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After playing like 5 of these, I'm sorta dying to get one. I love how they play. Just something about them makes them worthwhile....
anyways, how much more do you you guys think I would need to get a vintage strat if I sold my American Deluxe Fat Strat ('03) and my Princeton 65 ('01)? Both of which are in almost perfect condition (A small ding at the bottom of the guitar that you can only see if you turn it over [the skinnier side]).
1964 Fender Stratocaster "Sunburst" Very clean example of a pre-C.B.S. Fender Stratocaster in original condition. This fine guitar has all the great features that include a great playing larger profile neck with a Brazilian Rosewood fret-board, Green-guard, 3-Staggered-pole pickups, L-serial plate and a Transition logo. Clean Fender Stratocaster's are becoming very hard to find and are also great investments. This one is very clean and is also a great guitar for someone who is looking for a light-weight superb playing original pre-C.B.S. Fender Stratocaster! EXC+ w/OHSC $12,900
Better start saving
oh I don't really care if it's clean or not. It doesn't even have to look all that great. Just has to work :P
Uh, I'm pretty sure that Fender never used Brazilian rosewood BITD.
Oh, that Pre-CBS strat is going to cost 5000 and up for a beat player.
crap... oh well.... maybe in like 10 yrs...
Vintage places always say Brazil wood on all guitars LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Wilko
And I should add that they are worth it.
I went out on a limb and borrowed the money to buy mine back in the 80's.
http://members.cox.net/wilko2/fender.../hearth_sm.jpg
I just let one go cheap at $9.5K.
I dunno man. I played well over 200 vintage Strats when I was looking for one and the majority of them, (like your photo clearly depicts), were firewood. I'll take a modern/vintage instrument any day because my experience has been that they sound better, play better, have no "issues", and don't cost 10 times what they're actually worth. I will conceed that there are some rare vintage "ringers" out there, but I sure haven't played one yet that I thought was any better then the current offerings from Fender. Not saying one is necessarily better than the other. Just sharing my personal experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilko
Get a "Body-only Refin" - best buy in the World! I've got a Jan. '64 Clay dot, Green 'guard, Spagetti logo that is 100% right down to the last screw except for a GREAT refin to my favorite color, Seafoam Green, and a pro refret with vintage-sized large frets. I've got $7,500.00 in it TOTAL, and have turned down much more. Two vintage dealers have taken it apart and are SURE the color is original :bwa (Or they feel like they could SELL it as original!) and are pretty anxious to relieve me of it!
Point is, if you can find THE right body-only refin (Uncompromised body contours) you can have YOUR favorite Fender Custom-colored Strat, TONS of vintage mojo, THE feel and tone, and only your hairdresser (Or Terry Mueller!) will know for SURE. . . :ola
Hell, with Custom colored Strats, nobody believes they're real when you DO have an original - it's like having a wife with perfect 36C breasticles! I saw a GREAT body-only refin in Seafoam at Rudy's Music Stop right now - a '61 Slabboard. . . :D
Seems to me that the "keeper" guitars are being "kept" if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are plenty of dogs out there that just happen to be old that are fetching ridiculous prices.
I'm with TB on this one.
I'd wager that most of the great (and what I mean by great here is great sounding, great playing and great looking) vintage instruments have been snagged up by folks that just aren't going to get rid of them in their lifetime.
Thus leaving the firewood scraps Tele-Bob refers to.
Add to that there are more vintage instruments now than ever. :rl If you're really good at faking bodies, for example, you could take what you believe to be a real vintage neck [probably made by somebody who's good at faking necks] and some modern hardware and pass it off as a several thousand dollar vintage parts-o-caster. Add five "PAT PEND" saddles [easily made by anybody with access to a machine shop] and get a few more hundred. People are willing to spend stupid amounts of money for "deals" and when the parts are mixed up, they're a lot less critical of the "real parts" that are there.
