It's not really new, but it's new to myself.
Anyways, I just had a 1962 Fender Stratocaster shipped to me from Florida, and I live in Texas. I was wondering if I should take it in to the guitar shop and have them set it up, and make sure nothing changed due to the climate. Also, I noticed in the manual it said that the bridge angle should be like 1/8" or something. The owner before me had the bridge flat resting against the body, so if I raised it to the 1/8" would that change the tone of my guitar at all? Or is it just a preference thing like string height? If anyone has a answer to either question that would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

If anyone would like, later I'll post some pictures of it or something.

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Personally I am a firm believer in having any guitar I get setup to the way I like to play. I do my own setups, if you do not I recommend you have it done AND learn to do them your self. They are fun to do.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

A '62?? Can we get some pics of that bad boy?

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

As in the real deal 1962? What was the price tag on that?

I wouldnt want anyone to touch it but myself.

The 1/8" bridge angle refers to the floating tremelo action, meaning that with the whammy bar you can rock the tremelo forward and backward. Some players, myself included, prefer to have the bridge flat on the body of the guitar either by adding trem springs or by blocking. It's really a matter of personal taste, but the guitar needs to be set up for one or the other, and changing would require a re-setup.

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“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

Strato nails it there. I aim for 1/8" myself on all my floating trem guitars.

There will be a difference in tone if you raise the trem bridge plate off the body. Maybe not too much, but you will have less body resonance running thru the instrument, as the bridge contact area is obviously considerably reduced.

Hope it is an honest to god '62 Strat you've got yourself there. Gladdens my heart to hear of any player being able to acquire such a wonder. But given what you now have, think hard and seek appropiate advice from someone skilled before undertaking any work on her. Even if it's a '62 with "issues" (respray, poor refret, non-original parts etc), well you don't need me to tell you about it's potential worth..

Love to hear it - heck even play it - to see if there's any truth in the idea that aged wood has changed at a molecular level in some way, and is reflected in the sound it makes.

Good luck with her.

Thanks for yalls input on the bridge, I think I'm just going to leave it alone, and leave it as it is, because it does feel pretty comfortable.

As far as price, not trying to make anyone mad here or anything, but I payed about 200 bucks for overnight shipping. My moms brother owned the guitar back in those late days, and now his pretty old and money doesn't really care about money. :p

As far as pictures, I realized I left our camera in my parents RV, and the RV is in the shop. So I don't have a camera haha.

I also took it to someone I trusted who is experienced with setting up guitars, he said everything looked perfect, and just to put it in its case when not being played. So that's all good. I'm not all that great with the technical side of guitars, so that's why I took it to someone I trusted. I'm only fifteen, but I'm a lot different then most of the fifteen year olds who only listen to rap and metal, I love blues, best thing ever. I've been playing for about 9 years now, I mainly play Jimi Hendrix, SRV and John Frusciante, a little John Mayer, so I hope to get the best from this guitar, and will definlty take care of it.

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Registered Street Pharmacist.

Cool! I'm 16 (17 tomorrow!) and I like that kind of music too. I wish my family had better gear that they had saved. My grandfather plays guitar, but his guitar is a cheapo 50's import guitar that probably hasn't had a fresh set of strings since 1960-something. My Dad had a bass like Paul McCartney when he was a kid, but he traded it for a jazz bass knock off that he ended up giving away.

Enjoy your new guitar and be sure and post pictures ASAP!

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That's sweet, happy birthday! Good to know there's a few others my age that still like that old blues feel.

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Hey Twinkie that was some gift you got there. Can you describe the guitar finish,condition give a lil history about it.

It's 3 color sunburst, still have the original case and all the case candy haha.
He took really good care of it, so there's not a lot of checking or "relic" as most people call it, he stored it in the case 90% of the time when he wasn't playing it. There's some armwear on the top right, and a little bit of wear above the pickguard, and obviously some scratches from belt buckles and what not.

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I would realllyyyy like to see a picture of it. Post them, a.s.a.p.! :]

Wow, that sounds pretty good. Be sure you don't wear scratchy belt buckles or zippers while you play it. Keep it in that nice condition.

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Yeah, absolutely. I love this thing. Now I just need to update my amps when I get enough money. I'm playing through a pod xt live, it sounds great but it's really complicted. :\ Good for recording, but I really want a 2550 Silver Jubilee..

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I'd crap myself if I got a '62 with no strings attached!

I'll buy it off you, twinky! I'll give you what you paid for it! :p lol jk

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