If you were putting your dream Strat together ...?

It would be my 7.6 pound EJ Strat. Aside from playing and sounding great... it almost never goes out of tune. I've had a number of guitars throughout the years but none have been as tuning stable.

I did throw together a frankenstrat, from a cheap Indonesian ESP...added locking tuners, Bladerunner bridge, roller nut, and vintage Fralin's. Turned out great and has 22 frets unlike my EJ.
 
Project Mayhem said:
It would be my 7.6 pound EJ Strat. Aside from playing and sounding great... it almost never goes out of tune. I've had a number of guitars throughout the years but none have been as tuning stable.

I did throw together a frankenstrat, from a cheap Indonesian ESP...added locking tuners, Bladerunner bridge, roller nut, and vintage Fralin's. Turned out great and has 22 frets unlike my EJ.
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for a factory made fender, the EJ strat is a fine guitar -- I had one of those for a while. I'd play it all the time, then once in a while put it down to pick up the master built 1954 strat and it was seriously next level. If they're not side by side, I'd forget how good the 54 felt and get acclimated to the EJ though. Not a fan of the bigger frets, I like the 6230's
 
A couple months back I bought a new (2018) Fender American Elite Stratocaster. This is my all time favorite Strat, they put in almost all the improvements that have developed over the last 50+ years and it plays and sounds awesome.
Features: Top to bottom (so to speak) to start at the head,

1. it has locking tuners with shorter string posts,

2. no hole in the head-stock for truss adjustment, that's moved to the base of the neck.

3. It has a bone nut instead of man-made,

The neck itself is different in several ways,

4. The back of the neck morphs from a classic C shape at the 1st fret to a flatter D shape at the 22nd fret to accommodate the fret board which morphs from a 9-1/2" radius at the first fret to a 14" radius at the 22nd fret.

5. This latest model includes ebony as a fret board choice (which I chose).

6. Just past the 22nd fret is a "wheel" to make truss rod adjustments quick and easy.

7. New contoured heal and neck on the treble side where the neck and body meet.

8. The new 4th generation noiseless pickups truly are a NEW design, not just further mods on previous models, and they're MUCH quieter while being more powerful then any Strat pickups I've heard before.

9.The S1 switch adds an additional array of 5 new tones while still maintaining all the classic Strat tones that made it famous.

10. Attention to detail on this Strat is like none I've ever seen before, I literally went over it with a magnifying glass and cannot find fault anywhere. That includes the tightest neck pocket I've ever seen on a bolt neck guitar, and frets so polished they shine.

11. Satin finish on the neck.

12. Strap locks.
mail

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I’ve got a 93 Strat Plus that has been a great guitar, evidenced by the fact it is still here when many other guitars have come and gone in that 25+ years. So, in honor of guitar influence David Gilmour selling his Black Strat I decided to build my own... my Super Strat based on one of the most influential ever.

So I am starting with a black Strat Plus (because I like the playing feel better than others I’ve played), and going to lean towards David’s setup from the late 70s Animals and The Wall era. It’ll be more a tip of the hat tribute than a piece for piece replica, but if it turns out well will be a Super Strat to me.
 
t0aj15 said:
A couple months back I bought a new (2018) Fender American Elite Stratocaster. This is my all time favorite Strat, they put in almost all the improvements that have developed over the 50+ years and it plays and sounds awesome.
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I was just gonna post this same guitar, except that mine would be HSS... ;-) Although I haven't played one yet, it seems to hit just about all the right points. I'd have to try the neck to see how it feels, and I'd be interested to hear the tones from the S1 switch - I have my G&L wired to get the pups in series and don't really like those tones - it's like a much darker quack tone so hopefully the Elite sounds better in those positions. And I'd want to mod it so I could get the bridge single coil.

In the meantime, my 513 does a pretty good job. And if the Silver Sky ever comes out in an HSS that'd have to be on my list as well. Guess I could take one and replace the bridge w/ a mini-humbucker...
 
IMG_0023.jpg
That would be my Warmoth hard tail blue flake strat.
Goncalo Alvez neck with Pau Ferror fingerboard. Planet Waves autotrim tuners. 6130 frets. Standard thin. CBS headstock. Tusq XL nut.
Swamp Ash body with recessed TOM. DiMarzio HS-3 in bridge and HS-2 in middel and neck. Just a volume pot.
Plays like the legendary dairy product and sounds amazing. Those pickups cuts through anything.
:)
 
Rick said:
I’ve got a 93 Strat Plus that has been a great guitar, evidenced by the fact it is still here when many other guitars have come and gone in that 25+ years.
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Been there done that, still have my Strat Plus also, but now that this beauty has come in to my life the Strat plus is history.
 
