After seeing the tortoise on the Mary-Kaye, I'm not iffy anymore. Or maybe that's just the gold hardware ^^
You'll love the white blonde, it's always cool to see the grain especially if it's a nicely figured piece of ash. Factory is always a good option, especially if you like white to begin with. Here's a close up of mine before the swap:

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

That's simply a gorgeous Strat, Capo!

(serious hand clapping)

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

That's a really good pic Capo. From the pics I've seen, it's hard to get a good one showing the grain. I'll give it a try when I get mine in.

She looks sweet like that-too nice to change but I forgot about the anodized gold that would be about the best option then again the white Does look great.

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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.

Which is better...coke or pepsi? And someone will always say "root beer". Go with what YOU think is the best. Too many possible combinations, all look killer..and all are subjective.

leaving it as is can be a good option too..but do what makes you happy only and everyone else can pound sand...

I see Strats painted like an ugly rainbow finger painting sell. To each his/her own, what else can you say?

If you are just looking to sway your opinion based on other opinions..I am liking the gold.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

While I agree with your sentiment, Pepsi is clearly better unless bourbon is involved, then Coke is clearly better

I wasn't looking to be persuaded. I was just hoping to see pics of some combinations and to make sure I wasn't forgetting some "classic" or popular combination. Thanks for your input.

In other news, I should be getting the guitar tomorrow!

Here's mine with a single ply white. Looks nice, but a bit boring. I happen to really like the anodized gold pg's. I may get one, however my other strat already has the anod. gold guard. So, we'll see..

Maybe "boring" is not bad. The white/white maple just works. Classic Strat . I happen to be in the process of building a white/white maple American Standard..not really by choice so much but just the combo I ended up with buying everything piece by piece. Judging by that picture I will not be disappointed.

Since I am doing a nitro refin myself I could have went with virtually any color choice for the body but I happen to have had plenty of white paint on hand and went with it to avoid paying for more paint, but looks like the combo will work just fine.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Got the guitar. Been too busy/busy playing to try to take any pics. I'll do that tomorrow or over the weekend. Definitely love the guitar. Love the neck. Love the pickups. I live in an apartment so I've "only" gotten to play it through a silverface vibro champ. Does the shimmering bell beautiful.

Enjoy it. Must really sound nice. I know that white uses an ash body, always been a big fan of ash for strats.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

I managed to forget it had ash when I was playing it. I was purely just thinking about the pickups and how much I liked them. How does the ash, in general, differ in tone?

Ash an Alder are both really good tone woods. My personal experience with vintage strats is that ash is a bit brighter and more complex tone wise. I had a natural 70s ash and the best way to describe it was Strat heaven. Not a note or chord sounding anything less then perfection.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

This is Fenders description of the general differences.

Alder: full and rich, with fat low-end, nice cutting mids, and good overall warmth and sustain. Alder is generally considered to be one of the "traditional" Stratocaster body woods.

Ash: exhibits a "snappier" tone with a bright edge, but with a warm bass and long sustain. It is often considered as the other "traditional" Stratocaster body wood.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Now that is one awesome looking guitar