Have now bought: 70s Strat

simonhpieman

What can I say? I love the big headstock. There were tons of these for sale for a while. Where are they now I want one?!

Mexican, AVRI or Vintage considered but must be maple neck and natural Ash finish.

guitars4you

simonhpieman said:

What can I say? I love the big headstock. There were tons of these for sale for a while. Where are they now I want one?!

Mexican, AVRI or Vintage considered but must be maple neck and natural Ash finish.

sorry to be pedantic but I assume you mean maple fingerboard - nearly all Strats are maple neck

Do agree that 10/20 years ago you could find 5 or more on many dealers wall - now apart from the used sites like Reverb etc, don't see many dealers with any for one reason or another - but they do exist so enjoy the hunt

Guitar_Slinger

You mentioned this @guitars4you at the Guitar Show, when I asked about my guitar. I'm at work and can't post pics, but it's like one on eBay - "1977 Antoria Stratocaster Strat" only mine has less damage, black scratchplate, Ibanez star vintage tuners and a shiny neckplate dating it April 1977.   I've had it 12 years and saw others like it back then, but not now.

guitars4you

Guitar_Slinger said:

You mentioned this @guitars4you at the Guitar Show, when I asked about my guitar. I'm at work and can't post pics, but it's like one on eBay - "1977 Antoria Stratocaster Strat" only mine has less damage, black scratchplate, Ibanez star vintage tuners and a shiny neckplate dating it April 1977.   I've had it 12 years and saw others like it back then, but not now.

Antoria models of this era came out of the same factory as Ibanez - sold into the UK via Coppocks of Leeds - a distributor that closed down now a number of years ago - I recall they offered some more budget based models and a 'pro' model with better tuners, hardware spec etc - some were not bad guitars - fading memory bank now from that era but recall around £120/140 ish - wow those were the days

bazxkr

I love the 70s style too with the big headstock.

Sure I've seen a recent year natural American special with an ash body & the large headstock atho think I've only seen them with a RW board & they were HSS but eassy enough to change that. Might be worth checking that line out

What about MIJ models ? This seems to tick all your boxes and quite a few around

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Classic-70s-Stratocaster-MIJ-Guitar-MN-Natural/22WI?origin=product-ads&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA Shop - Fender&utm_term=4584482451927942&utm_content=All Products - Fender#full-des

Or if you wanna spend the big bucks something like this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Stratocaster-1977-/322821787490

They are out there...just need to hunt them down. Some of the prices are crazy though.

simonhpieman

Quite right G4u, maple fingerboard. Guilty as charged!

Thanks for the heads up, been checking eBay loads but managed to miss that vintage one. A tiny bit more than I was hoping. Reluctant to drop the cash without being able to play it.

I tried an FSR MIJ at a certain shop in the Surrey countryside the other week. I A/B'd it with a Mexican they had in stock too that had a few mods. The Mex was the better guitar without doubt but the mods weren't to my taste.

Still looking, I guess. I'll keep my eyes peeled, thank pal.

bbill335

Get thee a Tokai Silver Star. 

richardhomer

Just a reality check on the ‘vintage’ ones - I played an ‘all black’ late ‘70s one at the Crewe show a few weeks ago (S7 serial number) that was £1299 and an utter dog. Massively heavy, next to no body contours and dead-sounding (acoustically - I didn’t plug it in). 

Given this was ‘The Edge’ guitar, I was hoping to like it; it was absolute junk.

Don't get carried away with an old one - CBS Fenders gained a bad rep for good reason....

simonhpieman

Bill - I didn't think the Silver Stars came in natural?

Richard - I am very aware of the minefield that is 70s Strats, hence why I want to play one first! There'll be a few good 'uns out there, I'm sure, just as there are better and worse guitars out there brand new now.

simonhpieman

Still looking. Very much considering a Mexican 70s right now for some overseas gigs I have next year...

TheBigDipper

richardhomer said:

Just a reality check on the ‘vintage’ ones - I played an ‘all black’ late ‘70s one at the Crewe show a few weeks ago (S7 serial number) that was £1299 and an utter dog. Massively heavy, next to no body contours and dead-sounding (acoustically - I didn’t plug it in). 

Given this was ‘The Edge’ guitar, I was hoping to like it; it was absolute junk.

Don't get carried away with an old one - CBS Fenders gained a bad rep for good reason....

Quality control wasn't what it should have been, I'm sure. You wouldn't say that if you played my maple neck '73 hardtail. Resonates like a bell when unplugged and easy to play. A friend had a '75 rosewood neck hardtail and it was dreadful in comparison. Displayed everything you've said about the one you tried in Crewe. Some wouldn't like the 7.5in neck radius, though. Do the new "70s repros" have a 9in radius like my MIM Tele? 

simonhpieman

Another reason I'm interested in one - they have the vintage radius rather than 9in like nearly every other Fender coming out now.

Neil

TBH Simon you may be better off just looking at new Mex '70's reissues.

You can get the natural/maple finish you desire and they are excellent quality at a reasonable price. 

Plus loads to choose from.

JerkMoans

I scored a 1977 strat off the net about a year ago and it was an absolute Dog. The body had very little definition, almost as if it was blurred, and the neck pocket was like a swimming pool: about 2 mm clear space around the sides of the neck heel. 

It did have quite a slim neck, mind you

simonhpieman

Neil said:

TBH Simon you may be better off just looking at new Mex '70's reissues.

You can get the natural/maple finish you desire and they are excellent quality at a reasonable price. 

Plus loads to choose from.

Thanks Neil, I think I'm swaying that way. Thing is, I remember there being tons of these about a year or two ago and now I want one I haven't seen a single one in around a month of daily trawling of the usual outlets. What's going on?! Ha ha

bbill335

simonhpieman said:

Bill - I didn't think the Silver Stars came in natural?

Every guitar is "natural" underneath! 

RoadStar666

Got a white /maple neck mim 70's model for sale if any interest 

mudslide73

Ishibashi nearly always have a selection of Japanese big headstock stuff. They loves a bit of Ritchie and Yngwie by all accounts.

lovestrat74

This? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/372137028314

simonhpieman

RoadStar666 said:

Got a white /maple neck mim 70's model for sale if any interest 

In the inimitable words of Roy Walker, "it's good, but it's not the one". Thanks, though!

Lovestrat, I spotted that one and am up that way on Saturday so will try and drop in and take a look.

lovestrat74

simonhpieman said:

Lovestrat, I spotted that one and am up that way on Saturday so will try and drop in and take a look.

Good luck! Let us know how you got on