Another thing to consider is what you feel is vintage.
I have a 1966 strat that is CBS period. It has an outstanding strat tone. Incredible chime and a real smokey tone. I've never come across any strat that sounded this good, and that's why I bugged my buddy to sell it to me 13 years ago.
So my point is maybe a CBS era. It'll save you a lot of dough and you'll still get a cool old strat.
Once you have had a few real ones in your hand and examinated these examples to exhaution......, then there's no way you can be fooled by a fake, IMO, there are just certain things you can replicate but that's been my experience also when it comes to sound you can't beat that either...is just that simple.
I meant to say can't replicate...!!!
One thing they really cant fake is that old smell that 40-50 year old instruments get.
Vintage to me doesnt automaticly mean its gonna sound great there are vintage dogs and killers just like on new guitars.
If you ever have the chance to go into a big store that has 25-30 of the same model Fender play them all about 3 will be special the rest not so special. Same thing holds true on Vintage models except similar instruments in the same condition sell for the same price reguardless of how they sound.
With the only exception that after a good 40 years or so the Pups magnets have lost the strenght making them a lot more smoother sounding, I must be a rare animal but I can feel and tell the difference in the sound of new and old pups. Also I had played many new Fenders and so far I haven't found a real nice one yet but 3 and a half out of 5 Vintage Strats I have tried have that ummm, specially 64's and early. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcondo
What if you were given a Vintage Strat and a new Relic Strat and you were blindfolded. Do you think you could feel the difference?
Also what about on tape could anyone here pick out a Vintage Strat just by its sound on tape as compared to any good Strat with some good pickups in it? I say if you take the same player and he played a riff on a Vintage Strat and the same player played the same riff on 3 other Strats all with different pickups no one here could pick the Vintage one everytime.
I agree Marcondo. The only thing a vintage Strat really gives you is bragging rights. It's old. People like old things. There were some great guitars made many years ago. There are some great guitars being made now. Mankind did not suddenly stop making great guitars at a given point in history. In fact, even the "eras" where guitar production was considered sud-standard, there were still some great pieces in the lot. Given the technology we have today and the ability to practically replicate old guitars, I have to believe that on average, more great guitars are being produced in this day and age then were ever produced ever before. So the only remaining question is, "how much are bragging rights worth to a person?"
Hendrix didn`t care about 50` or early 60` strats........what a fool......
but for him, it was really a very very hard time to get to the top without those vintage strats and old wood......
And I bet, Clapton would have payed 5000-10000$ for those used strat parts back in the 70`....just to put his 2 strats together.......
bullshit........
So the hell....why should we do???
There are so many high quality components on the market to put together your individual high class strat for a reasonabel price......If it has to be vintage thing, fake it ,age it, but don`t pay it!!!
It doesn`t has always has to be fender and pre CBS.....
I was speaking of my own experience, me playing new and old axes, I do hear the difference, and is not the power of suggestion. BTW I do respect your opinion as I was just giving mine.
Peace.
Good thread! I must begrudgingly admit that a GOOD old Stratocaster (And I'm talking a ~1 in 50 or so of extant examples) DOES sound "smoother", "chimier", and "quackier" than a "New" Stratocaster/Partsocaster. I've owned over 50 Stratocasters, including ~ a dozen Masterbuilts, early '57/'62 Reissues from Fullerton AND Japan, several vintage Pre-CBS Strats, and a truckload of Partsocasters. The Partsocasters were probably at the TOP of the non-vintage sound heap, since I allowed myself free reign to swap necks/bodies/pickups/hardware with reckless, foolish abandon, having absolutely NO regard for money, 'til I got a good end result (or two). As TeleBob so succinctly put it in other posts, it's really a crapshoot - hit and miss 'til you get THE right neck/body combination - from there just dial in the electronics to taste. I've got TWO stellar Partsocasters right now - I've sunk probably $2K+ into each one, the result being that they will hold their respective own(s) against ANY CustomShop/Masterbuilt; regrettably, they are JUST not as smoove, buttery, and harmonically complex as my Foam Green Jan. '64 body-only refin. . .
