do you guys know if the wood used in the hot rod is much better than the ones used in the american standard? I was thinking about getting a hot rod, but i started to calculate, and i could do a "vintage mod" in the american standard and it would still be cheaper.. thank you

The body is probably no different but the nitro thin skin finish is different,the neck,pickups and hardware are the main thing that make it a '62 Hot Rod.
I have both '62 and AS,and the '62 neck and pickups are what I like most.

I have an AmDlx and 62HR. I have no idea about the qualtiy of the wood on either. I can tell you the the 62 is a 2-piece body and is lighter than my AmDlx.

The neck on the 62 is quite a bit bigger (thick C) than AS, this may or may not be for you. As stated previouosly the pups on a 62 are great and very diffrent than an AS.

As they are very different, I suggest you A-B both.

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AmDlx HSS
62 Hot Rod
Luke w/Piezo
Carvin Belair

yes, i know.. but about the mod i was saying it would be pretty much alike the 62..

1.Acessory Kit Aged(http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0991363000) U$18
2.Off(Aged) White Pickguard (http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musician-s- ... 1324085.gc) U$15
3.Custom Shop 69' Pickups(150)
6.American Vintage Tuning Machine Head(45)
8.Vintage Strap(http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Road ... 1464017.gc) U$40
Total:U$1378,00

you guys were talking about the pickups, i can just put the 57/62 pickups in the guitar std instead...the only difference(apart from the vintage bag and the painting) is the vintage bridge that i believe i cant put in the std beacuse of the holes, am i right?

The main thing about a 62 Hot Rod is that the frets are bigger (medium jumbo) vs the regular 62 RI which have vintage frets which are noticeably thinner. It's a matter of preference. The Hot Rod has a Thick C shaped neck shape and a regular 62 has a "C" shape. Pups are 62 on the regular and American Vintage on the Hot Rod.

Key thing about the RI and the American Standard would be the Nitro vs Urethane paint finish. If you are interested in the aged relic look then you want Nitro. Your Nitro body will age and yellow over time and will be more susceptible to damage than the glossy urethane finish. The 62 RI and Hot Rod will have Vintage Kluson Type tuners as well as a Vintage 6 screw Trem. Your American Standard will have a 2 point trem. Once again the question is whether you are looking at the vintage vibe, or a preference on one trem over the other. The two are not interchangeable unless you fill the holes and drill new ones. Not probably what you want to do. You also will have to drill new holes for Vintage tuners on an AS neck.

Keep in mind that your 69 CS Pups, while nice pups, does not have a reverse wound middle pickup. This means that it will be more noisy than one with, where you get hum canceling in positions 2 and 4.

I've purchased my fair share of 62RI because I use the 62 RI necks for my Monterey Strat Tributes and you can purchase nice 62's for between 900-1000 if you pay attention long enough. I've found many in near mint condition at this price, and these are really nice, great sounding Strat's.

Based on what you mentioned here, I would keep an eye out for a nice 62 RI. The only issue is fret size that would push me to the Hot Rod over the Vintage 62. I've found the Vintage frets are fast but the Hot Rod's medium jumbo's are great for bending and vibrato. Or you can put one together with the best of what you like. I just completed a custom project for an artist and he wanted the 62RI vibe but the bigger frets. I found him a John Mayer neck which is a 62 RI with Thick C shape and 6105 medium jumbo frets. Really nice neck.

Lot's to think about. But as Bruno mentions, you may just need to A-B them, if you can find a 62 RI in the store to compare with.

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"You can never have too many guitars."

I would definitely go for the hot rod. It's got the vintage vibe going. I dunno how you would be able to change the bridge in an america standard without extensive work that would cost a lot and risk looking $@!&#*. And the standards don't have the fender decals on the headstock (it's printed on). Hot rod dude, hot rod.

does the bridge affect too much in the sound?

Well, you'd get people saying different things about that. But the 6-point vintage bridge has 6 screws into the body. All those connection points allow for greater sustain and I think it sounds better more consistently on guitar. With the two point bridges on the american standard, there're less point that it is connected with the body to sustain. I've seen these things happen consistently... however, there will always be a few guitars that just sound awesome, even if they have a two point bridge. If a guitar sounds good, it sounds good no matter how it's built. So it's really your call when you're out there playing guitars, and comparing sounds.

One thing for me (and may not be an issue for you), is that I'm kinda obsessive about having that vintage vibe. I really like most of the things on the guitar to be to the specs of back in the day. All these modern appointments and things they're doing make me sort of apprehensive. That's just me though.
Hope that helps.
Good luck finding a guitar.

Sorry but my deluxe is a toy in comparison to my hotrod. It's a far better instrument, made for a purpose rather than to be decent for a multitude of applications.
You pay a lot for all those little refinements that just aren't mentioned in the specs. Realisticly rolled edges, neat wiring, exemplery fretwork and nut cutting. Non of which were featured on my deluxe. Infact the first thing I did when I got it was sort the fretwork out.
The Hotrod's are billed as the guitar to bridge the gap between customshop and production line. Well that was Justin Novak's sales pitch when the series was released. In truth I own both and do see a difference, just not much of a one.

You've got your work cut out getting a American Standard up to that level. My Deluxe is a absolute case queen, it never gets played.

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No no and no