UPDATED w/NGD video; Buying a 50's style Strat, which of these 2 would you pick?

Strat54

BigPaulie said:

Strat54 said:

CS all the way. I had a look at a 70th the other day....8.5lbs....sticky neck finish....tiny frets and 7.25 radius didn't make it a joy to play. Great to look at and a nice package but that's not enough for me. People that tell you that recent AV's are better than most CS are deluded and usually folks paid to say that online. Go try and decide for yourself. 

8 1/2 lbs would be a deal breaker for me.

But aren't 7.25" radius and small frets part of the vintage "charm"? Anything without those features can't be considered "50's style".

I'd be inclined to look for a Classic Lacquer Series at a good weight unless I was determined to get rid of the extra £2k-ish.

It's a charm we can live without today and what's with this forum's tedious obsession with not wanting people to buy a decent expensive guitar?? There is a difference, don't kid yourselves there's not. Do you all stand outside the Porsche garage shouting 'Go buy a Golf instead' Hopes, dreams, aspirations.....

smogfalls

fretfinder said:

Didn’t you see this?    
Hope yours is a good one, enjoy. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/261540/ft-fs-fender-cs-56-relic-strat-maple-board-trade-for-rosewood-board-cs-relic-strat-or-sell#latest

Hey buddy, I did indeed!.. in fact I messaged you about it a few weeks back. I decided to go with brand new with no relicing for a couple hundred quid more.. plus I wanted the 7.25" radius, and also needed it to be delivered as I don't currently own a car.. got a motorbike though. ha! Cheers mate 

smogfalls

BigPaulie said:

Strat54 said:

CS all the way. I had a look at a 70th the other day....8.5lbs....sticky neck finish....tiny frets and 7.25 radius didn't make it a joy to play. Great to look at and a nice package but that's not enough for me. People that tell you that recent AV's are better than most CS are deluded and usually folks paid to say that online. Go try and decide for yourself. 

8 1/2 lbs would be a deal breaker for me.

But aren't 7.25" radius and small frets part of the vintage "charm"? Anything without those features can't be considered "50's style".

I'd be inclined to look for a Classic Lacquer Series at a good weight unless I was determined to get rid of the extra £2k-ish.

absolutely right dude, I wanted the 7.25" radius and all that which I why I went with the custom shop in the end.. plus the fact it was a lb lighter.
I don't mind spending a little more to be honest, music is my living.. plus it was the cheapest brand new CS I've seen in a long time.

smogfalls

fastonebaz said:

Surely a £600 strat would suffice? 

hmmmm, I get what you mean, and over 30 years of playing I've owned many amazing cheap guitars, but right now, no it wouldn't be an option for me personally, I know what I want and I'm after a "lifer" Strat here. Plus music is my living so I don't begrudge spending a bit for the right tools. Also, this is the cheapest brand new CS I've seen in a long time, so worst case scenario, I doubt I'd lose much on it.

smogfalls

HandwrittenHero said:

Can’t get at the specs of the CS anymore, but from the position of having had a 60th anniversary that’s basically the same as the AVRII - It’s down to what flavour of strat. I found the 54 to have all the plus points of being underwound and all the negatives too. Those were the bigger factors for me than radius etc. I ultimately sold it after replacing with my 56 CS which had more grunt to it and just suited me better. YMMV completely 

thanks for the insight buddy. The CS one I went with is 7.25' radius board, 10/56 v-neck (very similar to the one on my Nachocaster), "CS 50's pickups" and weighs 7.8lbs. Ticked all the boxes for me really.

bacchanalian

I don't have anything useful to add other than I really dig your youtube channel.

smogfalls

bacchanalian said:

I don't have anything useful to add other than I really dig your youtube channel.

Ah thanks mate!.. that’s incredibly useful to me

BigPaulie

smogfalls said:

BigPaulie said:

Strat54 said:

CS all the way. I had a look at a 70th the other day....8.5lbs....sticky neck finish....tiny frets and 7.25 radius didn't make it a joy to play. Great to look at and a nice package but that's not enough for me. People that tell you that recent AV's are better than most CS are deluded and usually folks paid to say that online. Go try and decide for yourself. 

8 1/2 lbs would be a deal breaker for me.

But aren't 7.25" radius and small frets part of the vintage "charm"? Anything without those features can't be considered "50's style".

I'd be inclined to look for a Classic Lacquer Series at a good weight unless I was determined to get rid of the extra £2k-ish.

absolutely right dude, I wanted the 7.25" radius and all that which I why I went with the custom shop in the end.. plus the fact it was a lb lighter.
I don't mind spending a little more to be honest, music is my living.. plus it was the cheapest brand new CS I've seen in a long time.

Good score!

That's a beautiful guitar!

I hope it keeps you happy for many years to come.

Lewy

bacchanalian said:

I don't have anything useful to add other than I really dig your youtube channel.

Ditto. Always great playing and tone!

Fishboy7

Congrats, I do prefer a 50s spec strat over 60s and that one looks great

Revolutions

Strat54 said:

BigPaulie said:

Strat54 said:

CS all the way. I had a look at a 70th the other day....8.5lbs....sticky neck finish....tiny frets and 7.25 radius didn't make it a joy to play. Great to look at and a nice package but that's not enough for me. People that tell you that recent AV's are better than most CS are deluded and usually folks paid to say that online. Go try and decide for yourself. 

8 1/2 lbs would be a deal breaker for me.

But aren't 7.25" radius and small frets part of the vintage "charm"? Anything without those features can't be considered "50's style".

I'd be inclined to look for a Classic Lacquer Series at a good weight unless I was determined to get rid of the extra £2k-ish.

