I want a Strat...but which one? there are so many.

RaymondLin

i want one that is vintage correct (50’s) with all the right number screws, pickups, radius and all that jazz.  I am not familiar with Fender side of things, what model from Fender should I be look into?

Likely to part ex my PRS 305 towards it probably so can go as high as used Custom Shop.

tony99

american special, you cannot go wrong

Zoolooter

With a tone control and baseplate on the bridge.

barnstorm

American Special isn't vintage-correct, though. ’50s can mean different things in terms of neck profile, so that would be my first consideration.

Might be worth having a look through this and deciding which things you care about and which don't matter:

http://guitarhq.com/fender2.html#strat

I've done plenty of part-exchanging myself over the years because it's so much less hassle, but IMHO it would be worth offering your 305 here first. They're cool guitars and aren't all that easy to find these days.

ICBM

RaymondLin said:

i want one that is vintage correct (50’s) with all the right number screws, pickups, radius and all that jazz.  I am not familiar with Fender side of things, what model from Fender should I be look into?

Likely to part ex my PRS 305 towards it probably so can go as high as used Custom Shop.

In that case look at used Custom Shop.

Next best would be a Mexican Classic Series, which are currently being replaced by the 'Vintera' series (which I haven't played yet). Actually more accurate than the American Original, which has a flatter radius fingerboard...

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Fender AVRI '56 Strat would be a decent bet if you didn't want to go to the expense of the full CS jobs. Plenty to be had 2nd hand for around the £1k mark. 

thermionic

Classic Series Lacquer are a bit nicer than the standard Classics imho.

sweepy

Well, for £475 there is a rather sweet Jap 50's Strat with CS pickups

octatonic

ICBM said:

RaymondLin said:

i want one that is vintage correct (50’s) with all the right number screws, pickups, radius and all that jazz.  I am not familiar with Fender side of things, what model from Fender should I be look into?

Likely to part ex my PRS 305 towards it probably so can go as high as used Custom Shop.

In that case look at used Custom Shop.

Next best would be a Mexican Classic Series, which are currently being replaced by the 'Vintera' series (which I haven't played yet). Actually more accurate than the American Original, which has a flatter radius fingerboard...

Yup, this.
Mark at Guitars 4 You is worth speaking to- I've found him to give good prices for trade ins and he will usually have stock of a few custom shop options.

Whitecat

It actually might be harder than you think to find a used Custom Shop model with a 7.25” radius. That is one detail that tends to get changed to 9.5” or sometimes 10” in virtually all circumstances unless it’s a custom order from a customer. Fender’s own limited editions and most dealer orders have modern radiuses. 

Anyway, it’s not impossible, but you won’t have a great deal of choice. 

Also, as alluded to you will need to narrow down to what part of the 50s. Lots of things will be mostly unchanged like pickups, but wood varies (ash gets used less as the decade goes on, and will become colour-dependant), neck carves get smaller, and by mid-1959 they are using rosewood on fingerboards. 

RaymondLin

Whitecat said:

It actually might be harder than you think to find a used Custom Shop model with a 7.25” radius. That is one detail that tends to get changed to 9.5” or sometimes 10” in virtually all circumstances unless it’s a custom order from a customer. Fender’s own limited editions and most dealer orders have modern radiuses. 

Anyway, it’s not impossible, but you won’t have a great deal of choice. 

Also, as alluded to you will need to narrow down to what part of the 50s. Lots of things will be mostly unchanged like pickups, but wood varies (ash gets used less as the decade goes on, and will become colour-dependant), neck carves get smaller, and by mid-1959 they are using rosewood on fingerboards. 

You are right, 7.5" radius seems rare…

This is near me.  Although I'd prefer a Olympic white.

https://worldguitars.co.uk/shop/fender-custom-shop-stratocaster-56-heavy-relic-2-tone-sunburst-ash-body-86996/

The aim is to get the most Strat sounding guitar, so nothing too hot with pickups too much gain.  I want to de facto strat experience.  Also I guess I don't want to step down in terms of quality, I know the 305 is a Strat clone but it is still built like any other Core PRS, bloody fantastic built quality so deep inside I probably want a Custom Shop and not a Mexico made one.

sweepy

Some CS Strats have a compound radius, mine goes from 7 1/4.to 9 1/2, so there are lots of variations 

p90fool

RaymondLin said:

i want one that is vintage correct (50’s) with all the right number screws, pickups, radius and all that jazz.  

RaymondLin said:

This is near me.  Although I'd prefer a Olympic white.

I might be wrong, but I think Olympic White didn't come in until the 1960s.

Grocer_Jack

Used American Vintage (sometimes called Pure Vintage) 56, 59, or 65 is what you want. They were made from about 2012 to 2016 or 2017.

ICBM

p90fool said:

I might be wrong, but I think Olympic White didn't come in until the 1960s.

The closest in the 50s would have been white blonde, which is the ‘Mary Kaye’ colour (usually with gold hardware)... although it’s not impossible that a true custom colour was done.

munckee

I had until recently an MIJ 57 reissue, I don't believe it was 7.25 radius but otherwise 50s spec, really nice guitar.  I had a classic player 50s strat years ago which also a 9.5 radius but a v neck if you like that sort of thing.

