As someone stated above, I agree you need to go out to every store in your area and pick up and play as many Strats as you can. Everyone can give your their opinion of what THEY like better but all of us have different musical tastes. Those tastes also change from day to day.

On days I want to play Blues I pick up any one of my S/S/S Strats. If I want to get heavy then I pick up my H/H Showmaster with Seymour Duncan's. ( I personally never connected with my S/S/H Fat Strat's that I have owned) But the important part is that you have to connect with the guitar. There is one out there made for you and it may be a 200.00 Classic Vibe Squier Strat or it may be a 2000.00 Custom Shop.

Do yourself a favor and don't listen to any of us other than using it for reference. Play 50 different Strats and one will PICK YOU OUT !

My first Strat was a HSS...sounded fine but I always wondered what an SSS would sound like...so after a few months I bought the DiMarzio Area pg with pups and replaced my HSS pg. Much better. I still have the HSS pg in case I ever want to go back but...probably not.

You may want to look into the fact that the body cutouts in the SSS Strat may not accommodate an HSS config if you ever want to go that route vs the SSS. Of course, the HSS rig will always allow an SSS config to drop in.

-T

I was so excited I could not sleep. I had planned the day for months and it just happened. I was going to take a train to NY as there are 3 guitar centers within a 12 mile radius, and I want hands on guitar buying, not shipped from
some online store. Got up at 3am, and the GC did not open until noon on Sunday. I did not know they had a ONE day only 100 dollars off discount.

I drove with the help of lots of excitement and 2 large cups of coffee the hour and a half and got to the GC an hour and a half early. The Deluxe American I had seen in pictures was not so nice in person. I looked at and played a few ( not black like I wanted, but just to get a feel for the guitars)

I drove another 45 minutes to another GC and the HSS they had in stock
had a knob missing and I knew the store had had it in stock for at least two months, and it did not sing to me. Now I drove another 40 minutes to the third GC store that I knew had 3 used guitars, even though one had a
non maple fretboard. ( I forgot to mention that looking at all of the 6 guitars I had seen so far, the first thing I do is look at the serial numbers for a 7)

None had a 7 so I passed on for bigger and better things. So now Im heading for the last store and Im tired........excitement and lack of sleep is getting to me. Lots of hours and driving and trying to get store help from workers to ask questions. Some were very nice, others were middle of the road. When I walked in and asked for the manager, I was told he was not in. Darn, he is the one Ive been emailing all this time. Another guy asked if he could help me and I told him how I just drove 120 miles to see the store. He walked me back to the back of the store and HE had set up all three black American Strats in a row and had a stool set up and everything. First one was an HSS and it had a 7 in the serial. Second one had no 7 but was in great condition for a SSS, and the last one had a 7, and was in good condition, but had a rosewood Fretboard....NAH.....


So now Im tired....and wondering what to do. I walk by the new guitar section and way up at the top is a black one, but the tag is covering the
coils, so I did not know it was an SSS one. it took a while for get the same guy who helped me before to get a really tall ladder and go up and get the guitar and bring it down. As he is heading up the ladder I tell him
" Your going to think this is sorta nuts, but on all my guns and guitars, I have a 7 in the serial number of every one, and Im just hoping that the guitar your heading up for has a 7. He got up an took the guitar off the hook and looked at the serial and looked down at me and said " Hows about if it has 2 7"s in a row" ????? I did not even touch it or play it, I said " I want it, it "spoke" to me already. I had 700 cash, and needed to get 250 from my 2 amps, guitar and case, and a mike and chord.....I had paid over 600 for the stuff and took good care of it and it was not very old.

It took over two hours for them to look stuff up and they said 160 for everything I had brought in (((( they screwed up bad on my Crate CA30DG I paid over 249 for, and thought it was a CA30D only model that goes for much less, and they offered me 45 bucks for it.

I will keep the crate amp and just pay the 45 as its not worth the deal. How come so little for the amp.........its gone down in price a lot.

Regular writing on the amp was CA30D but a Sticker 6 inches below id'ed it as the 30DG model, and it had all of the knobs and whistles and bells of the DG one as well, the 30D did not have the FX at all.

I call the wife and she has overdraft protection so even though we dont have the cash in the credit card account, we can use the card to
pay the 155.19 Im short (they gave me 100 for the guitar I paid 240 for and 20 for my marshall amp I paid 70 for. So after 2 hours of waiting
and now Im close, with only 155.19 left to go........OH, your address on the credit card is a PO Box, and its against store policy to have a po box
address. I did not have my check book on me, so now its Pay us 20 bucks for shipping and go home, mail us a bank check for 155.19 and we will ship you the guitar.

I drive back home and its dark the whole way. 2 hours and 25 minutes and wow am I bummed........I did not even get the HSS I wanted !!! Darn that 100 dollars off sale !!!!!!!!!

NEXT day, (this morning) I get up and mail a check for 155.19 to the store in Ma, and attn the manager. My wife goes to the bank this morning to put a check into her account, and the bank says ""you have a purchase of 155.19 on your credit card from a Mass Guitar Center, and that is why your balance is less then you had thought. She came home and made me call the manager of the GC and He was not at all familiar with anything that had happened. Well you took the money out YESTERDAY, did the guitar ship today????? He said he would call me back. He did at 4:29, but I was outside and had left the phone in the house. He left me no email
and no voicemail. He sounded very nice on phone and sorta said he would take care of the 20 bucks for shipping possibly.


So now I cant help but wonder..........I do a search for American Standard HSS and BOTH of the GC's near my house ( 16 and 24 miles) have them in stock. According to what I read about the 30 day policy on the back of my receipt, I should be able to walk the unopened UPS package to the local store and do an exchange. Reading on the Website, they make it sound like dont return anything to a retail store but call and get a RA number and pay to ship it to home office for a refund.

I wanted to change the white plate to a all black one anyway, so do I keep the 77 I have, and just buy a Black HSS PG and a 79 dollar
Humbucker and now Im all set and can always change it back???????


I have a MIM 60th diamond anniversary pearl white strat ( two 7's on the last of the serial number) and I felt the all blizzard white would look so kewl next to an all black American Standard. Ive always wanted an American made guitar, and now I just have some minor obstacles to
bypass and get around.

Thanks for reading my mess, sorry but it felt good to vent. Its my X-mass and birthday present rolled into one and I have to bend over backwards now to "repay" the wife for letting me get this. Now I feel
it would suck to have to pay to return it and then they would charge me the extra 100 on top as its company policy that the SALE is over.


I wrote to fender and asked about could they ship me a HSS with two
7's in the serial..........we shall see what happens.

I will upload some pics and let you know how I made out !!!!!!

I spent the last three months online looking at everything until I did go and try out some guitars and I knew the HSS had the "FAT" sound I like.

Laters Brothers !!!!!!!!!!!!

What a story!

With all that you've gone through the end result will be what you should have! Pretty obvious that your "search" was based on finding the "one". Sometimes, the "one" finds you. I think that's what will happen here.

Definitely keep us informed on what happens.

_________________
-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

When I first started to email the manager of the GC store in MA about my needs and asked him to be my Santa for this year, I never dreamed that
the ups and downs and ups would come and go as they have.


I just got off the phone and this is what is happening. The guitar will be shipped to me free of charge tomorrow and a tracking number will be emailed to me. The 155.19 that is pending on my wifes credit card will be
sent back and I will be sent back the check I mailed yesterday.


So not only did I get the 100 dollars off for buying the guitar on Sunday, which that sale is over, but I got an additional 155.19 off the price of a NEW
American Standard SSS which brought the price down to and unbelievable amount !!!!!!!!

I just did the math.....WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I went to my local store today and bought this guitar for 999.99 plus tax it would be
1062.49 out the door. When I receive it off the UPS truck this friday or saturday, I will have spent TOTAL of 820 to my hands !!!!!!!!!!!

I just saved $242.49 and my guitar has TWO 7's in a row, Like I would have liked !!!!!!! (serial number thing I have thats weird).

Santa really came after all !!!!!!!!!!!

Now I can buy a black pick guard in HSS 11 hole and then buy a
Humbuck for 79 bucks and I will have what I want to the MAX !!!!!!!!!!


I will upload pictures when I can.

Its a MERRY CHRISTMAS after all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good for you!
Nice to save a buck or two hundred...
Post pics.

_________________
-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

UPS could be here any minute, or I may have to wait 5 more hours, but every time I hear a vehicle on the street ( every 30 seconds) my heart skips a beat! I feel like a 14 year old (hardly can remember that far back).

I started thinking about how this brand new guitar of mine is under a warranty, and if I go messing with it changing the pick guard and
tuners, that I will void my warranty, so I called a local FASC and they
said they could do the changes and my warranty would still be intact.

I saw some pictures of some "staggered" tuners, and the E and A string
had longer stems then the other strings and I felt that looked really bad,
so I will get fender schaller locking tuners for better tuning stability and
for the looks. Two trucks just went by.........I may not live to see this.....
at least my Son will inherit one heck of a guitar some day!!!!!

Yeah I got that feelling. I´m waiting for about 5 months for a AVHR strat. Its total HELL! Nights badly slept, working all day long only thinking of the new strat that may come. Actually my AVHR is with my sister in NY and shes bringing it to Brazil in a couple of weeks. I havent slept for about 3 days in a row now. Everytime I lay in bed my brains go a million per hour.
About the staggered tuners, they´re quite good in fact, and it´s not ugly at all about the 2 taller posts. My FSR american standard got them and they´re locking tuners also, I must say I love them. Looking closer I think the lower posts helps the lack of one string tree for D-G strings. If I change them for schaller those strings may not be in the right angle with the nut I´m afraid.

I have swapped out the original pickups from my MIM HSS strat but I kept the HSS configuration. I find that the 4th position still retains a very traditional quacky strat-like tone with the humbucker split. I like being able to juice up my sound for soloing by using the humbucker alone too.

IMO having a HSS it's the best of both worlds. It's retains most all the character & tones of a SSS strat, and while it sounds nothing like a Les Paul, the humbucker sounds great. Of course some purists will say it looks funny but what do they know.

I'm using two Fralin Blues Specials and a Dimarzio 36th Anniv. in the bridge. They continue to work great and I love the range of tones I can achieve from them. Like many have said, it's a strat...you can't really go wrong.

Came in mail today, Fantastic condition, ups took good care of it and
im very happy. Because it was so cold, it did not stay in tune, now that
its been a few hours in the house, its gotten much better. GC guy said
12 hours was needed to warm up. I was going to go out and buy new strings!!!

Here She is :::::::

Yes, You are totally right on everything you said. They are not so bad
looking (staggered tuners) and the sound is getting better as the guitar
warms up.

Instead of playing it on my Marshall solid state MG30FX, my buddy invited me over his house where he has 5 different TUBE amps for me to try out
my new guitar on !!!!!!!! I cant wait !!!!!!!! Im so happy !!!!!

Congrats! Have fun!!

_________________
-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Once the guitar warmed up it was really good. I find that the G string
seems to sound slightly flat, and I cant seem to get it the way I would
like. Im so used to the feel and sound of my MIM strat, that I cant yet
appreciate what I have in my hands.

I was told the guitar had new strings and was set up at the GC where
I bought it, and I may just have to get used to it. Plus I am playing
out of a Marshall MG30FX and not a good tube amp.

I look forward to bringing my new guitar to GC and trying it on different amps. The Mesa Boogie express series 550 seems like a very nice amp.

I felt it was redundant to own two SSS guitars so I upgraded my 2006 MIM
to a HSH and wow do I love the sound of it now !!!!!!!!!



I put a black pickguard on my american and black knobs and added two springs in the back to make it 5 total, as I do not use a tremelo bar at all.

it's no secret what MY answer will be!
I am a absolute and total fan (atic) of the HSS format!
It is an extremely versatile setup on a Stratocaster.
Many 'traditionalists' will bark all day long about how 'it's not a "real" Strat"...blah, blah, boo, hoo....
You WILL still get the 'quack' in position 2 and all the other great Strat sounds; PLUS...you will get the versatility of the humbucker in the bridge!
For a copy band guitarist (or ANYONE for that matter!!) this is an indespensible trait!
I LOVE Stratocasters, but have always found the bridge pickup to be rather shrill, thin, and useless! All the GREAT, identifiable, and useful Stratocaster sounds occur in positions 2 through 5 (IMHO!)
Get one....you WON'T regret it!!

_________________
I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!