bros im back with a strat attack

[Oudy]

As some of you (probally not) might have noticed I took a break from posting (no reason, just visiting family and other things) and I figured it would come back to show you guys the newest member of my instrument family that gave me gas so bad a bottle of tums couldn't cure.


I present to you (later on I will have pictures up of the actual guitar I ust need to find my camera and charge it) my first ever fender strat (stock photo till i get pictures up )

(Modifications done include a black pearloid pickguard and a set of white lace sensor red/silver/blue. Everything else is as bought including maple fretboard and white colour)

Now, a lot of you might be scratching your heads looking at it wondering "why on earth would someone buy a MIM strat" and this is my reasoning. I played prolly about 8-10 strats when I went to pick one out and tried this one out through a marshall. It has a very unique voice to it, more specifically when clean. To my ears it had a kind of semi hollow/hollowbody like chime to it and resonated extremely well when clean and even unplugged. The neck has this really unique looking grain to it, it has prominent red streaks through it which i had never seen before on any maple neck. It also has some very unique sounding harmonics that i didn't really knew existed. It has some really smooth playability and one of the most comfortable necks i've ever played, you can play some really nice jazzy licks through it and make it sing or some really nice thick distorted riffs and they all sound really good, especially for a 380 dollar strat and this one has stood out like no other.


Again, I will share pics in the next day or two just need to find my camera and you can all experience how nice a 390 dollar guitar can look (MAYBE even a sound clip this weekend)

Hope you enjoyed my huge wall of text.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hi Oudy. Welcome back and thanks for the report. Yep, pictures would be nice. Glad to see you like it. Don't let folks tell you that all Mexican Strats suck. I have one(of course its the Jimmy Vaughan body only, with upgraded electronics, Duncan pickups, Gotoh tuners,Wilkinson VSVG tremolo and and a USACG neck, and a lot of the poly has been taken off) and its not too bad!

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hi Oudy. Welcome back and thanks for the report. Yep, pictures would be nice. Glad to see you like it. Don't let folks tell you that all Mexican Strats suck. I have one(of course its the Jimmy Vaughan body only, with upgraded electronics, Duncan pickups, Gotoh tuners,Wilkinson VSVG tremolo and and a USACG neck, and a lot of the poly has been taken off) and its not too bad!

I was going to throw a cheap lfr on it but decided it was a horrible idea and decided to stay with the standard strat trem, might change to a wilkinson eventually but overall im happy with it, neck and everything. most strats feel weird because i have really big hands but this one feels right.

go figure, even the cheapest fenders can play like 5 grand one

 

[thespricket]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

It's crazy isn't it? How Stratocastors vary in quality. Especilly the MIMs. I've played some that play worse than some squiers, and some that play as well as most AIM or CIJ strats. It's all about finding the right one, as I see you have.

Post pics of it with the lace sensors and the Black Pearloid!! I'm dying to see it!

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hey man, nice to have you back.
BTW, what happened with that King V you were building?

Anyway, yep, MiMs can be all over the place.
Mine was my first guitar and the more I learned about guitars in general and Strats in particular, the more I'd appreciate her and fall in love with her (I now sometimes refer to her as "my Eternal Mistress" ).

Actually mine sounds exactly what you're describing (minus the color :9
Very resonant with a semi-hollow acoustic-like quality with rich harmonics and overtones and a Maple neck/board with those reddish streaks.

By now I've replaced every single piece of electronic and hardware it came stock with but I feel it was well worth it as both the playability and tone benefited greatly (plus it doesn't hurt that it now stays in perfect tune even after some trem abuse )

Here it is BTW, if you look closely you can even see the red streaks although they're much more heavy as you move upper in the neck )

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

I don't have an MIM strat, but I have an MIM tele which is just like you described as well. Oddly enough, it also has those red streaks in the fretboard.

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hey man, nice to have you back.
BTW, what happened with that King V you were building?

Initially it was going to start mid to late june but he had a mass group order he wanted to finish off (of randy rhoad's copies) and i didn't have a problem with letting him work on those first since he had a deadline and im not in a huge rush since perfection takes time.

he said sometime this month it should start and pics will be going up once i get some

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Cool, keep us posted

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

im having some problems locating my camera but pictures will be up as soon as i can, i might have to borrow a friend's cam but they will come


btw keeper your strat is gorgeous, is that a PATB distortion in the bridge?

