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Post subject: Best and worst year(s) for stratocasters?
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:11 pm
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Which year or years had the best and the worst strats in your opinion? Was the 70's? The 80's? The 90's etc.?


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:11 pm
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I really have no idea. But I'm gonna say the 80's.


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:52 pm
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Guitar_Hurricane wrote:
I really have no idea. But I'm gonna say the 80's.


Is the 80´s the best or the worst?


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:53 pm
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Great guitars and total dogs have been built in ever year since the introduction of the guitar. There are no best or worst years, but I will say that i think the current MIA guitars are among the most consistently good that Fender has ever made.


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:00 pm
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I think the 70's produced the worst guitars from a technical point of view.
Thick finishes and a low quality control.

Peter


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:52 pm
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Jacobthebluesman wrote:
Guitar_Hurricane wrote:
I really have no idea. But I'm gonna say the 80's.


Is the 80´s the best or the worst?


OH!!! darn. I meant the worst. As far as the best years, 50's & 60's, no doubt about it.

I will say Gibsons worst years (in my opinion) is the 70's, especially for Les Pauls. Everybody I talk to agrees.


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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:01 pm
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I'd have to say the 70's was lousy for guitar makers overall. The industry was changing, the economy was in the tank. Gibson definately suffered the most. The reintroduced the LP as the Deluxe in 68 and shortly thereafter quality went to hell.

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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:43 pm
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for fender, the best decades were the 60's and the current decade. the worst were the 70's and the 80's. although i have played a few great instruments from the 80's.


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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:55 am
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It seems to me the lowest point for quality was in late 1980 to mid 1981.

That's the point at which the company finally started taking action to address the issues (to the point of nearly shutting down production in 1981 to get it under control. See the Duchossoir book.).

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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:08 am
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Mid 60's MIA Fenders and mid 80's MIJ Fenders seem to be the best.

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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:28 am
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Not sure about the 80's Strats...but I've heard that right after CBS took over, things got pretty bad.


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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:47 am
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Guitar_Hurricane wrote:
I really have no idea. But I'm gonna say the 80's.
I disagree. The worst strats made was from mid 70s to late 70's. The quality was very inconsistant. It wasn't until 1982, Dan Smith, overhauled production at Fender that Fender started making higher quality guitars. He actually shut down the Fender factory and retrained the workers to make better quality guitars. Why do you think the 82 Strats (dan smith model) is now becoming valued strat? But, it was until the mid 80's when CBS sold Fender that guitars were finally made at the same quailty when Leo and Randall owned the Fender company, (pre-CBS).


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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:12 pm
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I say '68 is the best and '72 is the worst


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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:22 pm
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I'd have to say the best years are the Pre-CBS years and now.

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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:51 pm
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Quote:
The worst strats made was from mid 70s to late 70's. The quality was very inconsistant. It wasn't until 1982, Dan Smith, overhauled production at Fender that Fender started making higher quality guitars.


So wouldn't it make sense that the absolute WORST were right before the major steps were taken (in 1981, I believe, not 1982, though they were still working on it then)? Like: it's always darkest just before the dawn.

Whether you think the slide in quality started in 1965 (with the CBS takeover) or 1975, the lowest point was probably 1981, at which point they started to stop the slide. You didn't have the finish falling off of guitars in the '60s or mid-'70s.

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