** Stand down! It's already sold apparently! ** 73 Strat - advice sought...

Trude

Calling all 70s Strat experts....

I like the look of this one, and it's not too far from me.  £1750 seems a bit optimistic though - any thoughts?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/musicxchange/permalink/1345942995459131

 

Bridgehouse

There's a lot of "depends" with a 70s strat - and 70s fenders in general.

I have an Olympic white Precision from 74, and I had the legendary 72 Jaguar which has done the rounds on here.

Firstly - is it all original? Is it a refin or an original natural? Trem from hardtail conversion? Etc etc.

If all original, then it really comes down to how it plays and sounds. Some will be absolutely superb and worth the cash being asked - others will be not so good and worth moving away from rapidly. 

I don't know if I'd take a risk on buying one site unseen again. Then again, I did it twice and lucked out both times - I suspect my luck would run out if I did it a third time!!

Trude

Yeah, I'd absolutely try this before buying.  The description is pretty good for Classifieds Bingo:

MOJO ALERT! 45 year old beauty, tone to die for plays like butter, recent re-fret, tired old dead (not original) pickups replaced for period correct hand made Hot Rod Pickups and CTS pots etc throughout. Final upgrade is rubbish cast saddles replaced for proper jobs:) rest of the guitar original. One of the best strats to pass through my hands (I've had a few), genuine relic and TONE MONSTER! First to play will buy

Trude

Sold already apparently - the ad didn't get updated.

Bridgehouse

I'd have walked away just because of that description...

Funkfingers

My musical collaborator has a beaten up '76/77 hardtail Strat. He would be very pleased to learn that there are idiots who would pay £1750 for something like that. 

Bridgehouse

Funkfingers said:

My musical collaborator has a beaten up '76/77 hardtail Strat. He would be very pleased to learn that there are idiots who would pay £1750 for something like that. 

The hardtails can be marmite. When I bought my CS Strat from @guitars4you I tried the 74 hardtail he had in. 

I really liked it. @Alnico hated it. 

Horses for courses and totally depends on what you like/want out of a strat.

Telling that I picked up the CS strat tho - the 74 was a YOB

Alnico

Also worth mentioning is that what I hated was *that* hardtail,....some are good.

When they get this old it's so subjective and I'll never forget the experience of playing so many strats back to back, all so wildly different.
That in itself was the biggest eye-opener.

I still dream about the red '59.

Bridgehouse

Alnico said:

Also worth mentioning is that what I hated was *that* hardtail,....some are good.

When they get this old it's so subjective and I'll never forget the experience of playing so many strats back to back, all so wildly different.
That in itself was the biggest eye-opener.

I still dream about the red '59.

Mind you, I bet you had your strat pro in mind when you were trying them all... in which case no wonder the 74 came up short!

Alnico

Bridgehouse said:

Alnico said:

Also worth mentioning is that what I hated was *that* hardtail,....some are good.

When they get this old it's so subjective and I'll never forget the experience of playing so many strats back to back, all so wildly different.
That in itself was the biggest eye-opener.

I still dream about the red '59.

Mind you, I bet you had your strat pro in mind when you were trying them all... in which case no wonder the 74 came up short!

A good point I'd not thought of.
Yes, you're right.

Some of them though, including your '60, took on such different character that the comparison was a bit void really.
Even the difference between your '60 and the red '59 was huge.
That '59 just wants to play dire straits and pink floyd all day, I've never played anything like it.

My Pro is what you just want a Strat to be so you can get on with playing really easily. It's good, it's very good but it's what the masses wanted and it's been engineered to be easier to play.
That's all *Very* good but...
The CS models we're talking about are what they are and YOU adjust to them.

A bit like a Triumph Bonneville (T120) will never, EVER not be cool and you'd always live with the old carbs and fingers full of petrol trying to get it going, so I see the CS models.
The tall frets on my Pro are technically easier to play than the frets on the 59 but it doesn't matter. Neither does the screw in arm that sits low or the 6 point tremolo that I'll always have to play more carefully than I do with the one that's on the pro (Feels like an FR in disguise somedays it's *that* good).

All that comparison peels away when it's against an old one (or a recreation of an old one).

I couldn't sell the Pro to buy a CS.
It's *too* good but if I ever get out of this 'Ibanez Jem,24 fret,7 string,shredder' phase I can see me just throwing everything except my Pro at Mark with as much cash as I can find for the best CS I can get.
Everything except my Tele that is.

That's going nowhere.

For those who haven't seen it yet, here's why....

Handbuilt 60's Relic Tele.
https://i.imgur.com/RCr5xIq.jpg