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Post subject: Looking for advice (first time strat buyer!)
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:50 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: Scotland
Hey all,

First off I'd like to say I've been ghosting these forums the last week or two and it seems like a nice place with chilled out members (unlike a lot of other forums!)

Now, a bit about me. I'm 21, and have been playing for about a year and a half. I bought my original electric before I could play, so it was a bit of a shot in the dark. Recently I bought a new amp (Blackheart Little Giant head + Marshall 1912 cab), I'll attach a pic at the bottom btw, but my guitar just isn't cutting it anymore. It has a lovely neck profile but I've been dreaming of owning a strat all my life. Hendrix's woodstock strat, and also the Waynes World strat ("oh yes, it shall be mine" heh heh) have contributed greatly to my need to own a strat.

Originally I was attracted to the HY1, mainly due to the fact it was a MIA, and also the nitro finish. I was rather intruiged by the idea of a 'breathable' (or tone-friendly?) finish. However, the 70s styled headstock really put me off, as did the 'hot' pickups & the lack of Olympic white (I know I know, I shouldn't be choosing guitars by colours!). Further more none of my local guitar shops stock them so I couldn't even try them out!

So instead of dropping ~£450 on a HW1, I've decided to go for a MIM standard at ~£350. I've played a few in the local shops and they're lovely!

Now to the point of the thread: Seeing as I have, effectively, a bit of loose cash, I'd like to know the weak points of the MIM strat, and what would be good to upgrade. I'd like some advice from you strat-vets!

I'll probably end up changing the pickups, but its not high priority atm, it can wait, y'know? But just for reference, can anyone recommend some for the kind of music I play? The majority of the stuff I play is 'classic rock' (Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Doors, Grateful Dead), blues, and reggae. I'm really not bothered about high gain, distortion friendly pickups, I detest metal, and when I do play modern music (Pearl Jam, Tool) I can handle using low output pickups.

What about bridges? I've heard they're often a good idea to upgrade?

What else? Trem block? Tuners?

..

Wow long post! lmao. I better end it here.. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Oh and heres a pic of my current electric rig:

Image


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:23 pm
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There really aren't any weak points, IMO. The MIM Strats merely do not have all the features and pedigree of an American model but that's not to say that they aren't extremely good guitars. The tuners, block and the bridge are all fine. The overall quality and construction are excellent. Make sure though, you get one of the Standard Upgrade models (2006 and on). I recommend buying the guitar without necessarily having a notion to change anything out. There is a possibility that you'll like it just as it is. Good luck!


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:25 pm
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WOW..... that's a really nice lookin' amp setup :) ..... I own a MIM strat in my collection as well lol..... I'd suggest graph tech string saver saddles.... The saddles on MIM bridges can have sharp burrs that will cause you to break strings more often.... the graph tech saddles also improve your sustain and tone :)


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:57 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Martian wrote:
There really aren't any weak points, IMO. The MIM Strats merely do not have all the features and pedigree of an American model but that's not to say that they aren't extremely good guitars. The tuners, block and the bridge are all fine. The overall quality and construction are excellent. Make sure though, you get one of the Standard Upgrade models (2006 and on). I recommend buying the guitar without necessarily having a notion to change anything out. There is a possibility that you'll like it just as it is. Good luck!



Hey, thanks :) I'm well aware they're great instruments, thats why I want one! :D But very well put, no point fixing something thats not broken,


stratwhore wrote:
WOW..... that's a really nice lookin' amp setup :) ..... I own a MIM strat in my collection as well lol..... I'd suggest graph tech string saver saddles.... The saddles on MIM bridges can have sharp burrs that will cause you to break strings more often.... the graph tech saddles also improve your sustain and tone :)


I'll keep that in mind, mate, thanks :)

And yes the amp is beautiful! I'd recommend it to anyone, its a great tone for a great price. Its got a lovely thick clean tone perfect for blues, crank it a bit and you get wonderful sounding natural crunch. Very flexible with the eq and 3watt/5watt diode/triode switch. Supposedly Blackheart are bringing out modding kits, too, which should be interesting!


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:33 pm
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:40 am
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Martian wrote:
There really aren't any weak points, IMO. The MIM Strats merely do not have all the features and pedigree of an American model but that's not to say that they aren't extremely good guitars. The tuners, block and the bridge are all fine. The overall quality and construction are excellent. Make sure though, you get one of the Standard Upgrade models (2006 and on). I recommend buying the guitar without necessarily having a notion to change anything out. There is a possibility that you'll like it just as it is. Good luck!

i couldnt agree more!! sometimes i think that strat guys are the only people in the world that buy new pu's b4 they've bought the guitar!! lol. its a great guitar right outta the box. if you want to spend some money on it, buy it a new strap and some fancy looking pics. have fun!!!


