Meet my new best friend!! Guitar pron inside...

[Nathans_Dad]

Well I took the plunge. After watching "Runnin Down a Dream" last night (a documentary on my favorite band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) I decided I wanted a Fender Strat. Their kind of bluesy rock is what I love and Tom seemed to have one sort of Fender or another in his hands throughout the film. The other one he used a lot was a Rickenbacker but I decided to ignore that since I liked the look of the Strat better...

So I slept on it and this morning decided I wanted the guitar...like today. So I called up my brother-in-law (he plays a little guitar) and asked him to go to Guitar Center with me to pick one out. He then called HIS brother-in-law (who has been playing for 25 years and is in a local blues band) and we all went over to Guitar Center. I played a couple of Squier Strats and a few Mexican Strats. I decided on the Mexican Strat because the Squiers just felt cheaper to me...dunno why. So I start looking at the selection of Mexican Strats they have on the wall, fully intending to stay inside my budget and then...I saw it. It was on the top row on the wall and I just thought "now THAT is a beautiful guitar". It just LOOKED like a classic guitar to me. It had a satin finish over the sunburst and this FAT headstock that was unlike any other Strat on the wall. I loved that headstock. Then I saw the American flag sticker on the pick guard and I thought "Well, there goes that...I'm sure that guitar is $1500". So I asked the Guitar Center guy to pull down one of the Mexican Strats and I just asked him (I almost didn't even ask, I was so sure it was going to be too expensive) how much the American Strat was. He said "Well, it was $1000, but we have it on sale for $799." SOLD, I thought. He pulled it down and it was all over. I barely even played it, I gave it to Chris (the blues band guy) and he proceeds to just wail on the thing. He hands it back to me and says "You won't outgrow that one...that is a great guitar." I told the guy to package it up. Chris again comes to my rescue and tells the guy that the neck is a little tweaked and we wants him to put new Fender Bullets on it. Done. I buy a tweed hardcase for it (I don't know why, the guitar was just asking for a vintage looking case) and then we start talking about amps. The Guitar Center guy shows me a nice Vox amp with a bunch of features for $250. Chris thought it was a pretty solid amp and it had all the features he thought I would want for a while. We plugged in the guitar and it sounded just awesome. We took the thing home and Chris played it for 15 or 20 minutes, I was amazed at how good it sounded. Then I played my few chords I know and it even sounded good then! Anyhow, I thought you guys were nuts when you talked about a guitar that "felt right" but now I know. This is it boys, my new baby...I think I'm in love:





Check out the fat headstock with the Fender Stratocaster lettering scrolled across it...just dead sexy!


This is my little Vox amp...

[lm6y]

And you thought Porsche's were addicting.................................

Ask Wolfe for a set of hand - wound pickups, and you'll need to wear a diaper everytime you pick it up.
It looks great man, congratulations!

[Rick Lee]

Congrats. I too have a Mex. Strat, hot-rodded with EMG' and a bare wood neck. These axes are a great bang for the buck.

[IROC]

Very nice. Enjoy.

[Nathans_Dad]

Just in case anyone else gets the hots for this guitar it is one of the American Strats. Model is called Highway 1. Satin finish.

[Sonic dB]

Hey cool....congratulations...so you got the American Strat?

(did you pay for an upgraded case? Am. Strat should have come with one)

Looks really nice... You won't regret paying the extra for the American Strat.
Rosewood neck will usually sound a little less brite than a Maple, which can be a great thing.

[Nathans_Dad]

Yeah, American Strat. I liked the Mexican ones too, but this one just really grabbed me. It had everything I was looking for including a single humbucker pickup with the two single coils so it would be pretty versatile. Plus I just loved the finish, it seemed a little nicer than what was on the Mexican ones and I think the satin is just sexy as hell. I don't think the Mexicans came with the bigger headstock either.

I paid $90 for the hard case. Because they had it on sale they said it only came with a gig bag and there was no way I was taking the chance of this thing getting dinged up. They did throw in the cable for free though .

I guess I got a good deal on it, I am seeing the same guitar online for $1200...wierd, you would think online would be cheaper than a brick and mortar store like Guitar Center.

