Without going into the entire story, I got rid of the last of my Fender guitars about 5 years ago. I had everything from Squires to American Strats - but to be honest, I never really connected with any of the Fender guitars I had. Eventually traded them all off for Gibsons (LPs and Casinos) and never looked back. Yesterday I went to my local music store with the intention of picking up an Epi Wildkat - have admired them for a few years, but never had one. Plugged the Wildkat in and it was pretty good, but for some reason I had this feeling I should go and look at the Fenders. Sure enough I happened upon a MIM Blackout - I think that's what they call it, it's the Strat with dual humbuckers in Arctic blue. Looks to have been made late last year or sometime this year. Plugged it in to a Blackstar tube amp (which is what I have at home) and was instantly impressed. First off, I forgot about the relative comfort and weight advantages of the Strat - much lighter and more comfortable than anything else in my arsenal with with exception of my PRS. The sonic capabilities were very impressive - There was a clear and distinct difference between each of the 5 pickup selector positions. The neck is listed as a "C" shape, but it feels flatter than other Fender necks I have used in the past which is a major plus to me. Never liked the necks on previous Fenders. The guitar appears well made and was setup perfectly from the factory - Low action, intonation dead on, and no fret buzz. The setup was so good I replaced the strings with the same gauge they used in the factory (9 - 42) when I normally use heavier strings just to maintain the awesome setup. Only negative I have come across is the fret dressing - or lack of, the edges are still pretty rough, but that can be fixed in time. Excellent guitar, especially for under $500. Great job Fender.

Glad you found a gem The best necks for me were the 2000-early 2008 necks on MIA Fenders. I try to stick in between those years. It's all preference as I'm sure you know I met a guy where I bought my Strat who was a pro musician and he was looking for a Fender with a wider neck something like an acoustic or a Gibson Les Paul ( he wanted a wider nut). The necks were too thin for him so he wound up just trading an amp in for one MIM Strat he loved the sound of. Though he said he was gonna have to get a custom neck made. Moral of the story, it's whatever floats your boat

Thanks FenderAMT - The neck shape can be a real hassle until you find your comfort zone. This neck just doesn't feel as round as the "C" shaped ones I have used in the past, but after several years of playing wider necks maybe this is just the right shape for me.

One question I do have - When I switch to positions 2 and 4 on the pup selector I get a significant drop in volume. There should be some of course, but it seems like its a good 40% or so. This happens whether I play clean or distorted and through different amps so it's definitely consistent. Any thoughts on whether this is normal are appreciated. Thanks.

Hey...where's the pics?

_________________
'09 Am Deluxe Ash Strat
'09 Mex Standard Strat
'10 Mex Standard Tele
Champ 600
Blues jr.
'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

Regarding the volume drop in positions 2 and 4, it sounds like this would be normal. Because in the spec it states in position 2 the inside single coils are engaged and in position 4 the outside single coil of the neck is used.

I think that a 40% drop in volume when switching to positions 2 and 4 is excessive to say the least.None of my Strats have a very noticeable drop in volume at these settings and my guitars range from 1965 to 2010 so I think that a check with a multimeter by a qualified tech is in order.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Yeah, I wanna see !

Nice MIM (from the description).
Love 'em !

It's possible that your older Fenders had the older 7.25 radius on the fretboard and the Blacktop has a 9.5 radius fretboard. For someone playing Gibson and Epi (14" radius? ) the Blacktop would be much more comfortable than the older Fenders.

JMO


Art

Thanks - It seems a bit much to me as well. It actually has a nice sound on both positions, but not very audible. The pups are both 'hotrodded humbuckers' so it could just be when they are isolated there is a big variance in power, but I will get it checked.

It is a normal volume drop because you are switching from humbucking to single coil mode in positions 2 and 4 on your guitar.