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

SteveF

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

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. 

Haha, yeah I reckon you could be right.  I did own a '78 or '79 (can't remember which) Tokai Les Paul Reborn and it was a phenomenal guitar.  Unfortunately a financial situation at one stage meant I had to let it go.  I reckon an '83 Love Rock or Greco Super Real (?) might be the way ahead. 

downbytheriver

guitars4you said:

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

Oh it’s worse than that! I’d obtained the Les Paul in a straight swap for an Adamas (and they were seriously expensive back then!) do deal upon deal and I ended up with next to nothing! That’s guitars ain’t it? 

crunchman

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

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. 

There were smaller producers around at that time.  Hamer started in the late 70s, and made good guitars.

You had someone like Jaydee in the UK, who also started in the late 70s.

Not sure how easy it would be to date some of the production from those smaller shops precisely to 1983 though.

Ibanez might be the best bet - athough the locking trem on some of the 80's Roadstar IIs was awful, so they are best avoided.

impmann

I have a friend with an Anniversary Strat - there is NOTHING redeemable about that instrument - the neck profile is vile, it weighs the same as Cardiff, it has the resonance of a paper bag and the original trem fell to pieces. I fail to see how you can make it into a 'classic' strat... I've tried for the past 20 years! Its still a turd.

The 83 Elite Strat (and Tele) were definitely not Fender's finest hour either. Although, I *love* the knobs. I used to have a set on my Strat and they were the best I've ever had for grip for violining etc (Andy Latimer agrees!) - but I sold them when the prices of them went mental about 10 years back. I don't remember the neck profiles particularly (thin, weren't they?) but I never really "got" the push switch thing.

fields5069

I had the Tele equivalent, my dad bought it for me in the early 90s. It was before I really knew what I was holding. I had a choice - It was the Elite or a vintage 1968. Doh. I don't remember much about it, except that I washed the dust off the glue on the as yet unattached pickguard, and stuck it on.

guitars4you

impmann said:

I have a friend with an Anniversary Strat - there is NOTHING redeemable about that instrument - the neck profile is vile, it weighs the same as Cardiff, it has the resonance of a paper bag and the original trem fell to pieces. I fail to see how you can make it into a 'classic' strat... I've tried for the past 20 years! Its still a turd.

The 83 Elite Strat (and Tele) were definitely not Fender's finest hour either. Although, I *love* the knobs. I used to have a set on my Strat and they were the best I've ever had for grip for violining etc (Andy Latimer agrees!) - but I sold them when the prices of them went mental about 10 years back. I don't remember the neck profiles particularly (thin, weren't they?) but I never really "got" the push switch thing.

The necks were thin - I think the switching was influenced by the Schecter vibe at the time and the likes of Mark K

I might be wrong but I can't ever remember playing a good 25th Anniv - But I have played some decent 70's Strats and many that we would now call 'players grade' with appropriate mods

guitars4you

crunchman said:

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

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. 

There were smaller producers around at that time.  Hamer started in the late 70s, and made good guitars.

You had someone like Jaydee in the UK, who also started in the late 70s.

Not sure how easy it would be to date some of the production from those smaller shops precisely to 1983 though.

Ibanez might be the best bet - athough the locking trem on some of the 80's Roadstar IIs was awful, so they are best avoided.

I'd probably look at a decent Hamer for an 83 DOB guitar - Or a good Jap model with classic attributes like a Yamaha SG/SA, Ibanez AR/AS - Many of those Tokai models from 83, especially the 335 dot replica were pretty good - I recall at the time we were raving about those early TST50's - Compared to other Jap models prior to this and indeed the 70's Fenders + early 80's models then the TST50's were a big welcome - I think as time as gone on there has been many other releases that have eclipsed them, from both Japan and Mexico

SteveF

How about acoustics? What was the quality of Martin etc like in the 80s?

Danny1969

I used to have one of those Elites, can't remember anything bad about it except turning down the volume halfway resulted in a continuous beeping noise when I first got it but I fixed that fault and it was OK from then on. Certainly played fine 

crunchman

SteveF said:

How about acoustics? What was the quality of Martin etc like in the 80s?