Whitecat

RaymondLin said:

Whitecat said:

It actually might be harder than you think to find a used Custom Shop model with a 7.25” radius. That is one detail that tends to get changed to 9.5” or sometimes 10” in virtually all circumstances unless it’s a custom order from a customer. Fender’s own limited editions and most dealer orders have modern radiuses. 

Anyway, it’s not impossible, but you won’t have a great deal of choice. 

Also, as alluded to you will need to narrow down to what part of the 50s. Lots of things will be mostly unchanged like pickups, but wood varies (ash gets used less as the decade goes on, and will become colour-dependant), neck carves get smaller, and by mid-1959 they are using rosewood on fingerboards. 

You are right, 7.5" radius seems rare…

This is near me.  Although I'd prefer a Olympic white.

https://worldguitars.co.uk/shop/fender-custom-shop-stratocaster-56-heavy-relic-2-tone-sunburst-ash-body-86996/

The aim is to get the most Strat sounding guitar, so nothing too hot with pickups too much gain.  I want to de facto strat experience.  Also I guess I don't want to step down in terms of quality, I know the 305 is a Strat clone but it is still built like any other Core PRS, bloody fantastic built quality so deep inside I probably want a Custom Shop and not a Mexico made one.

Next thing to sort then is what kind of neck you want - 54/55 models will probably be big Us, 56 & 57 variants of a V shape and 58/59 thinner Cs start to appear - but with the Custom Shop there will be crossover (and of course neck shapes from completely different decades can appear on any given model due to the nature of a CS). 

Personally I like the V-necks - 10/56 and 57 soft V are both really good for my hands - they are both definitely on the “larger” side of Strat necks. 

Finally, pickups - the CS54s and Custom 50s are both ultra-classic 50s sounding Strat pickups - both warm and a little scooped with no icepicky character. Lots of people like the Fat 50s too, but they are indeed a little more middy than most actual 50s pickups would have been. You might want to avoid the newer Fender modern designs like the Ancho Poblanos or the El Diablos, which can turn up on builds no matter what year they are meant to be. 

The problem of course is that pretty much all SSS Strats sound like Strats, so you’ll be working on that little envelope of details that involves about 5% of the tone, the other 95% is fixed in the basic design of the instrument...

Might be wise to sit down at a dealer with lots of examples to at the very least begin to rule stuff out...

dazzajl

Interesting request, as the quintessential Strat experience is a different thing depending on where you look at it from. 

To me, it’s not about radius, number of screws in the guard or what machine heads it has. What is magical about the right Strat is that it always feels like coming home. That super comfortable bond that makes it feel like you’ve always played it and always will. 

If the exercise here is ticking off a box and saying you’ve got/had an authentic 50’s spec Strat, the internet is a big place. Keep an eye cast wide and sooner or later the one will pop up that meets the spec. My AC30 is a bit like that, I’d decided I wanted it before I’d even seen or heard it. Because it’s one I’ve always wanted to try and it feels good to tick the list. 

If you want that special bond, the real Strat experience too, then you more or less have to forget your wish list, get down to somewhere that offers a great range and choice and play them all. The one that picks you might surprise you. And if you’re lucky, leave a lot of change in your pocket for other toys too??

RaymondLin

dazzajl said:

Interesting request, as the quintessential Strat experience is a different thing depending on where you look at it from. 

To me, it’s not about radius, number of screws in the guard or what machine heads it has. What is magical about the right Strat is that it always feels like coming home. That super comfortable bond that makes it feel like you’ve always played it and always will. 

If the exercise here is ticking off a box and saying you’ve got/had an authentic 50’s spec Strat, the internet is a big place. Keep an eye cast wide and sooner or later the one will pop up that meets the spec. My AC30 is a bit like that, I’d decided I wanted it before I’d even seen or heard it. Because it’s one I’ve always wanted to try and it feels good to tick the list. 

If you want that special bond, the real Strat experience too, then you more or less have to forget your wish list, get down to somewhere that offers a great range and choice and play them all. The one that picks you might surprise you. And if you’re lucky, leave a lot of change in your pocket for other toys too??

Very wise words, thanks.  Food for thought and I think you are correct 100%.

xscaramanga

dazzajl said:

If you want that special bond, the real Strat experience too, then you more or less have to forget your wish list, get down to somewhere that offers a great range and choice and play them all. The one that picks you might surprise you. And if you’re lucky, leave a lot of change in your pocket for other toys too??

I agree with this. At risk of starting a whole other argument, I think that with Strats even more so than other guitars, it's just really important to find the right piece of wood. My best ever Strat is a 50s Hot Rod, but if it were stolen I wouldn't necessarily go looking for the same model. It just happens that mine is a great example that rings fantastically. It's fiesta red, which is not my favourite colour and I wouldn't have chosen it online. But I found it in a shop and it's just perfect.

Occasionally I think I'd like a Strat in a specific colour but if you're going to find a magic Strat that resonates beautifully AND insist on one particular colour, it could be a long hunt. 

terada

I’d go for a used AVRI. superb instruments with vintage spec.