All this talk of research......

[Spence]

Several years ago I got my hands on a nice collection of vintage Strats. Why, because they were being lent to a group of us for an article in a UK Guitar magazine.
We pulled them all to bits and took every worthwhile measurement.

Naturally, I did all the pickup measurements/observations.

The line up included a modern custom shop Strat for comparison.
The vintage Strats were a 1957, a 1959, two 62's and a '63.



I have posted the results here before. One of these guitars sounded almost factory fresh but the best sounding one of all? Have a guess.

[copperheadroads]

im gonna say the the 62 but wasn't 57 the magic year ?

[David Schwab]

wasn't 57 the magic year ?

It's MY magic year.

That's a nice bunch of guitars.

[Spence]

There are two 62's there.

[restorationad]

Knowing my luck he is going to say the modern custom shop.

I played a 57 a few years ago and still can't get it out of my head... wish I had the bucks for it.

[copperheadroads]

a 62 one of those red ones was the bomb

[LtKojak]

Several years ago I got my hands on a nice collection of vintage Strats. Why, because they were being lent to a group of us for an article in a UK Guitar magazine.
We pulled them all to bits and took every worthwhile measurement.

Naturally, I did all the pickup measurements/observations.

The line up included a modern custom shop Strat for comparison.
The vintage Strats were a 1957, a 1959, two 62's and a '63.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10581[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10582[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10583[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10584[/ATTACH]

I have posted the results here before. One of these guitars sounded almost factory fresh but the best sounding one of all? Have a guess.

I'd say the red from the left in picture n. 4.

Can you find the old thread, Spence?

[Spence]

Of the two Fiesta red guitars, the left hand one is a '63. The right hand one is a '62 as is the sonic blue one. The sunburst is a 1957 and the other is a '59.
The custom shop reissue (not pictured) was left in the bin on the way out.
The '57 is ash with a one piece V profile maple neck. The '59 is swamp ash with a slab board. The '62's and the '63 are all alder but the '63 has a veneer board.

[Musiclogic]

I have always wondered what the fascination with old strats is, as they all sound clanky. I guess they do not work for my ear.

[David Schwab]

I have always wondered what the fascination with old strats is, as they all sound clanky. I guess they do not work for my ear.

The olds ones I have heard are real smooth sounding. I have a buddy with a '64 he had since it was new. It's much warmer and smoother than his new Strat. I heard another that was kind of dark sounding. I didn't like that too much.

[big_teee]

The olds ones I have heard are real smooth sounding. I have a buddy with a '64 he had since it was new. It's much warmer and smoother than his new Strat. I heard another that was kind of dark sounding. I didn't like that too much.

Even after replacing the pickups?
Or was everything still stock on all of them?
Terry

[pete n]

???

Was it the 59 with the swamp ash body?

[David Schwab]

Even after replacing the pickups?
Or was everything still stock on all of them?
Terry

Everything was stock. Why would you replace the pickups on a '64 Strat? That guitar is worth a lot of money!

[David Schwab]

Was it the 59 with the swamp ash body?

No one used the name swamp ash in '59. There really is no such thing as swamp ash.

Fender used white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) on natural finishes, and alder on painted finishes.

Some southern ash was lighter in weight, and that's called swamp ash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraxinus

The only time the name swamp ash is used is with guitars.

[StarryNight]

I played in a band with a guy who brought his '57 Strat to rehearsals and I got to play it many times. It had a beautiful sparkle to it (the sound that is). I owned two late 60's strats which were great but in a different way. I'll take a stab at it and say the '63. I'm not sure what defines "best sounding" though?