Fender CS Sunset Orange Ash - Friday Strat #242

2011 Custom Shop Deluxe

 Click for close-ups!

With a slight nod to early 60's features, this Strat is mostly a contempo config with its 2 point trem, 22-6105 frets and locking tuners. The '65 "C" profile sports a 9.5'" radius, finish is nitro and the white plastic is aged-- including a mint 3 ply guard. Pickups are 69's at neck and mid with a Texas Special bridge coil. So, it's a real mix. I'm just diggin' this sunset orange tint trans finish. Wonder what it's gonna look like in 10-20 years.

Texas based G-Brats-Guitars currently lists this one. These guys have a few hi-end guitars on eBay. Top-rated 100% with lots of feedback (nearly 3K).

Friday Strat Archive

Hi-end Strats

Current Listings - Top Sellers

jp

Guitar Jack Tightener

"Bullet" Guitar Jack Tightener

This nifty little tool prevents the jack from turning as the nut is tightened or loosened. Ya gotta love that! A must for Strat & Tele owners. 


Available at: The STRATosphere - Search "bullet"


jp

Happy Holidays From Stratoblogster!!!

Get into the Spirit Already!

Wishing everyone lots of joy this holiday season! May Santa, or whoever you worship, bring you all the new gear you asked for! Maybe even a new Strat! Especially if you were good boys and girls, and haven't murdered anyone this year, started any wars or directly contributed to global economic collapse. Remember that it's the little things that really matter most.

I won't be posting much during the next week or so. Not just because of the holidays, but also since we're moving. That's right, moving on Christmas week. Probably when moving sucks even more than usual! It's all about good planning and stability folks.

Anyway, enjoy the Christmas tunes! I believe that "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin" by Albert King is probably the greatest, most epic holiday music selection in the history of mankind! No disrespect to Bing Crosby, Gary Hoey, Mannheim Steamroller or Burl Ives.

Anyway...

jp

Strat-o-Sister Ashly Badgett

Bluesman Vintage S-62 Demo



Not Necessarily Stoned, But "BASHLY"!

Laurie Monk at Truth In Shredding blog let me know about Ashly Badgett. And on top of that, I discovered Bluesman Vintage guitars, which she's demoing for us. How cool is this! The girl has some great feel here for sure! Dunno much about her, but she has plenty of stuff at her Youtube channel, including great vocal ability. So check all her clips.

http://www.youtube.com/user/taptapTEMPO

http://www.bluesmanvintage.com/#!

Strat-o-Sister Directory

jp

Eric Gales' New Magneto Guitar

Magneto Guitars "Raw Dog" Sonnet Strat-type

Some buzz this week on Eric Gales' new Magneto Sonnet guitar. Eric has endorsed St. Blues for a long time, and has also been seen more recently courting Xotic gutiars. Gales fans will want to know more about the new Magneto, and should be seeing it at upcoming EG gigs and Youtube uploads. These are sweet guitars we've featured before-- see above link. 

Gales Links:

http://www.ericgales.net/ - See more pics and info on the new guitar.


https://www.facebook.com/EricGales?ref=ts

 

jp

Fender Masterbuilt Chartreuse Sparkle Strat

One-Off Art Esparza Strat

 Click pics for close-ups!

Yeah, I know it looks like a gold sparkle, but it's actually a "chartreuse" sparkle. All pics look very gold to me though. Isn't chartreuse more like Mountain Dew, really cheap margarita mix or antifreeze?? 

This guitar is a Custom Shop Masterbuilt one of a kind according to the seller who has all the verification. Currently listed by Chicago based Distinctive Guitar, who include plenty of good photos but not much specs info-- so contact them with questions. Masterbuilt stamp on headstock has builder's signature, as well as neck pocket and butt. Comes with COA and tweed OHSC.

Nice birdseye in the neck, and the painted headstock face is always a premium feature-- especially if you dig that. No lack of sparkleocity here folks! Sparkle on Wayne! Sparkle on Garth!

Hi-end Strats

Current Listings - Top Sellers

jp

98 Baker Masterbuilt Cherry Burst - Friday Strat #241

Quilted Maple on Book Matched Ash

Melodee-Music of Leesburg, VA is listing this maple intense Gene Baker Masterbuild from May '98. Besides the AAA quilt maple top, the flame neck is pretty outrageous! All certs and stamps look in order. This one has 9.5" fat "C" with vintage frets, gold hardware, nitro finish and Texas Special pickups. Tweed case includes orig. case candy and COA. Pearly pickguard adds a nice touch too!

Interestingly the seller indicates no fret wear, and that this hasn't been a "gigging" Strat, but still lets us know there are several finish dings on front and back that aren't visible in the pics. Interesting, right? Possibly this is attributable to the nitro being much more vulnerable than a poly finish. Also, the orig. owner coulda been a bit of a klutz...

Friday Strat Archive

Hi-end Strats

Current Listings - Top Sellers

jp

Custom Tele-type Guitar Giveaway!!!

$10/ticket Raffle!

My local luthier, Chuck- who works on my guitars, is raffling off his latest project for the holidays, and you should buy at least one ticket! I've played this guitar, and it's very nice. The body is actually 2 piece mahogany but somehow it feels lighter than my ash Thinline-- dunno how that could be. I think it's a bit thinner but not much, so I'm still mystified. The neck and fretboard are made from scratch (Chuck doesn't buy necks). It's a big neck, similar to what you'll find on a G&L ASAT Classic these days. Frets are medium jumbo, 6105 or comparable Stew-Mac and six saddle bridge. The finish is just a natural rub. Very comfy custom craft vibe.

Next mystery: All positions sound great, so of course, the first thing I ask is, "What kind of pickups are these??" The geek luthier reply was, "From the pile." So only God knows the pickups. And he ain't talkin'.

Anyway, it's a great guitar! Enter to win at the link below, they take PayPal:

http://www.chwguitars.com/custom-shop-raffle-tele.html

CHW Guitars is located in McMinnville, Oregon. They're shipping to lower 48 USA only. However-- If you have friends in the USA that this could ship to (that you trust), you should still enter the raffle! Think about it!


jp

CHUNKY Fender Lic. Necks!

Tinted Nitro Finish & Unfinished!

This holiday season why not stuff those stockings with some real wood! Like these Chunky necks currently available from The-STRATosphere. The Allparts lic. by Fender necks are available for Strat, Tele and Bass too. These are the "Super Fat Baseball Bat Profile" necks.

Besides tinted nitro finish, they have unfinished so that you can DIY in the smoker, fry-o-lator or hand rub with a fine salami product of your choosing.  

Specs (guitar necks):

Neck thickness .99" at first fret, 1.0" at twelfth fret
21 tall frets (.095" x .055")
Solid maple neck with vintage tinted Nitrocellulose finish, chunky
9.5" radius
Nut width 1-5/8"
Heel width 2-3/16"
Tuning Peg Hole Diameter .340"
Truss Rod adjustment at heel

Neck Dimension Resources

jp

Rev. Eugene's Red House Vibes

Luna Vibe




Ok, so first off, if this video is removed when you get here, that's because the ever enigmatic Eugene Gales removes all his videos at some point. At this moment, the above video is the only upload on his Youtube channel-www.youtube.com/user/eg06. So add this link to your favorites, or subscribe to the channel because our Sky Church Rev. Gales never fails to entertain and inspire!


Although he's letting us know about a fuzz pedal on the way, the prime effect featured above is his new Mojo Hand Luna Vibe. Keep checkin' his link!

jp

Slow Blogging Lately...

Not very inspired lately folks. Just chillin' for something interesting besides the same old same old... You get it, right?


So just keep jammin' and listening!

jp

Friday Strat #240 - Burnt Tangerine Nitro

Interesting Twists Here...

Ever put away yer tools?

SIX SCREWS???

From the cluttered bench of Anaheim based dh designs comes this interesting configuration. Though I'm not crazy about the Floyd, I dig the vibes of the overall look here! The tortoise guard, including tortoise pickup covers & back plate, go well with the burnt tangerine finish. Add gold top hat knobs and padauk neck (probably a MusiKraft) to this for a sweet earthy quality. This neck is also a 52 "V" cut, hence the Tele head. A high relief heel design, Straploks and Floyd take things into sports mode.

Definitely a nichey player's unit here, but ya gotta gimme some credit for finding a twist today! Maybe they're next door to a weed dispensary...

Friday Strat Archive

Hi-end Strats

Current Listings - Top Sellers

jp

Strat Pickups Giveaway by Rice Custom Guitars

Illinois Based Guitar Builders

Rice Custom Guitars

First of all, how long did it take to spot the oddity pictured above?

Gretchen from GearPipe.com just let us know about Rice Custom Guitars who are giving away a set of Strat pickups. All ya gotta do is enter at their Facebook Page by December 31, 2011. Just follow the instructions there.

We're happy to plug this since now we know about another cool boutique guitar builder out there! Rice is a father and son team who have been around for many years. They focus on F-type guitars including basses, and do a lot of hybrid designs like the S-type with the Tele saddles above. I'm really diggin' the stuff they do with semi-hollow Thinline configs. So check the gallery at ricecustomguitars.com.

But I guess the Rice custom wound pickups are their forte, so be sure and enter to win a set! This contest only requires your name and email address for a random drawing. You're not required to submit a video of your hottest licks-- not even a minute of 'em! No standing on your head or giving blood either. So I guess this will especially appeal to all the lazy bastardos who weenied out of my gear contest! Sure!

STRATOCASTER MODS & PARTS
Strat Wiring Diagram Schematics

Find Prewired Loaded Strat Pickguards, Pickups, Bodies, Necks, Wiring Mods, Pin-up Decals, Skins, DIY Tips and more!

jp

Ock-upy Guitar - 8 Neck Guitar With 8 Guitar Players

"We went down to the crossroads, fell down on our knees!"



It's actually called the "Rock Ock" guitar because of it's 8 necks. "Ock-upy Guitar" is just my own current events humor for which I should probably be pepper sprayed.

As you can see this guitar is fully playable, and is on display through the end of the year at the Orlando Science Center in a big guitar exhibit going on there. The guitar was commissioned by National Guitar Museum. Check out the full story in Joe Bosso's article at MusicRadar.



jp

Texas Hot Minute Contest Winners!

First Place - Royal Hayes

Royal Hayes was probably our youngest entry, and he can obviously put out plenty of Texas vibe with this SRV style submission. Mr. Hayes wins the set of Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot pickups!

Second Place - Colby Reid

Colby Reid takes 2nd place, and gets a T-Rex ToneBug "BOOSTER" pedal! This was a tough call because some of the other entries were more advanced players. But again, Colby was able to deliver a Texas vibe we were looking for. He really gets into it, and that step and a half bend at 00:46, followed by a pause to take a breath was what sealed the deal! Little stuff like that can go a long way when it's real.  

CLICK HERE to see all entries in chrono order of their submissions. Mike Vanagas came in with a close 3rd, winning the poster and picks package from Gearpipe.com. Mike has nice, warm tone and great vibrato, and he kept it real bluesy too!

Thanks again to everyone who submitted! I think you all did the best at what you do. The "Texas" thing can embrace many approaches. There are wide differences between players like, Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, Albert Collins, Billy Gibbons, David Grissom, etc. Even brothers SRV & Jimmie Lee Vaughan play very differently from one another. A big palette to draw from. I was also surprised that nobody showed up with some slide! 

So this wasn't an SRV contest any more than it was a Yngwie contest. The Texas thing showed up the way it showed up that it showed up at all, and that's how we rolled with our selections. Also, this being the very first Stratoblogster giveaway contest, I have more to learn about communicating the theme, promoting and rounding up more participation. The small turn out was my fault, but extending the deadline wouldn't have been fair to those who showed up on time.

We'll do more of these, so stay tuned.  And past entries will always be welcome to give it another shot! 

Special thanks to Scott Olson at Seymour Duncan, Miki Petersen at T-Rex and Gretchen Schniepp at Gearpipe.com!



jp

Saying Goodbye to Hubert Sumlin

A Happy Soul of the Blues World Passes On...





The Blues nets are buzzing right now on the recent passing of Hubert Sumlin who just turned 80 on Nov. 16th. He was still playing and touring, but apparently his heart was tired. It's cool that he was still active and doing what he loved as opposed to suffering from extended illness, poverty or obscurity.   

Although he is best known as Howlin' Wolf's guitar player from decades ago, Sumlin enjoyed much deserved recognition and respect in recent years as an important Blues guitar influence. Hubert performed at the Crossroads Fests, and was loved by many in the music world. He lived a great life, and interviews always revealed a light and happy soul. We wish Hubert and his great Karma much joy ahead, and thank him for his musicianship and making us smile & laugh.


jp

Engraved Strat & Tele Neck Plates

Custom Neck Plate

Maybe help ya channel someone's spirit riffage!

That's right! A real Ouija Board neck plate! And many others besides these pictured above, including plenty of pin-up girlies as you might expect. This seller also stocks a bunch of vintage effects pedals. It's all holiday stocking stuffer size-worthy items!

Chuck's Guitar Pedals and More

STRATOCASTER MODS & PARTS
Strat Wiring Diagram Schematics

Find Prewired Loaded Strat Pickguards, Pickups, Bodies, Necks, Wiring Mods, Pin-up Decals, Skins, DIY Tips and more!

jp

Two More Texas Hot Contestants!

GOT A MINUTE???

ENTRY DEADLINE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT PST!!!


Thomas Williamson

Thomas is feelin' it here. Bring your Texas feel. It only takes a minute!




Dave Bradley

Dave lets us know, "...Texans can shred too!" Rather than ask to see his Texas drivers license, we'll leave it at that. Can you bring a hot minute of Texas licks?

CLICK HERE for details! We're gettin' down to the wire!


jp

Mike Vanagas - Texas Hot Minute Contestant!

All Entries Must be in by Midnite PST Dec. 3, 2011



Check out Mike's nice warm tones! Makes me feel kinda like a douchebag after just demoing 2 distortion pedals. I dunno if Mike's actually from Texas or not, but he's got a little mesquite goin' on here.

Time is runnin' out kids! Do ya have a minute? We're giving away a set of Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot pickups and a T-Rex ToneBug pedal!!! 

CLICK HERE for details!




jp

Totenschlager & FUZZ! Newest T-Rex Tone Bug Pedals

Double Portion of Distortion!




The fine folks at T-Rex have been really cool in allowing us to try out their newest pedals. And we haven't been disappointed yet! Although I'm not into distortion as much these days, it's always wise to have a good one handy for those occasions when full saturation is called for. With so many choices, it's good to know that T-Rex offers 3 moderately priced distortion pedals in their bulletproof Tone Bug line. We played around the two latest releases-- the Totenschlager and FUZZ.

Nifty little stocking stuffers for this holiday season! Oh, and we were just told that T-Rex is marking down their FuelTank Chameleon power supplies approx $40. So watch for reductions out there on this product!

FuelTank Chameleon Power Supply

I mention these pedals run about $150, but some ToneBug models are $99 or less, depending on specials out there right now!


 t-rex-effects.com

Musician's Friend - T-Rex ToneBug Pedals 

More T-Rex Pedal Deals!

JP

Cedar Custom Strat-type Guitar - Friday Strat #239

Repels Moths Too!

Includes special red and black "Release the Kraken" knob!

Blue milk crate not included.

Currently listed by a private eBay seller, this project Strat is mostly Fender American content except for the custom ordered cedar body. The neck is "V" with jumbo frets and a big block trem. The cedar body is finished in a light lacquer, and should age nicely.

Listing says, "...this guitar is a picker's dream and tone to the bone." 

All the more reason for wanting to sell it of course. Such holy grails as this tend to clutter up the place. But maybe it does sound good. Perhaps all those knots form highly resonant tantric meridians of tone chakras which tap into the univeral center of Stratoliciousness. At the very least it makes for a fine rustic, Western utility that could be converted into a pizza paddle for some Sunset Magazine gadgets feature. And maybe it'll cure your asthma too and keep the moths from eating your Sears poncho. Now who you jivin'?

Most important is that something about a natural cedar Strat conjures my imagination. 

Search "Cedar Strats"

Friday Strat Archive

Hi-end Strats

Current Listings - Top Sellers

JP

Walter Becker's Guitar Gear

PG Rig Rundown




Are ya ready for some serious gear porn? Premier Guitar's Jason Shadrick takes us behind the scenes with Steely Dan/Walter Becker's tech Dave Rule for a gear tour. The legendary Nite Bob also shows up.

As you write your letters to Santa, maybe this video will help refresh your wish list. Just remember that ya better not pout, ya better not cry, ya better not shout... I'm tellin' ya why.




JP