As guitars go Strats are seemingly designed to be modified. As one member here put it, if you change the strings from the original brand and specs you have modified the guitar.

It's easy to say that nearly every Strat has had a change done to it if only strings. So getting to the title of the thread. Where do you draw the line when buying a Strat where the mods that have been done outweigh your opinion of what a Strat should be?

I feel that the neck is a given. If it doesn't have an original neck then it isn't a Strat anymore.

I feel it should also have the original body even if it's been refinished in any way. To me it's still a Strat but I may pass on it if I don't like the finish.

So where do you draw the line? Mind you all, I'm asking for your opinion. These vary from person to person. You may like or dislike someone elses opinion but please... lets keep it civil and on topic.

Thanks

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

To me its the shape of the body. Fender has made almost every combonation of components possible but the body remains the same.

Who said that? That sounds pretty silly to me. Strings are a consumable item. That's like saying if I burn premium in my car when it was designed for regular that it's no longer the same car.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

That sounds like a statement from or favorite person.

This seems more philosophical, with no real answer. Did you come up with this, sitting around a campfire, singing Cumbaya, smoking funny cigarettes? (JK)

Change almost anything on a Strat, and you no longer call it simply a Strat. Change the bridge, then you will inevitably call it a "Strat-with-Callaham bridge". Change the pups, now its a Strat-with-Fralins. Always pointing out the "upgrades" to differentiate it from a "regular" Strat, but always retaining the Strat name. If you change the body or neck to another brand besides Fender, maybe it then becomes a parts-caster. The term Strat, short for Stratocaster, a model specific to Fender legally, refers to the guitar as a whole, so there really can't be a dividing line, except maybe neck and body IMO.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Ha!... I can take a joke. (edit: reminder: shimmy payback)

Yeah I guess you could call it a philosophical question but some people have very clear opinions of where to draw the line. I'm just interested in where that line is and why some think that way.

I like upgrades whenever it improves how a guitar plays, sounds, looks, feels and operates. In many cases the upgrades increase the value of the guitar but some feel that upgrades decrease the value simply because it pushes the guitar away from stock. I don't fully understand that way of thinking unless reselling the guitar is formost in the owners mind. I don't look at guitars as an investment but I understand some do.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

If a Strat falls in the forest, and there's no one there,does it make a sound?

Maybe if it's plugged in.

If there is no one there, how do you know that it fell? Beavers could have gnawed at it and laid it down gently.

I like the B&B version; "If a tree fell on a band that sucked, would anyone care?

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I think it has to have a Strat body and a Strat neck to still be a Strat, but then there's this little conundrum:



It's all Fender as far as the body and the neck... but is it a Strat?

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Thats why I say only the body.

Ok maybe I have been hanging out on-line with Arjay too much and those ludite tendancies are rubbing off...but if it doesn't have the Strat body, neck, Single coil pickups, and controls layout, it has lost it's "Stratness"...is that a new word? It don't much matter if the pickups have been replaced as long as they are single coils size, no body routes for HB's or the deal is off.

IMHO

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

one thing that gets up my nose and totally doesnt appeal to me is the dozens of rip off strats that are not made by fender,imo there is ONLY ONE make of strat,cheers-dan

+1

And no necks with more than 21 frets or "ladies" string spacing at the bridge either!



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

I change pups in all of mine,to me they're still Strats,and the people who hear me play don't care if it's not in original condition,they only care if they like what I'm playing or not.
They're just "my guitars"...always have been.....you can get too hung up on the details if ya ain't careful.

As far as I am concerned when it comes to Fender electric guitars the body and the neck are the guitar. Everything else is hardware. Substitute the neck and/or the body with something else (even if it's a Fender something else) and it becomes a Partsocaster. Even then I'd still call it a Strat if all the parts were Strat or For-Strat parts. It would then be a Partsocaster Strat.

So, to answer the OP, when is a Strat not a Strat anymore? When you bolt up an Ibanez neck. Or when you bolt up a custom shaped body. If you want to ask the question, "When is a Fender Strat not a Genuine Fender anymore?" Well then that's a different question.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.