+1

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

I agree with the other comments on the volume knob - it took me quite a while to get used to that!

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

I dont like that there arent more colors available...

Personally, I could go with just one tone knob. Move the volume away from the strings to where the first tone knob.

Couple of trouble spots.
1. I hate that my trem bar hits my cable coming out of the jack and hangs over the volume knob. (and nobody's fooling anyone with the lefty bar like srv, it feels rediculous)
2. Staggered pole pickups.
3. Weaker than crap bridge pickup in most stock single coil situations. I know many strat players, none of them kept the stock bridge pickup in any of their various model/model year strats.
4. Frets are too flat most of the time. Fingers touch the fingerboard.
5. Floating bridge takes the intonation in a sour direction, even with a "good" setup.

Don't get me wrong. I'm in love with 'er too, but just like in human relationships..nobody's perfect. So we're working on our marriage. She makes me look and sound great, and she's my main songbird.

I ain't mad, I ain't bitter, just honest. My strats do a lot for me, and I for them.
Plus the V shaped neck makes me happy.

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-Kc
"Payin' dues."

+2 easily.

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-Kc
"Payin' dues."

I've been toying with the idea of removing the volume pot and running the two tones as a master vol and master tone..

HEY FENDER, PLEASE contour the neck heel on all the strats like you do on the Mahogany strat that Guitar Center carries.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contour the heel on the body where the neck attatches!
I would be forever grateful and would endorse you shamelessly when I hit the big time (because, let's face it, strats ARE the best)!

pretty please?

Honestly, the lack of the contoured heel is the only thing holding me back from buying a strat for a second guitar. I tried that mahogany strat, but it sounded even brighter than my '97 mexi strat- and I bought it for a warmer sound - so it went back.

I thought I could contribute something to this thread but, nope, can't think of anything.

I'll play:

1. The trem-really a hardtail would be better for most, and if you must have a trem, a Floyd or Kahler works better. How many people block them, tighten the claw or add springs ect...

2. The neck heel joint could be contoured for more comfort

3. The cutaway for access to the upper frets could be wider, my pinky knuckle has hit the lower horn while playing up there

4. Get rid of the separatly adjustable saddle heights, and use a fool proof system that always maintains the neck radius. Then you just have two action adjustment screws instead of 14---like a tune-o-matic bridge. To much adjustability which makes setup more frustrating and time consuming

5. An angled headstock would eliminate the need for string trees and staggard tuners, but I don't know how that fender headstock would look at an angle though

6. I don't know about this one either, since the strat sound is so sought after, but the pickups in the pickguard? hmm, does the body wood even affect the tone, or do we love the tone of plastic?

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

editted here, cus i don't want Firststrat to think I am attcking him, but just sorta my thoughts on his post.Anything I don't mention i actually agree with.
I agree that more hard tail options are a good idea, however, a floyd or kahler are only worth the extra hassle for someone who whammys a lot, for the average player who won't divebomb, or use the trem much, but only occasionally the standard trem is more than fine. So yes to hardtail, no to double locking.

An angled headstock would eliminate the need for the trees, but would also result in a lot more decapitations, ala the LP. sort of a wash in my mind, as someone who has dropped his guitar, kinda lean to the fine as is camp though.

and as for the pickups thing, the big myth is that LP's are any different. Their pickups aren't attached to the wood either, but onto the plastic rings. As long as the strings have a solid coupling to the body and neck, it doesn't matter what the pickups are mounted on. The body serves as a mounting plate for everything else. The type of wood dampens certain harmonic overtones, but this is caused by the way its resonance affects the vibration of the string. One could even argue that it is much better to have the pickups mounted on a different material than the body itself, as they will be vibrating less, and thus be more stable. People who complain about the pickguard have no idea how pickups work, and thus how their guitar works. Pickups work by providing an electro-magnetic field for the string to vibrate through.(this is the simple version folks,) if oyu want a more acurate measurement of what the string is doing, you need as stable as possible a bed for the pickup. So if a plastic pickguard muffles the vibration, this is in theory a good thing.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I'm not a huge fan of the bridge. On all of the guitars I've designed, Strat and Tele designs included, I have included Tune-o-Matic or wraparound tailpieces.

Intonation is slightly easier with a Fender bridge, but setting string height is much easier, for me, with a Tune-o-Matic. I have a terrible time not getting string-buzz on my Strats.

I can see the neck pocket being an issue for some, but I rarely play that high to notice. Warmoth seems to realise this, though, and offers the contoured heel.

all the knock-offs..

As I read through the thread it seems that many of the recommendations have been addressed by Fender. Over time and, I suppose by demand as well, the current line-up is what it is.

For example...hardtail Strats, after having been in the line for years, are gone, except for the Robert Cray guitar. That speaks to demand. Non-existent.

Fenders answer...."The Custom Shop"...'When your ready".

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"Another day in paradise!"

Kevin i dont find myself disagreeing with anything you've posted but have to question this statement. How on earth does bridge float affect intonation. If anything its going to aid it. Badly intoned notes occur mainly when the core of a string stretches upon fretting. A balanced trem in that case would surely lead to better intonation by virtue of sympathetic movement before core stretch.
There are other causes aside from core stretch such as inaccurate fret placement, compensation not covering lowest frets and poorly cut nuts. The only reason i can think of is that floating a trem moves the saddles somewhat closer to the nut but thats nothing that cant be adjusted.

Help please mate. Enquiring minds want to know.

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No no and no

[quote="nikininja"][quote="KevinCurtis"].
5. Floating bridge takes the intonation in a sour direction, even with a "good" setup.

Perhaps because it remains a dynamic system as opposed to a fixed bridge and, conceptually, was never really designed for the stress contemporary players have demanded of it. I believe that Leo was attempting to improve on Bigsby at a time when 'divebombing' was reserved strictly for military aircraft.

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"Another day in paradise!"