Purchasing fender Strat question for Strat owners plz respond

Keith White

Keith White

Experienced
monday I am going to order an American Strat. I have it narrowed down to either the American Strat, American Shawbucker Strat, Dlx American Strat or Dlx American Shawbucker Strat

I want that classic fender sound. However the Shawbucker interests me because it has the same fat Strat 50s in the mid and neck positions so it should have the same tone in those two positions. According to the fender website the Shawbucker maintains the classic fender tone but provides more power. Has anyone tried the Shawbucker. If so how does it sound compared to the normal fat 50 pickup in the bridge position. Also is the Dlx Strat worth the extra money and does the noiseless pickups have a different tone?

This decision is very important to me being my real first Strat I would like some opinions to help me make my decision.
 
If you go for stock American standard strat , you might not be happy with the noisy pups and non locking tuners ,the finish is ok but Delux is way much better ....
 
Yes but the deluxe Noiseless pickups sound duller... Personnaly i made the choice of an american standard with a DG20 kit, no noise.
 
Got a DLX and a 56 RI from Custom Shop. Very happy with the DLX, I like the neck and fretboard a lot - also locking tuners is a big plus. Many feel the PUs are a bit dull, however I can´t really say I notice that much of a difference - although I am not ruling out that there is a difference there that keener ears than mine can detect :) It´s giving me plenty chime and bell in quack and bridge, and I feel that Jimi-groove in neck - so the PUs work for me. With the noiseless PUs it´s a little bit quieter than my 56 RI.

Personally I don´t really use the S1 switching, I have humbucker-guitars for humbucker sound. It gives you some more tonal options, however I haven´t found a use for them yet. As you write you are looking for that classic strat sound, I expect it won´t be of much use to you either.

I guess the best course of action would be to head to the nearest shop and try them out, see what feels best in your hands. For me, the neck is really important when choosing a guitar. The pickups are easy to change :)
 
With a guitar such as the Strat which has a myriad of different models I think the best thing to do is 'try before you buy' - which I hope you have done at least by going into some stores and spending some time playing them to try neck size, general feel and cranked it up a bit through a decent amp.

After that the cool thing about practically all Std or Dlx etc Strats is that all the electrical stuff is mounted to the scratchplate - which makes it really easy to modify. You can even have 2 or more plug'n'play loaded scratchplates with different pickups, pots, caps, electrical mods etc. Desoldering and resoldering the 2 wires to the jack input is the only moderately difficult task needed. (You can always modify this connection with 2 inline plug connectors to even get rid of the soldering task)

Not sure about the Std Strat but my Dlx has body routing for HSH pickups when the scratchplate is off - so I could have a scratchplate ready in that configuration if I wanted or any other combination as long as a single coil size pickup is in the middle.

I have a 1998 Strat Dlx with the Noiseless pickups, I opted to install the 'Toneshaper' mod recently which has dip switches which allow me to set different cap values for tone pots and treble bleed on the vol pot - I can also add blending options to a tone pot so it combines varying amounts of the neck/bridge pups depending on where you turn it to. Cool little contraption ..... and everything is solderless connections. If I feel I want to change the config - it's as simple as unscrewing the 11 scratch plate screws - setting a few mini dip switches and screwing it back on - job done.

So go with whatever you think might work for you ...... but don't be too concerned it might turn out to be the wrong choice later down the line ..... the Strat is probably the easiest guitar ever to modify.
 
AS a 30+ year Strat owner and player, the deluxe is the way to go. Pricey but compared to any other top guitars it's very low.

The wood and build are just much better on the deluxe. I have had a few and you can always change the pups. I did after a while, but I had the SCN Noiseless, not the N3's. I now have fralin blues specials in it and it is incredible.

Great guitars in my opinion
 
I play PRS on stage, but when I'm playing for me, out come one of the strats. The only one I've not "fiddled" with is my 50th anniversary, so keeping some funds back for modifications is great advice.


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I wouldn't want to buy a fender without playing it first, unless I had a chance to return it. But a good strat is worth looking for. For my money, they are the greatest guitar made.
 
I bought my first Strat in 1974. Great guitar and I still have it. Bought my American deluxe in 2011 and absolutely love everything about it except the tremolo (not as responsive as my G&L Comanche or Legacy or PRS Custom 22). It has the SCN pickups and absolutely produces the classic Strat chime especially in positions 2 & 4. I also like the added options of the S1 switching which while not dramatic do offer additional sonic options that I find pleasing esp. positions 2 and 5 when the switch is down. The neck is fantastic too. I can't imagine you feeling as if you made a bad decision after buying the Amer Deluxe if you're after that Strat sound. It is really a very good guitar and this is coming from a guy with a nice selection of higher end guitars.
 
When you say "Classic Fender Sound", what specifically do you mean? Knopfler? Jimi? Stevie? Frusciante? Gilmour....which era of Gilmour, early stuff off of Atom Heart Mother or more Division Bell?

Lots of different shades of that classic Strat sound. What appeals to you the most?
 
My stock advice for Strats:

1. Go somewhere that has several American standards for you to try.

2. Play them all.

3. Buy the best one.

4. Have a pickup budget.


I have played a few American Deluxe models. Unfortunately, they all seemed somewhat dead. Don't know why. Regardless, I keep thinking I need one, despite having a few Strats already.