As most of you know, I've chased my Les Paul tail for AS long as my Stratocaster tail, with LOTS more $ thrown at the effort, with the same result(s). I must ruefully acknowledge that there's "something" about the old wood; the old pickups don't hoit neither! ;)
I'll tell my standard vintage story:
The finest strat I ever played was a '63, all beat to hell & back. Looked like crap but sang like an angel. That guitar spoke to me like no other before or since.
Unfortunately, what it said was "I cost $5,000".
There's PLENTY of awe-inspiring instruments out there. Some are cheap, some are NOT. But eventually, if you keep trying, you'll find a keeper. Maybe more than one.
I have four electrics. I'd NEVER get rid of my 62 RI strat, or my G&L ASAT Classic. Well, probably never. ;-)
The other two, my '87 strat I keep around for nostalgia;s sake. It's a decent instrument, & we have a lot of history together. My tele is a nice guitar too, but I don't have an incredible attachment to it. I'm going to try swapping the pups out for some CS Texas Specials, & if that don't work, it's off to Fleabay we go, then back to the shopping trail. :-)
Guitars are what you make of them.
My guess is most of us have way better instruments than Hendrix or Clapton used in the 60's. But none of us sound like Hendrix or Clapton did in the 60's.
Marcondo, that is so true.
Yeah Clapton played a '59 LP. I'm lookin' at Hendrix playing an early 60's strat. What were they thinking?!!
A good old strat is a thing of beauty. The tone is amazing. Yes it sounds heads and shoulders better than new ones to me. Now the thing is, they all weren't great sounding.
Theres also many guitars that arent custom shop or vintage that play really well! Every so often you'll come across the everyday standard strat and you'll think to yourself, "WHOA"! Thats the one! :dude
I was doing a little gear shopping today and played an excellent condition 61 Strat. What a piece of firewood! Dull, dead, lifeless stick of a guitar. Now, the Suhr S type guitar next to it was amazing!
I'm sure there are plenty of vintage strats that just "lay there" but the ones that sing are the ones that have that old wood "something" that I just haven't yet felt in any newer guitar. Some are very close.
Same with Les Pauls, It's not really as much in the sound but it's in the "feel". Much more complex, resonant overtones that I really like in my guitars. Many like the simple, solid no fuss solid guitars, I prefer a bit more of that woody sound.
Plus, bragging rights are worth about 6-10k these days ;)
Mine's been doing it's job with me for almost 20 years. The sickest part is the $900.00 pickguard!
Some of us just still love that old firewood
http://kthesheep.smugmug.com/photos/15341616-O-1.jpg
@ master chief
don`t wait 10 yrs, don`t sell your nice princeton...
take:
MIM 50 or 60 classic series body (sunburst, so they can`t fool you with a mucho piece body or poplar etc.)
I got a one piece! body for 180$ at e-pay. rare, but possible......take your time...
let`s say...Warmoth neck....fits perfect in a standard fender neck pocket...choose vintage specs....frets-size-shape-rosewood-marple......
some metall aftermarket parts, some plastic aftermarket parts
(why pay more?)
you can take those everyday fender pups.......
and try those different variations of pup height adjustment pots+caps....and there are tons of different sounds for free.....)
you really will get very close to a perfect 61 vintage sound,
for 7000 to 5000$ less.....
@ thread
Don`t get me wrong, I respect the collectors and vintage players point of view, they do a great job to safe the heritage of this fine instruments
but on the other side: nothing comes close to nail these vintage sounds with a perfect tuned cheapo-caster ......
I've played more guitars than Van Kamps got beans, & nothing feels or sounds like a Vintage Fender that is properly set up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kthesheep
I don't know who you think you are,,,,
but this is one of the most blatant vulgar display of strats i have ever seen!!
