My guitar journey to a Fender Stratocaster

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  • JohnnysevenJohnnyseven Frets: 905
    Teflon said:
    Funnily enough, I bought my my first guitar back around '77. and it was also a Satellite  =). In my case though, a black Les Paul look a like.  Spent the next year or so saving up so I could afford my dream guitar, which I eventually bought from ABC music in Addlestone in late '78: an olympic white strat with rosewood neck. Despite the reputation of '70's Fenders, it was a really nice instrument, and I still have it to this day. Sadly, the receipt has long since disappeared, which is a shame, as I always thought I'd paid around £225, but from reading on these boards, I think my memory must be playing tricks, as that would be way too cheap. Would love to know how much I really paid.

    Cliff
    £225 sounds cheap for even a used model - As I mentioned above, many dealers would list guitars for sale without the case, in order to look cheaper in the appropriate adverts, then other stores - We sold them for around £365 inc case and recall select London dealers would list them at £299 with no case - So maybe £325 would be about par 
    Just had a quick look in International Musician - Aug 1978 - Rockbottom £275 with trem + case - And that would have been a cheap deal back then 
    Is that Rockbottom in Croydon? They're still going!
    Yes Croydon - Did not know they were still going - Carl the old owner is older than me 
    Pretty sure he still runs the place.
    My trading feedback can be seen here - http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58242/
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  • jeztone2jeztone2 Frets: 2160
    edited April 2021
    Treewig1 said:

    I traded that Ibanez for the Fender Stratocaster.  Bought brand new from Assembly Music in Bath in 1981.  A natural finish, black scratchplate, pickups, I now know, are two 1979s and a 1980.  Fender moulded case.  I still have that Stratocaster complete with all the paperwork.  Cost me £499 and I didn’t quibble the price).  Gigged it regularly, recorded with it, still play it. My only regret is I didn’t even think about buying a second hand Fender.  I wanted brand spanking new.  If only I’d bought a 10 or 12 year old guitar back then!

    Interesting thought - I brought a 62 Strat in 1978 - refin body but everything else was Kosher - under £400 and about the same price as a new 78 USA Strat - Yet this 62 Strat was only 16 years old then - And a 59 LP would only be 19 years old - So when did they become vintage guitars ? - Many say today that you need to be looking at 25 or 30 years old before they are vintage - Obviously a rhetorical question on my part - But it shows many vintage guitars were within our grasp back then 

    Today and a 16 year old guitar is nothing - I opened Guitars4You almost 16 years ago to the day - And if I look at my opening stock of new guitars, inc many PRS models, that these are still new/modern instruments 
    Late 80’s I reckon.

    The 17 year old me stupidly turned down my driving instructors offer of his 63 Strat for £175.00 in June 87. I foolishly, or honestly found an ad for Vintage & Rare. Which I think was quite new then & 60’s ones were about £3K. So I told him & he kept it. Then his father in law bought him another one!!! 

    I don’t regret it, because he was a bit of a yobbo. Had he got wind of me ripping him off later. My testicles would have likely been a down payment on the balance. 


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  • NeilNeil Frets: 3594
    Teflon said:
    Funnily enough, I bought my my first guitar back around '77. and it was also a Satellite  =). In my case though, a black Les Paul look a like.  Spent the next year or so saving up so I could afford my dream guitar, which I eventually bought from ABC music in Addlestone in late '78: an olympic white strat with rosewood neck. Despite the reputation of '70's Fenders, it was a really nice instrument, and I still have it to this day. Sadly, the receipt has long since disappeared, which is a shame, as I always thought I'd paid around £225, but from reading on these boards, I think my memory must be playing tricks, as that would be way too cheap. Would love to know how much I really paid.

    Cliff
    £225 sounds cheap for even a used model - As I mentioned above, many dealers would list guitars for sale without the case, in order to look cheaper in the appropriate adverts, then other stores - We sold them for around £365 inc case and recall select London dealers would list them at £299 with no case - So maybe £325 would be about par 
    Just had a quick look in International Musician - Aug 1978 - Rockbottom £275 with trem + case - And that would have been a cheap deal back then 
    Is that Rockbottom in Croydon? They're still going!
    That's where I got my US Standard outfit in 1989 for £399!
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    It wouldn’t surprise me if they did actually get cheaper from the 70s to the 80s - they were overpriced by CBS, they were struggling to run the company profitably and that was the supposed solution, regardless of the falling demand caused by the poor quality - which of course then made it worse. In the end they gave up and sold the company.  

