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

jefferski said:
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? Secondly 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.
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First off let me apologize for being so rude in my last post as I was both half in the bag and coming fresh from yet another telephone battle with my ex who after more than 20 years apart still knows how to REALLY piss me off. I shouldn't even have been posting in that state of mind.
I'm honestly not all that impressed with the S1 tone selections, I spend all or most of my time with the original Strat tones. I may find one or more of the S1 tones useful in a particular situation but by and large I stick to the normal Strat tones.
 
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The best Strat is one you walk into a store, fall in love with, buy, and play. The entire point of the Strat is that you should take it at face value. Of course, I should confess that for my whole life, I have had the privilege that many of the greatest guitar stores in the world have been within driving range.
 
In an attempt to take this thread back to where the OP intended I would indeed add some "choices" to what my new favorite Strat has. First I would prefer an Ash body instead of Alder. Second I would prefer a Tung oil finish on both the body and the neck, & third (and most importantly) I would prefer a hard tail model so as to eliminate the "GOD AWFUL" Fender trem system. As it is, the first thing I did when I got this guitar was to add two additional springs to the Trem and tighten up the claw so as to draw the bridge down tight to the body and eliminate that PITA whammy bar. Now the the tuning is VERY stable.

So as you can see there is much to "wish" for when it comes to Strats, but maybe that's why they are so awesome, because there are so many different takes on just exactly what a "PERFECT" Strat is.

P.S. I forgot to add SS frets.
 
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I finally got my dream Strat last year...a Suhr Olympic white Classic Pro. I grew up playing Strats and my Suhr is the one I was waiting for.
 
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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The hype is real.......... and it's spectacular..IMG_0357 (1).jpg
 
Matt_B_77 said:
Thats easy to make. Take a So Cal, get a new pickguard, replace the pickups and you’re done.
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Is this the So Cal you were talking about, or is there another one...? Man, this one's not for me lol
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The REAL Knuckles said:
Strat with pick guard, 3 single coils and compound radius neck. So , strat with Charvel neck!
In my dreams.
Asked my buddies at fender and they laughed.
Not in near future. Said I’m living in the 80’s
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I bought a Strat with a Charvel neck. One of the first year Select Series SSS Strats. (They have a HSS Model with a rosewood board as well, but that's decidedly less Charvel like to me.)

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Fender_Select_Stratocaster_Review

I don't think they still make these and the latter models came with channel bound necks, so the first year model is my favorite. Of course to make it truly like a Charvel neck I spent a summer afternoon and a six pack scraping/sanding/buffing the nitro off the neck and then refinishing it with Tung Oil. The flame maple in the neck in mine is pretty sexy and my top is better bookmatched than the one pictured in the article.

Don't give up hope, they DO exist.
 
I have no complains about my American Deluxe Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan SSL5 (bridge), Fender Custom Shop '69 (mid) and Fender Custom Shop FAT '57 (neck)

Well.. my only complains are that sometimes I want to play with an scalloped neck and sometimes I miss the EMG SA EXG/SPC pickups. So, I've bought a Fender MIM Deluxe Strat, scalloped the neck, installed the EMGs and an American Deluxe bridge. Now I have 2 dream Strats

ps: Blackmore scalloping. I prefer it over the Yngwie scalloping because I don't like the lower strings at the lower frets to be scalloped. As a matter of fact, my DIY scalloping at the lower string doesn't start until the 12th fret, so it is even more progressive scalloping than Blackmore's.
 
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It would be a traditional Strat. Not a fan of hybrids. Three single coils. Floating tremolo. I have a thin skin nitro and a custom shop. Love them both. I am currently in the market. Probably will be a custom shop. I really like the craftsmanship. I can’t put into words, you just know when you play it, it’s a custom. Color?, I can’t decide. I have a midnight blue and a tobacco burst. Rosewood board this time? Maybe. Why did you ask this question, this is getting complicated. I used to have a custom black with a brazialian neck, relic by John Cruz, man, what I’d give to have that back again!
 
This could also be focused from the other side: if you were putting your dream Strat together... what things would you avoid?

- 6 screw tremolos. They need to be perfectly balanced, otherwise they do not always return to pitch. That is never a problem with a 2-point tremolo.

- Non-contoured heel. Contoured Heel facilitates the access to the last frets.

- Less than 21 frets

- Bent vitage-style saddles. I don't like the feel on the palm muter. I prefer block saddles.

- Screwed tremolo arms. Sometimes they do not stay in position when you need to grab it, it takes too long to insert/remove and you have to unplug the cord. I like the pop-in bar of the American Deluxe, with the screw to adjust the desired tension.

- Vintage tuners. Locking tuners are so easy to set, and trouble free to return to pitch after whammy bar abuse. I don't understand the hype for vintage tuners.

- Non-Strat headstocks. This goes for you, J. Mayer :p



Conclusion: Just an American Deluxe with your favorite pickups. Very easy!
 
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I like clay dots for the fret markers too. I like the quarter sawn and rift sawn options I’m finding on some guitars necks as well. On the relic option, I really like the heavy relic necks, the ones that are well worn on the back, kinda dark. Smooth as a pool stick. They are a dream to play! Not a fan of the worn down shoulder , they all look the same. Not looking to start a relic war here either. I like them all pretty much.
 
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