Hey, I've been saving up to buy a new guitar for a while and had originally intended to buy an American Deluxe Strat. Thought it was awesome, but today I played one and although I liked it, I felt positively underwhelmed. It's a good guitar and nice to play, but I just didn't feel a connection to it. Then I tried a Classic 60's Strat. WOW. Loved it. It sounded amazing. S1 switches, N3 pickups and locking tuners - this thing blew them all away with nothing but pure, raw sound.

Now a dilema. Like I said, I loved the 60's, but I'm none too crazy about the colours (after Sienna Sunburst) - and i want a maple fretboard. Sooooooo, I'm thinking about getting the best of both worlds, American standard and then putting in some Custom Shop '69 pickups. What do you guys think? Any opinions on these guitars, or inputs on my proposal?

They make other colors in the Deluxe. I'm keen on the artic white with rosewood myself....

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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I feel the American Deluxe is too sterile and modern with the S1 and noiseless pickups. So I vote for the American Standard. Who knows, its stock pickups might grow on you so you might not really need to change them.

Or how about the 50's Classic Players Strat? It's similar to the 60's Classic Player you tried, but maple fretboard and 57/62 pickups. Not much of a color selection for that model either though.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

You have to go with what feels and sounds the best to YOU.

What amp will you be playing through?

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I agree. I prefer the K.I.S.S approach to guitar. I just love the neck on the Deluxe!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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I'm only using a Roland Microcube, it suits my needs for just jamming in my room. I'm planning on getting a roland 80x soon though. My uncle has a big Marshall amp he said he might give me

As stated above, the American Standard pickups are, when set fairly low, are a great set of pickups.................YMMV............. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Wait I am confused - the 60s had the S1, N3s & locking tuners, or the deluxe had all that (which it does)?

Which guitar did you like for which features??

Anyway - I tried the new Dlx - underwhelmed also (though sweet looking in metalic sunburst) - think the Am Stndrd sounds much better.

I couldn't agree with you more. Its too bad you can find them packaged after market. You can try Ebay, but with the difficulty identifying pickups, you might not be getting what you bargined for...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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If you get the Marshall the model of Strat shouldn't matter as any Strat sounds like Heaven on earth through a Marshall-I'm speaking from experience.BTW have you tried the Jimmie Vaughn Strat?It has a maple fretboard and Tex-Mex pups that are deadly it's just an incredible guitar and mine sounds and feels so much like my original 65 Strat that's scarey and since it's MIM it won't put you in the poor house.

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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.

Here's an idea for you, buy my guitar!


Plays great and I already took care of the pickups cuz I didnt care for the N3 and S1... it's the ash model and maple with the Fralin Blues Specials pickups.