American Vintage Strat !

[edi_87]

I went to a local music store few days ago, and played one of those babies. 57 Vintage Strat to be precise.. God, I was blown away! Not only was it the best strat I have ever heard and played but also the best guitar!
I just can't fight with the desire to buy one!

Now, guys, some of you have probably played American Vintage 62 and 70..
How do they compare? There are unfortunately only 57's in my town and I don't want to make a bad decision..

Thx!

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

No idea! The best strat I ever played was very recently at a guitar shop. They had a custom shop Strat with a nice thick neck that felt kinda like a PRS. Nice teal colored paint job, vintage trem, vintage tuners, etc. Don't know what pickups they were but sounded great for single coils. Guys at the shop told me it was a custom shop 50s model. Best strat I ever played. Still not enough to get me to buy one!

 

[millsart]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

57 is a maple fingerboard no doubt ? 62's would be rosewood. Thats one of the most obvious differences.

I belive the neck profile is different as well, 62 should be a little slimmer and C shaped while the 57 is U ?

Thats just off the top of my head though and I could be wrong

 

[ErikH]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

The '57 is more of a V with an all maple neck, '62 would be a C with a rosewood fingerboard. The pickups in both are the ’57/’62s.

The complete specs for both are on the Fender site.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

i love the 57's and their V shaped neck... the USA HotRod 57 i like slightly more because the neck has a flater radius and larger frets-(but the bridge PU is a Dimarzio humbucker) ... but the 57 vintage reissues are cool...

the thing that bugs me about the 50's reissue strats is the 1 ply pickguard on the models i see around my town are warping and bending...

the 62 and the HotRod 62 have the Rosewood board C shape neck and 3 ply pickguard...

i really like the green Hot Rod 62 even if i tend to like 50's V necks!!!

 

[edi_87]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

Anyone tried to replace the original pups with the Duncans? I wonder how good are the stock pups.. Any opinions about those Fender pups?

 

[WhoFan]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

i like the stock PU's as far as vintage style goes... in general i like alittle more output but the stock vintage Fenders are fine by me....

 

[ErikH]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

Those '57/'62 pickups are really nice. I had a couple a few years ago. There's really no need to change them unless you're an absolute snob about it....lol.

Even when it comes to changing them, if I were in that situation, I'd put together a completely new pickguard assembly and leave the stock one intact as-is. That way I could swap the whole thing back and forth if I wanted to.

 

[cstony111]

Re: American Vintage Strat !

I have a 62 w/rosewood neck , I gave the original pickups a chance and then put Fender Custom shop 69 pickups and last week after about 2 years I installed Seymour Duncan Antiquity II's now for me it is the ultimate Stratocaster, I am very happy with it. I had an extra pickguard and all the pots etc before I found this 62 vintage, but I didn't go with the original intact route. This guitar is for me to play, not for some future owner. I am not a snob by any means regarding fender pickups, but I have experienced great tone in my life before and lately I have been able to replace great gear I owned and lost previously with a setup that makes my heart glad.