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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:26 pm
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drutgat wrote:
Hi Arjay and DetroitBlues,
Thanks for your replies.

Does adjusting the neck for a heavier gauge of strings mean that I could switch back and forth between heavier and lighter gauges without needing to re-adjust the neck?

I have never had to adjust any of my other guitars when adding heavier strings, and I have gone between .OO9's and .12's.


Sometimes you can, but if you're going from .009 to .012, that will need an adjustment for sure. The nut slots may not accept it either unless you had an LSR roller nut...

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:39 pm
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DetroitBlues wrote:
drutgat wrote:
Hi Arjay and DetroitBlues,
Thanks for your replies.

Does adjusting the neck for a heavier gauge of strings mean that I could switch back and forth between heavier and lighter gauges without needing to re-adjust the neck?

I have never had to adjust any of my other guitars when adding heavier strings, and I have gone between .OO9's and .12's.


Sometimes you can, but if you're going from .009 to .012, that will need an adjustment for sure. The nut slots may not accept it either unless you had an LSR roller nut...


+1

With that dramatic a change in string gauges, an entire new set-up would likely be required -- string height, intonation, neck relief, the "whole can of whupass".

And as DB mentioned, the guitar's nut may require some serious adjustment.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 11:53 pm
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Thanks guys.

There has been an interesting development in the last couple of hours in response to an ad that I posted over the last couple of days specifically asking for either a CS 60s or CP 60s.

The seller has two Strats for sale, potentially, and the one in which I might be interested is a Road Worn, stock, and apparently in very good condition. I have not played this guitar, but will probably do so.

If I bought this and wanted to make it more CS 60s or CP 60s spec, would this be possible? Will it be possible to swap out the pickups and ad others without much trouble?

I must admit that I had my heart set on buying either a new CS or CP, but hearing about the Road Worn (not my favourite finish, but at least it is 3 color sunburst) has me thinking differently.

I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:11 am
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The new Roadworn '60s model mimicks most of the functional details of the '60s Classic Series Strat with the major difference being the pickups. The RW features the Tex-Mex set while the CS guitars (both the '50s and '60s variant) use a specific MIM pickup purpose-designed for the line. The Classic Player '60s guitar includes the '69 Custom Shop set with a significantly flatter 12" radius fretboard and the modern 2-point trem system.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:54 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
The new Roadworn '60s model mimicks most of the functional details of the '60s Classic Series Strat with the major difference being the pickups. The RW features the Tex-Mex set while the CS guitars (both the '50s and '60s variant) use a specific MIM pickup purpose-designed for the line. The Classic Player '60s guitar includes the '69 Custom Shop set with a significantly flatter 12" radius fretboard and the modern 2-point trem system.

Arjay

Hi Arjay,
Thanks very much for this.

I played various Strats today, so was able to compare the differences in fingerboard radius, pick up sound, and 'feel' (see below for my impressions).

Thanks, once again, for your reply.


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:56 pm
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Hi Everyone,
I went out and played several Strats today, and thought that I would share my impressions.

The guitars I played today were:
- Fender Classic Series 60s
- Fender Classic Player 60s
- Fender Road Worn 60s
- Fender Eric Johnson

I have to say that I have never really liked the sound of Strats before this infatuation took hold a couple of weeks ago, but I absolutely loved the CS and CP 60s.

Classic Series 60s
I loved almost everything about this guitar – neck, neck radius, frets, sound of the pick-ups, and weight (lighter than I expected).

The only (slight) criticism I had at the time was that the pick ups were quite noisy, and that I had to place myself in a very specific position in relation to the amp in order to avoid the (expected) single coil buzz/noise.

I also would have preferred the 3 color sunburst to have included more red, but that is a minor quibble.

I really liked the slight grittiness of the pick ups (without deteriorating into being fuzzy), and I found them to also be quite full bodied in 3 of the 5 selector positions.

Classic Player 60s
As with the CS 60s, I loved almost everything about this guitar. My one reservation was with the neck, when playing next to the nut. I found that I had to be more specific about my hand placement in order to avoid accidentally muting the first string with the side/palm of my hand.

On the other hand, I found the pick ups to sound even (slightly) better than those on the CS 60s, with an added bonus that they seemed to be virtually noiseless.

(I also liked the burst better on this guitar, as it had more red in it).

Road Worn 60s
While I found the Road Worn 60s to be alright, the Tex-Mex pick ups sounded unremarkable to me (cleaner and more sterile, and more ‘modern’ sounding) than the CS 60s or CP 60s.

I also did not realize, that the road worn theme extended beyond the cosmetic, to encompassing some of the finish being chipped away on the neck. While this did not interfere with my playing, I found it to be annoying, unnecessary and pretentious.

Also, while not bad, the neck in general was not as nice to play as those on the CS and CP 60s.

Eric Johnson
I just tried this guitar as an example of a Strat that had a significantly different neck than the CS 60s and CP 60s, and while I liked the neck, because it was chunkier and more ‘solid’ feeling than on the CS and CP, I did not prefer it to the necks on the latter guitars.

