The guitar I didn't buy

[Rosemary]

We went to the Guitar Show today where a year ago I bought my 1st Strat.
There were some very beautiful and also some very interesting guitars but the show was a bit light on for Strats.

I did however fall in love with a 1979 Strat that looked something like this (except it wasn't metallic or the anniversary edition - otherwise the colours including pickguard, volume controls were similar)
http://www.may-studio-music-lessons.com ... ition.html

I also noticed it had a headstock similar to this one
http://www.rockstarcollectibles.com/wp- ... -79-04.jpg
with what is presumably the top of the truss rod visible (maybe for adjustment?)

Anyway the fact I'm still thinking about it shows how much I liked it but it was twice the price of the new American Strat I bought last year so needless to say I couldn't afford it. It was nice to look at though.

Best wishes
Rosemary

[JimN]

I know there are a few people here who have Fenders from that era and love them to bits, but in general, those guitars have not been well-regarded and they were definitely seen as second-best (if quite as good as that) even at the time.

I had one just like the one in your "headstock" photo - a sunburst Stratocaster with the maple neck and large headstock, with three-ply scratchplate, bought new in 1975 for £225.

I soon grew to hate it. It had very little of the original Fender aesthetic about it. It was a parody of Leo's original, with all sorts of cost-cutting changes and "improvements" like the infamous bullet truss-rod adjuster and a soft-metal Mazak one-piece bridge and block (in which the only steel parts were the intonation screws and springs - and the arm).

The trouble was, apart from buying secondhand, in the 1970s, it was all you could get. You couldn't even get a decently-made copy of the Strat unless you went to the expense of a hand-made guitar.

As soon as Japanese makers like Aria and Tokai started to produce accurate replicas of the originals (Aria did a beautiful version as early as 1976, but it was rare), the game was up for Fender. They must have been getting sackfuls of critical mail at the factory. I certainly wrote to them at least twice recommending that they reintroduce the Fender Stratocaster in the place of the CBS version. I can't believe that I was the only one.

A really good American Vintage Reissue (the model introduced in 1982) can be bought here for well under £1,000 secondhand. I have two, each of which cost me under £700*. They're much better value and quality than the bullet-neck Strats, which are now inexplicably changing hands for up to £2,000.

There's nowt queerer than folk.

JN

[* Putting £700 in perspective, you could easily pay that nowadays for a good condition Hofner solid from the 1960s.]

[Rosemary]

Hi Jim
Thanks for that. I still know very little about guitars and it's interesting to learn about the different types of Strats over the years.
Best wishes
Rosemary

[Graylion]

Mine's a '79 in Antigua and I adore it! I think it's beautiful and I sleep with it every night! [NOT REALLY!] I bought it for £240 in 1982 and they fetch around £1,500 now I think. Mine's immaculate and unfaded - no yellowing because I only come out and night so it doesn't see the sun! . I actually like the large headstock and bullet truss adjuster - AND the micro-tilt 3-screw neck! So that's just me I guess? I've never owned a "real" Strat although I did get to play a few new ones in a music shop in 1962 - they were flamingo pink!

[cockroach]

From what I've seen on e-Bay etc, 1970's Strats seem to be just as expensive as others..probably the usual 'it's old , therefore it's worth a lot of money' syndrome.

I am always sceptical of any arbitrary dismissal of the worth of certain instruments however, and those '70's Fenders especially.

I bought a brand new Mustang in 1975- and there was nothing wrong with that, but I foolishly sold it and bought an old Gretsch Duo-Jet, which even then was considered a vintage classic, and that guitar wasn't anything to get excited about!

I saw Roy Buchanan in concert in the late '70's, he who was always known as 'the Master of the Telecaster'- and what did he play on stage?

A late '70's brand new hardtail Strat...and he tore the place up with his great playing...so I doubt that it was that much of a lousy guitar.

Bruce said in an interview I read that he and Hank were given two of those silver 1979 25th Anniversary Strats when they came out-and that they hated them because they were too heavy! Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!

[SteveG]

Bruce said in an interview I read that he and Hank were given two of those silver 1979 25th Anniversary Strats when they came out-and that they hated them because they were too heavy! Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!

If there's one thing that'll kill it for me, it's if a guitar's too heavy. There was a lot of talk in the 70's about weight increasing sustain, much of which was driven by the manufacturers' desire to use more easily available heavy wood, I suspect.

[cockroach]

Whatever one thinks of them, there are plenty of 1970's Fenders on e-Bay, with people asking quite high prices...on the basis that '50's and '60's Fenders are now so ridiculously highly priced, that '70's models are good value by comparison!!

Either way, those heavy three bolt neck type Strats, Teles, etc are $2,000- 3,000 AUS on e-Bay in Australia...which is more than new ones cost..