Had to happen eventually....
As always, I'm a sucker for a gold guitar. Saw this in gumtree: 50th anniversary strat with hard case, made in mexico.
Did some checking on the specs and it's essentially a 2004 Fender MIM classic series 50s stratocaster. These are the upper end of the MIM line, 2-3 piece alder body, big trem block, soft V neck, alnico pickups, no RWRP, 7.25 fretboard radius and skinny vintage frets. Vintage style tuners, CTS pots, adonized pickguard, gold hardware. Unfortunately the tweed gig bag was lost along the way. Had apparently been set up recently. Pretty badly, whoever did the frets scratched the maple board. Nothing that won't polish out though.
Sent to Andy McGibbon for a proper set up. Andy calls me to say that the zinc trem block sucks and that he's got a machined steel one for me. Hell yes! Usual high quality set up from Andy, plus his special tricks like removing the paint in the neck cavity. Get it home and start on the electronic mods... 50s wiring, Kinman treble bleed, tone control moved from mid to bridge and a blower switch with a 2n2 cap to deal with the brutal top end. Added nuetrik jack and schaller strap locks.
Wasn't thrilled with the stock pickups. All three measured around 5.7k. They sounded pretty good, but with the venues I play, I need a RWRP position for the places where I just can't deal with the hum. And a more beefy bridge is a must.
By some stroke of luck, I saw a guy selling a set of Tonerider Surfaris! In they went. Better bottom end, more quack in positions 2 and 4 and the bridge is great.
Pretty happy with the guitar now. The vintage radius and frets aren't the easiest for bending, but the neck is pure magic. Love that soft V!
While the dollar price is still pretty reasonable, to buy this axe new would cost me R21 000 retail locally. Yeeeeeeeesh.
Sounds like this