*EDIT* Ok, now it makes more sense. The Highway 1's are online for $750 which is $50 less than I paid. Strange though, I can't find any of them with the sunburst finish mine has...not even on the Fender site. Maybe it was discontinued...

[Sonic dB]

It had everything I was looking for including a single humbucker pickup with the two single coils so it would be pretty versatile. Plus I just loved the finish, it seemed a little nicer than what was on the Mexican ones and I think the satin is just sexy as hell. I don't think the Mexicans came with the bigger headstock either

Good calls there!

ah the thew the old "duh, it only comes with a gig bag cause its on sale" scam-routine at you...
oh well, ya did very well with the deal anyway!

[Dantilla]

I enjoy goofing off with a Mexi-Strat. I know just enough to amaze myself. Lotsa fun.

I bought it from a friend who found it at a pawn shop and went through it making sure it was in top shape. Not bad for $160 with a soft case.

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally Posted by Sonic dB

Good calls there!

ah the thew the old "duh, it only comes with a gig bag cause its on sale" scam-routine at you...
oh well, ya did very well with the deal anyway!

Hah, yeah...none of the online retailers offer hard cases either. I figured I was getting a good deal on the guitar so I didn't mind paying the $90 for the tweed hard case. Plus the tweed just looks awesome, leather at the edges of the case, etc. I had to give my new baby a good home!

[rouxroux]

Congratulations. A good solid Strat with a classic burst finish...you did well. Enjoy!

[frogger]

Nice score. Hwy 1's are nice.

[Sonic dB]

Hah, yeah...none of the online retailers offer hard cases either.

Yeah that is what they tell you. You got the tweed case though, which is always an upgrade
and a beautiful one.

One Fenders website, they list all American Strats coming with standard hardshell cases (which is black one not tweed)... this is the case that they gave me with my Clapton Sig. model a few years ago...they tried the ol'd "gig bag scam" but I had to remind them that the case came with the guitar per Fender...

but you got one He-- of a deal on that price good job, and that more than makes up for it because you got an upgrade on the case too!

[Les Paul]

Now just practice, practice, practice.

[Tobra]

my brother has an old one like that, and a black one, tele, epiphone 335 knockoff, SG, really pretty tobacco sunburst Les Paul, wierd looking Ibanez Moderne(or whatever the hell it is, copy of some guitar Gibson was going to make, or made, maybe), some wierd stuff too, Chapman stick, sitar, mandolin, banjo, I think he even has an accordian.

Can play all that stuff and more, pretty trippy to have somebody pick up a violin for the first time in their life and play you Popeye the sailor

guitarists seem to spend a lot of money on guitars

[rouxroux]

Rick, if you ever need another tweed case, you can buy one from Musicians Friend (online) for $40. Same as the Fender case but without the chrome logo.

[stuartj]

Snap. Picked this one up meself just last week. Early 90's JPN 62 reissue.

Nice one. Fender is discontinuing sunburst you say? -)

Now, as Uncle Frank said, shut up 'n play yer guitar.

[Rot 911]

What, no whammy bar?

[Nathans_Dad]

I was actually wondering about the whammy bar. I guess I can buy one sometime if I want one...I don't think I'll be needing one anytime soon

I'm sure Fender will still make sunbursts lol, I just didn't see it as an option for the Highway 1 model on the site anymore. They only have it in black, white transparent and Daphne blue. Maybe I have a collectors item, lol.

We were joking around that if my son decides to play guitar when he is a teenager all his friends will think it's cool that he has a "vintage" '07 model Strat...

[Cornpanzer]

A friend of mine managed a music store back in the 80s and 90s. I remember in the late 80's he had a customer walk in carrying a Strat in an old gig bag. He told my buddy that his grandfather had recently passed and that they had found this guitar in the attic.

Customer opens the bag and it was an original late 50's Strat with the hanging tags still on it. Customer says he wants to sell it, and "what is it worth?"

Now my buddy is a very honest guy and he shot the customer a honest and reasonable price as he wanted it for his own personal collection. The customers jaw dropped
"Oh my god, thats a lot of money. I better hold on to it and make sure I get a fair deal"

Customer walks out carrying the guitar with my buddy crying on the inside. If he had shot the guy $250 it probably would have been a done deal. No good deed goes unpunished, right

Anyway - Nice guitar.....Enjoy!