which strat?

The Freeman

i'm in a bit of trouble on which strat to buy............


up until yesterday i had my heart set on getting a s.r.v. jap signature off ishibashi for 700e

but there's is one thing that i'm concerned about 'THE NECK'

i was playing a 70's strat with a birds eye maple neck yesterday at a lads house and the damn thing played itself nearly,really thin neck and the space between the strings seemed very close together,(it was like putting on a glove-PERFECT)anyhow the neck on the s.r.v. sign is

Quote;
Fast Playing Maple Neck with Deep, Thick Oval Shape
the blond natural maple neck became almost synonymous with Fender guitars. The Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster comes with a one-piece maple neck that sports a special early '60s deep, thick oval shape and it's the only Strat in the Fender line to come standard with a pao ferro fingerboard. Pao ferro is an exotic type of rosewood that's most often used in bass guitar fretboards. Next add 21 jumbo Dunlop frets and a special gloss polyurethane finish, which our resident guitar gurus swear makes this one of the fastest-playing Strats in existence (at least in a production guitar) and you have an instrument worthy of the initials SRV!


so what i'm concerned of is the neck and that i'm gonna dislike it when i get it,to be honest i don't know what to expect as i'm not that up on my strat necks,i'm not sure what a 'thick oval shape' is

all i know is that i like that neck that i played on that strat yesterday and thats what i'm goin for

what i'm certain of;

i do want a 3-tone sunburst strat with 3 single coils pu's from texas and i want a neck like the one i played yesterday

tell me i don't gotta buy a s.r.v. copy and a lite ash strat and swap the necks over and throw the rest away:D

Johnny Storm

st68-85tx from Ishibashi has probably thinnest neck on any strat and strings are close together (40mm nut) and Texas Special pups. Downside (for me anyway) is it has vintage frets.

Generally a lot of Fender heads prefer chunky necks that they can "really dig into". Whatever that means.

EDIT: other downside is heel adjust truss rod.
PS FYI Lite Ash Strat neck is somewhat chunky.

The Freeman

cheers for the info johnny,appreciate it

'dig into eh' not me, more into playing fast blues licks and fancy bends like!:p

what would you say is the main charectiristic with the vintige frets as regards to the modern day ones

more closer together possibley?

Johnny Storm

Modern (jumbo or medium jumbo) frets are a bit taller. With vintage frets the tips of your fingers press and rub more on the fretboard while you're fretting a note. Modern ones keep the string just a tiny bit higher off the fretboard and just feel more playable IMHO.


PS I have to say you can really get used to chunky necks and I wouldnt rule them out at all. In some cases you can play them for longer without getting cramps.
YMMV.

Shanannigan

i'd be more inclined to go for a Tele

The Freeman

i played a 80's japanese neck straight after that and wasn't as comfortable for me for some reason, i think the guitar that you pointed out is the one to go for, only thing that i miss in the narrow neck for 'fancy bends' but i'm sure i'll get past that easily enough and i won't rule out a modern day neck as of yet johnny cheers


as for the tele not my cup of tea cheers Shanannigan, one of the main points of me getting the strat is for the whammy bar to learn a few new tricks from the big boys,i already have a tokai ls85 so i won't be getting a tele.

do they charge extra for the 3-tone sunburst on ishibashi do ya know?
or better again does one of ye lads have that email address of your man that sorts out the ordering with them in japan?

Shanannigan

not everyone's.. but i prefer the tone of the tele.. i also find it to be more aesthetically pleasing.. not that it matters... i naturally gravitate towards the slightly less popular models of guitars... you could always keep yer eyes pealed for a Jagstang.. not sure if they have the whammy though... about the whammy.. can you get a strat with a floyd rose tremelo?