Rick, imho- Fender has bastardised its product and its brand to the point where I can longer keep up or am even interested in keeping up. But Im not the market, the last brand new guitar I bought was in 1982.

I see a difference between Fender making USA and MIM guitars at different price points (regardless of what NAFTA black magic is going on) and Fender making nasty chinese knock offs of their own products and selling them in 7-11s for $300.

Stuart I agree that Fender has lost their way. To my mind there is no reason a slab of wood with a bolt on neck should cost $10000.

The Strats that we all revere now were the equivalent of the MIM Strats of today. They were mass produced and priced to allow an average player access. Custom shop stuff is just a bit ridiculous today, IMHO.

Don't even get me started on the relic craze...

ding ding ding.......

Rick- their are lots of things you have to do to strats to make them sound right and eliminate "stratitis'....they can sound find 'clean', but then you had some volume and gain and these sounds appear.....cavity insulation, guard insulation, spring dampening- and then there is the big one....the trem block.

Gibson....just play em.

About to put my money where my mouth is, lol.

Got some Custom Shop 69 pickups on the way for my MIM strat, then it will have the same electronics as a custom shop strat for a ton less money.

At the risk of making your head spin around and spit green goo, I have a Les Paul copy called a Tradition S2000. It's a pretty nice guitar.

I'd love to own a real Les Paul, tough to swallow spending $2500-3000 on a guitar though. I always keep an eye on Craigslist, maybe the guitar gods will smile on me some day.

I agree...ive owned quite a few strats over the years, Custom Shop, USA- even a MIM. All have come and gone. the blue one pictured is my fave. Its a 1991 JPN 62 reissue.

I gutted my used MIM fretless J bass, added a set of 66 re-issue PU's and a set of TV TV stacked pots,. after shielding the whole set up I added a set of Thomastik flat wounds and I would put it up against any Fender fretless bass out there. I have about $500 invested in it.

That's part of the reason I built mine. :D And the fact I'll probably never have the disposable income to ever buy a real 1959 LP.

I have a Fiesta Red MIK Strat Squier that play nice and sounds nice. Bought it at a pawn shop back in 92 and it had no wear marks on it. Got it for a song with a genuine Fender hard case. Frets are worn and the rosewood is showing wear now days.

Saw this the other day.... 1961-62 Fender Telecaster

Shame its not original.

This is problem with Fenders....theyre all partsocasters.

I never had a love affair with the Strat. I owned a Japanese Squire that I purchased for $50. back in the 80's, last time I checked they were selling for a thousand dollars :eek: I have always liked the look of the Telecasters though and if I could ever afford a USA Fender, it would probably be a HSS Tele if I could find one.

Some of original JPN market only 'JV' Squiers, and later under 'Fender' up to around 1993 are indeed very collectable. Some say they are amongst the best fenders around.

Cool! This warrants another trip to Sweetwater.

Thank you BlueSkyJaunte!

The Blackstar ID30 blew my mind. What a wonderful early Christmas present to me. Rebate check request for $70 goes in the mail tomorrow.

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In the end, I played the Peavey VIP III, Mustang III V2, and the Blackstar ID 30. The Blackstar was heads above the others.

Thanks to everyone who posted too. I learned a great deal. I thought I was going to get a Strat and I got a Tele. I thought I was going to get a Fender amp and can't believe the fantastic sounds of the Blackstar ID 30.

All that fantastic sound pouring out of that 12" speaker thanks to the TVP. Why they even let you disable that button, I will never understand.

I would do more YouTube lessons, but right now it's late and my fingers are really tired.

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Nice!!! I would rather have a tele, than my strat, but it was calling my name.

Good choice Doug. The Blackstar gear is great, the big stuff and the little ones. Small modelling amp, definitely the go for home use.

And ofcourse, you've done your bit for the Chinese economy too.

Fat chick singer we had a few years back, knocked my '83 SG off the stand and gouged the crap out of the neck. It was Polar white that had turned the appropriate shade of yellow. I called Gibson to see about a repair and they shot me over to the custom shop. Guy says "You can do what you want, and we'll be happy to refinish it, but you need to understand you're talking about a vintage guitar now."

Still has the giant gouge.

Nice setup Doug, it should serve you well. I too have become a Tele fan over the years. I have been a gigging guitarist in one form or another since 1969 and have collected a guitar or two along the way, most bought used and cheap. A little used 2003 Olympic white Corona Tele caught my fancy a few years ago and it is now my #1 axe. We simply speak the same musical language so when I play she usually comes along.

Enjoy!