All this talk of research......

[Jeff Callahan]

I think the term "Swamp ash" is used to convey that it is light weight. The trunk of the trees are under water, and when harvested and dried, that part of the tree turns out to be the lightest. The bottom 8 feet of the tree is where the 3.25 pound strat and 4 pound tele bodies come from, the swamp.

Oh yeah, any sound clips Spence?

[big_teee]

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

I didn't mean the 64! You mentioned some newer ones, and I figured they were fair game!
Sorry
Terry

[Spence]

It was indeed the '59 that sounded the best. It just had everything you could want from a Strat. Interestingly, the '57 was so much like a tele that for that reason alone, I didn't like it. The red '62 had the edge on the blue one and the '63 sounded mighty fine too. I would just mention that the '63 sounded closer to a maple neck strat than a slab board.

[David Schwab]

I think the term "Swamp ash" is used to convey that it is light weight. The trunk of the trees are under water, and when harvested and dried, that part of the tree turns out to be the lightest. The bottom 8 feet of the tree is where the 3.25 pound strat and 4 pound tele bodies come from, the swamp.

Exactly. It's actually Pumpkin ash, or Fraxinus profunda, and yes, it grows primarily in swamps. The usual ash Fender used was white ash, which has a more prominent grain. I'm not sure if they ever used pumkin ash. White ash varies in weight too, and I'm sure we have all come across one of those 12 pound Strats or Jazz basses at one time or another. I played a Jazz bass that was so heavy once I couldn't imagine playing it standing up for more than a few minutes!

[Possum]

Research! Did you read my thread on vintage magnet wire? You can't get anything approaching that these days unless you own a copper mine and refinery and a magnet wire company. Any billionaires here?

[pete n]

The custom shop reissue (not pictured) was left in the bin on the way out.

Did it not even come close? I'm just curious about how ( poorly)you felt it stacked up against the others. If it was closer to one of the years or another?

[jonson]

Research! Did you read my thread on vintage magnet wire? You can't get anything approaching that these days unless you own a copper mine and refinery and a magnet wire company. Any billionaires here?

Well I'm not a billionaire and don't own a copper mine but, 40 kilos of 1962 .061 formvar respooled in 1967 and stored under perfect conditions. your right nothing comes anywhere near it and has a tone all of it's own. Winds like a dream as well.

[Spence]

Did it not even come close? I'm just curious about how ( poorly)you felt it stacked up against the others. If it was closer to one of the years or another?

Sorry, no. The re-issue might as well have been a Kay strat plywood special.

[Spence]

Well I'm not a billionaire and don't own a copper mine but, 40 kilos of 1962 .061 formvar respooled in 1967 and stored under perfect conditions. your right nothing comes anywhere near it and has a tone all of it's own. Winds like a dream as well.

Not a billionaire yet but bugger me, I found some of that '67 wire in my workshop too!
Must be catching. Either that or some of us actually do really research and track down this stuff instead of saying it can't be done.
Wanna see some pics? Possum, you might need a couple of boxes of Kleenex.

[Spence]

No one can get this ( except a select few including that a**hole nhall, Jonson and me ) and we're not even scientists!









Even though we don't have a lab to work out of we do check these things out under the scope..