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Post subject: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:15 am
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I guess this question is for the old farts in here like me but I cant remember, The Strats back in the 70's seemed to be a heavier or denser wood, the guitars had more weight than my CS Strats............anyone know?.........chime in here Arjay


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:19 am
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I believe you're right - most of the seventies Stratocasters were ash, which tends to be heavier than alder.
Besides, there was an era where weigth was concidered to equal better sound, sustain, carity, happiness etc. The trend today is almost the opposite; lightweight guitars are in fashion.

Or maybe just gravity was stronger then.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:40 am
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jmattis wrote:
Or maybe just gravity was stronger then.


They weigh as much now as then, so I think the gravity is about the same.

I don't know if Fender used more Ash than Alder back then. They certainly used both.
And, yes, it seems to me that the Ash guitars were heavier.

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:41 pm
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in the 70s they did use ash at Fender on Strats. As for them weighing more then....Ash depending on where it grows can have more or less mineral content in it, the more mineral content the more it weighs...AND the cheaper it was. And we all know the suits at CBS were all about saving money on anything and everything when it came to their career aspirations!

It is also a harder wood to machine and along with production increases (again CBS not wanting to have unfilled orders to maintain quality), the belly cut out and the upper bout where nearly a third smaller, so more wood was actually left on the guitar too, thus even more weight increases.

Having said all that, the clear finished ones had some really beautiful wood grain showing but that beauty came at the price of weight.

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:33 pm
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I've owned several '70s era Strats. They are made of ash. The weight varries, but they can get pretty heavy.

'77 natural finished Strat weighed about 10lbs.
'75 Sunburst is about 8.5lbs.
'76 Blonde about 9lbs.
'79 bear wood Strat is heavy, but I don't remember how much.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:14 am
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what about that weird sealer they used. it was almost like a resin. 25 or so years ago, help a guy strip his beater guitar and wat ever that stuff was we tried EVERYTHING this side of battery acid he never get it off.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:02 am
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IIRC it was Polyester. Sprayed in thick coats! It was tuff, but could look plastic.

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 12:29 pm
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I dont think all of them were ash, Im pretty sure My 1972 strat is alder. It weighs a pretty light 7.4 lbs.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:28 am
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Yogi wrote:
I dont think all of them were ash, Im pretty sure My 1972 strat is alder. It weighs a pretty light 7.4 lbs.


I don't know the exact year they went to only ash, but it may have been after '72. I'll do some research.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:07 am
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Beside the sealers and primers, another factor at CBS was aging routing equipment, less of the wood was being taken out from the body routes. Take a look at the tummy cuts on 70s guitars, much lesser than 50s guitars.


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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:57 am
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T2Stratman wrote:
IIRC it was Polyester. Sprayed in thick coats! It was tuff, but could look plastic.


Yeah, Fender was quite proud of if in the '70s. They called it "Thick Skin" in their catalogs, etc.
I'm thinking it was supposed to be bulletproof.

I used to think that the "thick skin" was the top layer of clear coat, but it's not. It seems to be the first layer, grain sealer. With the paint on top of that. I figured that out with my 1975 when a bit of the black on one spot on the edge of the sunburst wore away. A little crescent shape of red can be seen but very little of that thick skin is gone.

And on my 1974 alder bodied "walnut" colored Strat (the color many call "mocha brown"), a fall onto a concrete basement floor took off a quarter sized chunk of the finish. The exposed wood was quite color-free. So that suggests one way to remove these finishes: take a hammer to it, not so good for the wood, but it will shatter the finish!

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:09 pm
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Easy explanation,
The music was heavier then.

My take is that the thick finish gives the perception that it is heavier.
--Another old fart.--

hogrydr wrote:
I guess this question is for the old farts in here like me but I cant remember, The Strats back in the 70's seemed to be a heavier or denser wood, the guitars had more weight than my CS Strats............anyone know?.........chime in here Arjay


Last edited by retnev on Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:26 am
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Mine weighs in @ 10lbs!

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:25 pm
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One of my old "players" was Northern ash and very heavy, but felt and sounded great for a long time.

The swamp ash models were somewhat lighter weightwise, IIRC.

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Post subject: Re: Body wood - 70's Strats
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:47 pm
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shaky wrote:
Mine weighs in @ 10lbs!

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What year is the pasely Strat?


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