Considering buying a Robert Cray strat body for my partscaster. Any opinions on this model strat body?

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www.householdsaints.com

Best I can say is that it's an alder body, vintage routed for 3 single coils. and drilled for a non-trem vintage bridge with string feed from the back. You don't necessarily have to spend big bucks unless you want the thing already finished, with the bridge mounted and have been browsing the online catalog of the usual chop shop. There were 3 production line finishes to my memory and two versions...MIM and an MIA. Which one are you being offered?

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"Another day in paradise!"

I bought an '06 Robert Cray Strat for purposes of "harvesting" in order to build my first custom guitar. It had one of the nicest 3-piece alder bodies I've seen on a MIM production guitar, with an absolutely flawless finish. ZZDoc has covered the salient details precisely. The only disappointment is the limited choice of finishes -- 3TSB, Inca Silver, and Violet Blue (the latter absolutely horrid, Ice Blue Metallic would've been a better choice). Here's the body in sunburst......



HTH

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 beauty!....what neck is on that one RJ?

CIJ '65 re-issue, with bound fretboard -- shallow "D" profile, 7.25 radius, vintage frets. Nicest neck I own.

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

Nice piece. That's the finish I had on my old '58. When I sent it back to Fender in '69 I get a 're-finish '( in reality, a new body) with the pronounced red band which I detest. When I asked the Custom Shop to do my guitar ala the SRV burst they were doing for the Artist Series guitars I got a '65 Sunburst, again with the prominent red band. Now here's an MIM with precisely the kind of finish I'd be looking for in an SB3.
They can get it right in Ensenada but not in the Custom Shop. I'll retire to bedlam. I think I'm going to file this pic for future reference.

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"Another day in paradise!"

+1, ZZDoc.

An acquaintance once sent a '71 Strat neck back to Fender-Corona for a new replacement decal (neck had been stripped and re-finned). When it was returned, the shop had applied a '67 logo and omitted the "Original Custom Contour Body" portion.

Such attention to detail does not inspire confidence.

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

it's a strat body alright...used one for a partcaster i put together, no complaints, good quality

Arjay, what is the sonic difference with the hard tail vs the tremelo model? I never had the pleasure of playing a hard tail...I have heard that the bridge pick-up is a little more usable and more tele like for lack of a better term.

T2

P.S.

Sorry for hijacking your thred but that beautiful hard tail got me thinking...always a dangerous proposition

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Better sustain IMO and undisputably rock-hard tuning stability.

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

Thanks, I had not thought about the tuning issue...although all my strats are blocked, never did get the hang of that trem arm thing...just used the fingers.

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

if i had 1 sig strat to buy it would be the RC model. those guitars are always so beautiful to look at. i bet they are a freakin dream to play.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Wonderful guitar! I have a CS Stratocaster from '92 that was getting heavy use on the bar circuit. No matter how careful I was with this guitar. Some drunk would knock it off of the guitar stand or some goof would decide to grab it and play a few tunes. I came to the conclusion a "beater" was needed to replace my CS. So, I grabbed a MIM Robert Cray Stratocaster. What a good move that was!!! I picked it up for $550 and was thrilled. It was well-made, flawless finish, and a dream to play. A couple of guys in the band even preferred the tone of the RC Stratocaster over the tone of my CS. Truthfully, I think they both sounded great going through a Dr. Z amp, but the RC had a slightly "darker" tone. To my ears, the CS was "brighter." I believe the book-matched maple cap on the CS made the guitar inherently brighter. I would love to have a true American-made Robert Cray Stratocaster in Inca Silver, but honestly...I just can't afford it at the moment.

I think it's an MIM body, but the ebay add doesn't say or specify! Is there a way of telling if it\s MIA or MIM?

I'd go for the sunburst for sure!

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www.householdsaints.com

Yes, very sweet. The bound neck is a nice touch.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.