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Post subject: Fender Elite Gold Strat Question(s)
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 7:09 am
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Hey..first post here..be gentle lol!!

I have a Fender Elite Gold Strat S/N E 320196. I'm not exactly sure of the year of my guitar...I have read several sites and it's confusing to me...it's either a late 83' or early 84' model I believe...but if you can clarify further, please do....I'm still learning about Fender's.

This is my second Elite Gold....I had a blue one that like a idiot traded and I've been kicking myself ever since..it took me 15 years to find another in good condition!!

The blue one had a weird/strange attachment at the nut..I believe it was a Wilkinson roller nut, but I'm not sure...any ideas?? Was this stock or added after the fact?? :?:

What part number or brand of Wilkinson would I have to get for my Elite to upgrade it?? :?:

I recently changed out the saddles on my Freeflyte to Graphtech saddles and it's a world of difference for the better IMO 8) .

So, if you have any ideas or concrete facts...I definitely would appreciate them....there is so much I don't know about the model...but I truly love Elite's....great playing and sounding guitars.

Could it have been a LSR Roller Nut on it??

Thanks in advance.


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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:26 am
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I know for sure that Fender has and still does use the LSR. I could swear that I read recently that Fender has also used the Wilkinson but I could be mistaken.


Last edited by Strataholic on Mon May 12, 2008 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:41 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Wilkinson and Gotoh both make roller nuts and I have a notion there's a no-name budget model out there as well. All in addition to the genuine Fender LSR. They all look distinctly different from one another. You need to check out pictures of them on the obvious websites and see which one looks like what you had (check this page, for example - LSR near the top, Wilkinson towards the bottom: http://www.axesrus.com/axehardware.htm ).

I'd need a good reason to have the wood around the nut cut down to take one, though. Once it's done there's no going back...


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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:32 pm
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Hello VACharvel,

It wasn't a roller nut, it was a string locking
devise.

Cheers.


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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:56 pm
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The Elites were all from '83 and '84. Not sure if the serial number can tell you which with complete accuracy.

Some Elites shipped with a locking fine-tuner device just south of the nut. Maybe that's what you remember. I didn't get along with mine, so I took it off and installed regular string trees, with which I've been much happier.

Did the Graphtec saddles improve the Freeflyte's tuning stability, the tone, or both? I'm intrigued.

Congratulations on finding an Elite again. They're great guitars, aren't they?


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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:48 am
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Thanks for the replies guys....

The more I think about it, I think it was the weird locking contraption that was disabled on my first Elite Gold.

I had thought about adding a LSR or Wilkinson rolling nut to my current one, but I've decided not to...the original nut is fine as is....and if it ever does go out, I'll just replace it with a Graphtech or something...I'm not going to hack it up....

The Graphtech saddles I recently installed in my opinion have drastically improved the tone/sustain for the better on my guitar. It simply VIBRATES now....I'm serious....it's killer now....and it only took me a couple of hours to do....and that's including the intonation of the bridge.

I think if Fender hadn't rushed the production of the Elite's and gave Schaller time to tweak and refine the Freeflyte trem....the guitar would have achieved much more acclaim than it did.

The Elite's are great guitars..very innovative for their time, some of which are still used today on some high-end models.

I bought my Elite Gold from a guy off another guitar board for $750 w/OHSC as he said it had a problem with the electronics....all I did was replace the battery and re-connect one wire to the dummy coil and it is as good as new IMO.

I've heard that the earlier 83 models of the Elite's are the desireable ones....I dunno....as I've seen some others online, mine is a early 83 model according to the serial #.


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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:19 pm
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VACarvel,
Thanks for the report on the Graphtecs. I might give them a try.

You're right, the Freeflyte could have used some more R&D. It's actual performance for me has been fine, but you've really got to know what you're doing when you set it up. I think that's why it gets such a bad rap. It's too complicated for most players. I spent the first 15 years with it trying to figure it out.

Also, congratulations on getting such a great price. About a year ago, a thieving magpie tried to sell my Elite (just plain, not even a Gold) sans case and vibrato arm on Ebay. The bidding got to about $1700 before the police shut him down. I had no idea it was worth that kind of money.


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