It's a charm we can live without today and what's with this forum's tedious obsession with not wanting people to buy a decent expensive guitar?? There is a difference, don't kid yourselves there's not. Do you all stand outside the Porsche garage shouting 'Go buy a Golf instead' Hopes, dreams, aspirations.....

I’ve owned a few CS guitars & played lots. To me, the additional cost is custom specs, choice of nitro finish, logo & case. They don’t feel or play any better than a good example of a standard factory run guitar in my experience. Nothing wrong with wanting the prestige & having custom specs though.

On the radius issue, the difference is a lot smaller than it seems…

Revolutions

guitars4you

Revolutions said:

Looks like a VAR check - Or indeed shows 12" will appeal to those who believe in a flat earth 

When you show it like this, then yes little variation - But when you set up the guitars and play then, a gnats whisker adjustment/variation, can make it feel so much easier to play

IMO, the biggest negative with 7.25 is not so much the radius but the fret size - Mini/vintage frets, especially on a maple lacquered board are a no no - Replace them with 6105/6110/6150's etc and the same guitar becomes so much easier to handle - The Michael Landau Strat is such an example - Very slick and easy action, but still a 7.25" radius 

strtdv

The best of the American Vintage are as good as anything the custom shop produces, the main issue is that there's much more variability in terms of weight etc, so try before you buy is more important.

My AVRI Tele is dead on 7lbs, has a 1 piece ash body with no knots, is very resonant, and sounds and plays brilliantly, but I've seen ones with 2 and 3 piece bodies, and setup all over the place.

I can't see the listing, but an AVRI at ~£1000 less than a custom shop can be a great buy if it's a good one.

NCo

strtdv said:

The best of the American Vintage are as good as anything the custom shop produces, the main issue is that there's much more variability in terms of weight etc, so try before you buy is more important.

My AVRI Tele is dead on 7lbs, has a 1 piece ash body with no knots, is very resonant, and sounds and plays brilliantly, but I've seen ones with 2 and 3 piece bodies, and setup all over the place.

I can't see the listing, but an AVRI at ~£1000 less than a custom shop can be a great buy if it's a good one.

It's worth highlighting that the number of pieces is meaningless. 

For translucent or transparent finishes, a 1-piece body can look nice, but so can a properly matched 2-piece body. For solid finishes, it honestly makes no difference.

Of course this says nothing about how the guitar would sound, but it does look like yours is a winner.

strtdv

It's not it changes the sound at all (though I suspect it probably does, you'll struggle to convince me that if you chop a nice piece of ash in half and glue it together again it'll sound any better for it), it's more that you tend to get a 1 piece body in a guitar that's had some care and attention put into it.

I've played several of the AVRIs that were really stunning guitars, really impressive at any money, but then I've played a couple that were no better than American Standard (which are very good guitars they just generally don't have that little something extra that separates a good guitar from a great one)

smogfalls

Strat54 said:

BigPaulie said:

Strat54 said:

CS all the way. I had a look at a 70th the other day....8.5lbs....sticky neck finish....tiny frets and 7.25 radius didn't make it a joy to play. Great to look at and a nice package but that's not enough for me. People that tell you that recent AV's are better than most CS are deluded and usually folks paid to say that online. Go try and decide for yourself. 

8 1/2 lbs would be a deal breaker for me.

But aren't 7.25" radius and small frets part of the vintage "charm"? Anything without those features can't be considered "50's style".

I'd be inclined to look for a Classic Lacquer Series at a good weight unless I was determined to get rid of the extra £2k-ish.

It's a charm we can live without today and what's with this forum's tedious obsession with not wanting people to buy a decent expensive guitar?? There is a difference, don't kid yourselves there's not. Do you all stand outside the Porsche garage shouting 'Go buy a Golf instead' Hopes, dreams, aspirations.....

Haha.. hard to argue with that. A person only spends what they want to/can spend, so assume they’ve got the finances aligned okay and allow them to push on with their purchase. 

smogfalls

strtdv said:

The best of the American Vintage are as good as anything the custom shop produces, the main issue is that there's much more variability in terms of weight etc, so try before you buy is more important.

My AVRI Tele is dead on 7lbs, has a 1 piece ash body with no knots, is very resonant, and sounds and plays brilliantly, but I've seen ones with 2 and 3 piece bodies, and setup all over the place.

I can't see the listing, but an AVRI at ~£1000 less than a custom shop can be a great buy if it's a good one.

In this case the AVII was only £200 less than the CS, but much heavier. I opted for the CS. 

smogfalls

NCo said:

strtdv said:

The best of the American Vintage are as good as anything the custom shop produces, the main issue is that there's much more variability in terms of weight etc, so try before you buy is more important.

My AVRI Tele is dead on 7lbs, has a 1 piece ash body with no knots, is very resonant, and sounds and plays brilliantly, but I've seen ones with 2 and 3 piece bodies, and setup all over the place.

I can't see the listing, but an AVRI at ~£1000 less than a custom shop can be a great buy if it's a good one.

It's worth highlighting that the number of pieces is meaningless. 

For translucent or transparent finishes, a 1-piece body can look nice, but so can a properly matched 2-piece body. For solid finishes, it honestly makes no difference.

Of course this says nothing about how the guitar would sound, but it does look like yours is a winner.

Cheers dude, I’ll update the thread when it arrives! 

smogfalls

Well, it arrived, and I'm loving it so far.. filmed this literally as soon as I took the guitar out of its case. Plugged straight into my Lazy J 20.. just a rattle through the 5 pickup positions;

https://youtu.be/E6iVnRNnxMk?si=KojiqS058Lgqu3dv