As has been the case for decades, the five-way selector of the Stratocaster offers a slew of wiring configutations. But with the S-1 switch, there are 5 new options. Here is the configuration when the S-1 switch is off:

Position one: bridge pickup only
Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in parallel
Position three: middle pickup only
Position four: middle and neck pickups wired in parallel
Position five: neck pickup only

When you engage the S-1 switch on the American Elite Strat, you have even more tone alternatives that you don't get to hear every day.

Position one: all three pickups wired in series
Position two: bridge and middle pickups wired in series
Position three: middle and neck pickups wired in series
Position four: bridge and neck pickups wired out of phase, with a special tone capacitor
Position five: bridge and middle pickups wired in series and out of phase, in parallel with neck pickup
 
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t0aj15 said:
Been there done that, still have my Strat Plus also, but now that this beauty has come in to my life the Strat plus is history.
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I've had a lot of new guitars over the years that had me putting that Strat Plus back in the case, but I always seem to still have it and get it back out again when I want to play a Strat again. I might feel the same as you if I had an Elite here! As it is though, I have come to the conclusion that the one I have is just a great guitar... not compared to anything else, just on it's own. That's what made a Strat Plus the basis of my Black Strat project. I'm betting it will make a great all around Strat that I'll enjoy. In the vein of the question from the OP, this would be the Strat of my dreams.
 
iaresee said:
More and more I'm thinking it's actually this:

silver_sky_2018_hero_large.jpg


Was sitting here contemplating trying to fish for a Suhr <> Silver Sky trade...
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I gotta say - finally saw and played one of these when in LA for NAMM. Too loud to play in PRS booth, but when we visited Wild West Guitars we were the only ones in the shop so plugged into a deluxe reverb there and was just amazed. What a GREAT guitar - played great, felt wonderful, and just perfect tones from all pickup settings. Never thought I would like it, but it was sweet for sure.
 
t0aj15 said:
Why would you first of all post about a guitar you've never played, second of all add mods like Humbuckers to a platform that is ALL about single coil pick-ups?
To answer some of your questions, yes you would have to play one to know if the neck suits you, that's a no brainer. When it comes to the S1 switch tones...this is something you have to hear to decide for yourself. I will add an explanation of the tones below but you really need to hear them to decide if you like them or not.
And finally why would you want to mod a guitar with a single coil bridge pick-up by replacing it with a humbucker only to be able to mod it to get the very single coil sound you sought to replace?
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Seriously? The thread is "If you were putting your Dream Strat together" - and many of the replies in here involve people doing a bunch of mods. So what if I've never played it? My apologies if that was taken as dissing the choice you made for yourself.

First, I said I'd get the HSS - perhaps you're not aware that Fender makes the Elite in an HSS so it's not "all about single coils". But I'd still like to have the option of getting the single coil bridge sound. Because versatility. My 513 and my Strat both are set up this way and I love it. The Elite HSS also has a "passing lane" switch that runs the bridge humbucker straight out for more boost. Again, versatility.

Second, thanks for the rundown of the pickup selections, but I would have preferred your impressions of what they sound like ;-) I've read the descriptions, and I've even looked at the wiring diagram, but for example I don't know what "adding a special capacitor in parallel w/ the bridge" sounds like. But I do know what having the neck/mid or mid/bridge in series sounds like on my G&L, so I'm interested in how they sound on the Fender. I've also played a number of Deluxes (the model before the Elite) so I know how some of them sound, but they've changed the configuration a few times over the years, along with the Elite being a new platform.

To each his own...
 
sskkmm said:
I gotta say - finally saw and played one of these when in LA for NAMM. Too loud to play in PRS booth, but when we visited Wild West Guitars we were the only ones in the shop so plugged into a deluxe reverb there and was just amazed. What a GREAT guitar - played great, felt wonderful, and just perfect tones from all pickup settings. Never thought I would like it, but it was sweet for sure.
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I got good time with one when the PRS road show rolled through town last August and walked away with jaw on the floor. Wanted to hate it. Loved everything about it. It was the beginning of the decline for my dissatisfaction with my Suhr now that I think about it.
 
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