I'm thinking about buying this guitar. It's a 1980s Contemporary Standard 22 Stratocaster. I have a few questions and I was wondering if any of you all have answers..

1. Can this guitar rock even though it has single coils? I'm interested in playing everything from classic rock to lets say Megadeth.
2. Is the system 1 tremolo really as bad as some people say
3. Does the system 1 work like the tremolo bar on my mexican strat (the bridge gets bent upwards changing the pitch) or like a floyd rose (where you can dive bomb and go crazy).
4. How difficult is it to change strings and tune/retune?


This guitar plays like a dream, but I'm curious about the above.

Just curious, is the seller advertising this as an Orginal Stratocaster?

Price?

Peace,
84

It's being sold in my local music store. It is going for less than $500. I've currently got it on hold but I haven't negotiated a final price yet. It is original from what I can tell (comparing it to other contemporary standard 22 strat pictures).

Those neck dots look suspect to me, a little small. Dunno what to make of that. It could be a japanese idiosyncracy or something more sinister.

To answer your questions.

Your never going to get a good thrash grind on a strat, unless you slap a emg81/89 in the bridge position.
the system1 works great if set up right. The steel tremblock on it is huge for a floating trem. It gives a far better sound than any floyd or variant. I picked one up 10 odd years ago and put it on a explorer i built. I didnt even install the locking nut onto the neck. It stayed intune fine through my kerry king stylings, mainly I think because of the rollers on the saddles. You have to make sure the knife edges on the trem and the V in the pivot posts are ok though. They need to be smooth and have no gouges in either of em.

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No no and no

All of the Contemporary Standard 22 models I have seen have the small dots.

Are the pickups vintage output?

Looks fine to me.

Check out this page: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.blackman4/st22.htm

Lots of useful info and at the bottom of the page you can download the manual!!!

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

Looks like a Contemporary Top mount jack, string clamps, trem. not bad looking.

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do you need any special tools to lock/unlock the bridge or the locking nut?

Why would fender make a standard strat like this with a system 1? It seems almost pointless.

How hot are the single coils? Let's compare them to CS 69s and Mexican Strat pickups.

If single coil pickups don't rock then half of rock doesn't rock.

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Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
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Well...to my eyes this looks like one of the mid-80's MIJ Strats. I really don't know if the System 1 trems were exclusive to the MIJ's or not and without pics of the headstock and the serial number, it's pretty hard to tell. If it is in fact one of the MIJ's, personally I love these guitars. To answer your questions specifically though, let's take them one at a time...

" Can this guitar rock even though it has single coils? I'm interested in playing everything from classic rock to lets say Megadeth. "

First and foremost, virtually -any- guitar can "rock"...it's not the guitar, it's the person playing it. Very simply here, some folks prefer single coils, some prefer humbuckers but there is no "right" or "wrong" in regards to this. That said, I would quote Eric Clapton in that "you can almost get a Strat to sound like a Les Paul but you can never get a Les Paul to sound like a Strat".

Now if this is in fact an MIJ, personally I think the pickups on these suckers sound pretty sweet...very nice and full sound. That said, in specific regards to pickups, remember that pickups are one of the easiest things to change on a Strat...if you don't like "single coils" for example, you can put Duncan Hot Rails or something else in there that's more suitable to your own tastes.

"Is the system 1 tremolo really as bad as some people say"

Again here, personally I -love- the System 1 trems. Negative comments in regards to these trems should be taken as being -very- subjective...it's a personal taste thing. Some folks like traditional Strat trems, some folks like Floyd Rose, others like Kahler and even Bigsby. In other words, a person who likes or is used to a Floyd Rose may be likely to "bad mouth" the System 1 trem because it's not what they expected regardless of the actual quality of the trem.

That said, my experience is that these suckers -do- stay in tune very well and have a very nice "feel" to them. They also don't appear to be nearly as much of a complete b*tch to setup like a Floyd Rose is.

"Does the system 1 work like the tremolo bar on my mexican strat (the bridge gets bent upwards changing the pitch) or like a floyd rose (where you can dive bomb and go crazy)."

I would personally compare a System 1 trem more closely with a Kahler in that you have a lot more room to do bends (up or down) than you do with a traditional Strat trem. Further, because of the locking nut, you're going to have much better tuning stability than you do with a traditional Strat trem (again these suckers do tend to stay put)...however as with any guitar, it's going to be a bit subject to the setup. If the guitar is poorly setup, you're likely going to have problems...it's not a reflection on the quality of the trem system or the instrument itself, it's just a fact of life.

"How difficult is it to change strings and tune/retune?"

I would say this really depends on your level of experience. Changing strings isn't really that big a deal but with any "locking trem" you do have to make a few adjustments...such as allowing the strings to stretch a bit and down tuning the strings just a tich before you lock the nut down (locking the nut down typically will raise the pitch of the strings just a tich). If you've never changed strings on a guitar with a locking trem system, the first couple of times will take some "getting used to" but as with all things, you -will- get used to it.

Now I must add here that personally I've been playing for a lot of years and I've literally changed thousands of strings...I don't really give this particular aspect a second thought. Changing your strings goes with -any- guitar. If I were to run in to some sort of new fangled device that I hadn't seen before, it may take me a few minutes to figure it out, but if I liked the instrument, this wouldn't keep my from buying or playing it. Changing strings...it goes with playing guitar.

As far as tuning goes....again, these things do tend to stay put once the strings are broken in. They tend to be very stable tuning-wise. With "re-tuning" however I would make a point....if you're talking about "alternate tunings" such as Eb or drop D tuning or something, then yes...that is a bit more difficult as you have to unlock the nut, retune, lock the nut back down and fine tune. If you just play in standard tuning however (or just stay in an alternate tuning all the time), this isn't a problem.

The one issue that I will mention is that the setup is a bit different from a standard Strat trem...and this -does- take some getting used to. Again setting up a System 1 isn't nearly as complicated as setting up a Floyd Rose (which is like trying to balance a quarter on it's edge on top of your nose) but it is a bit more involved than a traditional Strat trem. In other words, it may take some practice for you to get it right but personally I think it's worth it. If on the other hand you simply take your guitar to a tech to have it setup....no real worries either way.


My advice to you is if it "plays like a dream" as you stated...as the saying goes, "don't sweat the petty stuff, do pet the sweaty stuff", LOL! If you like the way it plays and you like the way it sounds (and remember that changing Strat pickups is pretty easy) and you have the bread...go for it. Conversely, if you -don't- like it...then buy something else. In the end, it really is as simple as that.

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim

Call me an idiot...I didn't see in the thread title that it is an MIJ....sorry.

Iomitus, thanks for the reply. It thoroughly answers my questions.

I was wondering about the pickups because I used to have a strat with cs 69s. No matter how much gain or effects you through in it couldn't do the 80s rock. It sounded great for Hendrix type stuff.

I've read that "texmex" pickups are hotter than vintage output pickups. I used to have a mexican strat and the pickups were much hotter, but didn't have the tonal qualities of the cs 69s.

This mij strat does play like a dream, and I'm going to buy it in a few hours (its on hold for me )

It's also professionaly set up by my local luthier, and has super low and fast action with no fret buzz. It puts my Gibson SG to shame. I haven't played it plugged in though so I was just wondering about the pickups.

I think I'm going to like the system I tremolo. I've always wanted a high performance tremolo and this one is a plus because the strings don't lock in the bridge, making stringing easier.