Its gona take me a week to get to get rid of the woody,, Hope your happy :rl
http://kthesheep.smugmug.com/photos/15341616-O-1.jpg
Lots of great reading here guys,, I love it :)
Yeah, but there's only two maple necks, and at least one is post-CBS.:lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Spooky
[edited to add]
soory...that was way too smart-ass. NICE collection.:yay
With apologies to Pink Floyd... Are all those your guitars? :wowQuote:
Originally Posted by Spooky
Just beautiful!!! Seriously is that all old wood? Are any re-fins?
Can you clarify what the colors are for the 3rd from the left and the 2nd from the right? Is the first Copper and the second Aztec Gold?
I would guess the one you are calling copper is actually Burgundy Mist.
Nice collection whatever their heritage might be!!!
This is only one wall, I do have more maple neck strats. My new wife is supportive of my addiction but prefers more conventional decoration in the house. I only keep a few laying around anymore I have had a serious addiction since I was seven years old.Quote:
Originally Posted by quackman
I am not rich and am not trying to be pompous. I just show off my guitars and amps like I show off my children.
3rd from left is a 1966 with a beautiful flame neck, in the pic the body only had been painted non original color (copper) It is now refined to ice blue metallic.
2nd from the right is a gold 56 I had refined in the 80's with all original gold hardware.
I try to stay away from refins but when I find an all original guitar with the body only refinished. I will purchase it and try to restore it to its original state.
Perfect example is a pair of fifties strats 55 and 58 the 55 was a bad mary kay refin on the body only. The 58 was painted purple I restored the bodies back to the original color and even was able to recover the body dates on both and preserve them.
http://kthesheep.smugmug.com/photos/9810692-M-1.jpg
Those strats are a thing of beauty sheep. Well one thing is for sure no can tell you that vintage strats are not better sounding and playing guitars than the newer ones. I also have or have had all kind of Strats including CS and Suhr, Mels, Grosh, Anderson and Zion. I have a 1966 and it is is a notch above all of them. I got it somewhat reasonable because it was a refin. However it was a Fender Factory refin done in 1969 and it is incredible! and it has the most beautiful Braz' RW FB and has the straightest neck and best action of just about any other strat I've played. The neck is perfect. oh yeah, it is a one peice body, and the neck is beautifully figured. I dont see fender putting Braz FB or one peice bodies on any production strats any more. Yes the old ones are better built guitars (from my experience)... period.
Cant resist getting in on this. A great thread. I'm new to this forum and thus far enjoy what I see. What I have to offer is a 62 strat (hence stratcat62) which, as has been discussed, is a special player and quit toneful. That said, my number one is a 2004 American Deluxe Ash body with Kinman Woodstocks (including his solderless kit). While the 62 has a sweet spot (which I might not find on another 62), my number one delivers excellent vintage tones and is more versatile. And, I hate to say this, the new strat plays considerably better than the 62. Of course, when I got mine it was called used and I swapped one of the first EH LPB-1's (cost of $35) even up for the strat and a black faced bassman head. The old girl has been with me since 1969 (every one wanted Les Paul's). Plus, it ain't for sale.
I'm pretty sure Fender never used brazilian rosewood for any of their fingerboards BITD.
They used some on later custom shop guitars.
Right on stratcat62. I don't think the vintage of a guitar is nearly as important as the qualities of a guitar. The sounds of vintage guitars are just as diverse as the sounds of new guitars. Sure, your Kinman equipped 04 Am Dlx Strat may not sound exactly like YOUR '62 Strat, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that it does sound extremely similar to someone elses vintage Strat. Is that "good" sound? Depends on who you ask.
Is there really such a thing as "Vintage Guitar Tone" which only eminates from old guitars? Not the sound you get when combining a guitar with a particular amp, but the sound a "guitar" makes be it old or new.
