridge position. I also put those Planet Wave tuning pegs. You pull the string hand tight and turn a quarter turn to tighten and tune the strings. I would prefer just getting a new guitar than spend the money fixing this old one. I can always do that later!

I don't know who's good in Houston any more, but go get some prices, and check with some of the local players and see who they recommend. When I lived there I took my amps to a guy on north 59, probably in that great guitar shop in the sky now. That's how I found him. Ace Reconing did the best speaker reconing in town, I was already doing my own guitar repairs. (1990 or so)

Fret job will probably be no more than about $150 or so, volume knob only needs either a new pot ($5) or a shot of contact cleaner. The original pots in my 1966 Harmony are still working great, shot of contact cleaner about 1996 is all I've ever done to it. Pots in my Squier Strat have all been replaced, el cheapo crap in a Korean guitar...no surprise. I got it a couple of years after I fixed the Harmony...

Whammy bar is another story. When the threads get wallowed out you have to replace the entire fulcrum block, probably the bar too. I don't know what it costs, but I wouldn't charge more than $30-40 to install it (after parts) and reset action and intonation. Takes 15 minutes tops, plus time for the setup, an hour or so. Shop would probably charge twice that much.

It's worth fixing, the only part I can't do is replace the frets, I've never done that. When my fulcrum block was flaky on an Epiphone Strat I was a machinist and made one from aircraft aluminum. Can't do that any more, don't have access to a good milling machine. Volume pot is easy, I'd almost bet a shot of contact cleaner will do the trick, if not the pot can be replaced with no trouble, I've done several. About a 30 minute job because you have to remove the pickguard. If it's gone I'd replace all the pots, probably $20 total for parts. It also has a capacitor in there, I'd replace that if I already have it open and the soldering gun is hot. OK what the hell why not go ahead and replace the switch...those are under $10 too I think. Then you have new electronics, good to go for another 10 years minimum, and if you find someone who does good work, you should be in good shape. I doubt it would cost more than $300, probably less.

Too bad I live 3 hours away, I could have all but the frets done overnight much less expensive than most so called techs, and I do good work. I have to, I work on mine too. But I won't touch a fret replacement...I know how but don't have the tools or experience. And I refuse to learn/practice on someone else's guitar...It takes a specialty tool to bend them to the right radius, you have to usually make a puller, and some files to get the length right, then sandpaper (I use fingernail boards) for fine finishing work.

Check around, local players should know who is a good tech. Get some prices, it's probably worth fixing. Should also cost less than half the value of the guitar, I'd expect it to be less than $300. Last time I checked a fret job was $125 or so. But that was around 6 or 8 years ago. So if it's up to $175 now, you're still looking at $250-300 tops most likely.

Billy, the best guitar tech in town is Ronnie Pace of Pace guitars, or Mr. Stringer at Guitar Stringer. They are not cheap! By the time I do all that work with parts and labor I'm thinking it will be at $400.00. Some of it I can do myself true. I really prefer it done by an expert. I have seen both the co. I have listed and it is First rate work. I think I am going to get a new guitar and just let this one sit for a while. Having said that my wife is doing our taxes this weekend. I told her I would wait to see how much we have to pay this year! Last year we got hit hard and we both made ajustments to our with holding for this year. It will all depend on that

I am seriously considering getting one of these. I have literally worn my old strat out. The frets are worn down, the tremolo has too munch play in it, the volume pot cuts out (reduces level) if I happen to bump it in the middle of a song. Thinking that the repairs will cost me about half what this guitar at $950.00 would cost.
My question is do any of you have any experience with the guitar?
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Amer ... 1502369.gc

I have played a couple and they are nice but I am still playing my ol 2000 with a Cool Rails at the bridge. Corona Strats are made about 20 miles from my house and one of my long time customers is the CNC guy cutting the body shapes.


FWIW a good luthier could probably have your axe fixed up for around $300. It's worth getting a quote if you know of a good guy in town. One of the custom "tricks" I have seen is putting a Tele neck on a Strat body. It's a shorter scale so the guitar is less jangly and string bends are easier due to lower string tension. Kinda looks strange though.

john....tele necks and strat necks are both 25 1/2" scale. i've had several teles w strat necks (clapton played one during his Blind Faith days).

You are so right, I looked it up. It's the Jaguar that has a shorter 24" scale. I wonder why these guys do it then. Fashion statement?

After I thought about it some last night it might be worth looking into a replacement neck. Simple DIY job, should bring the cost way down. If you have a little mechanical aptitude you can replace the fulcrum block, about a half dozen screws, you can look up proper setup specs and techniques online, it's not hard, soldering is a different story though. I do a pro soldering job but I doubt if you wanna drive 3 hours for 10 minutes of soldering...but you can look around and any good electronics tech can do that, doesn't have to be specifically a guitar tech. Follow the color codes...Pull the pickguard, everything comes out with it, watch out for the ground wire and note where it's connected, hand it and a set of new pots to a good electronics guy and it's a pretty simple, straightforward soldering job.

For that matter I can teach you how to solder in 15 minutes on phone or a half hour online...

Point is, with a replacement neck this is all a DIY job, none of it is difficult if you know how to do a setup in the first place. Only thing critical about doing the neck is use the right screwdriver, in good condition, and DO NOT over tighten the screws. Worn out screwdriver will ruin your day. Other than that it's not hard to do. Fulcrum block is a few screws, 3 springs and a bit of patience. You can do all this yourself, with a little know how. That brings price way down...

You are so right, I looked it up. It's the Jaguar that has a shorter 24" scale. I wonder why these guys do it then. Fashion statement?

Strat and Tele necks are different. To me, Tele necks are usually skinnier and sometimes faster but that depends on the neck. They do have a different feel though. Sometimes a player might have a guitar with a crummy neck and a good neck sitting around...OK I'll swap it out and see...and some may just think it looks cool...

I'd personally, rather fix your old strat.

But then again, I detest change and once I find something that works well, I stick with it.

I just played a brandy new strat of some kind the other night and hated it.

I treasure those older 50's style strats and I never met a s/s/h that I could stand, although I am sure there's some good ones out there.

Play em all, see who cries out to you..then go with that one.

Wait until march for the new line to come in.
The 2014 deluxe really might be worth it - they have some actual innovations going on.

I pulled the trigger and ordered this guitar should be here Wednesday and I am stoked!