tried a real 70s Fender strat - it was pretty shocking

[38thBeatle]

My 76 Strat plays beautifully and sounds terrific. There are a few finishing issues granted but I have one of the good ones. That Ebay example was way over the top in terms of price though and I agree generally that there were a lot of lemon Fenders around then. I guess I must have been lucky though the guy I bought mine from spent weeks trying them out before he settled on what was to become mine. I bought it for £150.00 at a time when they were around £277.00  so it was cheap at the time and given that I have played hundreds of gigs with it I think I have had my moneys worth.

[ailean]

Fender Custom Shop is the way to go - leave vintage to the collectors  ;)

+1

Got a '98 custom shop strat. Truely. Awsome.

[Andrew W]

Fender Custom Shop is the way to go - leave vintage to the collectors  ;)

Maybe.  I tried a Custom Shop '69 reissue recently and for £2600 it was a pretty average guitar.  Granted you couldn't fault it build-quality wise but it sounded very ordinary (and that isn't just my playing I promise you) and was decidedly magic free.  In the end I went with a Highway One which I've tarted up a bit and, for me at least, it's a vastly better instrument. 

I was in another guitar shop looking at amps on Monday when I overheard one of the assistants to another having just put down some other Custom Shop guitar, "Yup, that's a pretty cr@ppy guitar for three grand".  I guess it's like all guitars, some have magic and some don't and often the asking price isn't the deciding factor.

All of the above said, the flat out worst guitar I ever played apart from my £60 from Argos starter guitar was a late 70s strat. Just awful.

[PhilKing]

I have an 82 Fernandes Revival - which I bought new for less than $200.  It is an incredible strat clone, which I have added grey bottom pickups to.  At the time it blew all the Fenders out of the water.  In the mid 70s I was working in music retail and we were a Fender dealer (as well as Gibson).  I had to set up every guitar that came into the shop, but there were good ones amongst them.  The best one I ever heard and played was a hardtail.  There have been good and bad guitars in all eras.  I have a friend with a real 57 strat that has the worst neck - it moves with humidity (my 57 does that too - but not like his).  His twists and bows sideways a bit!  When it is set up it sounds great and is nice to play, but it has to be set up every few weeks!

[Ian Price]

Fender Custom Shop is the way to go - leave vintage to the collectors  ;)

Man - I hate threads like this. It seriously makes me question having a 70s tele. I'll be taking it along to the Manchester and London BKP meets - will be interesting to hear others opinions of it. It does have sentimental value to me so others may think it is a stinker and open my eyes for me!!!

[Twinfan]

I'm looking forward to seeing it  :)

And I agree with the comments above re. mojo - some £100 guitars have it and some £3000 ones don't.  It's all in that particular combination of wood!

[jpfamps]

Fender Custom Shop is the way to go - leave vintage to the collectors  ;)

Man - I hate threads like this. It seriously makes me question having a 70s tele. I'll be taking it along to the Manchester and London BKP meets - will be interesting to hear others opinions of it. It does have sentimental value to me so others may think it is a stinker and open my eyes for me!!!

Tele's didn't get vandalized by CBS as much as Strats. I've played  quite a few later 70s Teles that have been fine, although I've also played a fair number of shockers.

[jpfamps]

I would much rather own an early 80s JV series Squier
Had a few in for setup now and then and they blow 1970s Fender USA out of the water!

Even some of the new vibe series are like that too!

Buy a good cheapie and ad BKPs

Agreed. In my opinion too the JV Squiers are great guitars. All the ones I've played have been great; in fact much better than a current USA Standard Strat, and light years ahead of the late 70s Fender offerings.

[AndyR]

I would much rather own an early 80s JV series Squier
Had a few in for setup now and then and they blow 1970s Fender USA out of the water!

Even some of the new vibe series are like that too!

Buy a good cheapie and ad BKPs

Agreed. In my opinion too the JV Squiers are great guitars. All the ones I've played have been great; in fact much better than a current USA Standard Strat, and light years ahead of the late 70s Fender offerings.

