The Strat thread

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Z

ZLE

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ZLE said:
Here is one of mine that literally says "Strat" on the headstock 😀. It's an '86 MIJ HMStrat (despite Wikipedia actually states that those were started in' 88).With 17" radius and 25" scale and 24 frets isn't the typical strat that's for sure, but as far as quality wipes the floor with 95% of the production guitars. Some previous owner stripped the paint (pink) and made it into Fender N4 😎.
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Since the likes are continuing to mount up, here is the guitar in action. And no, that's not me(sadly). Im not quite there yet. Thats the guy I bought the guitar from. His name is Atanas, and he loves HMStrats and Ibanez. And he's a beast...
 
TheBloodstained

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TheBloodstained said:
Confession time:
When I was a young edgelord McGee, and had just started out on guitar and bass, I used to thoroughly hate on everything Fender and/or classic/retro when it came to instruments. Luckily I've gotten wiser with age! I've never owned any Fender instrument, but lately I've found myself to be super strat-curious to the point where I've almost bought stuff on a whim.
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I had completely forgotten about this thread! I did it you guys! I joined the club! :wub:

NGD: The strat GAS was driving me insane...

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Esp Griffyn

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My Eric Johnson Virginia Strat has arrived, unfortunately the pickguard is warped so badly so you see into the body cavity. She'll be going back to the retailer.

I guess the pickguard was drilled badly and when they've screwed it to the body, it has kinked up. Unacceptable on any guitar, let alone a near £3000 one.

What a shame as it played and sounded really nice, too. Oh well, I'll get another.

Pics will be added soon.

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Esp Griffyn

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After the disappointment of Virginia #1, the replacement has arrived. I'm glad to say this time that there are no flaws on the guitar.

This one feels a little lighter and I think the visible grain on the body is nice, the first one I got didn't have much visible grain to speak of. The weight is neither here nor there, neither were heavy guitars.

The nitro finish is amazing. Absolutely flawlessly applied, it's like a mirror. I think it will wear in nicely- I'll be putting a lot of playing hours on this one.

The vintage tint on the neck is just superb too. I love the classic yellow look on the maple. I am in heaven.

Sound-wise, it's great. Classic spanky, glassy Strat tones. It features a Dimarzio HS-2 with one of the coils deactivated in the neck position, it's super fat. The middle is Fender 57 and the bridge is a 62. Position 2 (neck and middle) is wired out of phase. Not sure how much use I'll get from that, maybe I'll learn Eric Johson's 'koto' technique. Overall, it sounds amazing clean and with drive.

It's actually really remarkable how different it sounds to my Yngwie Strat. They're both obviously, identifiably Strats, yet they still sound do different in character.

Anyway, I'm super happy with this Virginia and it will probably be my main player. The next purchase will probably be an Ibanez JS2480 in Muscle Car Red, as I build a collection of signature guitars from G3 roster players. I've already got Vai, Malmsteen and Petrucci covered, so Satch and Gilbert need to be added.

Screenshot_20240419_191617_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20240419_191643_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240419_191729_Gallery.jpg
 
cardinal

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Esp Griffyn said:
After the disappointment of Virginia #1, the replacement has arrived. I'm glad to say this time that there are no flaws on the guitar.

This one feels a little lighter and I think the visible grain on the body is nice, the first one I got didn't have much visible grain to speak of. The weight is neither here nor there, neither were heavy guitars.

The nitro finish is amazing. Absolutely flawlessly applied, it's like a mirror. I think it will wear in nicely- I'll be putting a lot of playing hours on this one.

The vintage tint on the neck is just superb too. I love the classic yellow look on the maple. I am in heaven.

Sound-wise, it's great. Classic spanky, glassy Strat tones. It features a Dimarzio HS-2 with one of the coils deactivated in the neck position, it's super fat. The middle is Fender 57 and the bridge is a 62. Position 2 (neck and middle) is wired out of phase. Not sure how much use I'll get from that, maybe I'll learn Eric Johson's 'koto' technique. Overall, it sounds amazing clean and with drive.

