NGD!!! 1987 Squier Strat (E10)

[kenny mac]

Wow that is one lovely stratocaster.
Love the sunburst.

[SteveB]

As a devoted Strat man, I have to say that that is a lovely Gtr you've got there. Hope you get mucho pleasure from it. As with others on here, over the years I've had opportunity to play some top-of-the-range Fender's, Gibson's etc etc, but till my dying day, unless I can locate the item again, I say that the best guitar I ever owned or played, probably should be played or owned was a Squier Classic Vibe Strat - see pic. I think it was Dave Gilmour who said of his black Strat that every time he touched it a song fell out. That's what this Squier Strat was like to me.

[Geir]

I need a strat!!!

[Boognish]

Update on baby girl sunburst....

  Loving this guitar but the cheap pickups had to come out. Had to make some room for this Fender Chris Shiflett HH setup (see pics)
Guitar + pups = $225!

Big Bird approves

[AndyR]

WOW! Sacrilege!! 

No, seriously, looks damn fine.

I'm from the "strat pickups on a strat" camp for personal preference, but I do have one of the new P90 Noventa strats, so I'm kinda changing tune. The Noventa P90s are possibly a bit hot for my tastes, so I might be putting lower output ones in... but I have even been considering humbuckers - that would be lower output in this case as well But it would take a little routing in that guitar, though, for switching to strat singles or to humbuckers, I've checked under the guard... so I kinda want to keep it P90... and I do have some spares that I think are lower output - came out of an SG.

Doesn't look like you had to do any routing on the body? That wouldn't stop me if I had to... But I'd definitely think twice nowadays (and maybe do it properly - I've got a late 80s Squier Tele in the loft, DIY routed for a neck humbucker... with a chisel and screwdriver!!)

I've got one of the 1982/3 JV Squiers by Fender (one of these https://www.fuzzfaced.net/jv-62-squier-stratocaster.html). The body of mine is basswood (I know because I stripped it ). It's in the loft, I never use it because it just doesn't match up to the other strats I have now (mostly MIM, mostly Roadworns - two of the original ones, and one from last year).

I get asked, "oh man you got a JV? What's it like?" but like all models/dates, I think it depends on the one actually in your hand. It was utterly gorgeous when I first got it. I played hundreds of gigs with it, it sounded nicer than Fenders that other guys had. But eventually it wasn't quite the "thing" for me. I'd switched role in a new band, I wasn't the only guitarist, and I wanted a thicker sound, so I'd been learning teles, SGs, and Les Pauls, and my JV ended up as the other guitarist's backup on stage. Years later, when the Classic Vibes came out, I tried one and didn't like it - I was actually very disappointed. It was really well made, sounded good, etc, and FABULOUS value (even brand new) ... but it felt "small and delicate" in my hands like my JV does, and that wasn't so much to my taste by then. I had a Crafted In Japan 60s by then - still do, it's called Edith - and I'd discovered via that one that there are different "strat" shapes and sizes, body and neck. All the MIMs (and US) I've tried are "big" like the CIJ 60s I own (and one real 61 I had a sneaky play on in Showaddywaddy's dressing room when I was meant to be "Green Room Security" ) ... my old JV and these Classic Vibes I tried had a slimmer/narrower neck and the body contours are kind of more feminine/sexy.

I did help a friend buy one of the Japanese Fenders in the mid-late 80s. I think it was at Guitar Village in Farnham UK. He drove there and asked me to pick him a strat. We found the Japanese Fenders, 50s or 60s, were beating everything else in the shop that day (I understand that for a year or two, "Fenders" were made in Japan and that rescued the company/name, then the Japanese guys went over to the US and showed them how they worked, etc - I think these guitars were those, there were rave reviews at the time and my friend had no worries about "Japanese"). Anyways, that day, I had WALLS of guitars to play with for this guy. We spent hours in there. I was a long-haired git but he looked like a "straight". Once he'd showed them the inside of his wallet, told them he wasn't leaving without a guitar, and that this hairy dude was his expert... and they saw I could play... they let me run wild . I tried them all and pulled about 6 guitars eventually and said "I'd choose from these". I made him pick the one he liked and only told him after his decision which one I'd wanted. It might be rose-tinted spectacles, but that one was one of the "omigod" strats I've played in my lifetime - I wish I could have afforded a guitar that day. Even the one he chose, when we got it back to my place, beat my own workhorse Squier for both of us.

