Members Johansolo Posted March 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2009 so basically in my price range...with regards to buying new...i can pretty much get 1 - top of range squier 2 - middle/top of range MIM 3 - bottom of range MIA im leaning more towards second hand however this could be more timeconsuming.are they any specific years/model/era that i should steer way clear of? im going to check out a second hand 1989 model in cream and rosewood neck this weekend. ad didnt say much else . price is $1350 AUD(not that that really helps) FWIW the price in AUD is something like this New MIA standard - $1900-$2100 second hand - $1200-$1600 New MIM standard - $800-$1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strat87 Posted March 20, 2009 Members Share Posted March 20, 2009 oops, I misread. Alnico 5 in the MIAs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bro Blue Posted March 20, 2009 Members Share Posted March 20, 2009 I have an '08 MIM standard with the stock ceramic pickups. They are a little warmer then the alnico pickups, but they are still very clear and clean. If i am playing and I know I'll be switching between playing humbuckers and singles this is the guitar I'll use. I can set the EQ on the amp for either and not have to mess with it again. If you have buckers on other guitars, this might be the way to go. My '05 MIA Strat has Tex-Mex pickups, which are a hot vintage alnico. They do not have the bottom end like the ceramics, but they have more quack and the bridge pickup tends to be harsh. My Squire Classic Vibe 60s has the alnico 5 pickups and they seem to be pretty balanced. They have a really tight low end and pronounced mid. The highs are really nice. These are probably the most versatile pickups on all my Stats. I prefer lower output pickup, but these aren't bad at all. I can get nice cleans, great blues tone in the neck, and the bridge can really scream. The guitar is shielded very well and it is the quietest Srat I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2009 so i managed to sell my parts-o-caster and decided go to a few guitar shops today. man i didnt realise how frustrating this would be. first i was trying to decide between maple/rosewood necks. i picked up two 08/09 MIA standards in 3 tone sunburst, one maple the other rosewood and i hated the maple fretboard...mainly as it was glossy!!! wtf? i wasnt expecting that. i really do like the look of the maple fretboard thou...and the feel of hte back of the neck was great but the glossy fretboard was a no no for me.plus i prefer warm tones so i decided rosewood. the thing is thou i my PRS and LP are rosewood so i was thinking maybe a maple strat would be a good addition. but anways... i tried out a heap of diffrent MIA standards and MIM standards...some of the MIM really were hit and miss...and also tried out some teles too. this really opened my eyes up with regards to my parts-o-caster...which was twangier and brighter than the ash teles. man i really got it all wrong haha. anyways i decided i liked this one the best at this store which was the 2nd one i picked up) sticker price $2700AUD...but cash price is - $2300AUD oh and i got to try these all out on a nice fender hot rod deluxe...dam i liked this amp. next store i went to i got to plug into a blackstar HT-5 combo...i didnt even know we had thme in aus yet but i had to try it out because of all the rave reviews on here. its a pretty cool amp and i wouldnt mind owning the head version. anways i didnt like any of the MIA standards but they had this hwy1 that i quite liked. price - $1450 AUD before i picked this hwy1 one up i had been mainly gravitating towards rosewood fretboards (as i was so put off with the glossy one i first picked up) but this one i actually quite liked the neck. wasnt too bright/spanky, however i wasnt a fan of the tone controls, as they were only usable range was only about 1/4 of the dial before it went to toneless/muddy. my parts-o-caster had really good tone controls that were useable all around hte range. anways my wife didnt approve of the hwy1.she didnt like the matt finish (but liked the grain) and wasnt a fan of hte bigger headstock. she wanted to come as she plays guitar too and doenst like me being in stores unsupervised haha. i also tried out one of those reliced/ road worn strats and i REALLY REALLY liked the way the neck/fret felt and the way the body arm contour was sanded back...however i do feel its a bit cheesy having it reliced like that...but it did help me realised that i like guitars with mojo (like my worn in and played up PRS and Lespaul) ive come to the conclusion that i hate new guitars and want something pre-loved.im going to check out some more stores tommorow thou for 2nd hand strats and also look in our classified newspaper the quest continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SamsDaddy Posted March 21, 2009 Members Share Posted March 21, 2009 I've got a USA Deluxe V-Neck Strat and I love it. I bought it primarily because of that neck shape, but I actually really like the SCN pickups and S-1 switching system. The guitar just kind of "fit" me when I grabbed it. The S-1 allows you to get a fatter tone in each position (not humbucker fat, but just a little more punch to the single coils) and you don't have any 60-cycle hum with those pickups. A lot of people really hate those pickups from what I have read, but they sound damn good to me. During my search, I bought a Highway 1 after liking it in the store, but when I got it home and played it for a while I realized it sounded way too brittle (metallic sounding maybe?) for my tastes. After I found the Deluxe, I knew I was right to return that Highway 1. Coool guitar, but just not "the one" for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimibetan Posted March 21, 2009 Members Share Posted March 21, 2009 ive decided i want a boring s/s/s traditional/vintage sounding strat... They are not boring... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JetCityMatt Posted March 21, 2009 Members Share Posted March 21, 2009 During my search, I bought a Highway 1 after liking it in the store, but when I got it home and played it for a while I realized it sounded way too brittle (metallic sounding maybe?) for my tastes. After I found the Deluxe, I knew I was right to return that Highway 1. Coool guitar, but just not "the one" for me.I bought the mahogany american strat to get a warmer tone than my current strat. But it turned out it was brighter than my '97 MIM strat with poplar body and maple fretboard! So I returned it the next day. OP: I had to chuckle when I read what you said about the glossy fretboard! Because that is all I have played for 11 years and now that I'm shopping for a second guitar I find that I cant stand how rosewood grabs your fingertips and slows them down, unlike playing on the gloss finish on a maple fretboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 just came back from day 2 of shopping.store i went to today sold heaps new and second hand strats so i plugged into a Vox AC15 and went nuts...again. ive decided i dont really like any of the NEW american standards. i picked up a 2ndhand rosewood/3 tone sunburst...i think it was 1999 and thought it was pretty cool. a bit out of my price range thou ($1999 AUD) my wife spotted a nice blue matt blue one with the grain showing and maple neck without a dripping with gloss finish. i plugged it in and we both looked at each other and thought wow...this might be the one! then i broke the high e string. the tag on the guitar said it was a 60th anniversary 2005 model. but the sales guys said it was a hwy1...i couldnt find a hwy1 logo/stamp anywhere ... but hte head stock did say MIA... im seriously considering this one ($1400AUD)but i still dont like the way the tone controls tapers work (see one of my previous posts re hwy1...is it just me???) anyways i loved the maple neck on this one...but i didnt know they made a 60th anniversary hwy1...theres no jewel on the headstock or anything and i was under the assumption that hwy1s have the large headstock thoughts??? anways i plugged a SRV strat in just for kicks ($3000AUD way out of my price range) as i thought this would be my dream strat (i love the lenny tone) however i was shocked to find out i hated it. just wasnt me. the blue hwy1 is on the top of my list at hte momment. its a littel out of my range ($1400...i have $1200 cash at this stage) but at least im closer theres a 89 sunburst strat in the paper for $1350AUD with case and a mexican 60th anniversary for $750 that im pretty keen to check out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 The best advice is to go the store and play them. Ignore the name or type on the headstock --- judge them only on the feel and the sound. If you must have the ultimate vintage strat sound, you want USA, maple neck, ash body, vintage trem, and the noisy regular pickups (or maybe these or some boutique ones) edit: oops, didn't realize you were already playing in the store. good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 Man, you gotta get what speaks to you. The older Highway Ones did not have the larger headstock. I actually like the smaller one better. I had an '06 model Hwy 1, and the large headstock was fine at first...but I grew not to like it so much. Great guitars for the money. Just play the dog out of it at the store...make sure you connect with it. Otherwise, you'll grow tired of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 this is the pic of hte actual hwy1 i was playing at the store...the tag on the guitar has writing on it where the store wrote "USA 2005 60th anniversary" (they didnt even write hwy1 on it) but theres nothing stamped on the headstock or anywhere else that says its a 60th anniversary. something seems dodgy here...did they even make a 60th anniversary hwy1??? ive read a few reviews of the hwy1 now and im a bit turned off by it...and it seems the "greasebucket" tone circuit is what i was describing about hte tone controls? oh well...the search continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 that doesn't look like a HWY1 to me.... they have a different font on the headstock, like: That pic you posted looks an awful lot like an American Strat (but why two string trees?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 If you like a fuller maple neck the Jimmie Vaughan model has some good specs. http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0139202305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarGuy503 Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 Why not go play a bunch and see what you prefer? Opinions differ as well as the tone and feel of each guitar. Buying locally so you can test a bunch is gonna be your best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crashclc Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 Wow those Aussie dollar prices look kind of shocking. And we complain about the prices here in the US. Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strat87 Posted March 23, 2009 Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 that doesn't look like a HWY1 to me.... they have a different font on the headstock, like:That pic you posted looks an awful lot like an American Strat (but why two string trees?) That's a 2nd generation HW1. The first gens had the small headstock like the one the op posted. It's legit. Oh, and FWIW earlier MIA strats had 2 string trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 that doesn't look like a HWY1 to me.... they have a different font on the headstock, like: That pic you posted looks an awful lot like an American Strat (but why two string trees?) thats whats got me scratching my head.the body is the same satin/matt finish as the red highway one i posted earlier. with the grain showing. except the blue one i played yesterday had a normal neck.hence my query on whether a hyw1 60th anniversary was actually made (as i was also of the opinion that all hyw1s had the huge headstock...but some also mentioned that the older ones didnt)so confusing. i really liked this blue one but i have doubst now...eg maybe the neck was replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 If you like a fuller maple neck the Jimmie Vaughan model has some good specs.http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0139202305 that looks...awesome!!! i will have to go try and find one.is that mexican? does tex-mex mean mexican pickups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coinstarlp Posted March 23, 2009 Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 Just curious how much you managed to sell that beautiful parts-caster for? I know parts-casters generally have 0 resale value, but that one was awfully pretty. I think you could have saved that one with pick-ups or something, but I know that GAS can be a fickle mistress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 oh and cheers strat87, and everyone else.im learning quite a bit as i go along.anways im going to hopefull try out a 60th anniversary mexican strat this week. $750AUD plus case sounds pretty decent( they retailed for $1200AUD without case) my wifes not a fan of the colour thou.in fact shes dead set against flat colours. and defnitely dead set against getting a black one with white scratchplate. she wants a 3tone sunburst one.and this is hc after all so ill post a pic before the "pics of the wife or youre a fag" (im too used to the amp forum haha)pic of her holding the blue hwy1 from earlier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 Just curious how much you managed to sell that beautiful parts-caster for? I know parts-casters generally have 0 resale value, but that one was awfully pretty. I think you could have saved that one with pick-ups or something, but I know that GAS can be a fickle mistress. i paid $1344AUD all up which includes buying parts/shipping from US/luthier labour to do fret work and install neck/bridge i sold it for $900AUD with hardcase...so i took a bit of a loss. playing all these real strats now thou i realise how untraditional and modern my partsocaster sounded. in fact i think its more tele like than strat because of the ash body...but teh ebony fretboard made its evern more brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted March 23, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 also...whats the general consensus on the tex-mex pickups? and any comparision to the pickups that come in stock MIA standards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 23, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 23, 2009 The ideal would be an American Vintage, but I ain't sure you'll pick one up for $1200 where you are, so the quick fix for what you want is an MIJ Strat, 60s RI style with an alder bodyso an ST62-TX or similarOlympic white3 tone sunburstcant remember what this colour is called:confused:Fiesta RedShell pink:love:candy Apple RedShould whet your appetite:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DavidMgT Posted March 23, 2009 Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 Wildwood guitars have MIA HSS Strats for $899 on their site - they are in Sinena burst. I bet if you call them they'll drop it some more. If I was getting a Fender strat , I would get one of those. Strats are great guitars, but I hate their current price point. For $1200, there are better strats then Fender strats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted March 23, 2009 Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 yeah i know what alnico stands for...but is it 2,3,5??reason why i asked that question is i loathe ceramic pickupsive been experimenting with diffrent alnico bars/swapping them in and out of my humbuckers and i seem to prefer the alnico 2s and 5sim after the glassy tone...eg tone set to the verge of breakup/or breaking up with the guit volume dialed back a bit...and "a shattering clean tone" I was going to suggest a Highway One. They are reasonable here in the States, new and used. But they have Alnico 3 pickups. Definitely hotter than vintage. The classic 50's and 60's have Alnico Pups but all the specs say vintage voiced. They don't specify what type.I have a 60's Classic. Great guitar. It's MIM but a well made nice playing guitar. 50's is similar with a V shaped neck and single ply pickguard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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