Hey guys,

As the title says, I got my Christmas present a little early. It's a brand new, out of the box, 2011 American Standard Stratocaster in Olypic White with a maple neck. This is my first MIA Strat, or guitar for that matter. I've been playing for well over 16 years now and it's a joy to have such a well made guitar. I do, however, own a MIM Lonstar Strat and it's a fantastic guitar, but the quality in the craftsmanship, playability, and sound between the two is night and day.

My band members and I dubbed it "Excalibur". Mainly cause excalibur was the guitar Wayne wanted on Wayne's World, but couldn't ever afford it, until later on. I also think it kinda re symbols a white knight in my mind, which goes along with name. It kinda has that cool Jimi vibe too.

I've already played a gig with the guitar with no setup time into it, straight out the box. It arrived Wednesday evening at about 5:30 and I played it that night in my cover band. Sounded fantastic and played like a dream. I've since raised the action a little, but still need to make some adjustments to the pickup levels.

Other than that, it played great right out the box. I even plan to keep using 9's on this axe and the rest of my axes. I normally use 11s, but kinda fell back in love with 9's cause of their playability and the tone was still great too.

Here are some pictures. Happy Holidays everyone!

My new guitar with my from scratch built 5E3 AKA "Carbon Fiber Deluxe" (ie it's basically a Fender tweed deluxe clone wrapped in real 2x2 twill carbon fiber and I gave it that silver face look).









Matt

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Classic I love maple necks in general and the only Strat in my collection with rosewood happens to be an olympic white. Kicking myself again... thanks Matt. Nice pictures too.

Very nice. I have the same in sunburst, you've got to love that neck!!

Thanks guys! I agree, maple necks are a joy to play and are absolutely beautiful! I just love the olympic white with maple neck combo. Just beautiful and classic looking! It'll be cool to see how it ages over time too, another reason for the color combo.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Nice, and love that color with the maple neck. Now I don't know if its just me, but in the first pic. it almost looks like a toy with the perspective of the tree and gifts in the background.

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You have yourself a classic beauty, Matt. Oly White/Maple always makes me feel warm inside. Congrats!

And unlike Wayne's Excalibur, you have your Strat at home and Stairway isn't denied.

John

Ahhhhh, love it, congrats on an awesome strat.
Looks classic.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Thanks! Well, it is my toy in some sense.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Thanks, John. I get that same feeling every time I open the case. I've been having a hard time putting the thing down.

Haha, that's true, John. Although, I did visit a "guitar store" to play the exact same model many times to be sure it's the guitar for me (color, neck, model, playability / action etc).

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Thank you! I was torn between the Cola Candy and Olympic White... not really, I had my mind set on the olympic, although the candy cola is beautiful too.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."

Looking back at these pictures, they don't really do the guitar justice cause of the low lighting in the pictures, although they have an artist feel to them. The finish on the neck, in the pictures, looks like a matte finish, but it's actually a high gloss. I'll see if I can't get some better shots out in the sun, or in better lighting, and perhaps some video of the sound of it with my 5E3.

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"If it ain't one thing, it's another."