Members wagdog Posted February 7, 2010 Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 I'd get one of these new american specials: Texas Special Pickups Modern C-shape Big 'ol funky 70's style headstock (my fav) and I love that two-tone sunbust. Slap a black p/g on that ax, and it would be perfect. Too bad I have 5 strats already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted February 7, 2010 Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 I like everything but the headstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted February 7, 2010 Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 I'm holding out for the return of the hardtail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sharkfin Posted February 7, 2010 Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 I'm holding out for the return of the hardtail. This. Fender should have at least one hardtail non-sig strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted February 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 Agreed on the hardtail. Kudos to Fender for producing a USA made guitar with great features for such a decent price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 7, 2010 Members Share Posted February 7, 2010 Yeah, I played a couple of them this week. Basically a Highway One with better pickups and a polished finish. I dig it. And I prefer the big headstock. I think I'd go a totally different direction if I were to get another strat. I think I'd get the new LTD black relic with the floyd and put a covered 57 Classic or maybe a 57+ in the bridge and either CS69s or CS54s in the neck and middle. Of course, I haven't played one yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted February 8, 2010 Members Share Posted February 8, 2010 Yeah, I played a couple of them this week. Basically a Highway One with better pickups and a polished finish. I dig it. And I prefer the big headstock. I think I'd go a totally different direction if I were to get another strat. I think I'd get the new LTD black relic with the floyd and put a covered 57 Classic or maybe a 57+ in the bridge and either CS69s or CS54s in the neck and middle. Of course, I haven't played one yet. When you do play one, it'll almost ruin you on regular Strats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 When you do play one, it'll almost ruin you on regular Strats. Have you played one of these? None of the LTD dealers has them in stock around here yet and no idea on an ETA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeFatFish Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I got the American Special Tele....sweet! I think I'm gonna go and pick me up the HSS Strat. Very nice sounding. I'd get one of these new american specials: Texas Special Pickups Modern C-shape Big 'ol funky 70's style headstock (my fav) and I love that two-tone sunbust. Slap a black p/g on that ax, and it would be perfect. Too bad I have 5 strats already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faber Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 they look tempting, but then I'm always tempted by strats. At this point i don't see myself buying a new one ever again - there are SO many out there that anything i might want will surface in the market given a bit of patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Have you played one of these? None of the LTD dealers has them in stock around here yet and no idea on an ETA. I have played several ESP and LTD Strats. Awesome, they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I tried one yesterday and the neck felt pretty skinny and was just kind of meh overall, pretty disappointing- I had the $$ and was prepared to buy, really wanted to like it. I ended up buying a 50's CV Strat instead which IMO is a better guitar and saved myself $450... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Oh yeah. I've been playing ESP and LTDs since before there WAS an LTD. But this particular model is supposed to be pretty low end so my expectations aren't very high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 I tried one yesterday and the neck felt pretty skinny and was just kind of meh overall, pretty disappointing- I had the $$ and was prepared to buy, really wanted to like it. I ended up buying a 50's CV Strat instead which IMO is a better guitar and saved myself $450...So... the neck on the American Special felt skinnier than on the CV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Azazael Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Yeah, I played a couple of them this week. Basically a Highway One with better pickups and a polished finish. I dig it. And I prefer the big headstock. I think I'd go a totally different direction if I were to get another strat. I think I'd get the new LTD black relic with the floyd and put a covered 57 Classic or maybe a 57+ in the bridge and either CS69s or CS54s in the neck and middle. Of course, I haven't played one yet. If it is anything like the cheapo George Lynch model I wouldn't get your hopes up.. at least the relic looks a little better this time...(well it couldnt have been any worse on the GL model) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 So... the neck on the American Special felt skinnier than on the CV? Sure felt like it to me- I just sold off my Ame. Std. Strat and '57 Reissue and was looking for a replacement. I had heard the necks were thinner on the 60's CV's, but didn't get to try one of those. The 50's neck has some heft and is comparable to the modern C of the Ame. Std., but might even be a little bit beefier- if it had been thinner, it would have been a deal breaker. The Ame. Special felt like a med-skinny modern C, didn't care for it at all. Fwiw, the fretwork on the CV is superior to the Ame. Special I played- perfect fretwork on the CV, some rough spots on the upper frets of the Special. Had they been the same price, I still would have gone for the CV... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dougie.Douglas Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Probably gonna get 'flamed' for this, but here goes:I saw an American Special today, and to be honest, the build quality didnt really look amazing. I don't know it was just this particular one, but the fret ends were REALLY sharp, and the pickguard was put on a little strange... *Puts of flame proof poncho* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrChitlins Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 So... the neck on the American Special felt skinnier than on the CV? Not when i played both last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hrmm... I hear ya. The American Specials sure look like Highway One necks to me which feel like the same Fender C profile to me.The Classic Vibe is more narrow from E string to E string than the Americans, so maybe that makes it feel relatively thicker.Dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Probably gonna get 'flamed' for this, but here goes: I saw an American Special today, and to be honest, the build quality didnt really look amazing. I don't know it was just this particular one, but the fret ends were REALLY sharp, and the pickguard was put on a little strange... *Puts of flame proof poncho* I've only played two of them... the very first two one of my local Guitar Centers got in stock. A black one and a red one. No sharp fret ends on either of these. The factory 'setup' was a better on the red one than the black one, but if I had bought either of them, I'd likely taken it home, polished the frets, restring it and set it up without the need to do anything to the fret ends.Having said that, if I were in the market to spend $800 on a strat, there is ZERO point ZERO chance I'd get the American Special. I dig the big headstock, but not a big fan of the Texas Specials (though I know wagdog is). And I prefer a glossy neck. I'd absolutely rather have a used American Standard from 2008 or 2009 with the nice rolled edges, smaller frets and glossy finish. Usually you can sell the pickups from an American Standard for almost $100... $90 or so. And I'd throw in a set of CS54s or CS69s bought used for $110.So figure $650 + $120 for a properly finished American strat with a great neck and choice pickups. That's how I'd roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrChitlins Posted February 9, 2010 Members Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hrmm... I hear ya. The American Specials sure look like Highway One necks to me which feel like the same Fender C profile to me. The Classic Vibe is more narrow from E string to E string than the Americans, so maybe that makes it feel relatively thicker. Dunno. I wish they'd put a beefy neck on the CV Tele. The shallow and skinny neck feels awkward to my large (not huge) hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 Hrmm... I hear ya. The American Specials sure look like Highway One necks to me which feel like the same Fender C profile to me. The Classic Vibe is more narrow from E string to E string than the Americans, so maybe that makes it feel relatively thicker. Dunno. That could be. Bottom line for me is that the CV's neck feels more substantial than the Ame. Special- I wasn't particularly fond of the neck on my Ame. Standard either so go figure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 That could be. Bottom line for me is that the CV's neck feels more substantial than the Ame. Special- I wasn't particularly fond of the neck on my Ame. Standard either so go figure... I hear ya. To be honest, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to necks though I definitely know what I like and what I don't. My favorite neck I've ever owned is an 83 JV Series Squier which is American-ish. Rolled edges, C shaped, very glossy and tinted, vintage frets, 7.25" radius. My second favorite is a Robert Cray which feels similar, but no rolled edges, MJ frets, 9.5" radius. A buddy has three or four American Standards and a partscaster with an Am Std neck and they all feel great, though one feels absolutely better than the other two. Can't explain it. For what it's worth, I've had two Classic Vibes and I really liked both of their necks. I had a Highway One neck which other than the bigger frets, is pretty similar to an Am Std neck and I absolutely prefered the CV necks. I also traded a 2001 or 2002 Am Deluxe neck for the Robert Cray and greatly prefer the Cray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 I hear ya. To be honest, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to necks though I definitely know what I like and what I don't. My favorite neck I've ever owned is an 83 JV Series Squier which is American-ish. Rolled edges, C shaped, very glossy and tinted, vintage frets, 7.25" radius. My second favorite is a Robert Cray which feels similar, but no rolled edges, MJ frets, 9.5" radius.A buddy has three or four American Standards and a partscaster with an Am Std neck and they all feel great, though one feels absolutely better than the other two.Can't explain it. For what it's worth, I've had two Classic Vibes and I really liked both of their necks. I had a Highway One neck which other than the bigger frets, is pretty similar to an Am Std neck and I absolutely prefered the CV necks. I also traded a 2001 or 2002 Am Deluxe neck for the Robert Cray and greatly prefer the Cray.I think a lot of it comes down to what fits your fretting hand best- I'm not that picky either, but I can easily recognize what I like and what I don't. I had a Highway One Tele and really liked the neck on that one, very resonant guitar as well. I haven't had a lot of luck w/ Ame. Strats, but I do love my current Ame. Std. Tele. Things look great on paper sometimes, but the only real way to get an accurate read is to go try as many different ones as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 ... So figure $650 + $120 for a properly finished American strat with a great neck and choice pickups. That's how I'd roll. Same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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