New Fender signature model - what do you think?

[Philly Q]

Fender Billy Corgan Signature Strat

It's basically a hardtail Highway One with DiMarzio pickups (not much for your extra 200 quid).  But I can't help being attracted by that 70's headstock and black scratchplate with white parts (or vice versa).

What d'you reckon, folks?

[horsehead]

Gotta say it leaves me cold, but then again so does Billy Corgan!

[AndyR]

Not too sure about that one - it was very white on my monitor when it loaded!! I prefer the 60s headstock myself. Also, I used SD hot-rail types on my gigging strat years ago - OK, but eventually I put the old pickups back in, I wanted it to sound more like a strat eventually.

It's all personal taste though isn't it?

However, I can say that when I got my 62 re-issue last year, out of all the other 15-odd strats i tried that day, the Highway One that I tried was the next closest to tugging at my heart-strings. It might seem silly, but the only thing that "put me off" and made me look further, was the extra fret that Fender seem to add nowadays!  :roll:

EDIT: Ah, Horsehead has posted - bear in mind we're both using 62 re-issues!  :lol:

[noodleplugerine]

What does it have which you can't mod for cheaper?

[38thBeatle]

I kind of like it( as my No 1 is a 70's Strat then there is no surprise there). I like the fact that it is a hardtail. I never used to like the large headstock but over the years I have grown to like it. The only thing I would say is that the maple fretboard against the white body is a bit much. I'd prefer a Rosewood board. You and I have a fondness for hard tail Strats.

[_tom_]

It looks great, there arent enough hardtail strats, the only option if you want one seems to be this or get a Warmoth. Blocking off a trem doesnt have the same mojo :P  As you said the 70s headstock and black scratchplate on white draw me in as well. Shame its £200 extra though.

[sambo]

I think it looks great.

The black/white combo suits Fenders perfectly. Reminds me a lot of the Jim Root sig. Tele actually:


http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0134444780

[kevincurtis]

For me the black one looks better - I agree maybe a rosewood board would hep the white version... and for me I don't know how people get on without the top D, I love bending up to E ooer missus ;)

[WezV]

i like it

[Philly Q]

What does it have which you can't mod for cheaper?

Well, nothing except the hardtail (assuming we're sticking in the Fender catalogue).  The sensible thing would be to get a Highway One, a set of pickups and still have 50-odd quid left in your pocket.  But...

I kind of like it( as my No 1 is a 70's Strat then there is no surprise there). I like the fact that it is a hardtail. I never used to like the large headstock but over the years I have grown to like it. The only thing I would say is that the maple fretboard against the white body is a bit much. I'd prefer a Rosewood board. You and I have a fondness for hard tail Strats.

Agreed, I do love a hardtail Strat  :) .  And I never liked the big headstock either (maybe because we're of the generation that grew up with the "received wisdom" that pre-CBS Fenders were great, '70s and '80s were shite) - but recently it's really grown on me, and I love the big blocky black lettering.

I really like both rosewood and maple boards.  I've got a late '90s hardtail (rosewood) and the Robert Cray which is early '60s style (again, hardtail and rosewood).  I'm getting a '50s style Classic Player (maple V-neck) so a '70s style big-headstock maple board would complete the "set".  Not in a vintage-correct way, of course - I like big frets and a 9.5" radius, couldn't care less if they didn't have them in 1961!

[horsehead]

EDIT: Ah, Horsehead has posted - bear in mind we're both using 62 re-issues!  :lol:

We both have great taste mate ;)

[gwEm]

i strongly prefer the 70s headstock. if i wanted a hardtail strat i'd take the robert cray sig though.

[Fikealox]

I love the colour scheme, Mr Q :)

[AndyR]

EDIT: Ah, Horsehead has posted - bear in mind we're both using 62 re-issues!  :lol:

We both have great taste mate ;)

We do indeed!

Talking of hardtail though - do you use the trem?

I set mine up originally, it was perfect, never had a trem work so well... but I do a lot of two string bends etc, and I can't be doing with the tuning problems on bends when the bridge is floating.

So in a way, I much prefer a hardtail as well Philly (mines all screwed down now), but I DO want the springs in there resonating - doesn't seem to sound right without them (and there's always the option of resetting the trem if you want it)...

I am coming round to the idea of the 70s headstock. I believe there's a Japanese 70s "blackmore" re-issue that is highly regarded, I am tempted by hunting one of those down for my "Smoke on the Water" and "Man on the Silver Mountain" moments... (Obviously, the trem would have to be active on that one!)

[Philly Q]

i strongly prefer the 70s headstock. if i wanted a hardtail strat i'd take the robert cray sig though.

The Robert Cray is a very nice Strat - and it has a good fat neck too.

(I should point out I have the Mexican version, not the Custom Shop one!  :)  )

So in a way, I much prefer a hardtail as well Philly (mines all screwed down now), but I DO want the springs in there resonating - doesn't seem to sound right without them (and there's always the option of resetting the trem if you want it)...

Yeah, the springs do contribute to the sound we "expect" from a Strat, but I see the hardtail as almost a different instrument, halfway between a Strat and a Tele.  And I like the look of a hardtail Strat as well - you can hardly tell from a distance but whenever I see one I think "oh, it's a hardtail!" and get a rush of childish excitement. :oops:

I notice there's no hardtail in the new American Standard series  :( .  The American series one was always really hard to find anyway - I always wanted a White Blonde one with a maple neck, but my Inca Silver rosewood was the only one I ever saw in a shop.   

I'm not totally anti-tremolo - I like what they do in terms of changing the pitch, but I don't like the way the bridge moves when you bend strings and, especially, I don't like the way you lose sustain when the bar's depressed.  If someone could invent a trem that had NO effect on the guitar at all except changing the pitch, I'd be all for it.