I seriously doubt that anyone in a blindfolded sound test could pick the Vintage Guitar out from two others that were set up with similar specs.
To my ear, Vintage is all about bragging rights. Yes, there are some vintage Strats that sound amazing! Just like there are many modern, vintage spec guitars that sound amazing. Ronnie Earl said in an interview, that he plays all relics now because his vintage Strats are just too valuable to take out of the house. He went on to say that the relics are so good, there simply is no difference. I would consider Ronnie Earl somewhat of an authority on vintage Strat tone.
In short, I honestly believe that "vintage tone" exists in guitars of any age and that it simply is not necessary to spend huge amounts of cash to obtain that sound. The only difference between a great sounding relic and a true vintage Strat is "bragging rights".
If I find a vintage Strat that plays right and sounds great, and I can afford it, I would buy it. It's worth it! If I find a new guitar that plays great and sounds great, and I can afford it, I'll buy it and it will sound and play just as good as any old guitar I've ever played.
When it all comes out in the wash, the only tangible, realistic difference for me is "re-sale value." Call me weird, but I buy my guitars with the idea in mind of playing them. Not selling them. So, if the sound and the vibe is there, and it's $10,000 less than the "vintage equivelant", I'm there! YMMV.
Huh?................................, OK
There is no bolt together guitar that is worth 10-15k, not to me. Vintage tone only exists today in the here and now, my guitar heroes were playing new instruments, the concept of vintage was never thought of back in that time.
Are there great sounding guitars from the 60's ...yup. Are they all great...nope, but the are all expensive. Good sounding guitars sound good no matter when they were made, and right now there are more good sounding guitars being made than at any other time in history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Relicula
Nothing is worth what you don't want to pay for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Relicula
Trust me the Vintage strats are bringing the money!
Now is a relic worth 2k?
Maybe to you but not to me.
I agree that the new guitars are being built great and agree that they also sound great. However when I paid 2k for a 1970 Strat a few years ago and 2.5k for a Custom shop strat. the 1970 blew it away. Now I sold both guitars couldn't get my money back from the custom shop and doubled my money on the 1970. So if you don't think that was worth it. What then?
Perhaps the coolest thing here is that some of the "vintage guys" reading this thread are shaking their heads saying "these guys just don't get it." While the "non-believers" are shaking theirs heads at the vintage guys thinking "these guys just don't get it."Quote:
Originally Posted by Tele-Bob
kthesheep
"However when I paid 2k for a 1970 Strat a few years ago and 2.5k for a Custom shop strat. the 1970 blew it away. Now I sold both guitars couldn't get my money back from the custom shop and doubled my money on the 1970. So if you don't think that was worth it. What then?"
This is what's so cool. The above example is totally valid for the person expressing it however, it means nothing to the person who's personal experience has been that Custom Shop Relics play better and sound better on average than any of the vintage guitars they've played. A different person playing kthesheep's guitars might have a totally different experience claiming the 1970 Strat was firewood while the Custom Shop Strat ruled.
So, since you can't account for taste, and technically, it cannot be proven that one vintage guitar or modern guitar actually sounds better than the other, what are we left with?
Bragging rights and personal "perceived value". If you dig it, vintage or not, then that is the right choice.
Tele-Bob, You hit the nail right on the head!
lets take it one more step. I still think it is crazy to pay 10k+ for any guitar
I just do because I know someone is just as crazy to take it off my hands when needed. I don't look at these as investments at all. Because of the prices now you can make a littlle somtimes but they are more just assets.
I buy them because I love to play them.
I feel the need to chime in, because the whole vintage market is frankly getting out of hand.
Stevie Ray Vaughan probably triggered the whole rage way back when, but I still don't understand what is so amazing about a plank of wood that just happens to be old. As previously stated, in a blindfolded test, you'd never be able to determine which one is vintage. If it would be *that* obvious, I'd be the first one to take out a 20 000$ loan to find myself the cream or the crop, but the reality is that great guitars can easily be built today.
