In the Stratocaster Chronicles there's a photo of a mint 1958 Custom Color Dakota Red strat with the price tag still on it. It was $301 dollars.

Out of curiosity I went to dollartimes.com to see what that would be in 2012 dollars. The calculation came to $2,391.81.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Keep in mind that a 58 Strat was built basically the same way that a Custom Shop Strat is built today - almost completely by hand. What does a typical Custom Shop Team Built cost today? About $2500 to $3500.

The savings in the cost of a modern Strat comes about from the increased use of automatid tools and large scale production. I would say that the Custom Shop of today is more representative of the Fender of bygone years than the modern factory is.

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Bill

+1000!

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

In 1964, My brand new strat cost £ 208/12/6d including hp costs

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Ted

"All right, guys, uh, listen. This is a blues riff in "B", watch me for the changes, and try and keep up, okay?"

I'll give you £200 for it. Scratches and wear and all.

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No no and no

+100 bluesky.

mhowell, American Standard Strat (the most popular ) are a low cost guitar and not the same quality as a 1958 Strat.
bluesky are right.

I'm sure a part of the 'bargain' of today's strats has to do with modern production techniques. I never said otherwise. Just sharing the numbers.

Since I've never owned a '50's model I'm willing to be corrected but in my opinion (and we all know what opinions are worth) the quality of a modern American Standard Strat is better than the strats manufactured in the '50's. My only experience with '50's era Fenders was a visit to Gruhn's in 1984 (That's a regretful story I'll share sometime) and a few guitar shows - so , like I say, I'm willing to be set straight by anyone with more experience.

Maybe a used MIM is the best bargain of all!

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Yes today with mass production we could buy good guitar.

But these mass production guitar use often low ( cheap ? ) quality parts. First the wood have not one undred years, and it dry fast on modern oven . Metal parts , like bridge, saddle use lower quality steal than guitars made in '50 and '60.
Many ( not all I think ) modern pickups wiring don't use same wire and varnish insulation . Also guitar's body finish is not the same .
All this change tone.

That make mass production guitar can't be as good as most of '50 and '60 guitars.

But for the price they are good deal.

The tolerances and assembly quality of a modern Strat may be better than one from the 50's but the modern one has a long way to go to achieve the "mojo" of a 50's Strat.

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Bill

I believe the product Fender produces today is superior in every way, plus they can be purchased at a reasonable cost. I'm a sports car nut also, and was having a like discussion with a friend who was bad mouthing Lucas electrics in 1950's English sports cars. True, they weren't the most dependable, but I'm old enough to remember that American auto electrics were next to junk also. After 30k you wouldn't be surprised to see a starter, generator, voltage regulator, go south, but that was OK, the suspension was showing it's age, and you noticed rust starting in the rocker panels. While old stuff has it's appeal to collectors (I'm one), I'll take the advancement of modern products any day, if I have to depend on them to perform. Likewise old tube amps are cool, but you wouldn't want tubes in your television,computer, or car radio today. Again new is better.

Gimme valve radio any day of the week.

As for modern strats in comparison to older ones, or hand made ones. Modern strats are priced for what they are, boys toys. Look anywhere else in the instrument world and you won't see quality, pro or semi pro players paying so little for their instruments.

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No no and no

I just played a new American Std. and I really think they realy pretty sweet.

Paris

Fender guitars in the '50s were also mass produced.

The wood used by Fender was not aged hundred years in the '50s.

I don't know what grade of steel was used but I see no reason to assume it was a higher quality then compared to what is used now.

I'm not sure about the finish. I think some of the signature and vintage series come with finishes comparable to what was done in the past. I'm sure there are some on this forum that are very qualified to address that subject.

I think the modern noiseless and lace pickups are much better than the old pickups. That may be a minority opinion but I hate the hum of normal single coils.

bluesky is right on about the "mojo". If I were about to jam and had a choice between a high end custom shop model with all the extras and a '50's beater, I'd pick up the noisy, heavy '50's beater every time. In a studio that may not be the case.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but don't Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jimmie Vaughan frequently use their respective signature models? Both MIM

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[08 MIM Standard Arctic White] > [Danelectro Fish n Chips EQ > Radial Texas Bones OD > Tonerider British Distortion > Electroharmonix Russian Big Muff Pi > Vox V847 Wah] > FM65R

Here's SRV and Jeff Healey both conveniently playing Squiers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLCJvoLYe0

Not every pro player needs a $4000 guitar to sound good. You could give Clapton a Squier Affinity and he'd still sound like Clapton.

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