NGD!!......and a relic WTF? *pics added*

[nevusofota]

It's been awhile since the last one, 3 years I believe. I've never owned a strat (never thought I would) and recently decided I should. I mean, 90% of the guitars around here are based on them, right? Everyone should have the guitar that started it all in their arsenal. I knew very little about strats so I began to do some research over the past few months and still only scraped the surface of strat knowledge. I decided I wanted, ah hum.......a relic. Never thought I'd say that. I always felt they were for, dare I say it, posers One of the reasons I never owned a strat is because I felt they were boring. To counter this I decided to get one all banged up and in seafoam green, to give it some character. Besides, who better to denounce the "poser" moniker than Eddie himself, as he played a relic'd Wolfgang on the last tour. I found a killer 2004 Custom Shop online at a Guitar Center with all the trim that I was looking for. I worked the deal over the phone on Saturday. Ducking away periodically from my 3 year old's birthday party to negotiate . I'm not a fan of buying guitars without playing them but with a 45 day no questions asked return policy it was a no brainer. On top of that and just by chance, a fellow TGP'er lives close to that GC and has been eyeing that guitar. He said it has been hanging high on the wall, away from non-factory relic'ing, and it plays great.

Should be here tomorrow. Pics to follow.

Hopefully I can work around that volume knob being so damn close to the pickup.

 

[nevusofota]

Sales rep photo

 

[Racerxrated]

Sweet guitar! Congrats! GC is where its at for used, I keep finding cheap speaker cabs lately. Grabbed a Mesa 2X12 halfback with EVs yesterday for 149. 149!! Yeah its a little beat, but as long as it works.....lol

 

[peterc52]

Congrats!

I too can't play a start without turning the volume down. I had 2 warmoth made a very long time ago without it.

Here's an old pic from 2010, i think

 

[nevusofota]

Congrats!

I too can't play a start without turning the volume down. I had 2 warmoth made a very long time ago without it.

Here's an old pic from 2010, i think

I may have to go with that two knob pickguard, I'll see how it goes. Dig the strat but that Silverburst is bad ass. That's my next guitar.

 

[snowdog]

You could just have that 1st pot disconnected and move the volume to pot 2 or 3 and scrap the tone or tbx or whatever the other one is, no need to buy another pickguard. Then you can turn it down all day and it wont do anything. That's what I did to mine.

 

[nevusofota]

You could just have that 1st pot disconnected and move the volume to pot 2 or 3 and scrap the tone or tbx or whatever the other one is, no need to buy another pickguard. Then you can turn it down all day and it wont do anything. That's what I did to mine.

Another good idea. Will keep this in mind if the knob doesn't get in the way. I'm thinking the knob will probably make me feel restricted in addition to inadvertently changing the volume.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Fuck the haters, that thing rules. HNGD!

 

[fek]

great score. You can always throw on a 2 knob pick guard that has the knobs farther away

+1. Only way I can get along with a strat. The normal volume knob placement is a no go for me.

 

[nevusofota]

Great guitar! It has that classic strat tone. Cleans are amazing as I now know what the adjective "chimey" refers to. Very woody and organic. Pickups are that perfect strat tone with less noise than expected, though I haven't been able to play it at band volumes yet. I prefer light guitars that resonate well and this guitar delivers. It has a bit more relic'ing than expected but it's done very well. Feels like a well worn in 50 year old guitar. Only thing is I wish there was less laquer on the back of the neck, but that's an easy fix. Still trying to get used to the volume knob placement as well as the medium frets. I'm used to jumbos.

Overall I'm really happy with it, especially for the price. Here's a few pics I took this evening:

 

[MrDowntown]

Love that color for a Strat. Love the vintage tuners
Love it period, albeit I'm not a huge relic fan.... Awesome Man.

 

[nevusofota]

Love that color for a Strat. Love the vintage tuners
Love it period, albeit I'm not a huge relic fan.... Awesome Man.

I feel ya about the relic stuff. I never understood it. For some reason I felt I needed a beat up strat. Weird, I know.

 

[mooncobra]

god damn those bloody liars at guitar center!!!! they told me they could not negotiate on used guitars, and if I wanted to make an offer, they could send it out to headquarters somewhere and they would get back to me in 3 or 4 days, but then the sales guy finished with, "i wouldn't bother because they will say no, I have sent out these requests to negotiate many times and they have always been denied!"

 

[psychodave]

I love everything but the single ply guard.

 

[nevusofota]

god damn those bloody liars at guitar center!!!! they told me they could not negotiate on used guitars, and if I wanted to make an offer, they could send it out to headquarters somewhere and they would get back to me in 3 or 4 days, but then the sales guy finished with, "i wouldn't bother because they will say no, I have sent out these requests to negotiate many times and they have always been denied!"

That is BS. They can always come down, the only rare exception is if they are at what they paid for the item. From what I understand a goal for them is to keep the used gear stock flowing and not maintain the same stock for too long. This is why they have the term "price drop" on used gear. You can usually negotiate on these items because they've been sitting too long. This strat was a "price drop" because someone at the store mistakingly gave its custom shop case and all its paperwork including its certificate of authenticity to someone who bought a different strat. They were willing to take a beating on it because of their screw up which was causing it to sit. I negotiated $600 off of the original tagged price and got them to throw in a new tweed case. I've been in contact with Fender's custom shop to issue me a new certificate of authenticity.