Comments on quality differences between a relic, a EJ and standard are irrelevant. Ones a Customshop guitar made by a team of handpicked cream of the crop guitar builders. Maybe not masterbuilders, but have no doubt masterbuilders come up through the ranks and teambuilder is a step along the way. Even the EJ like (and at the same pricepoint) as my hotrod is just a productionline guitar at the end of the day. Anyone who offers the opinion that they are comparable instruments hasnt played atleast one of them for any length of time (months not minutes).

The saying 100% more money for a 10% rise in quality may well be apt here. How do you value the hours of painstaking work that go into the little barely noticable things like, perfectly rounded fret tops, perfect neck line (not bow). You will literaly spend hours getting perfect half circle fret tops. I simply cant do it in one sitting. I cant completely concentrate uninterrupted for more than 2 hours at a time.

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No no and no

sorry couldnt read all the pages here so i may be intreupting a current thought on this thread but for those who would argue that fender is ripping, raping or taking advantage of you in anyway should go out to the garage and pick up a piece of wood and a couple blocks of steel and make a freekin guitar. after about a an hour your ignorance of manufacturing will miraculously be replaced with the revelation of inteligent forward thought and you will be more than willing to plunk down the money. an items worth is largely based on the effort involved in making said item.

so go ahead make a stratocaster from scratch. if fender decided to shut down thats the only way your gonna get one. and watch the price of used pos's cost double of what your whining about now. those who have a little understanding of making things appreciate what is involved. also many people dont understand that companys are formed not nessesarily to produce items as much as they are to MAKE MONEY. that is not a sin. ask yourself did i get my job because it i could idealisticly save the world with my effort and labor or was it cause i wanted to make some coin.

really

i have had hobbies in competitve shooting, photography, hot rod cars, motocross, outdoorsmanship (kayaking-backpacking ect.) only to name a few and none of them could be outfitted for less than playin music. a brandy new MIM and a decent tube amp gets you started quite nicely. and unlike other hobbies all you gotta feed a guitar for a dang long time is a strings a few times a month. try suckin down premix premium fuel or match grade ammunition every time you want jam. wheh! venting mission acomplished.

jimmy b

Absolutely 100%, couldnt have said it better, agree.

Love that point "if their such a rip off go make one".

After you've wasted 18months and just realized you've ballsed your 3rd attempt and have another 18months of hard slog and patience. You may think £1000 on a strat is a bit of a good deal actually. Never mind the further attention to the EJ or timemachine guitars.

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No no and no

Right now you can cop them all over craiglist for 700.00 to 800.00 here in the midwest. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

All I can say it's a dream to have a Stratocaster. May the price is high. But you have to think about it ... The process of making a guitar is not cheap. Many good people put their hands in your future "girlfriend / boyfriend." It's not magic. And they really care about what they do. For those who love Fender guitars, have a stratocaster it´s long and sometimes hard. Not everyone can have a real fender. may be all you can get it´s a copy. For others it's a long way over millions guitars to have a Fender. when you finally get a real "American" Fender, it´s like a dream come true. Playing a guitar that your idols played before (not for nothing we all want a Fender usa!)
Fender is not a collector's item, it´s an evolution. Your own evolution. I'm not saying that a MIM or MIJ Fender are worse. Such models are sometimes better than the U.S. However, the MIA is knowing that eventually you get that thing you dreamed.
(sorry for my english).

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"music make peolpe smart..."

No they are not overpriced. They are worth every dollar you spend on it. If you do not like the price, there are other Fender models, made in other countries. If you still think they are overpriced, then there is the Squier line-up. Still too expensive for you, Starcaster is you guitar. If that is still too expensive for your taste, try this bad mama-jama:


http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=515278

You pay for what what you can afford. IMO the more you pay the less you have to spend later down the line. This isn't a "my-guitar-is-better-than-yours" contest, it is playing guitar and having fun. When you get your record deal or make a professional career out of music, then spend what ever dollar amount you want to satisify your (um...um) egos. Until then the a Fender MIA is worth every dollar you spend on it.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Now i know what to get my daughter for Christmas and stop her hounding my guitars.



Man thats some guitar for $50. Could you even buy the parts to make it for that?

Thankyou senior Kreisher

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No no and no

Happy to help. It is made by Washburn.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

If the Hannah Montana is anything like the


Then it might be surprisingly good.

I set one up for a friend's daughter. It sounded great, played great.
I want to borrow it for a potential Punk reunion/jam, that may happen this fall, if we can all gather from the different parts of Canada.(Longshot, but would be fun if we manage it.)

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

you may not be able to replicate the kitty or H Montana or the fluid lines of the timeless stratocaster in the home shop but quite possibly you could come out of the garage with one of these to your credit.

http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/inde ... 2=&q=&st=1

not sure why anyone would want to anyway.

jimmy b

Hello Kitty? go for it man - thats big ones!

I bought both my American Deluxe strat, and my Fender tube amp, before all the prices went up........I lucked out.

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I dont like the way Fender runs its company and I have stated they have the worst customer care service in the buisness. I think the banker on deal or no deal is a Fender CEO. That a side do I think there strats are overpriced -NO. tHE BRAINS at Fender just picked a bad time to hike there prices. If you look at just about every other company there top ax before custom shop models were way more than Fenders. That goes for Ibanez, MusicMan, Jackson,Dean,PRS,ESP and the list goes on. I bought my first Fender in 7 years a tele deluxe with a rosewood fret board 2 months ago and it was as if it was made by God himself. I was blown away in every aspect. The sound,finish.playability everything was a 10. Three weeks later I bought a Ash Strat Deluxe same ratings. I will argue with anyone that I think the product they are putting out now is probably the best or as good as they ever have and these axes will out live me. So with all my gripes about the company I have they win in the end when it comes down to it because all my Fenders are built like tanks and perform at the highest level.So if they want to treat me $@!&#* when I ring them up or still want to be cheap about certain issues I guess they can get away with it because there axes dont break down or ever quit on ya. So 30 years and still #1 in my book.

Even though Fender just had there recent price hike which IMHO was dumb since were in the middle of a recession..They still without a doubt are the best bang for your buck guitar on the market..If you think about it the HWY 1 is equal to the Gibson faded series as an entry level USA made guitar then the Standard is equal to there standard..
The quality of a Fender American Standard Strat is far better than of the Gibson standard and yet $300 to $400 less in price..
With that said i still would be hesitant buying a new guitar as the used market is the way to go these days ..On the used market i can get an American Standard for under $700 like new.Then if i would spend equal to the $900 price of a new Standard i could get a Deluxe used..So i let others do the new buying..

mmm yeah to me the mia was worth every penny. was the best investment i have ever done.

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Guitars:
-2008 fender american standard telecaster
-homemade stratocaster (TA guitar)
Amp:
-Fender Deville
effects:
-Boss Md-2
-Vox V847