I wish I knew what I did right

[Hagbard Celine]

I have a 2003 vintage Highway One Strat. It was a clearance item @ $299 at GC when I bought it. I figure it was the hideous Transparent Teal color that nobody wanted. I further buggered up the finish with my constant modding with less that proper care. I made a furtive attempt to sand or strip it and wound up with the worst relic job ever. And so it remained for a long while, ugly and the test bed for all Strat Mods I heard about. A couple of weeks ago I rubbed the finish off with acetone after reading about it. While I had it apart I stripped the labels, bar codes finish, etc off the bottom of the neck which goes into the neck pocket. I did this mostly because of something someone here (Zerberus) said in passing about wood to wood in the neck pocket.

After putting it together it really seems to sound better than ever. It could be my imagination. It could be the lack of finish. It could have something to do with the neck pocket, I don't know.

FWIW I'm running it with the Tex Mex pups from my Jimmy Vaughan Strat.

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: I wish I knew what I did right

Less finish = more tone. Just ask my Epi Custom. Do you have pics?

 

[Markk]

Re: I wish I knew what I did right

How do you know it's got tone? It doesn't have any electronics! I can only imagine no strings

;P

 

[Hellion]

Re: I wish I knew what I did right

"...(in a Nigel Tufnel accent)..Just listen....aahaahaahaaahaaaa.. They're quite noted for their sustain. You can go out an' 'ave a bite, come back and still be 'earin' that one.."

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: I wish I knew what I did right

How do you know it's got tone? It doesn't have any electronics! I can only imagine no strings

;P

That was a "during" picture. Allow me to post the "before" and "after":