1983 Fender USA Strat Elite - are these the worse Strats ever ??????

guitars4you

Just been chatting to a friend of mine in the guitar trade and the discussion cam eup about the original USA Strat Elites - Are these models from around 1983 the worse Strat ever designed/spec'd and built

I hate the neck shape - just horrible feel about it - I hate the trem system, the pick-ups and the switching system - It is hard to find any sensible attribute that such guitars possess

Maybe worse in that some examples can now be found for over £2000 + on various sites

sweepy

Nope, that’s reserved for the Silver or White Silver Anniversary Strat, shit then and even more so now as ppl think they are desirable 

Jackobean

Ty Tabor used one extensively, so I've always been fairly curious about them. Expressed in monetary terms that curiosity would probably top out at around £500...

guitars4you

sweepy said:

Nope, that’s reserved for the Silver or White Silver Anniversary Strat, shit then and even more so now as ppl think they are desirable 

I know where you are coming from but essentially only a 70's Strat with a bad finish - My point on the 83 Strat Elite is they effectively started off with a whole new concept and got everything wrong 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

It's a close run thing between that and the '83 Dan Smith 2-knob Standard Strat IMO. Really was a shocking year for Fender in hindsight!

Funkfingers

In retrospect, Fender should have bowed to the inevitable and struck a deal with Floyd Rose. 

crunchman

Probably not as bad as some of the 70's ones.  At least they look to have the normal 4 bolt neckplate not the botched microtilt thing.

Arjailer

Jackobean said:

Ty Tabor used one extensively, so I've always been fairly curious about them. Expressed in monetary terms that curiosity would probably top out at around £500...

Yup - I can't be too down on a guitar that produced some of my favourite albums ever   

ICBM

guitars4you said:

sweepy said:

Nope, that’s reserved for the Silver or White Silver Anniversary Strat, shit then and even more so now as ppl think they are desirable 

I know where you are coming from but essentially only a 70's Strat with a bad finish - My point on the 83 Strat Elite is they effectively started off with a whole new concept and got everything wrong 

This.

The 'badness' is different from a late-70s one - it's by design, rather than due to poor quality. They're actually pretty well-made, but the bridge, pickups and electrics are certainly not what would now be considered a great interpretation of the classic Strat... and the neck profiles are certainly odd.

Late-70s ones can actually be turned into really good classic Strats, if you're willing to reshape and refinish the body, refinish the neck, tighten up the neck joint and probably replace the bridge - refinishing and reshaping the body takes off a substantial amount of weight too. The Elite cannot be re-worked in the same way though.

The other candidate I can think of for 'the worst Strat' is the 1980-ish 'The Strat', which has a more conventional bridge and electrics, but they're always ludicrously heavy, and the headstock shape is the ugliest ever put on a Fender - far worse than the CBS one even if you don't like that.

Funkfingers

crunchman said:

Probably not as bad as some of the 70's ones.  At least they look to have the normal 4 bolt neckplate not the botched microtilt thing.

The problem with the CBS era three screw neck mount is not the number of screws so much as the indifferent fit of the neck into the pocket. (Sloppy routing!)

You could have five or six screws à la MusicMan and the joint would still be unstable.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

The problem with the CBS era three screw neck mount is not the number of screws so much as the indifferent fit of the neck into the pocket. (Sloppy routing!) 

You could have five or six screws à la MusicMan and the joint would still be unstable.

... and equally, if you fix the three-bolt ones properly by lining the pocket with veneer so it's a good fit, or slightly less 'properly' but still very effectively by pinning the neck or using a bit of metal mesh, sandpaper or other patent method, then the neck joint is very stable. 

The 'sloppiness' was intentional - it was done to prevent the problem of the assembly worker finding a high-tolerance neck that wouldn't fit into a low-tolerance pocket. A CBS move to speed production and cut costs the wrong way... the right way is to tighten the tolerances for both pieces.

guitars4you

Funkfingers said:

crunchman said:

Probably not as bad as some of the 70's ones.  At least they look to have the normal 4 bolt neckplate not the botched microtilt thing.

The problem with the CBS era three screw neck mount is not the number of screws so much as the indifferent fit of the neck into the pocket. (Sloppy routing!)

You could have five or six screws à la MusicMan and the joint would still be unstable.

agree - Tom Anderson went for a 2 bolt neck and made it work in a very neat way  - I'm not against the idea of a micro tilt on a 3 or 4 bolt - But yes the sloppy routing is poor regardless of how many bolts are preferred

guitars4you

ICBM said:

guitars4you said:

sweepy said:

Nope, that’s reserved for the Silver or White Silver Anniversary Strat, shit then and even more so now as ppl think they are desirable 

I know where you are coming from but essentially only a 70's Strat with a bad finish - My point on the 83 Strat Elite is they effectively started off with a whole new concept and got everything wrong 

This.

