NGD: Bargain of 2018?

Kahuna

Just picked this up from a friend, who had his eye on my Schecter Blackjack 006. A quick 70 mile drive later, and she's mine.

One tiny issue is the trem arm broken off in the block, but it's an easy job to replace the block once I find one the right size.

The trem issue is offset by two things:

1. The pickups are a set of Bare Knuckle Irish Tours, and
2. It cost me a grand total of £200 (which is how much I paid for the Schecter)

Hands up all those who think I'm happy.

Kahuna

JonHosker

Bargain and tasty looking!
Enjoy!!

ICBM

Ah, the infamous Foto-Flame Strat .

The pickups make that a very good deal... the stock ones were truly awful on them. If it’s not already done the switch is worth replacing too.

You can also get rid of the cheap soft alloy block which will be another major upgrade if you replace it with steel - ironically it’s because the block is so soft that the arm thread bites in hard and almost welds itself into place, then snaps off when you try to get it out. It used to puzzle me why so many broke until I actually had it happen while trying to get a stuck arm out of one.

Kahuna

The consensus amongst people who've owned or played them is that they were considerably superior to USA Strats of the time. Having played both, I tend to agree. The neck is sublime. 

handsomerik

Bargain!! Let me know when you want to move it on and i'll give you £200 for it ;-)

jonnyburgo

Rule 1 - Never tell the FB what you paid for a guitar

benecol

Kahuna said:

The neck is sublime. 

Came in here to say the same thing - fella at work has one, and while I'm not a fan of the finish, the neck is a pearler.

Kahuna

If anything ever happened to the finish (the cracks that sometimes occur...although, it it hasn't by now, it probably won't) I'll just buy a Warmoth body and transfer everything over.  Still be a bargain.

impmann

I’d echo the comments about the bridge block by @ICBM - a new one made of decent cold rolled steel will improve the sound dramatically too imho.
Nice score.

Kahuna

impmann said:

I’d echo the comments about the bridge block by @ICBM - a new one made of decent cold rolled steel will improve the sound dramatically too imho.
Nice score.

Yeah, just need to make sure I can find the right size, it being a MIJ and all.  

impmann

Drop a mail to Kev Hurley (kevinh66@hotmail.co.uk ) - he'll make you one. His blocks are superb.

ICBM

Kahuna said:

The consensus amongst people who've owned or played them is that they were considerably superior to USA Strats of the time.

That’s getting a bit silly .

The necks are certainly fantastic like all MIJ Fenders, but the rest is not even close to the quality of a USA Standard Strat - even a 90s one with a ‘blockboard’ body - all the stock electrics and hardware apart from the machineheads is total junk.

You’ve got great pickups already and the bridge is the other important tone upgrade... if you replace the switch and preferably the rest of the electrics as well - for reliability mainly - *then* you’ll have a guitar which is arguably as good as a US one.

A friend of mine had one for years, it was his favourite of several Strats he had. I always thought it had a ‘soft’ tone which I didn’t like, although that was probably down to the bridge since I had replaced all the electrics for him. (The pickguard will need the holes opening out for full-size pots.)

I think the bridge is a standard vintage reissue 56mm spacing, but check. I had to replace the block on my friend's one too - not the one I snapped the arm in, his was just stripped - but he wanted it kept the same so I used another alloy one.

57Deluxe

but it's a clown burst strat!

robinbowes

My main Strat started off as one of these (MIJ Fotoflame '57).

I agree about the neck. In fact, it's the only remaining original component! I've replaced literally everything else.

• switched the hardware to Gold because... er, I can't remember - SRV, maybe?
• replaced pickups with Kinmans (originally AVn blues set, currently a set of HX Impersonators, I think)
  
• rolled steel block, from Kev Hurley.
  
• replaced body with lightweight black thing I picked up on here, I think

I call it "Trigger's Strat"

R.

Kahuna

What's the rough cost of one of his blocks? 

robinbowes

Kahuna said:

What's the rough cost of one of his blocks? 

I paid £25 + postage in 2015.

Not sure if he's still doing them - I know he stopped at some stage.

R.

Dan_Halen

I picked up a foto flame about a week ago as it happens. Never knew much about them but tried it out and it played great, felt great and sounded great. It's a HSS with a Floyd which is not everyone's cup of tea but is certainly not like anything else I've got and I've always been a big Sambora fan. The newer American Fenders are great but they're so damn pricey these days. This felt literally every bit as good for about the price of a classic vibe.

Yes, the photo top is a bit gaudy and they are, as a range, a bit maligned. However, I think for the price it was an absolute bargain.

OP, hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine.

Kahuna

Not put mine down yet. It needs new pots, switch and jack (the pots are 500k not 250 as BK recommended),  it it still has 5 lovely and distinct tones. Just sounds like a rorty Strat tbh. Big fan of chunky necks now. 

DrJazzTap

I like it. Certainly looks more expensive than  £200 definitely worth it with the bare knuckles!

Kahuna

The thing I like about the BK pickups is that it still sounds like a Strat in all 5 positions.