SOLD!!! Fender 60's Reissue Stratocaster SOLD!!!
I've had a lot of Strats, but the one I always wanted was a sunburst alder body, rosewood neck, vintage copy. I had one that was close in the MIJ Reissue, but that one just wasn't quite right- the screw holes were all off just a little from a "real" Strat, the pickups were junk, the pots were junk, the wiring was plastic, and the tuners just weren't quite right. It was a good guitar, but just not quite what I was after. My black Tex Mex was a nice Strat, especially the neck, but the body wasn't alder, nor was the neck rosewood. I ended up selling the black Tex Mex and figured that was it for my Strat days. Then, just for fun, <g>, I surfed around on Ebay and found a 60's RI just like I wanted in the "completed" category. "Oh well", I sighed.... But wait, there's another one! And guess what? It was the same one!! Seems that the first buyer backed out of the deal, forcing the seller to re-list the guitar. "Well, it's gone now", I thought. "Wonder if there's one on Ebay now?". So, I searched for "Strat* rosewood" and came up with....right...the same guitar again!! The second buyer backed out, too!! And best of all, 2 days to go and NO bidders! So, I contacted the seller, we talked, and I ended up buying the guitar at his reserve. I was happy, and I think he was very happy to get a guy with the money! So, here it is:
This guitar has the clearest and "poppiest" tone of all the Strats I've owned. The details are very close, unlike the MIJ Strat, and it really does feel right. My UPS man has a real 1962 Strat and he's always commented on the others "It's not quite right...", but when he played this one, he said "Now, this one feels right!". He wants first dibs on it...<g>
Here's a closeup of the alder body, which has a little swirl right behind the bridge, as you can see. The neat thing about this guitar is that the bottom tone pot is Lindy Fralin wired so that it blends either the bridge or neck pickups into the other selection. So, when the 5-way switch is on "bridge", you can use the bottom tone pot to blend in the neck pickup. In the 2 "in-between" positions, the pot blends in the neck/bridge pickup, giving all 3 pickups. The middle is the only "pure" position, which is fine with me. And then the top tone is a master tone which gives the bridge pickup much more flexibility, IMHO. I really like the wiring as it gives this Strat a lot of options, w/out ruining the look.
Closeup of swirl.
And front of peghead. The lacquer is a nice "vintage" yellow. Really looks good to me.
I liked this Strat- wish I sill had it!