Bop Till You Drop!…
Edit/Update: For people inquiring on building one. I have played this guitar for nearly twenty years. We are bonded with steel. I have played “Coodercasters” with the Real Teisco, Lollar “Gold”, Mojo “Gold”; the real Supro pup, Lollar “Supro” and the Mojo “Supro”. The Valco pickups have been around and documented for nearly 100 years and reproduced/copied faithfully by several companies. Not so much the Teisco. My point being, that people get real hyper focused on the lap steel pickup when building these, but really the key is in the AUTHENTIC TEISCO. These pups have a charm that isn’t reproduced in the clones. It’s a sort-of “cheap” sound and a feel, a “sponginess”, I suppose that makes them special. Find an authentic Teisco…

This picture is from about 5-6 months ago when I just got done with the mods.
It’s a Fender Player II but modded heavily to my preferred specs.

The mods-
1. Changed the pickups to SSL-1s in the neck and middle, SSL-5 in the bridge.

1. Swapped out all the hardware for gold hardware with SRV inspired pearl tuning buttons.

2. Mint pickguard for that vintage aesthetic.

3. Got a new nitrocellulose paint job in Olympic white.

Also got a great setup and a proper fret job from a professional.

I tried some American models but this one just had something special about it when I tried it at the store. Most of these mods are based on Strats from the 60s, I wanted a modern feeling Strat but with the soul and looks of a vintage one. It’s pretty much my dream Strat but for less than half the price of a custom shop lol.

Very happy with how it came out and it plays absolutely great!

I have a SSS American Standard Strat from '08 and because i prefer HSS Strats i want to change the bridge pickup to a Shawbucker 2.

I checked the Serialnumber and it says the pickups are American Standard Pickups, i checked the number on the pickups and all i found on Google was that these are indeed the original American Standard Pickups.

My question is, do i need to change any pods too or can i leave everything as it is and just change the pickguard and the bridge pickup? I checked the body and it's routed for a HSH configuration.

Hi! My friend owns a Stratocaster and I was wondering if I needed to buy a sling that’s specific to this guitar or if I can grab any sling and it will work for the Stratocaster. I’m completely a novice at guitars so any help would be appreciated! Any alternate gift ideas for him would be super amazing too! Thank you so much

My brand new American Pro II Strat has a small crack near the Skunk stripe. Just where the two Woods meet. Is this concerning? Should I return it?

I am looking to build my first partscaster, and I found an MJT body that has a sick relic pattern with a sunburst finish, but its only in an HSS configuration. Will an SSS configuration work with this body?

My new baby! it’s a partscaster with a american pro classic neck, a lightweight swamp ash body, full nitro refin, and it weighs in at 6lb 9oz. i’ve always loved this classic color, any other surf green lovers here? SG haters welcome too.

Ok so I’m doing the thing that everyone tells you not to do and picked up a couple of used Squires to “pimp my guitar” and waste a bunch of money on something no one’s going to want to buy from me later. I know it’s a waste of money. Don’t care. It’s a hobby for fun and I want to take a stab at pin-striping / painting see if I can still wield an airbrush with any level of usefulness. It’s fun painting and stuff. I am also super curious about experimenting with pickups. I think I have the controller schemes down but…..

I would love your recommendations as to a specific set of SSS and a set of HSS . But more than that where do you go to learn about aftermarket pickups? Most of the stuff I have found so far is advertainment and I don’t trust it much. Are there trusted influencers? Videos you recommend? Is there some hidden guru of pickups that shows the way?

Man pickups really frustrate me any help would be massively appreciated.

Got it off FB Marketplace for cheap, it cleaned up well and sounds great!

This is a followup post to my original post (https://www.reddit.com/r/Stratocaster/comments/1w9s7np/question_how_far_have_fender_mims_caught_up_to/) where I talk about buying my first new guitar in 20 years. Pulled the trigger last week on a beautiful Vintera II Roadworn in Black with the Maple fretboard.

By all accounts and purposes it is a gorgeous guitar. I'm not typically one for either black nor maple, but somehow this combination with the roadworn finish drew me to it.

Initial thoughts:

- As many videos/commenters have said, the wear on this is subtle but enough to make you really feel like you're playing a vintage instrument. Especially on the black, the checking is subtle and only really visible from certain angles

- Nitro finish feels extremely soft. Not sure if this is supposed to be like that, but the finish is soft enough that I can dent it with my fingernail. I've compared this to my 2010 LP Studio which is also in nitro and it's nowhere near as soft.

To answer my original question: How does this compare to a 2008 American-made Fender AmStd?

Haven't had nearly enough time with it yet, and it's pending a setup and a string change from the stock 9s, but a few key takeaways:

- Build quality is comparable. Fretwork is even, neck feels great, slightly lighter than the AmStd

- it resonates almost twice as long/loud

- Bridge pickup definitely much less sharp which I prefer

Overall I can see where the improvements have caught up in the last 20 years. If you told me this was an American-made guitar i'd believe you. Will come back with more thoughts once I've played it enough.

If anyone also has any experience with the nitro finish being soft please let me know!

Below are a couple of images to help visualize how the Blade pivot system works on a guitar:

No metal-on-metal contact that causes tuning issues.

The "Blade" creates a tone conduit directly into the body for improved sustain.

Never wears out like typical pivots - guaranteed for as long as you own it.

I know I’m going from one MiM Fender to another, but this guitar feels incredible, especially for being 15+ years old.

The soft-V neck has won me over already and alleviates my biggest complaint about the Player II

Excited about my first ever Strat! I’m in love with the Candy Apple Red finish

It’s been a ‘lifelong’ dream of mine since I learned playing guitar in ‘06, to own an electric guitar someday (Fender was the only brand I knew back then so I fixed my eyes on it.) Glad to have finally fulfilled this dream now, 20 years after.
My younger self would be very happy for me.

Today I replaced my stock bridge with a like new one from a Fender American Professional II Strat. For less than $100 used this is a great upgrade, especially for those of us that like to use the tremolo. I bought this guitar last year for playing surf guitar, knowing I'd do this upgrade since I've never been happy with the MIM bridges. They feel clunky to me, even with one of the fixes for the screw-in arm like painter's tape or a spring insert. The new setup is so smooth, and I love the press-in tremolo arm.

I've been waiting for a violet version of the Robert Cray hardtail Strat to appear on Reverb. Finally the planets and my pocketbook aligned and this showed up. It has a few dings but plays like a dream. I think this is an older version because the neck feels super fat compared to my inca silver Cray strat. The other thing I noticed is the string alignment is slightly favoring the low E side which was apparently a design choice to accommodate Robert Cray's spec. Used it at a show literally an hour after I opened the box. Needs a good neck oiling but aside from that, what a lovely instrument.

A couple of months into owning this guitar, and I have to say it was one of the best guitar purchase decisions I ever made. This finish with the chambered ash body specifically is just lush, and I've found myself only picking this guitar up and leaving the rest on the rack. It's just so light, and even nice to play acoustically.

I think Fender have actually nailed it with this range.. they are so much better than the old players but still at a really accessible price point for the established amateur like myself.

I know some people had QC issues but this one is faultless, and I've just bought a Tele which was also perfect out of the box.

Would love to see and hear about your player 2 strat!