Dave
 
I'd rather just put an S-1 switch in a Strat that has regular pickups. The noiseless ones sound kinda dead to me too.
 
Ben Randolph is on the right track. "Classic" is different for everyone.
That said, I'm a Strat junkie. Been playing Strats for over 30yrs. For me, that "Classic" Strat tone doesn't exist in the noiseless pickups or in a Humbucker. The 2 & 4 positions on a Strat have that quack and chime. A Humbucker destroys that in the Bridge/Middle position.
The noiseless stuff by Fender is dead sounding. Kinmans are passable, but still I prefer regular single coils. You can heavily shield a Strat to help with noise. Go to Guitarnuts.com and look at the "Quieting the Beast" mod. Best shielding/ground set up I've come across.
Find the Fender Classic Lacquer series. There is a 50's and 60' version. Both are nitro, and both are cheap. Then get a set of pickups. Just be aware that most vintage style single coils don't take gain all that well. There are hotter pickups that will, but you start to lose what most consider the "classic" tone as well as the quack in the 2 & 4 spots. The Fat 50's or Big Dippers Fender makes are great classic type pick ups. Check out eBay seller Klea3031 too. His stuff gets great reviews on TGP, and they're only $130 a set. I just order a set of Joel Dyer Greasy Hots for my latest project. Should be here tomorrow so I'll post my thoughts on those. As posted above, mods on Strats are fun and easy. I mod mine with a switch to put Bridge and Middle in Series for Humbucker type tones. I also have a Neck On switch for Tele Type tones. I change Tone controls so one affects Bridge and the other affects Neck/Middle. This setup works great for me and is way easier to manage than the S1 setup live.
In my opinion, If you want Strat tones go SSS.
YMMV, IMHO etc. lol.

Good luck!


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Bill Piersall said:
<snipped> The noiseless stuff by Fender is dead sounding. <snipped>
Click to expand...

I should have clarified from my original post. The American Deluxes that I've played seemed dead, but that was acoustically, without plugging in. I usually try guitars without plugging them in first; if it's not responsive, it probably won't become so.

Nevertheless, that's not a knock on the American Deluxe, just on the examples I've played. I still want one. :)


Dave
 
xarkon said:
The American Deluxes that I've played seemed dead, but that was acoustically, without plugging in. I usually try guitars without plugging them in first; if it's not responsive, it probably won't become so.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. This is especially crucial with the strat. I'm primarily a strat player, and if the guitar doesn't ring acoustically, it's not going to magically sound better when amplified. I modify pretty much all of my strats, usually starting with the pickups. My main guitar is a late 80s "ultra" model that was built in the custom shop. It originally came equipped with Lace Sensor pickups in a HSS configuration. I never liked them, but the guitar was amazing unplugged, and I knew I could replace the pickups for much better tone. I installed a set of (all single coil) Fralins, and it's the best strat in my collection now.

So I'd recommend playing several guitars and finding the one that feels great and sounds great unplugged. They it plugged in as well. Get a feel for how it replicates what YOU think "classic tone"is. Pickups are a straight-forward replacement option, and a lot of players swap them out.

Locking tuners are pretty handy on a strat, and will contribute to better tuning stability. There are also options for the trem bridge that you might explore down the road. I like the stock 2-point trem on my main guitar, but I also have other strats with the standard 6 screw trems, and they're great. Each of my strats is different, and has its own personality.
 
AlGrenadine said:
Yes but the deluxe Noiseless pickups sound duller...
Click to expand...

This was my experience as well... I had been hunting strats for over a year and I pulled the trigger on the nicest feeling DLX banjo-mart had. I demo'd it on some crate tube "thing" because everything else around me was for bedroom brutals, and decided to bring it home to hear it on my own rig and it didn't survive the weekend. It's a subtle difference, but the noiseless pups are just missing something I needed. I ended up buying just a regular American Standard strat and was very happy with it until I got my Suhr =D

xarkon said:
My stock advice for Strats:

1. Go somewhere that has several American standards for you to try.
Click to expand...

This guy's got it. If you can find some place with a wall of them up, you can probably find what you need. Keeping a pup swap in mind is also a great idea
 
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Sleestak said:
Absolutely. This is especially crucial with the strat. I'm primarily a strat player, and if the guitar doesn't ring acoustically, it's not going to magically sound better when amplified. I modify pretty much all of my strats, usually starting with the pickups. My main guitar is a late 80s "ultra" model that was built in the custom shop. It originally came equipped with Lace Sensor pickups in a HSS configuration. I never liked them, but the guitar was amazing unplugged, and I knew I could replace the pickups for much better tone. I installed a set of (all single coil) Fralins, and it's the best strat in my collection now.
Click to expand...

+1000 to this, and it can not be stated enough. I struggled for years with my HSS Strat, through five different sets of pickups, only to admit that it was just dead. No resonance in that guitar at all. Now I have a Tele for my single coil needs, and a Wolfgang for my humbucker, trem bar antics. Both are crazy loud acoustically. If I knew any of this a few years ago, I'd have never bought that strat and kept looking until I found the one I could play without plugging it in.
 
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