Whats the difference between a 50's, 60's and 70's strat?

bluesnorway · **Joined:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:16 am **Posts:** 1

hey! can anyone tell what the difference between a 50 a 60 and a 70 Fender Stratocaster is sound wise?

Rebelsoul · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:38 am

Not to give you a short answer,but there is no good answer.
There's way too many variables on those guitars to break it down.
Back in the decades you mentioned,you could usually tell it was a Strat from the sound on a record as compared to a Les Paul or something....they just sounded like a Strat.

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:17 am

bluesnorway wrote:

hey! can anyone tell what the difference between a 50 a 60 and a 70 Fender Stratocaster is sound wise?

Buy this book and listen to the CD that comes with it:

http://www.amazon.com/Stratocaster-Chro ... 173&sr=1-1

Rockcat · **Joined:** Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:03 am **Posts:** 262

50's maple neck strats had no finger board - frets were put straight onto the neck. Pre CBS (pre 65 when CBS arbiter bought Fender) were largely hand made. Tuners were Klusons. The neck plate was rectangular.

An interesting point is that the early custom colours were Dupont paint - Fender bought the leftover paint used for cars at knock down prices. If a sunburst finish went wrong, it was repainted a custom colour and they used to charge 5% more! My '69 strat is one of those - sunburst underneath.

The woods used varied enormously & just depended on what was available. Dating is most accurate from the neck number - the numbered neck plates were all kept in a wooden box & fished out at random - there could be a year's (or more) difference between the neck number & plate number. E.g. my neck number is Nov 1969; the neck plate is 1970.

This article might be of interest.

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html#intro

Martian · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:27 am

Welcome.

10 and 20 years, you can't fool me!

ripitup555 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:01 pm

Martian wrote:

Welcome.

10 and 20 years, you can't fool me!

Ah the old trying to withold a mouthfull of coffee from forcing it's way through the teeth joke, luckily I was within striking distance of the kitchen sink, not to much to clean up afterwards, It's always teatime somewhere in the fender world Martian, I'd have been safely strolling through Berlin's strasse's had it been 48hours earlier, different time zone old chap. anywayup home now a quick shampoo for the children and we're right as rain in no time :lol:

Martian · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:59 pm

ripitup555 wrote:

Martian wrote:

Welcome.

10 and 20 years, you can't fool me!

Ah the old trying to withold a mouthfull of coffee from forcing it's way through the teeth joke, luckily I was within striking distance of the kitchen sink, not to much to clean up afterwards, It's always teatime somewhere in the fender world Martian, I'd have been safely strolling through Berlin's strasse's had it been 48hours earlier, different time zone old chap. anywayup home now a quick shampoo for the children and we're right as rain in no time :lol:

paris · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:31 am

Interesting post.

I can give you the parts list used, but remember Fender used whatever tyhey had lying around, so parts and paint my vary:

'50s:
Body: 54-56 Ash, 56 on mostly Alder, but sometimes Ash
Neck: Maple.
Bridge: Vintage bent steel
Paint: nitro
single ply pick guard

'60s:
Body: Alder, but a few ash.
Neck: Early '60s slab rosewood, about '63 started using a veneer of rosewood. Some maple.
Bridge: Vintage bent steel
Paint: nitro
3 ply-pick guard

'70s:
Body: Alder, but a few ash.
Neck: veneer of rosewood and maple.
Bridge: cast single piece bridge. This was not very popular
Paint: poly paint and nitro over coat
3 ply-pick guard

It's hard to tell really. It's more about the neck and body wood, who was winding the pickups that day, and the paint that was used.

Alder is warmer sounding than Ash.
Rosewood neck sounds warmer than maple. Maple necks have a "snap" to them.

Nitrocellulose paint lets sound resonate better than polyester. The wood breaths better with nitrocellulose.

A vintage bridge will resonate differently than a hard tail bridge.

Your best bet is to just play a bunch of Strats and find THE one you like. I played a 1979 Strat that sounded awesome and other strats from the '70s that played terribly.

I played a Custom Shop '65 that just didn't interest me, but played a refinished '62 that I'm still kicking myself for not buying when I had the chance.

I did play a wonderful '57 that I wish I could have purchased.

Rebelsoul · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:51 am

As far as rosewood sounding warmer and maple sounding brighter...alder sounding warmer than ash,nitro letting the wood breath,etc.....don't get everybody started again. :mrgreen:

Miami Mike · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:00 am

Welcome aboard.

Too difficult to type a long response. Just go and play one of each
and hear for yourself.

IMHO, all played through the same amp and settings are very close to
the same bell-like chime tones. It's the 'feel' that is more different.

paris · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:40 am

Rebelsoul wrote:

As far as rosewood sounding warmer and maple sounding brighter...alder sounding warmer than ash,nitro letting the wood breath,etc.....don't get everybody started again. :mrgreen:

I agree it's all crazy. Materials change everything about how a guitar sounds, but it's all in the ear. In the end every guitar is different and every ear is different, so it's all up to the player.