Have you ever tried to pursue the mythical, deified “perfect Strat”? My first real guitar was a 1975 Fender Strat with a maple fingerboard, and it cost $220, made in America, no tremolo bar aka a “Hardtail.” I thought I knew something about Strats. How much can you know? Turns out I’m still learning. With Fender’s ever-diversifying catalogue, we may never get the full picture, unless of course, you have the bucks to shell out for a Pre-CBS and you can say, I’ve got it all.
The Hardtail Strat in action at Kenny's Castaways with Chris Trotta on Drums and Aaron Chesler on bass. The slide conversion is official!
This first hardtail Strat of mine was my main guitar growing up. I played classical guitar in college so that took me away from my Strat for four years except for a one year trip to the University of Richmond where all I tried to do was play in bars and get into trouble. While I was in Mannes College, I bought a ‘70s Les Paul Custom and that became my main guitar. I always kept the hardtail Strat though. I even played it at CBGBs once – behind my head! I had some pickups installed at one point, a crazy combination of Duncans – a quarter pounder for the neck, a vintage style in the middle, and a “hot Strat” in the bridge. That one really barks!
The Hardtail Strat goes to college!
Eventually after I got out of school I realized I needed a Strat with a Whammy Bar. I tried a couple at Matt Umanov’s in the Village – what a shame to see that store go! Anyway, I was so naïve about the setup that I decided to take a black American Strat over a nice Black ’62 Reissue because I couldn’t understand why the top note on a bent double stop would be going out of tune. Ever hear of the blocked off vintage style trem? Duh! Both were rosewood. I had become somewhat of a rosewood person. The American Strat was a little uninspiring but I threw my crazy pickups in there and then took them out when I sold it a few years later. I wouldn’t mind having that guitar now…
The Forest Green Metallic '62 Reissue in Jeff Cook's Linden Underground Studio.
When I got some money a few years later, I started traveling, and I wanted a kind of “travel guitar.” I had a lot of students who had Mexican Strats and some of them were really nice. They cost $300 at the time. I got a beautiful Olympic White one and a set of Vintage ’69 Custom Shop pickups and threw ‘em in there. Or rather Rick Kelly put them in. It sounded great but the fretboard lacked a certain smoothness. I did play it at a club in the Netherlands, though. The pickups helped.
Around this time, I purchased a custom made, white “Kelly Tele” with Lindy Fralin pickups (below) and that became my main guitar, replacing a Burgundy Les Paul Classic. Yes, it’s true – I’ve always loved Strats but mostly get my main sound elsewhere. But I was still hunting for that perfect Strat! I looked all over New York City – I’m not kidding! I even went out to Mandolin Brothers and checked out what they had. I must have tried fifty to a hundred guitars. I had certain colors on the brain – Olympic White, Candy Apple Red. Finally, I sort of decided on a ’62 reissue and they had about ten of them at Matt Umanov’s and I played them all over several days.
Let’s backtrack a little. Once, around the time that I sold the Black American Standard, I worked at a guitar show where I tried a black ‘50s Strat (AMAZING! Each note like a hammer striking metal) and, a maybe metallic green slab board ‘60s model which was gorgeous. OK back to the story…
So among the ten or so ’62 RIs at Umanov’s the best sounding one was a Forest Green Metallic. I didn’t really want a green Strat, but this one just had the most quack, the total Stratiness beyond any doubt. It was lovely. I couldn’t make up my mind. Then, I had a dream about the guitar at the guitar show, which was also a near Forest Green Metallic. When I woke up the next day I went to Matt’s and I bought it. They even took a little off the price: $1150 it came to.
That '62 Reissue Strat will def put a smile on your face!
I took the Mexican Strat and the brand spanking new ’62 RI to Rick and had him swap the Vintage ‘69s into the RI and put the original Mexican pickups back in the Mexican Strat, which I sold on consignment. It went in a flash. I barely even played the original pickups even though I had loved the way the guitar sounded in the store. Crazy, right? Strats will do that to you!