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Thanks man, it's called Midnight Blue which basically means depending on the lighting and the angle you see it at it'll either look more blue or more purple than in that picture (which is quite successful in being about at the middle )

A couple day ago I also replaced the pickguard screws (but kept the pickup and 5-way screws) to matte black for a sleeker, more stealthy look and the results are VERY satisfying.
You said you'll go with a black guard yourself so I highly recommend it. It's a cheap enough mod that makes quite the difference!

Oh, the pickup in the bridge is the Crazy 8.
I tried to put it in my mahogany neck-thru and it was about the worst pickup I could put in it but in my Strat it's a match made in heaven!

 

[scottish]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

I too, own a killer MIM strat. This was one of the 60th anniversary year models and its probably the best strat i have ever played, MIA or MIM. Replaced the pickguard with a warmoth brown shell and the pups with duncan SSL1, SSL1, SSL5 (not shown in this pic), new pots and an orange drop cap and we are set to go.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

D@mn, love that guard!
Can't really see it working with my guitar but with a black or a white (like yours) is killer!

But, IMO the white knobs/pus are a MUST with it

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

here we go, pics, not the best and not a lot but these will do.

edit: ok maybe the pickguard is tortoise im not sure but it sitll looks cool.

i think of it as a cheap bill corgain replica

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Ohh, that's nice.
I have a guard like that, it was called black pearl, dunno.

Might I again suggest about the black guard screws?
I think they'll fit in nicely

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Cool guitar. I've played MIA Strats that sucked butt, and MIM Strats that were glorious (I own one myself). I do find that overall Fenders are far more consistent than, say, Gibson or Ibanez, but there are definitely gems and dogs out there.

Enjoy it.

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Ohh, that's nice.
I have a guard like that, it was called black pearl, dunno.

Might I again suggest about the black guard screws?
I think they'll fit in nicely

WAY later on i am thinking of changing all of the hardware (including screws) to black and putting on a black wilkinson or maybe a kahler, not sure though (along with the tuners but they're pretty good ones but i think if i put on a trem i would use more i would go with higher quality ones.

a weird thing about this strat is that i usually keep it in open G 1/2 step down which is really cool for some alt rock or creating some really cool sounds.

i havnt been able to locate a trem arm that fits yet though since the standard fender sized won't fit, i apparently need a smaller one so i guesss i need to go arm shopping or look on the internet

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Woa, looks better than I expected bro, nice score
Can't wait to hear those Lace Sensors in action either

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Woa, looks better than I expected bro, nice score
Can't wait to hear those Lace Sensors in action either

ill have to see, every time i try to figure out something something else comes up, well do it after i can get a chance to grab my line 6 and come down, i got to play it through a marshall yesterday and it just screamed

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hmm, let me see...

Ok, the screws are a cheap enough mod so you could do it whenever.
Now about the rest of the hardware...

I think if possible it'd look cool if you had a black Wilkinson with chrome/nickel saddles!
Keep the jack-plate chrome but replace the jack with a black one and get black Sperzel tuners.
ALL Sperzel tuners regardless of color have nickel posts.

There you have it.
You can also replace the nut (if you'd like) with a graph-tech one and be golden

 

[Oudy]

Re: bros im back with a strat attack

Hmm, let me see...

Ok, the screws are a cheap enough mod so you could do it whenever.
Now about the rest of the hardware...

I think if possible it'd look cool if you had a black Wilkinson with chrome/nickel saddles!
Keep the jack-plate chrome but replace the jack with a black one and get black Sperzel tuners.
ALL Sperzel tuners regardless of color have nickel posts.

There you have it.
You can also replace the nut (if you'd like) with a graph-tech one and be golden

Initially the graphtech nut was a huge part of my plan but i couldn't get one before i planned on leaving the states, in the next few months the nut is coming out though and in the next year def a black wilk or if i can get ahold of the right one, a kahler are going to go in. so far im keeping the lace sensors but im thinking of changing the middle out to a light blue and the neck to a purple or vice versa.