The 'badness' is different from a late-70s one - it's by design, rather than due to poor quality. They're actually pretty well-made, but the bridge, pickups and electrics are certainly not what would now be considered a great interpretation of the classic Strat... and the neck profiles are certainly odd.

Late-70s ones can actually be turned into really good classic Strats, if you're willing to reshape and refinish the body, refinish the neck, tighten up the neck joint and probably replace the bridge - refinishing and reshaping the body takes off a substantial amount of weight too. The Elite cannot be re-worked in the same way though.

The other candidate I can think of for 'the worst Strat' is the 1980-ish 'The Strat', which has a more conventional bridge and electrics, but they're always ludicrously heavy, and the headstock shape is the ugliest ever put on a Fender - far worse than the CBS one even if you don't like that.

agree about the 'players grade' 70's guitars - I have sold/played many that are great guitars once worked on 

And yes there is bugger all to do to the 83 Elites to make it even in the slightest decent - The neck shape is my biggest bug bear - Not like any other guitar let alone any other Strat

And yes, again - The 1980 Strat is poor - almost trying to out Might Mite with their own version and yes once again that headstock shape - I'm not anti the larger headstock shape, but that 1980 version is like a dad and son trying to make their own home built Strat project and getting it wrong - And I almost forgot about the additional rotary selector switch (PRS style)

But I'm still sticking to my guns that the Strat Elite was worse - Yet funnily enough they did a better job with the Tele Elite - Almost a 'copy' of the Schecter assembled Pete Townshend style - I'm not saying the Tele Elite was awesome, but it wasn't as bad as the Strat

HarrySeven

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

It's a close run thing between that and the '83 Dan Smith 2-knob Standard Strat IMO. Really was a shocking year for Fender in hindsight!

I’ve got a few of these - and I have to ‘fess up that I really like ‘em (contrarian as ever, sorry!)

downbytheriver

The System 1 Strat - first of the Japanese Fenders was quite unpleasant- swapped  a Les Paul Deluxe for one when they were new - worst deal ever

guitars4you

downbytheriver said:

The System 1 Strat - first of the Japanese Fenders was quite unpleasant- swapped  a Les Paul Deluxe for one when they were new - worst deal ever

That could be a whole discussion point - worst deal ever - I think your deal might win  as well - Never mind

And yes I recall selling all those mid 80's Jap Strats - The locking nut that had a 'wrench' from the side to open/lock

SteveF

Hmm, I was born in '83.  At least I know know what to steer clear of when I get round to buying a "birth-year" guitar! 

ICBM

guitars4you said:

And yes I recall selling all those mid 80's Jap Strats - The locking nut that had a 'wrench' from the side to open/lock

In theory that was a clever idea that allowed locking with no tools - in practice it neither gripped the strings tightly enough nor could be locked without pulling the strings out of tune, so you then always had to correct it with the fine tuners.

One of the great things about a good quality Floyd is that if the nut and the tension bar are fitted correctly, you can lock the clamps without moving the strings.

Even the Kahler one with the three finger levers was incredibly fiddly to set *just right* so the clamps engaged tightly enough to grip the strings but without needing rock-climber's finger strength to undo it again.

There is a good reason why the Floyd is really the Last Man Standing of locking vibratos...

guitars4you

ICBM said:

guitars4you said:

And yes I recall selling all those mid 80's Jap Strats - The locking nut that had a 'wrench' from the side to open/lock

In theory that was a clever idea that allowed locking with no tools - in practice it neither gripped the strings tightly enough nor could be locked without pulling the strings out of tune, so you then always had to correct it with the fine tuners.

One of the great things about a good quality Floyd is that if the nut and the tension bar are fitted correctly, you can lock the clamps without moving the strings.

Even the Kahler one with the three finger levers was incredibly fiddly to set *just right* so the clamps engaged tightly enough to grip the strings but without needing rock-climber's finger strength to undo it again.

There is a good reason why the Floyd is really the Last Man Standing of locking vibratos...

Agree - I hate such devices personally - I Certainly don't know how to play such guitars to master the whammy - But the Floyd is the one that has least issues when setting them up - You know what to expect and can do it - So many others can have issues that test you and need additional work

p90fool

SteveF said:

Hmm, I was born in '83.  At least I know know what to steer clear of when I get round to buying a "birth-year" guitar! 

It's not just Fenders from then to be fair, in fact if you really want a birth year guitar you're going to have to lie about your age I'm afraid. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

p90fool said:

SteveF said:

Hmm, I was born in '83.  At least I know know what to steer clear of when I get round to buying a "birth-year" guitar! 

It's not just Fenders from then to be fair, in fact if you really want a birth year guitar you're going to have to lie about your age I'm afraid. 

I would say he'd be best served looking to Japanese made guitars if he wants a birth year guitar. Probably Tokai for Fender-flavoured, or Greco for more Gibson-flavoured guitars. They were knocking out better quality stuff than the big name US factories in those days.