Martin don't have a great reputation in that era either.  They changed the wood used for the bridge plate in the late 60s (1968?) and didn't change it back until 1988.

You might be able to find a guitar from that era that sounds good, but I never did.  I ended up buying a new HD28V sometime around 2007, as it sounded better than all the early 70's models I tried that were a similar price.

Bob Taylor did start Taylor Guitars in the mid 70s, but I don't think they wre producing big volumes at that point in time.

monquixote

I've played a few of the 2 knob 80's US Strats with the surface mount trems and I think they are probably some of the worst Fenders I've played.

I have to completely disagree on "The Strat" I've got one and though it does indeed weigh about 50 tons and have a weird shaped headstock it's one of the best playing and sounding Strats I've ever heard. 

My other 2 guitars are a PRS DGT and a Gretsch 6119 and the Fender gets the most play time of the 3.
I had a modern US Standard, but sold it because The Strat was a better guitar in every way. 

I must admit I have completely changed the electronics as the clicky rotary switch thing was a bit pointless, but even with the original pickups it was a great sounding guitar.

Mine is quite like this though I've got chrome hardware and regular knobs on it:
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/pre-loved-fender-1981-the-strat-lake-placid-blue-electric-guitar

guitars4you

monquixote said:

I have to completely disagree on "The Strat" I've got one and though it does indeed weigh about 50 tons and have a weird shaped headstock it's one of the best playing and sounding Strats I've ever heard. 

as always, if someone can bond with them and make it work for them then who are we to argue - To say it gets more work than the DGT is a fair statement in its own right 

ICBM

guitars4you said:

I might be wrong but I can't ever remember playing a good 25th Anniv - But I have played some decent 70's Strats and many that we would now call 'players grade' with appropriate mods

I played a good 25th Anniversary once - a chap I knew bought it. When I had a look at it, the first thing I noticed was that it was quite light, about the weight of a nice normal Strat. It had an airy, almost semi-acoustic tone to it.

The pickups didn't look right, so we opened it up and discovered that it had been chiseled out for three humbuckers and an MXR pedal circuit in the area below the pickups. Basically it *was* semi-acoustic .

It had three of those red-fibreboard Japanese Strat copy pickups in it, out of a Grant or something - but remarkably, it still really did sound pretty good.

crunchman said:

Martin don't have a great reputation in that era either.  They changed the wood used for the bridge plate in the late 60s (1968?) and didn't change it back until 1988.

You might be able to find a guitar from that era that sounds good, but I never did.  I ended up buying a new HD28V sometime around 2007, as it sounded better than all the early 70's models I tried that were a similar price.

Bob Taylor did start Taylor Guitars in the mid 70s, but I don't think they wre producing big volumes at that point in time.

I have a very nice '71 D12-35, but likewise I've played many mid-70s ones that were average at best.

Rickenbacker did remain very consistent throughout the 70s - but there's the slight Catch-22 that you have to like them in the first place...

jeztone2

I seem to remember a guitar magazine article on Rush during the Power Windows US tour and Lifeson had one fitted out with a Floyd. There was also a Kahler outfitted black one in the Dave Gilmour guitar collection auction last year. So even some pros used them, albeit briefly. 

ManWithoutSkin

Does anyone know what are the 1983 '62 strats like? Are they any better that the two knob ones?

guitars4you

ManWithoutSkin said:

Does anyone know what are the 1983 '62 strats like? Are they any better that the two knob ones?

Different Strat all together - The 2 knob Strat was called the Strat Standard and was more of a 'modern' based model - the 62 is pure vintage - Yet today IMO both are over hyped with many used examples over-priced

The 2 knob version was the first time a Strat was given another additional word in its title (is this a pro-noun ?) - ie Standard, Elite, Deluxe etc - Prior to this they were just Strats

Philly_Q

Arjailer said:

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   

Agreed.  He used that guitar (through a Lab Series amp!) on all their brilliant early albums and at some of the best gigs I've ever been to.