My old Squier went through a lot (DIY stripped and refinished for starters!). It had a preamp installed and removed. A SD Hot Rails put in the bridge and removed. I think it's got the Texas Specials from Edith in it at the moment. The knobs, switch tip and pickup covers (which DID wear, nothing else did) are actually on my favourite strat now, Doris, which is a 2009 MIM 60s Road Worn, three-tone sunburst like my old JV was (and yours is). As far I'm aware, this is the first one that arrived in Denmark St in London. That's an "omigod" strat for me. I had to get over the "roadworn" thing to buy it, but it's the best strat I've played....

The thing about "best", though, in my experience with strats, more so than other types, is that they're a real workhorse thing. Once you've got one that is basically ok, get it set up for you, stick the pickups etc you need in it, then get to know it by playing it ... somehow with strats, they're all capable of being the "best". Right at the moment, Lala, a 2020 MIM 60s Road Worn in Firemist Gold (and a Pau Ferro board rather than rosewood) is my favourite strat. But I know that if I gave Doris some attention she'd be right back up in the "#1" position. I almost have to ration my dealings with her, otherwise I don't play the others 

Right at the moment, though, I'm a Les Paul kinda guy... actually, I might even do a NGD... it's only been here just over a week.


Your strat, though - that's a serious looking rock and roll machine. Just realised your pic blows up nice and big. Woo... that does look good. Maybe I need a strat with humbuckers in as well?

[guitarron]

I need a strat!!!

Yes you do. Don't fight the urge.

[AndyR]

I need a strat!!!

Yes you do. Don't fight the urge.

No you don't, you need two...

No even that's wrong...

Ah! Baldrick knows:

You need some strats


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSlfttDnurw

[Boognish]

Haha great reading these, guys I love it. And that blue Strat is sweet!!!

So there's a wiring issue on the switch I think... since bridge pup works alone and that's it but probably an easy grounding issue? Thoughts?

Anyway, it's been getting lots of play (for me) about 4 hrs/week at my buddy's parents' home here in town. They're retired, and on an extended vacation and we have a jam room set up in the living room. We are 40 now so it's hard to have any garage, spare room, etc that isn't used by kids ?
So it's awesome to have the setup and leave our stuff out.

It sounds awesome but I think I'll get a new setup when I change the strings. Any suggestions on a prewired SSS? Texas Specials seem to be popular

[AndyR]

On the wiring issue: I have a horrible feeling that, while it might be a grounding issue, it probably isn't going to be an easy one. It depends how you've got it wired. Eg, is it wired like a Flying V or Explorer (standard HH, no taps etc, 3-way switch, 2 volumes, 1 tone)? The problem(s) could be in a different place than if it was wired with 1 volume 2 tones.

I've got several guitars that I want to do some mods on now. Mostly changing pots for different tapers/values. One I want to replace pickups. One is a Gretsch I want to rewire like a Gibson because I just CAN'T get on with the Gretsch thinking on controls.

This stuff does my head in every time - so I've been putting it off (right at the moment I can't remember which taper/values I prefer, so I haven't even ordered the parts yet). But when I do it, I'll usually have searched the internet for wiring diagrams. I try to find one like the stuff I have in front of me in the guitar. But if I can't, and I can't translate one to the other, then I'll completely rewire from a diagram that says it does what I want it to do. A tech who understood the electrics better than I do would be able to go "oh you just move that wire from here to there and then it's the same circuit".

