Well,this could be said about almost any Fender, regardless of age. I bought two brand new 2009 Fenders this year (AmStad Jazz bass and a Standard Strat) and I had to buy them both online, sight unseen. Fortunately, I got lucky, as there were no guarantees I wouldn't get a lemon, not even for a new instrument.

I think that was the point of both of my posts. As mass production increased to a fever pitch consistency improved but there were far fewer shining examples. Cost cutting measures on the production line created some of the consistently lowest quality guitars ever in the early 80's but they still weren't all that terrible. "Average" quality was on the rise but average was still not as good as it could have been. The same was true in the very late 80's and earliest 90's. Poplar bodies, among other non-traditional woods, Lace Sensors and swimming pool routes were the order of the day and they were some of the most consistent guitars made up to that point but those same cost cutting measures also made them subject to a lot of criticism. Guitars sold currently are prolly better overall than they've ever been but there is no longer any room for the exceptional. For that we have the Custom Shop where the secrets to the exceptional ones have been studied and have been preserved for the elite.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

It's not just the guitars either. It's amps too. The current crop of mid level $600-800 amps are destined for an early trip to the landfill. They are not made with quality or road worthiness in mind, just profits. A lot of the MIM guitars I pull off the wall have lots of quality and setup issues. Dirt in the paint, sharp nuts, frets not properly seated. I've played Ibanez Artcores that are setup better, built better and cost less too.

The amps weren't bad through the silverface era. I still have a couple that are great dependable amps. Some were very easy to blackface while a couple models CBS pretty much left alone. It think it got a little weird during late 70's through the 80's. Gibson had some real serious issues too. Gibson had the dreaded Norlan era. A lot of stuff was built like crap back then. Cars, houses, appliances you name it. I had a Chevy Vega in 1975.

I agree with that 63supro i see them + some often for repair.

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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

My amp tech has been flooded with Champion 600's lately. Lots of stupid little problems with cheap component and board failures.

Everyone should try to build a hand wired amp. A Champ is pretty easy. Marsh sells a kit with a 10" speaker option. I'm planning one sometime. Either a Champ or 5E3 clone.

Oh absolutely, but I made that comment because most people don't have access to just walking into a guitar shop and playing a 74 strat for example.

I've gotten lucky once before with the only MIM Strat I own... a very odd Ocean Turquoise 60s Strat. Plays better than a few of my Americans. lol

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Some Guitars played through an amp...

You should always play a guitar in person. Mail order guitars leave me cold. The guitar you're looking for might be the next one down.

+1 Quality went down hill.

And the bottom of that hill would have been .... 1985!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Here's my '74, it still rocks! (just not as often as my Am Std)

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

[quote="manabu108"]I remember shopping around for my first premium electric guitar in 1983. I was a Hendrix fanatic so the first guitars I looked at were Fender Stratocasters. I remember not liking the feel of them.

It was about that time that Fender was transitioning back from CBS. What they were selling at the time were MIJ. The first new MIA built guitars were the '57RI's. Then, eventually the first American Standard came to pass. I recommend Tom Wheeler's book, "The Fender Stratocaster."

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"Another day in paradise!"

I'm sure the transition saw less quality control than the mere fact that they were MIJs. Instead of a Strat, my first premium guitar ended up being a Yamaha which was also made in Japan. The Strats I looked at back then just didn't look and sound up to par compared to other brands for the same price or less. And speaking of price... I could not find one for under $750.00 in Hawaii back in 1983.

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"If I don't see you no more in this world I'll meet you on the next one and don't be late... don't be late." -Jimi Hendrix

Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks like me that don't have that option. My situation is such that I have to buy online, sight unseen (and unplayed).
Fortunately for me, both major purchases I made this year ('09 Am Std Jazz bass, '09 Std Strat, both bought from MF) turned out to both be excellent instruments that required little to no tweaking.

So we all know about the 70's- as above what were the gripes about the early 90's? I beg to differ on that one

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With all due respect, unless you were around playing guitar in the 70's, you don't know what the 70's guitars were like. When CBS took over, some musicians took offense to a big corporation making Fender guitars and that's when all the vintage stuff started. They didn't like the big headstock etc. There were a lot of good Fender guitars then. They weren't as rare as people say they were. Hendrix apparently had no problem with them. You just needed to know what to look for. There were good and bad and still are. The Strats from the 50's and 60's were pretty inconsistent. I know, I played some. Some were pure magic, some couldn't stay in tune or just sounded lifeless. Just like today. My 72 is magic. Everyone who's ever played it wanted it. It's a weird thing.

Remember, a lot of folks who say all 70's Fender guitars are garbage, never even played one.