    I don’t remember the 80s prices but I bought a new USA Standard Strat in 1995 for £549 or £599, I forget exactly. That’s one I should have kept... Caribbean Mist green, one of the rarer colours.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • slowpilgrimslowpilgrim Frets: 134
    can echo this, started on teles when I was young as they weren't that common compared to strats. moved on to LPs for years despite all the older folks I know telling me to give strats a run, i just hated that you see them everywhere. now a strat is my only guitar, and i'm way happier with it than any other guitar i've owned.
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  • My first US Fender was a brand new US Standard Tele purchased from Rimmers Music on Church Street in Preston in the summer of 1989, complete with Fender case, strap, lead etc. I paid £389 for it. They had recently become a Fender dealer and could offer a decent price. I actually went in to try a Fender Super 60 amp (red knob) which I didn't like, but I tried it with the Tele which I loved. 
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  • SPECTRUM001SPECTRUM001 Frets: 1553
    I’ve probably referenced before, but a crap Bullet was Fender’s budget guitar and circa £150 in 1982.

    I remember this well, as it was way beyond my budget, being twice the price of my crap Satellite (bought the year before).

    Four years later I got mine secondhand for £35. 
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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    Similar journey for me: 1975 CSL Telecaster Custom copy, Shergold Masquerader, 1st Strat in 1981.

    I still consider Strats ‘home’, though I probably spend more time with humbucking guitars now, if I’m honest.
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  • NerineNerine Frets: 1971
    Mega
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14026
    tFB Trader
    My first US Fender was a brand new US Standard Tele purchased from Rimmers Music on Church Street in Preston in the summer of 1989, complete with Fender case, strap, lead etc. I paid £389 for it. They had recently become a Fender dealer and could offer a decent price. I actually went in to try a Fender Super 60 amp (red knob) which I didn't like, but I tried it with the Tele which I loved. 
    Can't recall the sub £400 price tag of a Std model - Recall more the £599 days

    Surprised in many ways on my part - I recall the gasp as the Strat hit £1000 for the 1st time and ditto an LP Std hitting 1K for the 1st time, repeated years later at 2K - So surprised I can't recall the £400 and £500 days 

    Just had a thought - around 1989-92 I was not working in the guitar trade - I ran a drum business in Derby for a short period so would not have been aware of the day to day pricing
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  • normula1normula1 Frets: 639
    I’ve probably referenced before, but a crap Bullet was Fender’s budget guitar and circa £150 in 1982.

    I remember this well, as it was way beyond my budget, being twice the price of my crap Satellite (bought the year before).

    Four years later I got mine secondhand for £35. 
    As an ignorant guitar purchaser in the early eighties I thought the Tele shaped Bullet quite nice apart from the pickup angles. Thankfully, I bought the Squier Strat I stll play most days instead.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    normula1 said:

    As an ignorant guitar purchaser in the early eighties I thought the Tele shaped Bullet quite nice apart from the pickup angles. Thankfully, I bought the Squier Strat I stll play most days instead.
    You weren’t ignorant. Those earlier US-made Bullets weren’t crap - they were (deliberately) very basic, but actually well-made and sounded good. The necks were almost identical to a US Tele, and the pickups were left-over US Mustang ones.

    They’re worth a reasonable amount these days, rightly.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    I bought a new Bullet in December 1981 for £135 from Soho Soundhouse.

    I still have the neck on my favourite Tele as I butchered the body with a Strat trem and extra routing, but it was a great sounding and playing guitar. 
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  • rossirossi Frets: 1698
    My  new Lead II  was  about 180 from Allens in Norwich  about 1981 ish .My squier JV 82  which replaced it  was  also about 180 from Memory  .I swapped the Lead for a Maya 335 but way too heavy so I swapped it for the JV  .My new Harmony Sovereign  flat top was  60 quiddish in 64.
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