It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:39 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

Mod? Or Leave it?
Don’t Touch It 69%  69%  [ 9 ]
Mod It Gently 23%  23%  [ 3 ]
Mod The Hell Out Of it? 8%  8%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 13
Author Message
Post subject: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:23 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:20 pm
Posts: 2
OK. This is my first post ever.

I just bought a 1974 “Vintage” Strat and it was never touched. Even came in the original case with papers and a cable/strap from the day it was bought. I wanna play it, like I bought it to play it not hang it on a wall. It’s loud, the tuners are stiff, I get so much noise (I know I know its a strat). I also have a 2016 MIM Strat with Fishman Fluence Pickups. It’s smooth, quiet and clean. I just bought new tuners for the ‘74, and a loaded noiseless vintage pick guard to drop in. My plan was to take out the tuners and the whole pick guard, put it away and load it with new stuff to make it playable. I went to mess with it and felt like a surgeon forced to cut in to a child and wondered if it was worth it to even touch it. Some of my friends say play the damn thing as is. Some say dont touch it, some say mod away and have fun. Before I start can I get some advice from some of you on the downsides. All advice is welcome.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:37 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:31 am
Posts: 14049
Location: Province de Québec, Canada
Guitar may need a complete set up and fix electronics under the pickguard by a well qualified luthier.

These a great guitar, keep it original . After seeing a qualified teck it should play great.

Post pictures


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 6:40 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:52 am
Posts: 3840
Location: Colorado Springs
to mod it = borderline insanity IM(very)HO...

If anything, sell it and get the value out. Then buy what you really want.

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 6:44 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:57 am
Posts: 2238
Location: UK
It might be a point of discussion if 74 is Vintage or just old.
However - if you bought it to play it then it needs to be playable. I would consider any changes that can be reinstated to be fine. If you need to change the machine heads then, assuming you get the same shape with the same fixings then change them. Put the originals in a box and keep them safe so, if you ever want to sell it you can sell it with the originals. Same with the loaded pick guard.

_________________
John

After all this time I should be better.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 7:04 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:52 am
Posts: 3840
Location: Colorado Springs
Here is my point ... A 1974 Stratocaster is only "untouched" once. And soon as you do one mod to it, you can no longer call it untouched; its value just went down. As it sits, it is a $3-4K guitar. Depending on what you did, start subtracting from that. Hence, if you are unhappy with it, cash out while it is still "untouched" and buy what you really want. Again, just my very humble opinion...

And, if I may, the OP said he just bought it. May I be so bold to ask how much you paid for it? And, we also would LOVE to see it. Can you post pics, please??? :D

_________________
Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:45 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
I have to side with gentle mods, it's a CBS era guitar regardless of its perceived value.
Hopefully you didn't give an arm-leg for it, unless it was exactly what you wanted.
If you don't like how it plays-sounds, it is WORTHLESS to you unless you are a collector.
But also, re-selling it you will get more for it in "original" condition.
Put it out there and see what offer's you get, if you're not inspired by the offers mod it to your desired goal and play the hell out of it.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:57 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
I would go with a loaded pickguard, and set the original unit aside and protected. That will help resale because you can sell it as-is with the original parts and not be accused of hiding anything.
You'll still have soldering to do, and the mod will be apparent, so there would be no point in reversing the mod and trying to hide it.
The tuners are a tougher call. The tuners that are on there have the same pattern as the current production vintage tuners, but the current tuners won't fit your '74 bushings, nor will the current bushings fit the holes in the '74 neck.... and supposedly the current "vintage" tuners aren't much better than the original (other than wear).
However... I believe someone posted a couple of months ago that they did get the current tuners to fit their '70s neck.

Any other type of tuner will require drilling new holes in the back of the headstock and/or peg holes.
I took some measurements of the current posts for comparison:

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 9:00 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
I guess the main point is... do you intend to sell it and do you consider it any kind of "investment"?
If you bought it to play, then you bought it to play, and it is going to collect road rash. Yes, it is only "untouched" once, but as mentioned above, it's worthless to you if you don't want to play it because of the pickups or tuners.

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:08 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
Another "bone of contention" with the '70s-era CBS Strats is the utterly *crappy* bridge. Unlike those of guitars built in the '60s where there was a stamped-steel bridge plate, a separate cast-steel trem block, and folded-steel bridge saddles, CBS totally redesigned it where the plate and the block were a single integral part, cast from a dubious metal alloy known as Mazac. Likewise, the saddles were also cast of the same material. Significantly cheaper to manufacture, it was a tone- and sustain-robbing mess. You'd do that Strat a favor by supplanting the entire bridge with a '50s or '60s era assembly. AFAIK, it is a drop-in swap with no need to drill any additional mounting holes. Look for Fender P/N 0992049000. Your guitar will thank you.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:59 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
Well Rog, I personally wouldn't be put off by a part that is easily replaceable for better quality with no mods required. I'd replace the bridge with a quality unit and stow the stock piece for posterity or for reinstallation come resale time, whichever eventually applies.

