im guessing the radius and thickness of necks.
but do they have the same pickups?

and if you had the choice between them, would you save the extra 200+ bucks?

Hello Bluesstrattone,

From a '62 hotrod owner it's a super duper guitar.

Some differances are
vintage--- nice regular neck
hotrod----nice big fat neck

Vintage---7.25 fretboard radius
hotrod----9.5 fretboard radius

Vintage----small frets
hotrod----med jumbo frets

vintage---3 position switch
hotrod----5 position switch rev wound/rev polarity

Vintage---bridge cover
hotrod---none

Vintage---nice nitro
hotrod----nice thin nitro

I probably missed something but someone else
may chime in.

Best of choice on that new guitar.

Cheers.

the pickups billy, the pickups...lol

how are the pus

The Vintage has '57/'62 pups
The Hot Rod has American Vintage pups.

I have an older '62 strat that came with vintage '62 pups. I also have a set of '57/'62 on another getar. The Vintage are head & shoulders ahead tone wise. The one set Ill never change.


Craig

i remember reading that too, except i checked the specs on this website and:
3 American Vintage ‘62 Strat® Single-Coil Pickups with Aged White Covers
wouldnt it say 57/62??

American Vintage:
unique ’57/’62 pickups."

Vintage Hot Rod:
three American Vintage Strat® single-coil pickups (with reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup)

_________________
It's a mix between Jazz and Funk, it's called "Junk"

tone 2 works the bridge pup like the EJs

i think im going to take the plunge and get this one.
hr 62. i had been debating whether not to get a es 335, or 339.
however everytime i go to gc and pick one up, i love it, but i always,
always pickup a strat and play to compare.
the words are always, damn ... i like this mim strat, or mia more than the es335.
and i was planning on spending 2600. ill rather put it towards a strat that i want.

i played one once at gc, yehy had one for sale for 1350 last yr, and i kicked myself in the a@@ for not picking it up.
just need 700 bucks to go and order it. anyone have experience ordering from sweetwater.com

Hello Bluesstrattone,

Ah yes, the pickups, very subjective topic indeed.
The '62 vintage has a more vintage {Gasssier?}tone,
which is great. Where the hotrod has focus on a heavier?tone.
I don't know what kind of electrickery goes on underneath the
picguards only that hotrods seem to have a more "in your face"sound.
Some say it's the beefy neck, some say it's in the thinskin body, I don't
really have a clue. My '62 hotrod has been rock steady for the year that
I've owned it.

What color wolud you opt for?

Cheers.

im leaning towards the 3 tone sb, or shale green.
i love the olympic white, however i already have a white guitar.
is your headstock glossy or satin vintage color?

i want a guitar with a ballsy vintage tone... which i know this one has.

The Hot Rod 62 has a satin neck instead of gloss. Too bad they did that.

yeah, but still doesnt remove the appeal...

For me it does. When I found out it comes with a 9.5 radius I thought great but then when I found out the neck is satin I thought no good.

I shouldnt worry about what the neck is covered in. You'll soon play that off the guitar. Their utterly amazing, i prefer my hotrod to my CS guitar.

_________________
No no and no

Aye that Niki,

My headstock front is glossy, rear and neck
are satinesque.

Cheers.