Grab a towel before you watch this
- Thread starter mullyman
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SustainerPlayer
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But where are those Floyds? :icon_jokercolor:
Seriously ... that's cool.
Seriously ... that's cool.
is it that crazy japanese people have to become cooks? or that cooking in japan drives people crazy? the coolest japanese guy i knew when i was in misawa was Saji, im not sure of the correct way to spell that.. Saji was a baker and hung out at The Wood Company every weekend. he used to call me super mario because i was italian, so i grew a mustache for fun. he had a couple vintage strats, one with not much left to the fret board and a decent les paul from maybe the 80's or 70's. not like that collection but still cool. i never asked but my friend justin borrowed one of the strats, well more justin wanted to play it and saji told him to take it home.
Just FYI here ....
Howard Leese, and not Reese (and I am not making fun of your Japanese friend's accent) was Heart's guitarist for most of the band's history.
Nice collection .... I'm still hoping to run across an old gem like those at a swap meet one day, where the seller doesn't know what they have! (yeah, I know, fat chance! :-\)
Howard Leese, and not Reese (and I am not making fun of your Japanese friend's accent) was Heart's guitarist for most of the band's history.
Nice collection .... I'm still hoping to run across an old gem like those at a swap meet one day, where the seller doesn't know what they have! (yeah, I know, fat chance! :-\)
Steve_Karl
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Cool .... but .....
Lighting.
Get 1 clamp light and a 5000k or higher 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb and your video quality will improve a great deal.
Lighting.
Get 1 clamp light and a 5000k or higher 100 watt equivalent CFL bulb and your video quality will improve a great deal.
nothing particular to any of those years that i know if, just the rarity. obviously tere are dfferences to modern strats, many of which may make it sound better. ie. the paint was thin nitrocelulose laquer which wouldn't dampen the sound, the pickguards may have been aluminum or nitrocelulose(like fender picks) or other materials, the bridge was made from steel not brass like some imported mexican models, with stamped steel saddles not cast zinc, and the tremblock was heavy brass not cast zinc. the pickups had rod magnets not bar magnets and may have had a lower strength based on less knowledge of manufacturing processes to get better magnets at the time. string nuts were made from bone, ect. ect. of course you can still get these things today but it will cost a bit more.
but the significance is really in the history and rarity. the stratocaster design is timeless, it never looks dated. it has been a part of american music and pop culture since day one. also the value of these guitars went way up when they became scarce do to them being bought up my foreign (japanese) collectors. it turns out a small culture in japan love americana more than we do. when i was there i saw car clubs where they all had chevy impalas, bike clubs all riding vintage harleys and maybe the occasional indian.
but the significance is really in the history and rarity. the stratocaster design is timeless, it never looks dated. it has been a part of american music and pop culture since day one. also the value of these guitars went way up when they became scarce do to them being bought up my foreign (japanese) collectors. it turns out a small culture in japan love americana more than we do. when i was there i saw car clubs where they all had chevy impalas, bike clubs all riding vintage harleys and maybe the occasional indian.
Tonar8352
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Actually I think you can get real close to making one like they use to. The parts are being reproduced to exact specifications including the metals, tooling marks on saddles and trem-blocks. The new Tone Pro Kluson tuners are very accurate reproductions and you can get reproduction plastic that looks amazing. The pickups choices we have in today’s market are unlimited. The smell, patina and feel of a vintage guitar can be reproduced with uncanny accuracy. That said I would still rather have an original one.
So why are they worth more? Because a whole bunch of people want them, simple supply and demand. I would be very careful when buying a vintage guitar that was not well documented as original.
By they way Mully, those are beautiful guitars! It is always a privilege to get to play a vintage guitar, good for you that you have such a gracious friend.
O
OzziePete
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I think with the Strat, there has been minor refinemnets of the design of all components over the years. So getting an older Strat might have a bridge saddle assembly that is slightly different to what we see on Strats today.
I was cleaning up my 80s Strat the other day - it's supposed to be a 57 re-issue. But the saddles were far too modern looking in design. They had 2 small grub screws per saddle, that were allen key. Even if Fender originally had designed 2 grub screws each side of where the individual string sits on the saddle, the screws would have been flat head, not allen head I'm sure. Also the saddle was rounded over at the top of the saddle and I'm sure a first issue series saddle, even if designed to have the individual saddles, might not have had the more polished look and design enhancement. Little things like that sort of evolution in design would not have been prersent in the original series and of course, at some point, those changes were made. So there would be all sorts of pre change models and post change models, in bridge design, tuner design etc.
Of course, too, there's the major cosmetic changes that are noticed immediately, like the pre and post CBS headstocks, the slab or veneer rosewood fretboards, the introduction of rosewood itself as a fretboard & 'under the hood' the changes made to the cavity routings to accomodate a wider range of pickups on the same body with the modern Strats.
Original series Strats of 54 and 55 might have even had hand routed pickup and control cavities that might look different to models made in the 60s, when production was in full swing.
The basic Strat shape remained the same, but because they were using machines to make these shapes, by the time the machines had been used to the end of their operational life, the templates and all that makes them had worn out a fair bit and the angles and contours had changed. Maintenance was also a bit loose in maintaining tight tolerances. By the 70s that was noticeable to those who could compare to a 50s Strat.
I was cleaning up my 80s Strat the other day - it's supposed to be a 57 re-issue. But the saddles were far too modern looking in design. They had 2 small grub screws per saddle, that were allen key. Even if Fender originally had designed 2 grub screws each side of where the individual string sits on the saddle, the screws would have been flat head, not allen head I'm sure. Also the saddle was rounded over at the top of the saddle and I'm sure a first issue series saddle, even if designed to have the individual saddles, might not have had the more polished look and design enhancement. Little things like that sort of evolution in design would not have been prersent in the original series and of course, at some point, those changes were made. So there would be all sorts of pre change models and post change models, in bridge design, tuner design etc.
Of course, too, there's the major cosmetic changes that are noticed immediately, like the pre and post CBS headstocks, the slab or veneer rosewood fretboards, the introduction of rosewood itself as a fretboard & 'under the hood' the changes made to the cavity routings to accomodate a wider range of pickups on the same body with the modern Strats.
Original series Strats of 54 and 55 might have even had hand routed pickup and control cavities that might look different to models made in the 60s, when production was in full swing.
The basic Strat shape remained the same, but because they were using machines to make these shapes, by the time the machines had been used to the end of their operational life, the templates and all that makes them had worn out a fair bit and the angles and contours had changed. Maintenance was also a bit loose in maintaining tight tolerances. By the 70s that was noticeable to those who could compare to a 50s Strat.
O
OzziePete
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mullyman said:
Lace Sensor Gold pickups? :sad1:
bigguspickus
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OzziePete said:
Yes, the 80s '57 RI Strat isn't super accurate, but the Strat bridge (all the way back to 1954) has always had 2 allen head grub screws per saddle for height adjustment.
O
OzziePete
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Biggus Pickus said:Yes, the 80s '57 RI Strat isn't super accurate, but the Strat bridge (all the way back to 1954) has always had 2 allen head grub screws per saddle for height adjustment.
Yeah is that so. Wow that's a progressive move from that time (1954)...having just wrestled with guitar knobs that had stupid flat slot head screws in them it is also a good improvement. :hello2:
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