Warmoth, for instance, gives you all the options you'd ever want to have and more and will build you a totally accurate vintage reproduction that will have extra perks and sound as good, if not better. The fact that there are *some* great-sounding axes that happen to be old shouldn't undermine the fact that the majority stink. How many older Strats just sound empty or soul-less? Plenty. But you don't really hear about those, now do you?
I have to agree with T-B on this one, since I haven't heard anything extraordinary from a vintage axe that can't be reproduced by a similarly made brand spanking new guitar.
Besides, I find that most people are guilty of simply being brainwashed by the market in regards to their tonal worth. I mean, seriously... if I put a real 58 Strat on your lap, you'd probably freak out and state that it sounds absolutely amazing, regardless of whether it does or not. Most people are positively biased when it comes to forming an opinion on that topic. I could easily post an MP3 of a brand new MIM Strat and post it in the Jam Zone and state it was a 58 Strat I just bought by selling my car and people would surely be telling me "Wow, it just sings!"
There's no single characteristic that will make a guitar or any other instrument sound good, much less its age. There are some jewels out there, but like everything else, they're few and far between. It's funny how eBay attracts all the people who'll buy into this "It's old, therefore it sounds amazing, so bid high!" bullshit.
This all goes back to my theory that most "musicians" simply don't even listen. They play, they buy, they look, but they don't listen. Well,... no wonder such myths remain...
Having only played a few classic examples, my .02 may not be worth as much, but here goes...
I look at it like this. An electric guitar, at maximum, is only 50% of the equation when talking about tone. (Probably more like 40%) The amp would be the other half. I think that most people would agree (may be not) that a great amp can make cheap guitar sound good and a good guitar sound great. So I believe with the wonderful parts companies out there, you can make a guitar exactly the way Fender did it back in the day. Plug that guitar into a great amp next to a vintage Fender plugged into a great amp. You will never be able to tell the difference.
Again, just my .02
Who here has a vintage Strat that just sounds empty or soul-less?
I happen to get around quite a few vintage Strats I don't think the the majority stink. But you are right there are some dogs out there.
But I do agree with you on the blindfold test.
The same thing applies to the vintage car market. Some of us buy them just for the MoJo.
Tele-Bob said it : "perceived value"
And we can have this same discussion about "vintage" amp components. :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by memphisrain
Umhumm, I always thought that people like Eric Johnson, Mark Knopfler, George Gruhn, Tom Wheeler, Doyle Bramhall, just to name a few, were tripping on mushrooms for spending so much money in old instrument...jaja, they even think that that the sound and quality of these instrument are superior....LOL poor suckers!!!!
Oppps I also forgot to mention that one of my favorite blues guitarrist, Chris Duarte and Martin Landau say that Fender CS are just plain POS...gooooddd what is he thinking? they are all crazy for not having Fender CS....or is it coincidence?
Don't get me wrong. Vintage axes definitely have some kind of appeal. It's a bit overwhelming for me to hold a guitar that is older than I am, that lived through so much, etc... It's great, but that feeling, for me, will only last so long. In the end, what counts with me is tone, tone & tone.
If I can find a "better" tone elsewhere and it just so happens that it's reasonably priced, I'll definitely go for it, but so far, I've never heard a single vintage guitar that ever made me think that modern guitars are so inferior.
But that's just me.
I own both vintage and custom shop stuff, so I fall somewhere in the middle here. I love it all.
Last night I started out playing my John Cruz Masterbuilt. As I was playing it, I was thinking to myself, "You know...it just don't get alot better than this." Then...I made the mistake of putting it down and picking up my 57 beater. As much as all the non-vintage guys wish it were not true, there IS a difference....a "better" difference.
That being said, if all I had was my Masterbuilt, I'd be a happy guy. It sounds wonderful....
I've owned plenty of Masterbuilts in my day. When I've sold them, for whatever reason, I've never made money on them.