There was one pick up setting that was amazing, though – a kind of very full chiming sound. Wonderful. But, I preferred the CS and CP on all other pick up settings, and in all other respects.

Conclusions
Although I have not yet tried the Squier Classic Vibe 60s, I have to say that on each of the occasions today when I tried the CS 60s and CP 60s, I had to restrain myself from buying them.

In addition to the remarks I have already made about the Strats discussed above, I have to say that the playability of all of these guitars was excellent – intonation, action, and fret edges left nothing to be desired, and I found the necks to be easily playable, across the various types of finish used.

So, I think that I am going to reject the somewhat tempting opportunity to buy a Road Worn at a bargain-basement price (I would accept it if I could afford to buy it in addition to either a CS or CP), and try to find another CS 60s and CP 60s to play as comparisons with the ones I played today, so that I can decide to which of these two models to buy.

I really have fallen in love with these guitars.


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:16 pm
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If budgetary concerns remain a consideration, buy yourself a Classic Series Strat. When finances permit, replace the pickups with a set of Custom Shop Fat '50s, add a steel trem block, and you'll be off to the races. You'll doubtless find more expensive guitars, but I don't think you'll find a better one.

JMOOC

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:17 am
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Hi Arjay,
Thanks for your advice.

I was thinking along similar lines, except was thinking of buying the CS 69 pick ups (as found in the CP 60s) to put into the CS 60s.

What are the Custom Shop Fat 50s like in comparison to the CS 69s?

Also, I have to confess that even though I preferred the Classic Series 60s to the Classic Player 60s (because of the neck), the vast majority of posts that I have read about each guitar (e.g., musicians friend reviews, the strat-talk forum) mention consistent problems with the CS 60s, and virtually no problems with the CP 60s (except one person who had consistent problems with necks bowing and truss-rod adjustment problems on the CP 60s).

A consistent 'problem' (or maybe more accurately, 'characteristic') of the CS 60s seems to be a lack of adequate shielding, contributing to the noisiness of the pick ups.

If I had not read such a lot about people having to expend considerable effort having to 'tweak' the CS 60s to make it playable, I would have bought the CS 60s yesterday because I liked it so much (this is in sharp contrast to what people say about the instant 'out-of-the-box' readiness of the CP 60s).

Conversely, if the CP 60s neck was to my liking, I would have bought that guitar.

Among other possibilities for after purchase, I have also been intrigued by the possibility of wiring the switching back to a 5 way set-up.

Also, what is the 'super switch' possibility (on the CP 60s, I think)?

Maybe the solution is to buy either a CS or CP for now, and to subsequently start to acquire parts to build a custom ('partscaster') CS 60s. This might be a slower project, though, because parts do seem to be priced in such a way as to make this kind of project dependent on finding/waiting for bargains.

My plan is to play a couple more CS 60s (if I can, as I only know of one in the city), and CP 60s next weekend, and then make a decision on the spot and buy the guitar.

As always, I would appreciate any comments and suggestions regarding what I have said.

Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:26 am
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To my ear, the CS '69 pickups sound "balanced", "smooth", and "tame"......ie: milquetoast.

I have a set in my 12-string Strat.

By comparison, the Fat '50s are "phat", "beefy", and "raucous"......ie: ballsy.

I have them in a custom-built ash hardtail Strat.

Choose your poison based on your preferred playing style.

HTH

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:28 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
If budgetary concerns remain a consideration, buy yourself a Classic Series Strat. When finances permit, replace the pickups with a set of Custom Shop Fat '50s, add a steel trem block, and you'll be off to the races. You'll doubtless find more expensive guitars, but I don't think you'll find a better one.

JMOOC

Arjay


+1K...I bought a Classic series awhile back and threw in a set of Texas Specials and later a new steel trem block...it now one Hellacious Stratocaster. It alwasy had good tone to it with the TS pickups, but after the block it now rings like the proverbial bell.

T2

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:32 am
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Hi Arjay and T2,
Arjay (got to love someone who uses 'milquetoast', and who spells it correctly), thanks for the information about the Fat 50s - I generally prefer Les Paul humbuckers, so maybe a set of the 50s would be the way to go, although I am still amazed at how much I absolutely loved the tone of both the CS 69s, and the Vintage-Style Single coils.

T2, thanks for the information you provided about adding the Texas specials to your Classic Series, and also adding a new steel tremblock. It is good to know that it is a good guitar, but I really want to avoid having to do something to it, if possible (I think that I would keep the pick ups, and perhaps, as I said above, build a partscaster into which I could add something like the Fat 50s or Texas Specials).

Really looking forward to making a purchase next weekend.

Thanks for your help with this.


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:57 pm
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drutgat wrote:
Arjay (got to love someone who uses 'milquetoast', and who spells it correctly)...


Right out of the AP Stylebook, sir.

(I once had delusions of grandeur while earning my keep in the field of journalism)

:lol:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:52 pm
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People make fun of me and question me when I use words like "peripatetic"....good to know there are others who actually understand :)


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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:57 pm
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Then it's fortuitous that your wanderlust has led you here.

:lol:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Advice Please on Buying 3 Different '60s Strats
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:59 pm
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:lol:


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