So I had this cool guitar and I played it a lot. The guys at Umanov even set it up for me for free a bunch of times, and I mean they set it up – it played and still plays beautifully. I still have it. Yes! So at this point, ha ha ha! I had two Strats! I had kept the hardtail.
Now, I know there are people out there who have fifty Strats. We’re getting there… Not. Also around this time, I started to play blues almost exclusively. I realized it was what I did best, and there was no use fighting it. I had always played slide, but now I decided to really get down to business and started playing only in open tunings. I converted the hardtail Strat to a slide guitar, raising the action and using .011s. Oh, yes – I had a fret job done on it in the early ‘90s by Carlo Greco on 48th Street – big frets. It still didn’t sound that much like a Strat – it’s a hardtail. It’s a lightweight beast for slide.
Fast forward to a couple years ago. I had a little extra money and most of my guitars were getting a bit fret-worn. I like big frets as you might have inferred from the previous paragraph. And yes, the frets on the ’62 Reissue where getting tinier and tinier. I bought an amazing 2013 Gibson SG ’61 Standard’ (above) in “Champagne” (a kind of silver sparkle with hints of olive or whatever – love it!) with nice fat frets on it. It’s got to be one of the most powerful guitars I’ve ever played. But it didn’t solve my Strat fixation.
Actually spending time in guitar stores – I’m not much of a tire-kicker and I don’t think I know one single real, “guitar store lick,” – I ran across “Goldfinger.” She was the most beautiful gold sparkle Classic Vibe Stratocaster, on sale used at Sam Ash for $250!!! I was like, “who in the hell would sell this beautiful guitar back to them?” I couldn’t believe how great she sounded, but I came back a third time before I bought Goldfinger. The maple fretboard has the vintage lacquer on it and it is just the most amazing ‘cheap’ guitar I’ve ever owned. OK, so now I have three Strats.
In the interim, I developed an obsession with P90 pickups and after looking for nearly two years, I bought a cherry Gibson ‘50s Tribute SG on the spot at Guitar Center for $500. It kills. But it didn’t quell my desire for the perfect Strat.
Around this time, I had been looking on craigslist for various guitars, including Strats. I recently tried a couple of Mexican Strats at Sam Ash for one of my students. Not for me, although one was nice, a white one. A little rough around the edges for me. Also around this time, the American Professional model came out and the prices went through the roof. Matt Umanov closed as I said, and it started to get a little difficult around these parts to even shop for a guitar, let alone pay for it.
I passed on a white American Standard with Fat ‘50s pickups – it was two hours away and I was getting over surgery – no thanks. I also had decided that I wanted Texas Specials. I wanted a Strat that was easier to play – bigger frets, more output to the pickups, and a flatter radius neck. The Green Strat as I call her, has the most phenomenal tone, but you have to work for it! It’s like another type of ‘woman tone,’ if you know what I mean.
Well, I saw a guitar on CL – an American Special Stratocaster. I am usually a person who has to hear the guitar through a dry tube amp, yes! No reverb for the tryout!! But in this case, I had to try it out in Starbucks. It had the most beautiful finish, but did I really want another sparkle guitar? It was super playable, with jumbo frets. It was impossible to really tell what it sounded like so I passed. Later, I was kicking myself. I called up the seller and told him I would buy it. I did! And the next day, I tried it out at the Red Lion jam session in Greenwich Village. It sounded great! I now have four Fender Stratocasters and I love them all!
The latest Strat in action at the Red Lion.
The American Standard Stratocaster is a sophisticated and somewhat unique guitar. It has a distinctly modern feel and sound. Big frets, relatively flat fretboard, Texas Specials adding a little midrange bump, a vintage tremolo, and the “Grease Bucket” tone circuit, which is more radical than what they tell you. First of all, with these electronics, it’s the middle pickup that is bypassed by the tone controls, not the bridge. It has reverse polarity winding for hum cancelling, which is really nice (not so on the ’62 RI). It has a narrower tonal palate, and it’s a lot less quacky than say, the ’62 RI or any number of configurations. But it sounds wonderful with overdrive, has a ton of sustain, and is a little more smooth and compressed. Not for everyone, but a damned nice guitar. I am Stratisfied. For the moment… -Christian Botta
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