To my ears the Strats made with the 60s type features sound the best.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I agree. The 60s Classic is my favourite, or Vintage Reissue 62 if you're going to spend.

And what is that based on?

Amps from the time?
Players?
Effects?

How far into that sound have you been to arrived at that conclusion? If its just from listening to records from that period, is it not possible its a culmination of all the above and more?

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No no and no

I prefer new guitars to "vintage". Vintage is all marketing hype to turn a profit.

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I would HIGHLY recommend going used... I've purchased awesome guitars for great prices, plus they're usually set up and playing great. You should be able to find an American Standard Series for ~700 used. Look on craigslist.com . You can pretty much get guitars for half price of store value.

As long as you have a Fender. If you get a MIM, you can trade up later. Or if you have a nice budget you can start off with an American deluxe. Red is a good color.
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Cowboy capital of the world

The Fender Lite Ash Strat is in a good price region for your first Fender. That's what I got 4 years ago.

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nappykaren
jax

Note to Nikininja my opinion is based on personal experience,I've owned a '65 Strat (2 Feb. '65 ser#L68329)since 1974 and have played it through a large number of different amps and other players also remark on it's sweet tone.I've also tried through various effects but it sounds best clean as do most Strats.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

If you are serious about playing guitar then you cannot beat an American Standard. Of course there is the American Deluxe but since this is your first Fender I recommend you go out there and play every Fender you can get your hands on.
By no means am I saying that Mexican made guitars are not even worth consideration, however some clunkers do slip through.
Although, I have played Mexican made guitars that are better than a poor Amer. Std., I figure that the chances of finding a sorry American Std. are much lower than coming across a bad Mexican Strat.
You get what you pay for and it is my opinion that the American Std. Strat is about the the best guitar for the money. The Amer. Deluxe is even better. Some are not fans of the SCN's but I have grown to love them. Plus you get the S1 switching system which is pretty cool.
Anyway, play everything that you can and pick the one that feels and sounds best to you. If you are ordering online I would suggest that you go American Std. or American Dlx.

Russ

So it's all based on one guitar? LOL I've played some 60's Strats that were total tone turds and some that were tonal bliss. I had a 62 that refused to stay in tune no matter what and the lead pup was just missing something, so I had to dump it. Some played poorly and sounded great and vice versa. I've played some 70's, 80's and brand new Strats that were the same thing. It's just the luck of the draw and personal preference.

It's a fact that 50's and 60's Strats were pretty inconsistent due to more handwork involved. Even the pups were wound by hand which is why some were hotter than others.

Everyone thinks they own the best guitar ever made. It's just human nature. I haven't found mine yet. I have some decent ones but not the perfect one that does it all. It's all different to all people.

As I stated in my first post I stated it was "to my ears"as with many opinions it's all very subjective,what I find desirable in a guitar's tone may be repulsive to someone else.I'm also aware that there are dogs in every series of guitars but it was my good fortune to find one that was a perfect amalgam of all that's good in a Strat.A buddy of mine had the same good fortune with a '62 the first year of "L'series but I've heard 60s Strats that left much to be desired also.I guess opinions are like butt cracks no 2 are alike(I suppose)lol.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

How true. Remember when they were called used instruments and not "vintage" they were actually pretty cheap way back. Amps too.