Re: Differences between Strat manufacture dates?
A fellow guitarist and good friend of mine has a great deal of experience with Strats as a professional luthier and owns MANY axes. Tim has preached for years that the best non-vintage (post-CBS years) strats were made from 1979-1993/94. He cites the abundant supplies of quality wood as one of the main sources. Also, around the mid-90's, guitar sales BOOMED creating a demand for guitars ranging from pennies to tens of thousands of dollars. This problem compounded and wood became really expensive. I was recently faced with this EXACT dilemma. I had to chose between a mint 1989 American Deluxe Strat (eBay) for $625 including delivery, a 2001 Standard Strat for $519 (also eBay), or a 4-month old 2003 American Deluxe from a friend for $500. Truth be told, when compared to Tims's 1988 Strat, the 2003 did feel lighter, and the tones were seemingly brighter with less punch. However, since I held the guitar in my hands and didnt have to take the risks with eBay, I was able to decide on the 2003. She has become my pride&joy, and I have plans for completely replacing electronics with complete pickguard so that I can go back original without much fuss. In the end, advice is grand, but you have to go with your instinct. I cringe each time a buy something from eBay, just waiting to get a dud. Making the exchange in person and having a brief retrun period eased the tension of the purchase, and both parties were satisfied.
BTW, are the Strats the same models but different years? And I assume if you are that informed of your purchase, that these are USA strats?
