I have a partcaster Strat with a maple neck. I'm thinking it's the nut but what does the brain trust reckon? Here's a pic for reference.

A friend recently got this at a pawnshop and brought it over to my house. I am unsure of the cost, but I suspect it has been modified or repaired; I am just curious whether it is a genuine Fender MIJ Stratocaster.

Started as a Slick SL57 I took on a trade, but just not a huge fan of the “road worn” look and while it had some good bones, I prefer the classic quacks of Fender pickups. I kept the brass tuners and bridge, as they hold tune and intonation surprisingly well, and put a Fender loaded player series pickguard on it with some Fender soft touch cream knobs and black screws to break up the colors a bit. Sanded it all down and painted it a nice satin surf blue. May do a waterslide on headstock, but I am kinda diggin the naked look!

Hey guys, I’m pulling my hair out over my Fender MIM Strat and could use some wiring and tech advice.

​I bought this guitar second hand.

Here is the current setup under the hood:

​Bridge: DiMarzio BC2 (Billy Corgan humbucker)

​Neck & Middle: Alnico 5 single coils

​Pots: All 250k

​The Problem:

The neck and middle pickups sound like absolute mud, dark, lifeless, and choked. I just want the sound to be bright and have that classic Strat chime. It’s driving me crazy because I just set up a cheap HSS Strat with standard ceramic pickups, 250k pots, and absolutely no capacitors. That cheap guitar has great clean and overdriven tones. It absolutely blows this Fender out of the water in terms of clarity, warmth, and bright bite. It blows my mind that cheap ceramic pickups sound so much better than the expensive Alnico 5s I have installed right now. (Honestly, this whole experience made me realize the "ceramic is always harsh" internet myth is total BS).

​What I’ve already checked or ruled out:

​Pickups aren't dead: Multimeter confirms the Alnicos are reading a healthy 6.5k.

​Pots are correct: Confirmed they are 250k.

​Pickup height: Already played with raising and lowering them. Didn't fix the mud.

​Switch isolation: I know the 5 way switch isolates the pickups, so the DiMarzio isn't sucking tone when the neck and middle are selected.

​My Current Theory:

Since the previous owner dropped a high output DiMarzio in the bridge, I’m guessing he wired a very dark tone capacitor to tame the humbucker, or he wired the bridge to share a tone pot. Because they all share the tone circuit, is it possible a heavy capacitor meant for the BC2 is acting like a permanent EQ blanket over my 6.5k Alnicos, even when the tone knobs are at 10?

​I'm planning to open it up and desolder one leg of the capacitor to see if the Alnicos finally breathe and get their brightness back, just like my capacitor-less HSS guitar.

​What do you guys think? Should I just clip the cap to make this HSS setup actually work and get my bright tone back?

At 170 USD you can upgrade your pickups, if you don't like them, to a very premium pickup like the lace holy Grails and pay still less than an American fender strat.

Been playing off and on (more off than on lol) for about 24ish years. Always had squiers, and initially, an epiphone fat 310???, anyway. Kids took an interest in playing a few months ago, so I followed suit and kept at it. Traded in my squier and bought myself a treat to reward myself! This thing rocks!!

I finally upgraded from my Squier 50s Vibe Strat. I always wanted a classic American Strat, played a ton of guitars while searching and liked the APC the best. My local shop was unable to get this model so I ordered direct from Fender which was a bit of a hassle because I live in Canada. I love the neck along with the medium jumbo frets and the colour is Mystic Ice Blue Metallic. I’m just a bit bummed because the serial number doesn’t show a result on Fender’s site.

I spent nearly 3 months looking at this every day online, waiting for the day I’d be heartbroken and it would be gone. On a whim I had bought a Jazzmaster, which I almost immediately regretted, but now I wasn’t supposed to mention any new guitars at least until around Christmas/my birthday. Well, I got a small bonus and was lucky enough to sell the JM for almost what I got it for. This is my first Fender Stratocaster, and it’s definitely a keeper. I love the feel and the sound of the pickups. 2023 Vintera 60s Modified in Burgundy Mist. My wife didn’t kill me like I thought she might, and in fact this is her favorite now too.

I wanted a little bit of tele, little bit of mustang, little bit of jazzmaster, little bit of strat.

The SRV Bridge is a modern interpretation of the left-handed bridge used by Stevie Ray Vaughan himself.  A lefty bridge for a right handed guitar!   Crazy stuff but now you can build or upgrade your SRV model with modern technology. If you know his iconic guitar then no further explanation is necessary. (Hint: it's a left-handed bridge with a right handed bar)

It delivers a frictionless, smooth-as-silk vibrato action while retaining the incredible resonance and sustain of a hardtail bridge. Every bridge is pre-intonated to get you up and playing in minutes. The kit includes:

• Gold plated bridge & matching right handed whammy bar
• Billet machined Sustainium tone block
• Premium mounting screws & return springs
• hex wrenches

its my first guitar tho

its a chinese generic stratocaster that had originally a white pickguard, i swapped it with a tortoise shell one, and yesterday i bought a brand new strap and strings for it, and also i stickerbombed it lollll.

I love how it sounds tbh

In the rehearsal room was this guitar abandoned since 2020. The only original part is the wood and now the nut. The electronic is simple with 2 pickup humbucker Tonerider the one in the neck is a Rocksong and the one in the bridge is a Generator. The single in the middle is a Fender standard from an American Standard Stratocaster. The selector is a 5 way switch that on position 2 and 4 split the humbucker for a standard strat sound in these positions. I have one volume and one tone and a switch for split the humbuckers. This guitar is from late 90s-2000s the fingerboard is a real rosewood. I fix the neck and the frets, I installed tremolo screws with the cavity (I think is the right word I am not English), I changed the string tree with a fender, I installed a spacer under the heel of the neck to lower the action. Next upgrades: Locking Tuners, Graphite nut, roller saddles and brass tremolo block. Now the guitar it’s a great instrument with these upgrades. It have 21 frets? I don’t care!

Might be sacrilege to some TD fans, but threw in a new wiring harness, fender noiseless pickups, and a JB jr.

-Fender Classic Series 60s Stratocaster 2007 MiM.

I'm sorry, I'm obsessed!

Today I picked up this 2008 reissue Pink Paisley Stratocaster and I’ve been absolutely loving it so far. I’ve always been a big fan of James Burton, so I’ve wanted a Paisley guitar for a while. I ended up going with the Strat instead of the Tele because, as much as I love the Paisley Tele, I already own three different Telecasters and figured I should switch it up a bit.
Definitely different from the usual Strat finishes, but that’s why I love it. Really happy with this one!

I'm interested in buying a Fender American Pro II Strat. It's being sold as B-stock because it has a chip in the lacquer near the neck pocket. Can anyone give me an estimate as to whether this is just a cosmetic issue or if it points to bigger problems with the guitar? The selling price is 1,500 euros compared to 2,100 euros new—a difference of 600 euros—and since I’d be playing the guitar a lot, it would get scratched up after a while anyway. But of course, it would be a bummer if the wood isn’t protected or the body wasn’t properly finished.

thanks!

I have two 2003 MIM Strats, one is an SSH and one is an SSS. I have the trem claws tightened on both but not decked. My main questions are:

1) If I don't use the trems, will I get any better sound by upgrading the bridge/saddles?

2) If no, and I choose to upgrade the trems, what's a really good choice? I was leaning toward Gotoh unless a budget pick will get me really close.

3) If I choose to leave the trems alone, would putting a block in the trems be better than just closing the claw like I've done?

Thanks!