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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
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About the same size. The body contours don't match the pre-CBS ones so that gets some people worked up.
The oversized headstock will add a little bit of weight, but the main problem with that headstock is that it just looks horrible.
The main reason they weigh as much as they do is the timber used for the construction. It's just very dense.
I've not played a huge number of 70's examples, but I remember playing a 79 once that was ridiculously heavy. I think the earlier 70s ones weren't so bad, apart from the ugly headstocks.
All the modern Mexican Strats I've played have been much better guitars than that 79 monstrosity.
Like any wood this varies by environment. The stuff that grows in wetter conditions gets bigger cells full of water. as it dries this leaves more air space in the wood , so its lighter. Hence the term "swamp ash", which you normally expect to be a lot lighter than your standard Ash even though the species is often the same.
Most woodworkers actually rejected this wood as its not as strong and a bit more awkward to work. fine for a guitar body but not so good for a chair or a house. It probably would have been a budget choice that led Leo to use it as much as anything... it was dirt cheap.
Fender got stuck with the heavy stuff towards the end of the 60's as lighter stuff became harder to find. No one would have been purposely planting ash trees in wet lands as there was no money in it.
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45mm is on the money, thats the same thickness as mine.
The larger headstock does weigh more - about 30% if I remember correctly - because it's not only larger but slightly thicker. This extra mass does definitely change the tone in my opinion, by altering the resonance of the neck - I find the big-head Strats sound more open and deeper, maybe slightly more scooped; small-head ones are more focused and midrangy. Not a big difference but when you play a lot of them you may notice it. I personally prefer the big-head tone, so I have come to like the shape.
That Aria is a brute if it's over 9lb though - that's up in late-70s territory for a Strat, when they just felt and sounded like a dead weight. Whether that was only due to the extra mass or the ridiculously thick (actually called Thick Skin) finish is debatable - I once stripped one down to the wood and oil-finished it, but I also recontoured the body, and which reduced the mass the most I don't know! It made a huge difference to both the weight and the sound - but I had also replaced the alloy bridge with a steel one, so the tone change is still not conclusively down to the weight or the finish.
I have played many 70s Strats which weighed over 9lb, and I think a few over 10lb... the worst was a 1980 candy apple red 'The Strat' which felt like it was made from uranium or something - it felt heavier than a heavy Les Paul, but that may have just been down to expectation... we didn't actually weigh guitars in those days.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
What I don't really agree with is the pricing of so many of them - including some of the worst boat-anchor Gibsons and Fenders, and the odder/budget Gibsons - as 'vintage' guitars with associated price tags. They are the very guitars that started the whole 'vintage' thing in the first place by being so crap compared to the 60s ones.
When you see a late-70s Fender listed at more than the price of a new Custom Shop one you know something is wrong.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein