Author Topic: Fender 'Dan Smith' Strats (Read 6602 times)

Underground_Player · « **on:** May 18, 2006, 09:43:37 PM »

Hi guys,

I went to GAK today to try out some Strats to see if they could possibly sound any better (acoustically) than my Pacifica, which I love. The good and the bad news is that they do, by a long way.
I tried what I think is known as a 'Lite Ash' maple board strat, and a fantastic looking '82 model which they were calling a 'Dan Smith' strat. FWIW the '82 was the better sounding guitar, both acoustically and plugged in.
What's confusing is that the '82 had just 1 vol and 1 tone control, with the jack socket in place of the rear tone control. It also had very strange bridge saddles. I thought at the time this was probably all standard fare for this year model, but after a bit of Googling I can't find any Smith era models that look like anything other than proper vintage-type strats.
I'm going back tomorrow to ask a few questions, but for now, are any of you familiar with any Strats with this strange arrangement? Or, basically, has this guitar been modified?
Cheers!

headtheball · « **Reply #1 on:** May 18, 2006, 09:57:16 PM »

Call me a cynic, but I wouldn't pay any premium for it. The "proper" dan smith starts are the ones produced when he returned the strat to it's original form, or near as dammit. These sound like overlaps with the last of the other CBS gear. If it sounds good, take it, but if you pay more than say, 600, they saw you coming.

Underground_Player · « **Reply #2 on:** May 18, 2006, 10:10:49 PM »

The thing is I now know that Fender hired mr. Smith in 'late 1981'. So if this is an '82, it must be a Smith strat. It certainly seemed to be built pretty damn well. And my god it looked good - kind of a really light orange/red sunburst, kind of a tropical vibe, but again I've never seen a sunburst this colour before, and I still can't find one on Google!

Funny you should suggest 600 quid - they had it up for £599!

indysmith · « **Reply #3 on:** May 18, 2006, 10:17:46 PM »

http://www.stratcollector.com/images/smith/83version2.gif
is this it?

"1983 revised Standard Stratocaster. Manufactured from 1983-85. This is not a "Dan Smith Stratocaster". That name has been reserved only for the 1981-83 first version of the Standard Stratocaster, despite what some eager eBay sellers like to claim."

Underground_Player · « **Reply #4 on:** May 18, 2006, 10:25:45 PM »

Holy cr@p that's it! Trust GAK to call it an '82

Ah well it's still a good sounding guitar that'll make some unsuspecting customer happy.

I think I'm actually gonna print off that info and take it to GAK tomorrow. Could be interesting. I mean if they knew it was a Dan Smith, judging by how much some people seem to be selling them for, they'd have it for more than £599........

To be continued!!

Underground_Player · « **Reply #5 on:** May 18, 2006, 10:39:40 PM »

Wow indy they really don't like the '83s on that site do they! Thanks for the link, I've got to learn to search better!

indysmith · « **Reply #6 on:** May 18, 2006, 10:46:17 PM »

haha i haven't read much about it on that site; couldn't give me a link to the precise page you're looking at could you?
I haven't played one myself, but it can't be such a bad guitar if you liked it that much, surely!? They're pretty rare models; i think they were only made for 18 months.
They made 250 of them with bowling ball/marble finishes aswell, which are even more rare/collectable and go for quite a bit of money.

Searcher · « **Reply #7 on:** May 18, 2006, 11:01:11 PM »

Quote from: indysmith

haha i haven't read much about it on that site; couldn't give me a link to the precise page you're looking at could you?
I haven't played one myself, but it can't be such a bad guitar if you liked it that much, surely!? They're pretty rare models; i think they were only made for 18 months.
They made 250 of them with bowling ball/marble finishes aswell, which are even more rare/collectable and go for quite a bit of money.

I saw a mint bowling ball Strat in a pawn shop once for about 400 pounds. I didn't know they were collectable then and I turned my nose up at it--being an 80s Strat and all. Then that night I read how rare they were and went back to buy it, but it had gone.

Underground_Player · « **Reply #8 on:** May 18, 2006, 11:15:12 PM »

I was looking in the forum section of the link you posted. I wish I could find the exact thread I was looking at just before I put that last post up....a guy had said something along the lines of "83 strats were a cost cutting exercise, very poorly made with cheap parts, and most played horribly - don't even think of buying one" Ha!
Here's the closest one to that one that I can find now - as one guy deftly puts it "'83s suck big time" - plus there's some light bedtime reading on the period for anyone out there!

http://www.stratcollector.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=346&hl=revised+standard+strat