Ok....I own an artist series Strat and love it. Really, so much so, I bought another duplicate. But, its not a custom shop whos price tag is $3000.00 plus...double the ticket. The electronics I believe are identical, finish...spot on....But Im afraid it does not come with the illustrious royalty of Select Alder. Tone?....when I strum my (blackie) guitar unplugged, shes got major sustain. When plugged...get out-a-hear-attitude. So, can ANYONE really define what select alder is. Do they search for a straight-er grain pattern? Tighter? Is this a marketing hype that commands double the bones to acquire? Is the neck better? This neck is amazing already. Really! So what IS all the hype about and does it really carry the "bark" along with the "bite"?

ok....so your saying ligter weight and better looks.... aesthetics equals ....select alder??

Weight maybe, but 'looks' in a painted guitar?

1. weight
2. sound
3. looks

Priority.
If all 3 fit it´s for the Custom Shop.
That´s why sometimes a great looking neck is used for a normal production Fender (too heavy for the CS).

Cheers,
Robin

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The character of the grain and visual compatability between the pieces that comprise the body would be a factor beneath a sunburst or transparent/translucent finish.

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

Agreed. If buying a sunburst I want an excellent grain showing! But out of ten US Strats in my basement, only two are transparent finishes...

Same here. I got nine (one, a Strat 12-string) but only three are transparent -- one 2TSB, one 3TSB, one Mary Kaye (in ash).

I'd surmise that when cosmetics aren't the primary consideration it's the weight. Or perhaps just hype......

"Back in the day" the Fullerton plant made Strat bodies -- period. The nicer ones got the sunburst finishes, those less attractive received the Duco custom colors. In any event, all the guitars looked pretty nice to a 13-year old zit-popper making $15 a month with his paper route.



Arjay (who pedaled The Sacramento Bee for three and a half years)

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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

I have a fairly new 3TSB HSS with a very tight grain, and a 91 crimson burst Strat Plus with a wider spaced grain, but don't know how to identify alder or ash bodies by looking. Love the sound of both though.

How can they base it on sound? The whole guitar would have to be put together in order to tell. Does that mean if it doesn't meet the sound requirement it's stripped down or not given the "Select Alder" tag?

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

The sound of the wood. It´s more that knock on the wood check to hear if there are any dead spot areas or crackles and how the wood resonates. You can hear how compact the wood is (density).

Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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My CS Clapton LTD is impecable. I don,t know the difference between the artist series and the CS one but I can,t imagin it getting any better. And yet the Masterbuilts are better.

It souds like alot of guess work to me....It would be nice to have an official word on this. There is alot of trust and faith. But we're dealing with peope/emplyees here to do the right thing. So it would come down to whoever is in charge of quality control or a crew boss who over sees this part of the operation. Theyre spitting out 100's? of bodies a day and the whole thing is probably a crap shoot at our wallets expense....especially if its a painted body.....So, Are we being duped hear!?

So, the custom shop hires experienced melon buyers? Where do I apply?

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