It's actually really remarkable how different it sounds to my Yngwie Strat. They're both obviously, identifiably Strats, yet they still sound do different in character.

Anyway, I'm super happy with this Virginia and it will probably be my main player. The next purchase will probably be an Ibanez JS2480 in Muscle Car Red, as I build a collection of signature guitars from G3 roster players. I've already got Vai, Malmsteen and Petrucci covered, so Satch and Gilbert need to be added.

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Those giant frets look so nice.

Does the offset string spacing cause any issue? I like these but having the low E so close to edge makes me nervous.
 
Esp Griffyn

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No issues for me, I've been playing it a few bit since it arrived and haven't noted any issues. I'd say "play one and see if you like it" but that's pretty tough, since I believe the neck is unique to the EJ Strats with it's combination of 1954 V profile, 12" radius and medium jumbo frets.

Apparently this is because Eric's tech said that Virginia would play better if they took some radius out of the neck and put bigger frets on. I guess the original would have been 7.25" or maybe 9.5", but this feels substantially flatter and with the frets, almost Les Paul-esque, though obviously the neck is way smaller than a Les Paul.
 
l1ll1

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Esp Griffyn said:
After the disappointment of Virginia #1, the replacement has arrived. I'm glad to say this time that there are no flaws on the guitar.

This one feels a little lighter and I think the visible grain on the body is nice, the first one I got didn't have much visible grain to speak of. The weight is neither here nor there, neither were heavy guitars.

The nitro finish is amazing. Absolutely flawlessly applied, it's like a mirror. I think it will wear in nicely- I'll be putting a lot of playing hours on this one.

The vintage tint on the neck is just superb too. I love the classic yellow look on the maple. I am in heaven.

Sound-wise, it's great. Classic spanky, glassy Strat tones. It features a Dimarzio HS-2 with one of the coils deactivated in the neck position, it's super fat. The middle is Fender 57 and the bridge is a 62. Position 2 (neck and middle) is wired out of phase. Not sure how much use I'll get from that, maybe I'll learn Eric Johson's 'koto' technique. Overall, it sounds amazing clean and with drive.

It's actually really remarkable how different it sounds to my Yngwie Strat. They're both obviously, identifiably Strats, yet they still sound do different in character.

Anyway, I'm super happy with this Virginia and it will probably be my main player. The next purchase will probably be an Ibanez JS2480 in Muscle Car Red, as I build a collection of signature guitars from G3 roster players. I've already got Vai, Malmsteen and Petrucci covered, so Satch and Gilbert need to be added.

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View attachment 142363View attachment 142364
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Congrats!
We're guitar buddies, I got mine last fall. Didn't make a NGD for it, but I've been playing mine so much, I take it with me wherever I go. My Virginia had some mistakes in the laquer at the neck pocket, so it was super cheap, but it's the most resonant guitar I've ever owned or played. Brought it into a repair shop for a quick setup and even the tech was super surprised by how responsive it is.
Connected both coils of the bridge PU and have it set up in D standard. Love it. Hope you have as much fun with yours as I do with mine.

DSCF2711.JPG

Sorry for the bad pic, just took it right now and it's dark & rainy in Berlin.
 
cardinal

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Esp Griffyn said:
No issues for me, I've been playing it a few bit since it arrived and haven't noted any issues. I'd say "play one and see if you like it" but that's pretty tough, since I believe the neck is unique to the EJ Strats with it's combination of 1954 V profile, 12" radius and medium jumbo frets.

Apparently this is because Eric's tech said that Virginia would play better if they took some radius out of the neck and put bigger frets on. I guess the original would have been 7.25" or maybe 9.5", but this feels substantially flatter and with the frets, almost Les Paul-esque, though obviously the neck is way smaller than a Les Paul.
Click to expand...
Thanks! If this is the guitar I thought it was, it has a 12" radius and true jumbo frets.
 
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