Man,you just took me back to a great memeory of a beautiful blonde I dated in '71 who was several years older and owned a '70/71 Cuda,a Gold color,I can't say what was under the Cuda's hood for sure,a 383 I think,but man the girl was a 440!!!

Oh yeah...I prefer alder for Strats...[/quote

Gold huh

Don't want to open a can of worms here..but I will...just in my inquisitive (and somewhat confrontational but fair) nature.

Logic and physics tell me, that it should not make much difference that the pups are mounted to plastic. I mean the pups are mounted to plastic on just about every Strat made..even squiers and starcasters. Surely just a pup and hardware swap would not make a starcaster sound like a 70's ash/

But the reason I state physics..is because physics tell me (and perhaps experience) that the overall tone (or specific tone) starts at the fingers of the player, and then is transferred to the finger board and neck..which is attached firmly to the body with screws. The actual "sound" characteristic that the pickups feed to the amp..are coming from the strings vibrations. The characteristics or specific tones (resonances,under and overtones/harmonics etc) all shape the overall sound.

The strings are not attached to the pick guard, nor do they touch the pickguard. The strings touch the guitar at the nut, tuners and bridge..which are attached to...the body and neck..not the pick guard.

Now of course the overall sound depends on the combination of all the components..and what is good is subjective, but perhaps most of the purists like myself believe it is more then just pick ups that make a 50's Strat sound like a 50's Strat.

Not to say using a different material for the pick guard will not have some effect on the tone..because I imagine a brass or aluminum or wood pick guard would offer differences in resonance, and it is screwed to the body, but I do not believe it is accurate to state the material used for the body does not mean much since the pick guard is plastic.

I could be wrong, but I don't see how I could be convinced unless I hear a basswood or agathis Strat sound just like a vintage 54 or a CS 62 reissue.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.