I've got one, bought it new in 82/83 - and when I compared it to various "real" ones I had access to at the time (but could not afford :lol:) I was pleasantly surprised to find that I much preferred mine. And this included an early 60s Olympic white I found in Showaddywaddy's (spelling?) green-room when I was doing security for a Uni gig :lol:

Having said that, for me, my recent CIJ 62 re-issue beats the living cr*p out of it. I would not pay the prices I've seen pristine or "good condition" JVs going for, knowing that I personally can get far more from a brand new CIJ. Actually, I probably wouldn't buy a decent JV at a silly cheap price either - I love mine, but I'm not hung up on the "JV" thing, I'd rather have what I find to be a better guitar for me.

By the way, my JV is not, er, "pristine" in any shape or form :lol: It did hundreds of gigs, sometimes helping to rearrange the venue's stage... I stripped the body in the early 90's with a sanding drum on a drill(! sorry folks...), and it was subjected to an amateur refret around the same time because it wasn't playable anymore (the refret works, but is not "tidy"). I've still got the original pups somewhere but not the scratchplate. The tuners were replaced when they wore out (didn't keep the old ones), the saddles have been replaced a few times (I do have the originals, but I wouldn't use them on a guitar!). I recently filled a battery rout that went in in the late 80s for an active circuit, and I refinished the body with car lacquer from Halfords...

So, not exactly a collectable vintage example... but I'd never part with it anyway (even though I don't play it or even have it out of it's case at the moment).

70s strats though... I'm sure there's some cute ones, but I just prefer the look/feel of early 60s. The 70s ones I've seen don't even give me an urge to pick them up. That's just my tastes though :D

[Elliot]

I love my JV - it is my no1, little of it is now original, but with a Feline fret dress it plays like a dream - and given that I got it in 1983 I can confirm it trashed the late 70s and 80s US strats as that is what I wanted at the time because they said Fender on them, but all the ones I tried were horrible in the extreme.

The block colour JVs (like mine) were made of basswood and that does leave them a bit more growly than alder strats - the cure, of course, is APACHES!

[Ian Price]

I took a quick visit to Guitarworks in Reading today. They had a 70s strat in store that hade been reserved. Asking price was £999. Basically it was a 76 strat neck although it wasn't the original neck, body had no discernible date marks (they put a question mark on the info tag) and it had EMGs installed. It looked like a bit of a pig to me and weighed an absolute ton (I picked it up when the store guys weren't looking!)

I don't think I would have paid that much for it!

[Johnny Mac]

I've got a 79 'Anniversary' It feels ok but I'm used to it. I have felt better necks on USA Strats that are a only few years old. The finish on mine is thick, syrupy and probably polyurethane based which was being used a lot to make skateboard decks at the time and was considered a space age material! It sounds nice though.

[Philly Q]

I've got a 79 'Anniversary' It feels ok but I'm used to it. I have felt better necks on USA Strats that are a only few years old. The finish on mine is thick, syrupy and probably polyurethane based which was being used a lot to make skateboard decks at the time and was considered a space age material! It sounds nice though.

Is it one of the silver ones?  I remember admiring one of those in John Ham's in Swansea when I was about 15!  :lol:

Apparently the first few were white, but something went wrong with the finishes (they cracked really badly) so they switched to silver.

[Johnny Mac]

I've got a 79 'Anniversary' It feels ok but I'm used to it. I have felt better necks on USA Strats that are a only few years old. The finish on mine is thick, syrupy and probably polyurethane based which was being used a lot to make skateboard decks at the time and was considered a space age material! It sounds nice though.

Is it one of the silver ones?  I remember admiring one of those in John Ham's in Swansea when I was about 15!  :lol:

Apparently the first few were white, but something went wrong with the finishes (they cracked really badly) so they switched to silver.

Yes it is one of the silver ones. They're not the best looking things in world I have to say! I'll bring it along to the meet.