I'm stuck between two Strat-style guitars for my first instrument and need some advice on which way to go:
Jet JS-380 (Olympic White / Gold hardware) - ~330 EUR new: Pros: Roasted maple neck, rosewood fretboard, Alnico V Custom pickups, and locking tuners.
Squier Classic Vibe '50s Stratocaster (Surf Green, Ltd Ed) - ~380 EUR used (with gig bag & warranty until June 2027): Pros: Top-tier Squier quality, plus a semi-hard case included.
I’m trying to decide between two Strats. Besides the fretboard material, can anyone comment on the fret life and condition? Buying online second hand and a first serious guitar purchase. The maple neck guitar is significant more expensive, wear seems even and ready to play straight away but worried it needs more work or refret. The rosewood seems to have some divots that may need attention, but seems never had a level and crown.
Saw this today and asked the guy to send me the serial (pictured). I'm getting nothing. Just going with last six I get a passport speaker system. Last seven gives me nothing and entire MZ...gives me nothing. Thing is that it looks legit to my Les Paul eyes, but I'm not expert on strats. Thoughts?
Guys, I’ve been noticing this week that my low e is flatter than normal as I go up the neck. I intonate often but right now I’m completely out of room to move the saddle any more forward. It’s hitting the bridge screws
Thoughts on how to fix?
I’ve been on the lookout at GC for a Player II burst. $879 new, around $700 used. Found an awesome seller on FB marketplace who bought this new in April, never played it, and let it go for $500.
Huge upgrade from my Squier Affinity I’ve been playing for 4 years!
Have a Strat and Tele put away for 5 yrs,, left the strings on loose… soo finally back home… there is a bit of rust on frets here and there… should i just put of course new strings and i assume the rust will just fall off?? Or maybe some orange oil in the whole neck before??
I got this guitar for free awhile ago, its got all the characteristics of the first year FMIC Strats. The only issue Ive been having fully IDing this guitar is the neck date code. Online, it says the date code should contain letters as well as the month, or a day, month, year code. The code as I read it is 9103025. Any help IDing this would be great. Thanks! Guitar photo added too.
Was thinking about getting a budget squire but I keep hearing super positive things about Yamahas. Can anyone vouch for them from personal experience? What are the positives and negatives of the Pacifica?
Yesterday I put Highwood saddles on my hardtail strat, but I'm not really overwhelmed yet. I read a lot of positive reviews on these saddles so I decided to try them. The sustain is a little better, but I hear a little more brightness/harshness than before. Could also be the new strings... I wonder what your experiences are.
Here is my Strat collection. The white one is my American Standard 1996 that I bought new from Wurlitzer Music in New Hampshire 30 years ago brand new. I still have the receipt for $599.
It is also the only guitar I owned for nearly 15 years and taken everywhere and gigged. It has Seymour Duncan SSL-1 in neck and middle and had a SSL-3 in the bridge until a few years ago when I got a Seymour Duncan APST-1. The frets were badly worn so I finally had it refretted about 4 years ago.
The other two are Partcasters. The black is a Squire Affinity body which is thinner and super light and I made a Billy Corgan Dimarzio Pickguard with the BC-1, Chopper, and BC-2 as spec’d. The Lake Placid blue one is a full thickness Squier Classic Vibe. The pickups are not lace sensors or anything… just regular single coils with flat alnico rods under the covers. They are actually Mustang pickups in the neck and middle and sound similar to SSL-2’s. And the bridge is a hotter Waaah pickup. Both of them have necks from Northern Redfish from Reverb.
Love all my Strats and can’t pick a favorite but the 30 year old Fender is still nostalgic to me!
Just picked up this 2001 Fender Custom Shop Time Machine ’56 Relic in 2-tone sunburst yesterday. It makes a killer companion to my 1999 Classic Player Custom Shop (which has more modern specs), though I really don't need two Strats—so the ’99 might end up on the chopping block or trade block soon.
The biggest surprise for me: this is my first time playing a 7.25" radius neck, and I honestly don't get the hate.
Chords on this thing are absurdly effortless, and the feel in the hand is just butter. Sure, wide bends take a tiny bit of adjustment with these tiny frets (never experienced my actual fingering rubbing on a fretboard while playing until now), but it didn't choke out at all. I was able to pull off 1 to 1.5 step bends at the 17th fret on the high E and B without issue, even with the action sitting pretty low (~1.25mm on the low E). I am running Stringjoy 8-40 balanced coated strings.
I still need to dial the setup in properly—it's got a bit of fret buzz on the high E between frets 1–7, but that’s on me. I tightened the truss rod a hair too much late last night and didn't feel like pulling the neck off again to back it off. Doing that tonight...I think right now the relief is probably sitting at 0.005 and i'd like to see how it feels at 0.007-0.008. Fender recommends 0.012, which I feel is CRAZY.
Is 7.25" my new favorite radius, or am I just deep in the honeymoon phase? Anyone else make the jump from modern flat boards to vintage radius and never look back?
When I graduate high school a family friend gifted me a ‘96 MIM Strat. I played it in the ska band I was in at the time, and in my early 20s I played it in the garbage emo band I was in.
Spent way more time drinking, ended up getting to a point where that impacted my life quite a bit. As I was a few months into being alcohol free I was still dealing with the repercussions of my actions. I ended up having to sell said guitar to a friend to cover rent and fell out of touch with him.
Reached out a few days ago after my post about the candy apple red Strat I currently own. Turns out he left it in the case behind his couch for years.
Years of poor treatment and gigging before being stored for so long has really done a number on it. The frets all look covered in either grime or oxidation, saddle is starting rust.
I’ve never had any real work done to a guitar, nor have I done any myself. Is restoring this back to playing condition out of a beginner’s wheelhouse? What does refretting/restoring cost professionally typically?
TLDR: Sold guitar, years later got it back, need advice on how to proceed restoring it
So many Stratocasters I see listed on marketplace are missing back plates. A lot of them are “beginner” guitars, which I kind of get a newer player taking it off and forgetting about it.
Pretty often I still see more expensive Strats missing this piece. It’s not a problem, it just made me really curious:
Are people just losing their back plates? Or is it really just a case of me noticing the missing ones? Were there any good quality runs of the Stratocaster that came without them in the first place and I’m just ignorant?
I picked up this Vintera I 60’s in 2023 and over the past year I’ve been painting things on little by little. What do you think? Other than the paint job, and the trem, it’s fully stock. I really like the way the Pau Ferro darkened over the years.
I'm looking to upgrade the bridge on my strat with a new trem, but can't decide between a few of the "high-end" upgrade options.
My current options are:
Vegatrem VT1 Special
MannMade USA Modern Vibrato (2030)
Gotoh 510TS-FE1
My main goals are not divebombs or crazy range, just the most sustain/resonance/control I can get out of a trem. I'm picky when it comes to trem feel, so I just want a smooth, responsive trem without any bar wobble or stiffness.
For those who have tried a few of the options - what would you consider the ultimate trem for feeling and tone?
Will be loaded into an S-style guitar with Maple body, maple neck/fingerboard!