CB, I'm not quite as sure about the loaded pickguard idea though.
I mean, how do you decide which solder joint to disturb to have the smallest impact on value retention?
More to the point, IS THERE a place where you can disturb soldered joints without impacting resale?
I'm assuming of course that the guitar is, in fact, stock.
If it were mine I would mod only so far as said mod is completely reversible without altering wood, fret-wire, finish or solder.

I imagine that leaves bridge parts, excluding the claw of course, scratch plates, knobs and tuners.

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:30 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
"Undisturbed solder joints" are a non sequitur in my book. Electric guitars (all of them) eventually require maintenance or repairs of one type or another -- dead pickup, wonky volume control, intermittent switch, worn output jack, etc. Replacing tired or defective parts mandates unsoldering something but I don't regard such endeavors as "tampering". It's a routine facet of a guitar's service life and there's no way around it. That the repairs are performed competently is all that should matter.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 8:27 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
They would be in my book as well but I am not a vintage guitar collector.
For me, there would be no point in it since I see guitars as tools rather than investments.
For me there would be nothing pragmatic about owning a vintage guitar.

That said, you know as well as I do that if a guy throws a rod in his '55 shoebox and it punches a 6" diameter hole out the side of the old, crystallized iron block 283 and he "repairs" it by installing a fresh 350 which is what is readily available today (replacing a dead pickup) it is no longer a numbers matching car and its value is roughly halved.

I feel fairly certain that most vintage guitar collectors would have the same view of disturbed solder joints and replaced pickups. I see reference made to such things as a matter of routine elsewhere on the net.

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 8:46 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
BMW-KTM wrote:
CB, I'm not quite as sure about the loaded pickguard idea though.
I mean, how do you decide which solder joint to disturb to have the smallest impact on value retention?
More to the point, IS THERE a place where you can disturb soldered joints without impacting resale?

I would go with the connections to the output jack itself, since that would avoid touching the pot shell, but there's still the issue of the bridge ground, and body ground on later models.
Of course, the both grounds could be removed with the PG and replaced new with the only soldering needed on the tremolo claw.

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 8:52 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
Retroverbial wrote:
Another "bone of contention" with the '70s-era CBS Strats is the utterly *crappy* bridge. Unlike those of guitars built in the '60s where there was a stamped-steel bridge plate, a separate cast-steel trem block, and folded-steel bridge saddles, CBS totally redesigned it where the plate and the block were a single integral part, cast from a dubious metal alloy known as Mazac. Likewise, the saddles were also cast of the same material. Significantly cheaper to manufacture, it was a tone- and sustain-robbing mess. You'd do that Strat a favor by supplanting the entire bridge with a '50s or '60s era assembly. AFAIK, it is a drop-in swap with no need to drill any additional mounting holes. Look for Fender P/N 0992049000. Your guitar will thank you.

This is an excellent point...
I always used to joke in the '90s that the reason that '65 Strat was listed in "unplayed condition" was likely because it played like crap and the owner never used it.

Likewise, it could be said that there are so few "mint" '70s, particularly later years, is because they were such junk that every owner who actually used them modified them with upgraded parts. I replaced the saddles on my '78 with chrome brass parts from Mighty Mite before the guitar was a month old. A few months later, I stripped the trem arm... but like an idiot, I rode my bike to Fullerton and bought an OEM replacement :facepalm: though I'm not sure what was available from the aftermarket at the time.

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Should I mod a 45 old Strat? Or leave it alone.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 11:14 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
CB91710 wrote:
Likewise, it could be said that there are so few "mint" '70s, particularly later years, is because they were such junk that every owner who actually used them modified them with upgraded parts.


Indeed.

It was the era of the three-bolt neck, non-potted pickups, the "thick skin" finish, and ash so inconsistent in density that one guitar might weigh eight pounds while another from the same production run weighed twelve (or more!). CBS never invested a dime in production facilities and tooling as neck-pocket tolerances grew ever looser and cheaply-made pot metal bridges eroded the instrument's value.

But once in a great while a '70s Strat turns up that was actually built correctly. One with which a previous owner correctly diagnosed the guitar's shortcomings and upgraded all the marginal aspects by heaving the junk and installing quality components. Those Strats are often true gems. I've seen a few and while they may not be fodder for a collector, they're classic players in every sense of the word.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: