The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Strat

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Review: 2007 Fender Classic Player &#39;60&#39;s Strat

Review: 2007 Fender Classic Player '60's Strat

The Fender Classic Player '60s Strat is one of the three Custom Shop designed and Mexican-made (and it should be pointed out, assembled, not all manufactured) guitars. You can refer back to my reviews of the Baja Telecaster and '50s Strat for comments about the background of this guitar's manufacture and context.

This particular strat was designed by Fender Custom Shop master builder Greg Fessler, and it essentially is as described. Its outward appearance is that of a vintage '60s Strat but with Custom Shop electronics.

Oddly enough, the neck doesn't address the key complaint about the '50s model neck. Which is that it's too thick. This guitar has a 12" C neck with medium jumbo frets, and it's a familiar profile to most modern players. Familiar, but thicker than usual.

The advantage is that it spaces the strings better, and makes it equally easy to play chords or clean leads. It's an ideal surf guitar for that reason, and for those who fingerpick. Also, if you play half chords and such, this neck will open up a new world.

The maple neck has a rosewood fretboard, which will also give the player a softer sound than maple. What you lose in bite, you gain in nuance.

The pickup and switching system is the same as the '50s model. There are five positions, with 2 and 4 being hum canceling instead of out of phase. This is an improvement over the original with only three positions and the out-of-phase being achieved by monkeying around with the switch (leaving it stuck between the standard positions).

Where it differs is in the pickups. The Custom Shop '69 single coil with grey bobbins is used, and thus the sonic range fits squarely in the '60s. The sounds can range from classic surf, Jimi Hendrix, rock blues, late '60s Clapton (with a midrange booster), Stevie Winwood, and so on.

It's a brighter-sounding strat than many modern players are used to. However, it's bright without being tinny, and it has a spank in the tone that modern versions don't have. Imagine Traffic's classic “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” a quintessential '60s Fender song, and you'll have an idea of the tone.

Fender has gone for the vintage look on this one, with Gotoh button pegs, single-ply pickguard (which seems sort of cheap), and aged knobs. The tremolo is a 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with Stamped Steel Saddles.

Even nicer, the three-tone and sonic blue finishes are absolutely off the coolness scale. The sonic blue needs to be seen to appreciate how pretty it is. Too bad Fender couldn't have added sea foam green, it'd have made this model into a sales monster.

When you add up the plusses, great vintage looks (made cheaper by a new state-of-the-art facility in Mexico), and Custom Shop electronics, it's a steal at 800.00. There are some differences between the American Strat and this one, but not enough to pay 400.00-600.00 more and not get the customized electronics.

The difference between the older Mexican Fenders with poplar bodies and cheap pickups, and these Player Series guitars is huge. These guitars are closer in value to their American counterparts than Epiphones are with Gibsons. Only the most stubborn would be unable to see past its Mexican manufacture.

If you get one of these strats, you'll soon be enjoying your own Summer of Love.

- Al Handa

2007

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2007. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

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Saturday, April 6, 2024

Review: 2005 Fender Tom DeLonge Stratocaster

Review: 2005 Fender Tom DeLonge Stratocaster

The Fender Tom DeLonge Stratocaster was introduced in the early 2000's, and as far as MIM Artist Series guitars were concerned, a success. Even after it was discontinued, it's still perceived as a must have guitar to its cult.

That cult, of course, were mainly fans of Blink-182, one of the best post-Green Day Punk bands, with a distinctive and very aggressive guitar sound. The sound could best be summed up as very bright and distorted chord voicing, with fast single note fills mainly on the bass strings. That, and a knack for hooks not normally found in latter day punk music.

I should note that I was, and still am a big fan of the group. In fact, my daughter's graduation present was tickets to a Blink-182 concert (and a couple of others).

I did draw the line at buying a new Tom Delonge Strat. It's not a bad guitar on paper. It has wonderfully cool colors, pearloid pick-guard, alder body and maple neck (with rosewood fretboard) construction, and a genuine US made monster of a pickup, the Duncan Invader. I've used one on a tele, and it's one of the loudest pickups ever made. Mean looking too.

The pickup is mounted at a hardtail bridge position, and only has a volume control. This is fine if you're playing the guitar at concert volume or overloading a small amp. Comments about its versatility for all kinds of rock abound on the web, but the “try before you buy” rule applies here. It only does all the other forms of rock if you want it to sound like Blink-182 doing it.

I do think that it would be a good surf guitar and definitely a great guitar for punk. Which is no surprise, it was designed for it. I found it to be a great player, with a very fast neck, and the one I tried, a sea foam green one, had a very nice coolness factor. Sure, it was mainly for playing loud, but there's lots of guitars out there that don't sound good loud (just loud if you know what I mean). I found myself whacking away on it for the longest time. It's loud fun, the same way a Gibson SG sounds fun at max volume.

The single volume control isn't as limiting as it seems. You can always control the tone from the amp, but making sure you have a good enough amp can turn into a hidden cost if you try to make this your main axe. This guitar will only be as versatile as your amp.

It's definitely a second or third guitar unless you play punk. At punk volume and distortion though, just about any guitar will do. On a cheap amp, I didn't find it to be significantly different than the Squire version with its Duncan Detonator pickup, or a couple of other guitars I've messed around with.

Like I said earlier, it was one of the more successful of the MIM Artist Series. In terms of construction, it does stack up well with the Jimmy Vaughan, and does what it does better than the Muddy Waters Telecaster.

What got me interested in writing a review for it was that since it's a discontinued model, the price now varies wildly. That always creates an opportunity to reassess a guitar. What may not be a good deal when new can be a real find on the used market. There are newbies who will try to sell the Squire model by saying it's the Fender version, but you can see the real deal range from 350.00 on up. It's a common mistake, so be sure you're not buying a Squire at regular Fender prices.

The price can depend on who's selling it. Many of the sellers will treat it as a collector's item and ask 500.00 and up. Which was the price range when it was new. Others will sell lower, and that's where this cool but single-minded guitar becomes attractive.

Kind of like the old economy Fender Tele with the bridge pickup. A similar idea was explored with a strat-derived model with a racing stripe, but that fizzled out. This DeLonge strat is different. A popular artist did help design it, it does do what it does very well, and it looks great. At 300-400 dollars, it certainly beats having a Squire.

The Danelectro reissues, for example, have dropped drastically in my area and often can be had for around 200.00. But this model seems to be staying in the same range as the new Deans and Jacksons.

Is it worth getting? When it was new, yes, but only to a cult following. Personally, I'd love to have one, but not at its current market price. I'd prefer to trade for one or get a beat up one on the cheap.

Part of me knows I'll never buy it even in the 350.00-400.00 range as I haven't played in a punk band since the late 70s. Yet the other part of me is glad to see such a cool guitar keep its value. After all, one of these days I'll probably get a good deal on one, and it'll mean that my tele and strat will be in good company.

- Al Handa

2007

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa