Greetings. Hope you are well.

I am really interested in any & all opinions you all care to share on CBS Era Fenders of 1970-74 vs. today's Fenders -- be they MiM or MiA.

There seems to be a consensus that when CBS acquired Fender in the mid 1960s, the quality took a nosedive and progressively deteriorated until the Fender folks bought the company back in the 1980s.

Assuming that trend held true as well for CBS Fender Strats and Teles from 1970-74, how do you view today's Fender-owned Fenders of the 90s and 2000s compared to those CBS Era Strats and Teles of 40 years ago?

Are today's Strats, Teles, Jaguars, etc. better than those CBS Fenders? I leave the term "better" to your definition.

It seems to me then that if the CBS Fenders were so bad, then today's MiMs and MiAs would have to be better. So it seems, to me at least, that even a $500 MiM Strat or Tele from 2010 should be of better quality than a $500-$700 CBS era one.

I know this is subjective but I was just curious as to what you all think.

THX

Martin

I think today's Fenders are better than the CBS '70s guitars,but not by leaps and bounds,there were some decent guitars made back then.If you play one you can feel the difference but it still plays like a Strat for instance.Not all CBS stuff was crap as many think.I can point to many Gibson made guitars of the same era that are of a lessor quality than their previous efforts.
I have played many Pre-CBS instruments and the simple fact is that not all of them were great,certainly not worth $30,000+ to me...I'll take my '57 & '62 reissues and get that feel for a lot less money.
There were some great Pre-CBS guitars made but you would spend a fortune trying to get one now with that special mojo tone.

Today's Fenders I don't think are better, but perhaps far more consistent. As bad as a rep as the CBS Fenders get they weren't all that bad. I own a 1981 CBS Bullet deluxe and the neck feels as nice as my custom shop '65. I also had the opportunity to play a 1974 Strat through a Marshall Plexi clone and it was one of the nicest playing/sounding strats I have ever held. Hopefully it'll still be at the shop when I find 1700 dollars.

I can't argue quality, becuase I have no experience on those guitars, I can say, the headstock shape alone keeps me from playing one.

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It's funny but I hate the large headstock also.

Maybe I'm odd, I don't have loads of knowledge: I judge a guitar on feel and sound. Gotta say that when I used to session play keyboards years ago a guy I knew and used to play for had a mid seventies strat. It was really ugly and looked like it had had a real tough life, but hell it was a great guitar. Balanced perfect, sounded amazing and had the best action ever... wish it was mine NOW! AND I LOVE THE WAY IT LOOKED

For my optinion,after 2000's fender is better than CBS era products

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your opinions.

It's funny but the large Strat headstock doesn't bother me but that's probably I was introduced to Fenders in the early 1970s and that's just how they were at the time.

I've only owned two "vintage" Strats -- a slab-board '63 and a lam-board '66. Both were excellent instruments and I wish I hadn't been so foolish as to trade them away. That said, IMO the Fenders of today are generally more consistent in their workmanship (though I do take issue with some of the shortcuts being taken in the interests of profit margin). I remember playing some mid-70s guitars that I thought shouldn't have ever left the plant in Fullerton -- they were that bad. OTOH I've seen some real gems from the era that today are undervalued. Contrast that with today's Fenders which usually have pretty good lumber, a solid neck/body interface, adequate hardware, a variety of pickups to choose from, and various price points to accomodate any budget. It took me two summers of baby-sitting, mowing lawns, baling hay, and pumping gas to pay for my first Stratocaster. Today any zit-popper manning the drive-thru at his McJob can afford one after only six months on the payroll.

Arjay

Well there was a lot of Strat players in the 70s besides some of the greatest music. I am of the notion that as wood ages it gives off a better tone than fresher wood and those 70s guitars are becoming very collectable. No matter what though you will have gems and dogs in every era and the whole ball of wax was that CBS did not have there heart in making guitars, just turning a profit but there are a lot of great sounding guitars from that era as well as the Thinline series being made under CBS. I would say that Fender is making guitars on a whole much better than then today though, and will be proven correct in 20 years.

That's kept me from the newer Highway 1's .

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... and the cradle will rock !

Having both a 1971 Stratocaster(with a square boltplate, makes me think its a 1970 model) and a 1991 Strat Ultra, I can say the differences are large especially in quality.

I bought the CBS Strat in 1984, and played it for 2 years in a band. It needed a fret job which I recently had done, and tweaks in the setup. The problem are the pickups and the 3-way switch. Mine was a sloppy switch, as it would never stay in place, especially on the in between settings. The trem was poor; I broke two tremelo bars, yes they were flimsy. I replaced this with a thicker bar(no white plastic tip), more similar to the Ultra before I got the Ultra. The pickups are the whiniest I have ever heard and, for lack of a better word, scratchy. But neck was good. The pots were dirty. After I had the frets changed, installed a 5 way switch, and had the pots cleaned, I could now say it was a Player, but only for overdriven rock.

On the other hand the Ultra is a dream guitar. I bought it after trying a lot of guitars and the memory of the disenchantment with the older Strat, the Ultra answered all my expectations of what a strat should sound like and more. The guitar has been played a lot and still looks good. I always get compliments from other Strat players, non guitar players, on the way it sounds. Really haven't heard from Gibson players because I am the only Gibson player I know, and I would recommend the Fender single coil sound. The major reason I bought it was its similarity to the J. Beck model(1990 version) at the time, and the fact I've been a Beck fan since high school, e.g. Yardbirds. I remember thinking 'If Jeff likes it it must be good'. What attracted me to the Strat was Jimi, who I am a huge fan.

Although the guitars are different the biggest differences are the pickups. The Fender/Lace Sensors are just great and so quiet. But the quality in my opinion is much better on the FMIC product vs. the CBS stuff. Jimi could tear up a CBS Fender quickly, and I could see why. Both are US made, but it would take a lot of abuse to wreck this Ultra as it feels rock-solid.

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2007 Classic Player Baja Telecaster
1991 Strat Ultra
1990 Gibson ES-347
1986 Yamaha SBG2100
1980 Gibson L6-S
1971 Stratocaster
Fender Stage Lead Combo
Marshall MOSFET 100 watt Amp

So in a nutshell you choose guitars by how they look over how they sound, feel and play? Are you buying a musical instrument or a furniture?

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I think the big headstocks look cool!!

Here is my '75 - I love it...plays and sounds like a dream!!

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

I like the big headstocks too! Hey if they were good enough for Buddy Holly


Seriously though,I have a 1974 strat that I love. Mine weighs 7.2 lbs sounds great and plays great.