Are those the ones that were slipping in quality and that made Fender basically shut down production to reteach all the staff how to make guitars? I'm looking at a 75 with trem. Should be all original. Is there anyone out there that has one or had one that can tell me if these are to die for, just ok or should these be avoided?


Thanks!

hm, the meanings are the quality was not so good and they are heavier in weight in the 70's, 3 point neck joint...

but...there are also good instruments inbetween. the best is to test it before buying. if all ok hear to your heart.

good luck and cheers

I had a '73 Strat and I liked the sound, playability and durability. It was a monster weightwise (northern ash), but I got a LOT of mileage out of that Strat.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

If you can get it for a fair price, its a no brainer get it - dont listen to all these negative threads about the CBS guitars, mostly hear say, talk to someone who has them, who plays them - Id say go for it, play it, see what ya think - remember, guitars can be set up - when I bought mine, it didnt play all that well, but only took about an hour and now its an a$$kicker -

Here is my '75, completely original - its bada$$

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

I had a 78 and it was awesome. I miss that guitar.

I had several of them which I either bought new or ever so slightly used back then.

Like mother used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say about someone", or in this particular situation, 'something', "don't say anything at all."

I'll say this though: The cases were pretty good.

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You dig?

Like others said they were some boat anchor's in those days some of the Bass guitars . I don't no about any reduction in builds though, they were pumping them things out fast and furious.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

No, that would have been in mid-1981, when the factory was shut down to reteach the staff how to make them. If that wasn't the lowest point in their quality, it was finally the point at which the company recognized it had a problem!



I guess I must have been lucky in finding trouble-free '70s Strats. But then, I didn't really look for any in the second half of the '70s. Some guys put 1976 as the starting point of the decline (ie, starting with the Serial Number on the headstock), when they had paint problems, etc., leading to the 1981 factory shake up.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I find it funny that you never hear any negative comments about 70's tele's. Infact the mid 70's were somewhat of a golden era for the tele. I cant believe that cbs were unable to build strats to the same standard as tele's then. I think its more to do with design and hardware rather than actual quality. Although a very knowledgable friend who worked as a uk repairer for fender during that time has filled my ears with horror stories.

As always play before you buy. Forget value appreciation with a mid 70's too. Given the knife edge it sits on in peoples opinions it could drop in value as easily as rise. If it plays nice, you have the money, then buy it.

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No no and no

Run some numbers. Say the percentage of "lemons" (guitars with issues) triples from 2% to 6% by the early '80s. With the number of guitars being built and sold increasing during the '70s and hitting record numbers, a repairman is going to see a lot more guitars coming in for service. At least 3 times more than he saw in early '70s, maybe 4 or 5 times more!

If the percentage of "lemons" was in the 60% or 70% or higher range (as I've seen "experts" on the web claim), the company would have gone out of business by 1981.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Fully understandable that a higher turnout will yield more baddies. I just find it hard to understand why the tele never got such a bad rep.
Said friend is a good resource though, with such timeless quotes as 'its only wood and metal nick, dont worry about it'.
I always tend to form my own opinion, much to my own cost sometimes. Hence the neutral post.

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No no and no

Higher turnout and higher lemon rates (because of decreasing quality).
Doubles up the number of baddies.



Right, I don't know why the Tele gets off fine.

It's funny.

Teles had the three bolt madness too. I guess the trem causes more stress on the system and so the Teles suffered with less problems.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Cbs did a lot for the tele. Custom, deluxe, both great guitars. 3 bolt aside i think it has more to do with traditionalist players. The whole slander of the cbs strat started in the latter half of the 60's. Even hendrix was quoted as saying 'the new ones are just as good as the old'. Or words to that effect. I really dont think the typical tele player was as traditionalist as the typical strat player so the mod's of the tele series were better received than the strat mods. I'm not old enough to clearly remember the 70's that theory is just supposition.

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No no and no

That it interesting about the '70's teles, you dont hear much negativity about them

Back on to the '70's strats! I love mine, I have a '75 and a '79, and both play great, the '79 weighs a ton though!

My suggestion, since its supposedly common knowledge that the '70's strats are junk, dont buy any of them, but let me know when you find them, ill go ahead and buy them up to get that junk off the market, if that helps!

I like to do what I can to help!

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

Now thats the level of commitment to the good of stratkind we like to see.
5 stars that man.

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No no and no