Hi Jackie and Noel
Thank you both for your replies. It's great to know there are more lady players out there and it's lovely to hear from you Jackie.
Jackie: We're very alike that I couldn't care less about clothes, handbags and shoes and much prefer musical instruments (and I'm a bit of a computer nerd going back many years too).
I started playing about March last year. It was around the time of the Shads and Sir Cliff concert when my husband bought me a very cheap acoustic guitar from the markets ($5!) that he and his Dad later restored. It looked beautiful when it was finished but unfortunately once the strings were on the action was too high to be playable and fixing it would have meant practically taking it all apart so I then bought a new acoustic and a few months later an American Standard Strat and a few months later a secondhand Mexican Strat like yours.
Like you, I still play the acoustic a lot - mainly learning tunes to try out on the Strats on weekends or days off. They're all lovely guitars. My husband has always preferred the tone of the Mexican Strat actually. I love its tone too but think the American Strat is more comfortable to play (but mainly because of the trem bar I think).
I also struggle with tuning problems but they've improved a bit as my technique is perhaps a bit better now and I don't accidentally bend the strings or put as much pressure on them as previously. String changes always develop into major projects but I suppose I'll get better at that in time too.
After playing the Strat a couple of months I decided to try to play standing up and it took a bit of getting used to. I'm about 5'2" so know what you mean about Strats being heavy especially standing up playing for a long session.
It's fantastic your husband Richard plays now too. Apart from buying the Mexican Strat as a backup, I'd hoped maybe my husband would like to play it too as he learnt a few chords many years ago but he's not very enthusiastic about the idea although he encourages my playing
It would be great if there were a Shadows Club here. I'm hoping one day to meet up with local players in the future and might even take lessons. In the meantime I just practise as much as possible
Best wishes
Rosemary