Strat Advice - Custom Shop Deluxe

andyoz

I noticed Rollys Guitars mentioned in another thread, he does get nice stuff...

I've been considering a Strat for a while but know very little about them.  What's the story with this model? http://www.rollysguitars.co.uk/2010-fender-custom-shop-deluxe-stratocaster-2/

I have an LP and PRS (wide/fat neck) so I know the Strat neck will feel small.  What will the neck on this be like - will it be just the normal Strat profile or slightly bigger/smaller?


 

Brize

It doesn't say what the neck profile is - it could be chunky or thin. The serial number is visible in the pictures so you could call Fender in the States and they'll be able to tell you the neck profile.

I think it's over-priced for a second-hand Custom Deluxe Strat and the colour looks a bit clown-burst. Consider that @DougCoda will probably do you a deal on something like this:

http://www.coda-music.com/fender-custom-shop-custom-custom-deluxe-strat-natural-p-18417.html

This guitar has a '65 C-shape neck, which has a bit of heft to it.

crunchman

I'd budget for new pickups as well.  Texas Specials are muddy and nasty. 

Between the pickups and the modern style bridge this is not a traditional style Strat.  I'd play it alongside a more vintage spec one with a 6 screw bridge and vintage output pickups.  I think most of the Custom Shop guitars sold in this country have 9.5" radius so you should be able to find a vintage spec one to try with that radius. 

Gassage

Try before you buy. These can be very very trebley.

andyoz

OK, looks like Strats are no different to LP's as it took me ages to research all the little Gibson nuances.

It was more the neck and overall woods used that caught my eye.

I'm located in Nth Ireland so can't try alot of the really nice gear before buying...

andyoz

crunchman said:

I'd budget for new pickups as well.  Texas Specials are muddy and nasty. 

Between the pickups and the modern style bridge this is not a traditional style Strat.  I'd play it alongside a more vintage spec one with a 6 screw bridge and vintage output pickups.  I think most of the Custom Shop guitars sold in this country have 9.5" radius so you should be able to find a vintage spec one to try with that radius. 

Where should I be looking for the vintage spec. stuff - do you see things like birds eye maple necks and this much grain in the bodies on them?

Regarding the pickups, I'm looking for sounds totally different to my single cuts so maybe trebly isn't so bad.

I'll read up on it..

crunchman

It's more to do with the hardware.  The modern Strat bridge is only a 2 point connection to the body.  It does make it easier set up well and keep the tuning good.  The vintage style bridge has 6 screws so it's a lot more tricky to set up, but a lot of people say that it sounds better.  You can definitely find good sounding guitars with the modern style bridge but personally most of the best sounding Strats I've played have had a vintage style bridge.  The are well respected people who seem to think the vintage style one sounds better.  One example is Paul Reed Smith.  The PRS trem is a tweaked 6 screw type.

The purists go on about things like pressed steel saddles and body end truss rod adjustment as well.  I'm not sure whether they make a lot of difference.

It's probably a bit like the neck tenon debate you get with Gibsons.  It probably makes some difference but you can find good factory guitars with short tenons and you can find so so Custom Shop guitars with long tenons.

Personally I really don't like all the overwound pickups like Texas Special either.  I remember trying out an amp in a shop once with a top of the range US made Knopfler signature that had Texax specials (priced well north of £1k), and they asked me to go into another room because I was making too much noise.  I swapped the Knopfler for a Mexican Classic Player with vintage output pickups and it sounded much better.  Much more life and dynamics to the sound.

Strats are the same as Gibsons in that you can get 2 supposedly identical guitars and they do not sound the same.  It's awkward if you are in NI but it's best to play them if you can.

andyoz

Great advice, thanks

Majorscale

I have a 2010 CS Custom Deluxe. I love it! The '65 C shape neck is perfect for me, chunky but not too fat and thankfully a lot nicer than the bland modern C shape of most modern Fenders. It has "CS 69" pickups in the neck and middle and a single Texas in the bridge. I've seen no need to swap pickups, love the tones and playability...

Essentially its a vintage-ish strat with a few modern features.

Majorscale

Here you go, this'll help fill the gaps! For 2010 they just changed a few of the solid colour options, mine is Sonic Blue fwiw...

ennspek

I like Texas Specials personally. I don't think they are overly fashionable but they do me ok. I can see people saying they are trebly but I don't think I'd describe them as muddy. It's all subjective of course.

dindude

I also have one of these 2010's, has been my main guitar for 5 years now and absolutely love it, albeit mine is alder bodied. It's a really great modern Strat. As has been said, there is only one Texas special, which is in the bridge, I changed mine out, just for preference, but it was prefectly good, and the '69's in the neck and middle are awesome and have never been changed.

The neck has a bit of heft to it, certainly more than a Fender "modern C".

The two-point trem thing - insignificant if you like the guitar, so many words are written on the difference between this and the 6 point, it really doesn't matter, there are great and poor Strat's with both types of trem.

So in summary, superb top quality guitar, though probably not for the vintage purist (although it is only the trem that Strays too far from vintage spec).

My only comment is that I think it's slightly over-priced. £1400 - £1500 would be my guess for a minter.

BigLicks67

I had a 2010 Sienna Burst ash bodied strat that was not very dissimilar to this one. The ash body seems to resonate more acoustically than alder although it was a bit heavier. I would try an american standard series first before this one and you might find yourself saving a lot of money.

Neck - will have a slightly wider nut than vintage spec and the string spacing is shallower at the bridge than vintage.

I got rid of mine when I got an Eric johnson Strat and sonically I didn't feel they where massively different, I just didn't like the feel of the modern neck.

I also think the modern 2 point trem works better than the vintage one.

andyoz

I've got my head stuck on birds eye maple necks for some reason - not sure how much that limits my options but maybe if I start there it could speed things up?

This is the sort of classic look that does it for me...if they could reissue something like that with the interesting neck grain I'd be all over it.

http://professortones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/fat-strat-friday-1958-birdseye-maple.html

MattFGBI

You could take this to a Custom Shop dealer and ask for a quote for this but with Birds Eye maple neck.

andyoz

I think I should be considering a Tele instead. Any opinions on these....I never know they did them with cutaway.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Select-Telecaster-Violin-Burst-402-/321777684286

Moss

andyoz said:

I think I should be considering a Tele instead.

Any opinions on these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Select-Telecaster-Violin-Burst-402-/321777684286

3 too many saddles 

Prefer the ones without pickguards too:

http://www.guitarnoise.com/images/features/Fender-Select-Carved-Maple-Top-Telecaster-Amber.jpg

andyoz

"3 too many saddles". Cryptic...hmmm??

ennspek

Prefers traditional 3 barrel saddles on a tele I think.

andyoz

Got it, thanks!