Mrsully--you are still misquoting me. I said "proper strat..." The original 50's and 60's Strats have a very distinct tone that a lot of players, including myself, find missing in Fender's Standard offering. Once you flatten the neck, install a plastic nut, use a poly finish, design a two - point pivot system for the trem, use some sort of zinc alloy for the bridge parts, and use heavy chunks of alder, you lose that snappy attack and glassy top end. The bass strings have no bite and sound dull. The way around this is either a boutique builder or the Custom Shop.
Why does Fender continually tweak the Am. Standard range? Some of it is marketing, but the recent changes are based on feedback from players. The new line touts thinner finishes, vintage bridge saddles, improved trem block, etc. these are all steps backwards to what they were doing 50 years ago. The R&D team recognizes that these are some of the ingredients that made the Strat a great guitar and enhance the tone. You call it elitist when players pine for better tone in a company's standard lineup. I think it's criminal that companies make players pay a premium for features that were standard on their original versions. To be fair, Fender has revamped the AVRI range, but at Custom Shop prices. Same with the Thinskins and a few other iterations.
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