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:59 pm
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Welcome:D You're damn right, this is probably the most chilled forum on the world wide web, and the best place to get Fender info:D Just watch out, it's addicting:)

If or when you're are changing PU's be sure to try CS '69s(IMO the best strat tone from the best musical era) and Vintage Noiseless are lovely 2 :D
But I guess you'll never get to change the pu's and instead play your mexico as it is for a few years before getting an Am., that sure happened to a lot of players out there, me included :)

Me best tip to your first strat would be not to get 1 with tremolo if you aren't gonna use it, and if you u want a guitar with trem, get it setup with 4 or 5 springs, especially MIMs


Last edited by Time-Machine on Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:03 pm
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if i were you i would look into the deluxe players stratocaster.... its made in mexico and slightly cheaper than a HW1, but it sounds amazing... it has american made noiseless pickups in it and the look quite nice.... i was going to buy an american strat, but i picked one up instead because it was quite comparable and a lot less


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:14 pm
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citizenerased wrote:
if i were you i would look into the deluxe players stratocaster.... its made in mexico and slightly cheaper than a HW1, but it sounds amazing... it has american made noiseless pickups in it and the look quite nice.... i was going to buy an american strat, but i picked one up instead because it was quite comparable and a lot less


I just played my deluxe player the whole afternoon(midnight here) as my CS is being set up for .11's, it's a wonderful guitar and sounds amazingly beautiful clean into the Champion 600 cranked 3/4's :P would certainly also pick a dlx mex over am std.


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:29 pm
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exactly.... they sound great with the noiseless pups and they look great.... glad i played that one before buying an american... i was actually drawn to it by the looks (transparent sapphire blue with brown pickguard) because it stood out and was very unique


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:48 pm
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I wanted that look as well, just a matter of availability so i ended up with 3 tone sunburst and rosewood fb, beautiful 2 but in no way a unique look :cry:


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:21 pm
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yeah, the red ones looked very nice to me as well, the color combo just seemed to fit perfectly, but the blue one i played seemed to speak to me and i knew it was the one i wanted


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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:30 pm
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I got the Deluxe Playrers Strat about 6 weeks ago and love. The noiseless pickups are nice. I tried several different Strats, American and Mexico and bought the Deluxe. Good Luck


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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:16 am
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superdanxlr8 wrote:
its a great guitar right outta the box. if you want to spend some money on it, buy it a new strap and some fancy looking pics. have fun!!!


Hmm, strap.. straplocks. I have an unnatural fear of my guitar coming off my strap, its to do with the silly placement of the button on my current guitar.


Time-Machine wrote:
Welcome:D You're damn right, this is probably the most chilled forum on the world wide web, and the best place to get Fender info:D Just watch out, it's addicting:)

If or when you're are changing PU's be sure to try CS '69s(IMO the best strat tone from the best musical era) and Vintage Noiseless are lovely 2 :D
But I guess you'll never get to change the pu's and instead play your mexico as it is for a few years before getting an Am., that sure happened to a lot of players out there, me included :)

Me best tip to your first strat would be not to get 1 with tremolo if you aren't gonna use it, and if you u want a guitar with trem, get it setup with 4 or 5 springs, especially MIMs


Yeah very chilled forum, but I wouldn't say the chillest :) I'm a member on another really great forum, and altho close this one doesn't have it beat ;)

I saw the CS'69s on this site, I would (obviously) love to have them, but at around £180 over here in the UK they're a bit too expensive for my budget!

And yeah, I might ask when I buy it for them to set it up with extra springs. Cheers for the advice.

citizenerased wrote:
if i were you i would look into the deluxe players stratocaster.... its made in mexico and slightly cheaper than a HW1, but it sounds amazing... it has american made noiseless pickups in it and the look quite nice.... i was going to buy an american strat, but i picked one up instead because it was quite comparable and a lot less


Thats the one with the gold hardware right? Not my thing, unfortunately!

Anyway, thanks everyone who gave me some advice, much appreciated :D


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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 12:17 pm
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my only advice with Strats...no matter if its Amercian, Mexican, or Japanese made.....play as many as you can. They vary quite a bit and some play and feel like crap and others play great.
Be choosy and be patient.
Good Luck!!


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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:38 pm
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I have the deluxe player in 3-color sunburst and maple. The only things I have done is milled the top of the trem block and changed out the saddles, height screws, springs and intonation screws with Calaham parts.

I really like the 12" radius as it seems a tad faster to me and the vintage noiseless sound great! The finish is perfect but I don't really care for the vintage tuners... the high e string is difficult to install and always wants to slip off... perhaps I'm missing a trick in this area.

Construction would have been perfect but a few of the pickguard screws were installed at perhaps a 15 degree angle!?!?

Overall nice guitar and I am very happy with it!


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