But it sounds like you won't need to go this route if your looking at switching back to SSS?

On the SSS pickups. Texas Specials are good but in the past I've always ended up replacing them (both strat and tele versions). I find they can get muddy and not give me the top-end, a chiming bite, that I want from my Fenders. Also, I understand they're quite expensive new? The ones I've replaced them with in the past (Bare Knuckles) are even MORE expensive, especially if you're in the US.

One of the reasons they can get "muddy" is because they're quite high powered, more winds means less clarity. HOWEVER, I do know that this "muddying" business on guitars and amps only really becomes an issue at living room or bedroom volumes. Turn it up and they'll ROCK - this applies to ALL pickups in ALL guitars. It's one of the reasons many people "hate" the bog standard Gibson 498T/490R humbucker pairing. They get put in the low end humbucker guitars, they're voiced to sound good in the shop, when you turn them up they can sound a bit spikey and no body.

The other reason the Texas Specials can seem muddy in the home-user situation is how they're voiced. They have what people call an "upper mid range hump" on the EQ (much like my Bare Knuckle Irish Tours). Before you get them, you think that'll make them bite more. But it won't. It's there to push the front end of the amp, and it masks some of the higher frequencies. So they seem less bright. Playing in a band at volume that would be a very good thing.

BUT, it's all personal taste. And also how you use your guitar and amps (and pedals, I don't use any).
I understand Mark Knopfler has been known to use Texas Specials, but I'm not sure that's on the very stratty stuff that I love so much.

I have to say, looking at the original pic of your guitar (SSS, cream knobs and covers on black plate) ... it's actually SCREAMING OUT for the Texas Special sound or something like them

You can't go wrong with Texas Specials, but you might be able to get something better, or similar, and possibly cheaper nowadays.

I did a google search for "pickups like texas specials" and hit a whole bunch of things. Ads for stuff that I'd be interested in trying now (I'm in the UK, so UK suppliers), and various discussions from various forums... including this little gem! https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=27905.0 - I'm one of the responders to that query, nearly ten years ago. Actually, there's nothing I said in there that I'd retract now. The only thing I'd point out is that it is the Bare Knuckles Pickups forum - they didn't enforce any brand loyalty on the threads, but we were mostly BKP fanboys on there.

Incidentally, the "other" Fender pickups I mention in there are called Tex-Mex. They came in the original Roadworns. I MUCH preferred them to Texas Specials, the TMs pushed my amp(s) as much as the TSs, but had more clarity/chime. In my hands with my setup, they sounded a lot more "SRV" to me than the TS set did. I believe they're what you get in the Jimmy Vaughan signature ... they'd be superb for his sound. You can also buy them as aftermarket pickups from Fender now - a fair bit cheaper than TS, incidentally.

After that, I've just spend AGES trying to find out what's in my newer Vintera Roadworn 60s from last year (I used it to record Silver Pillow) - I love those pickups, they have more body than the TMs, more clarity than the TSs, AND they compete VERY favourably with the Bare Knuckles in all the other guitars. But I can't find out what they are!!! They seem to be "Vintage Style 60s Hot" on the specs... which could mean anything!

However, Andertons in the UK are selling "special edition" versions of these Roadworns with the Custom Shop Vintage 59 set in as upgrade. I checked out Fender UK prices for those as aftermarket pickups, and THEY'RE cheaper than Texas Specials!!! It seems the TS are regarded price-wise as "top dogs".

[Boognish]

Awesome, thanks Andy!

I wonder if the pickups were Fender Yosemite?
Just a guess, I keep seeing their ads.

I think I'll go for the Tex-Mex. A local guy actually had similar advice, he always uses Texas specials but says, "you know honestly... the Tex-mex are better..." ? And let's be honest, it's really delicious food, too. I grew up on it here in Oklahoma, and all the restaurants have gradually gotten better and better over the years and now there are soooo many good ones!
Can we start a food thread? Lol