Hi all, my first post here,
looking for a little advice, i'm about to buy a fender strat and i ahve a choice between two. both are made in japan, have alder bodies and maple necks. one is a '62 reissue, with the stock pickups for that model, the other is a '57 reissue fitted with texas special pickups.
i'm looking for opinions on which is better, in terms of sound and playability
thanks!
Without personally playing them it's a tough call. Have you played them?
I like the Texas Specials myself.
I'm guessing they'll be fairly similar in terms of playability.
The Texas Specials will sound better if you ask me, and I think a lot of people around here will agree.
Can you not play them first and decide what one you like best?
Tommy.
No, because they're Japanese I'm buying them over the internet, I trust the seller but i'm unsure about which one to go for.
I've played a '62 reissue, and it was fine. Yeah, on paper the '57 seems better, but I'm worried the v-shaped neck might make it slightly harder to play. Also, do the texas specials sacrifice any of that 'classic' strat tone, the treble-y bell kind, for the extra output? I like a kind of early Rory Gallagher sound.
I think the Texas Specials sound significantly different than the American Vintage Single Coils. More output, easier to overdrive an amp, more grit/grind at full volume with the Texas Specials, so very nice for blues I think. No, I don't think the Texas Specials have as much of that 'classic' strat tone, they don't have the clarity.Originally Posted by redmorninglight
But perhaps they are more versatile for all around play? IMHO, the American Vintage pups, as nice as they are, are much more dependent on a pedal for crunch and overdrive.
But I would like to hear other opinions, too. Maybe it is just my guitars. I currently have an AVRI with stock pups and have all the clarity and bell like tones, but these are not powerful pups.
Personally I'd get the 57 RI with the Texas Specials. Nicer bite for Texas blues tones, IMHO.
Nice to meet you.
Japanese strats are a good call from what I hear. Was even , and still considering one for myself.
The only difference I've found was in the decals when I looked them up.
Though nowadays you'll have to get them from a second dealer thanks to fender themselves.
But I've heard them to be superior to the mim and quite comparable to mia's. But I'm sure you've already heard of that.
I just bought a Japan-made '57 RI a few weeks ago. At first I thought there were a few things wrong with it but the guys here cleared that up for me.
I'm actually not a big fan of the p'ups in mine. They have great balance, but they don't bite enough. Plus they make this bizarre noise if I play two notes at the same time, which gets worse if I try to raise them up closer to the strings. Even playing just the low E string by itself at the 12th fret gets this wavering tone in it that sounds like I'm playing the same note on two different strings, that aren't in tune with each other. Really annoying.
I like the p'ups in my Squier a lot better. Not as balanced sounding (due to non-staggered pole pieces? among other things maybe) but a lot more cut and attack. Hotter too, with slightly stronger high mids.
You know what though? I put these "Snake Oil Brand" strings on the '57 RI and I don't think I'm a fan of those, maybe a set of my usual Ernie Balls will at least solve the lack of cut problem. Could be the guitar body too, or the maple fretboard, who the hell knows...
Boobtube21,.......
You've got me interested with that pup issue in that bizarre noise .
I vaguely remember reading this on another forum with the same problem.
What I'm interested in is the possibilities that may be produced with such a side effect.
A guitar with it's own special effects, that's what I'm seeing here.
But feel free to burst my bubble.
imo, the pups are secondary....u gotta see if you'll like that V neck
that is the only deal maker/breaker imo.
[as always, see tagline]
Imanidiot.
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