cliffenstein
Active member
I picked up this used for a great deal ($1050 out the door) at Atomic Music in Beltsville, MD (absolutely KILLER store...it's literally everything music stores were back in the 70's and 80's). This one had been sitting for a good bit unsold, so it was marked down 30% from it's price and then they went down even further for me. They threw in a used Fender Classic Series Stratocaster tweed case too.
This one was made in October 2017...so first things first for our little guitar nerd world, do I consider this a 2017 American Original because of the date it was made or should I call it a 2018 American Original since that's when they actually hit stores?
This one being a first year model, didn't have a tinted neck/fretboard, though it had aged a touch and didn't look as naked as some of these do. I adored how the guitar felt and played, but I didn't love the look of the neck, so I had my tech tint the neck for me with the appropriate color amber nitro (he didn't go too heavy with it...it's super hard to tell in pics, but the cool decal lines on the headstock are actually visible. There was a crack in the pickguard at one of the screwholes next to the bridge so I purchased the appropriate eggshell Fender Pure Vintage 1956-1959 pickguard replacement. I also did what I do to all my strats - I moved the volume knob down a spot and covered the original volume pot hole with a 3/8" nylon plug I purchased from Lowes. I then purchased a Seymour Duncan parchment JB Jr bridge pickup to replace the stock bridge pickup and had the guitar rewired so that the neck and middle pickups, toggle switch, and tone knob are not hooked up...JB Jr straight to volume pot. Finally, I replaced the tuners with a set of nickel plated Gotoh Magnum Lock Trad (MG-T) tuners, replaced the stock strap buttons with nickel Dunlop Straplok buttons, removed the tremolo bar & decked the bridge with 5 springs, and got the guitar set up for D'Addario XL 11-49 nickel wound medium strings.
The original owner upgraded to a Callaham Vintage Narrow bridge assembly, so the strings aren't on the edge of the fretboard...pretty cool. The guitar really feels great!
There are no noticeable wood seams in the body and there's some real finish wear too which I like.
PICS!
This one was made in October 2017...so first things first for our little guitar nerd world, do I consider this a 2017 American Original because of the date it was made or should I call it a 2018 American Original since that's when they actually hit stores?
This one being a first year model, didn't have a tinted neck/fretboard, though it had aged a touch and didn't look as naked as some of these do. I adored how the guitar felt and played, but I didn't love the look of the neck, so I had my tech tint the neck for me with the appropriate color amber nitro (he didn't go too heavy with it...it's super hard to tell in pics, but the cool decal lines on the headstock are actually visible. There was a crack in the pickguard at one of the screwholes next to the bridge so I purchased the appropriate eggshell Fender Pure Vintage 1956-1959 pickguard replacement. I also did what I do to all my strats - I moved the volume knob down a spot and covered the original volume pot hole with a 3/8" nylon plug I purchased from Lowes. I then purchased a Seymour Duncan parchment JB Jr bridge pickup to replace the stock bridge pickup and had the guitar rewired so that the neck and middle pickups, toggle switch, and tone knob are not hooked up...JB Jr straight to volume pot. Finally, I replaced the tuners with a set of nickel plated Gotoh Magnum Lock Trad (MG-T) tuners, replaced the stock strap buttons with nickel Dunlop Straplok buttons, removed the tremolo bar & decked the bridge with 5 springs, and got the guitar set up for D'Addario XL 11-49 nickel wound medium strings.
The original owner upgraded to a Callaham Vintage Narrow bridge assembly, so the strings aren't on the edge of the fretboard...pretty cool. The guitar really feels great!
There are no noticeable wood seams in the body and there's some real finish wear too which I like.
PICS!