Every vintage Fender that I've owned and ultimately sold, I've ALWAYS made money on them.
For the record, custom shop and Masterbuilt Fenders sound a helluva lot closer to the real McCoy than do Historic Les Pauls to real bursts. The Custom Shop at Fender is definitely doing something right...especially John Cruz, who I feel is head and shoulders above the rest of the current Masterbuilders. :ahem
beautiful thread! hot discussion too...
As I am a 50+ player, I had the "chance" to play this "holy grail" guitars (LP 59, 50 and 60 strat+teles in the late 60ies.)
....in da sleeping London Town.....
oooh! all these guitars: was it a mega-rock band?
No, many gigs, no records, much fun, not too much money...
and the guitars?
out of time, "spare parts" in the deepest corner of the practice room....
and how did you feel using this guitars!!?
was the guest player, could use everything from the darkest corner..... but ooh, burst was an old fashioned out of time colour, and50 strats? old fashioned hilly-billy-country stuff......
and maybe highly reduced chances with chicks.....without a flashy guitar....
and playing!!!?
the LP klusons didn`t keep the tune very well, the other player with his grover LP was in tune all the evening...same with da fenders.....watch your gibson bridge...these saddles could get lost by changing strings ....
but the sound!!!!!!? hey man, the sound!!!!!?
what do you mean? unplugged, +/-different amps +/-stomp boxes +/-mix etc.....
There was really no "special acoustic sensation" in the room when those instruments were plugged in......
old wood left amp, new wood right side,same amp, and back, different amps ...and back again.......
but sorry, absolutely no, no------ "that`s it"------event for the ears....
But what`s about old wood and vintage sound!!!!????
These guitars at that time? no "old wood" just 10 years old....
And EC`s 59LP bluesbreaker sound!!!!?.....
old wood? ---less than ten years at that time, good sound anyways!! hey, try to sale a 95 guitar today as old wood.......they will kill you...
Did you buy one of these these guitars!!!!?
No idea.......and empty pockets these days.......from a players point of view, allright....
and for investment / collector?????
I admit.... could be a reason for manic depression over years....... but don`t worry, I`am happy....
How about this one.
I buy parts all the time to have on hand for restorations.
I had a Burgandy Mist MIM 60s Strat Brand new took a 1963 Strat neck and put it on in place of the MIM neck. This guitar was a bastard that played great.
When I found an original 1963 body to replace the MIM. I put the MIM back to stock and assembled the 1963 neck to the 1963 body.
Neither guitar played as good as the bastard.
So now what?
yep,yep, same experience......
the mix of parts ist the best way to go, of course with try and error....
(and it`s the biggest advantage of the fender-concept too)
To beat a perfect bastard-strat ? very difficult....
and the MIM classic bodys are a great deal.....
But it`s like those "fashion victim" ladies, tell them their new rare and expensiv designer outfit can`t beat the look of their everyday style gear... man, they will kill you.....
To keep things in perspective though, we really need to realize that just because one of us finds things to be a certain way, that doesn't mean it's right for everyone. I have heard people get wonderful sounds out of gear that makes my skin crawl when I try to use it. That doesn't mean it's bad gear. It just means that I don't get along with it. I have played some great vintage gear and some great modern gear.
Let's look at this for a moment.
Great Vintage Gear
Great Modern Gear
The only real difference is the words "vintage" and "modern."
Remove those two words and your left with "Great Gear". Sounds good to me!
I quite agree with the logic. While I wouldn't like to part with any of my strats, the real truth is gear is only half the tone. The great players sound great no matter what guitar they're playing. More importantly, regardless of gear you know who is playing instantly by the sound.
The resale value of a guitar is determined by the market and is not a gauge for the quality of the instrument. The real judge of quality is both personal and subjective.
Head, heart and hands create great tone. Good gear, vintage or modern, is simply the vehicle.