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  #1  
Old 11-14-2013, 04:47 PM
Crossbow Crossbow is offline
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Default Looking at a Used Strat

I am going to look at a 10 month old American Strat with HSS pickups that I found on Craig's List. What do I need to look for? What are the trouble areas that I should pay close attention to.

I will do the obvious and plug it and try all the pickups. Also I will make sure all the nobs work

Thank you for the advise.
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Old 11-14-2013, 05:22 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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same as an acoustic-neck, frets, bridge, and nut. look for any mods that may not be what you want such as swapped pickups, swapped pickguard that may hide some changes underneath, original tuners. note that someone may have done upgrades that make the guitar actually better, but is that what you want? also note that there are many versions of the strat via pickups, radius of neck, american vs. asian vs. mexican.

check completed ebay listings to get an idea of pricing. also, remember that your amp is probably 40% of the equation.

above all, play it. if it sings to you, buy it.

play music!
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Old 11-14-2013, 08:46 PM
Crossbow Crossbow is offline
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Thank you for your help. I picked up an American Strat HSS rosewood in black that looks better than the new one I saw in a local store. I plugged it into my son's old amp and it plays very well.
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Old 11-15-2013, 08:19 AM
ras1500 ras1500 is offline
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Go to the Fender Forums or Strat Talk forums and use the search function. The variability of features on Strats can make you dizzy. Also, there's a preponderance of fakes being sold as original Strats.
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Old 11-15-2013, 10:39 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Definitely plug it in and play with it. Not all Strats (even American Standards) are equal. Also, depending on what type of music you are playing and what other guitars you have, you may find yourself wishing you had a regular single-coil lead pickup.
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Old 11-15-2013, 12:47 PM
Tahitijack Tahitijack is offline
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Not always an issue, because I have both, but I prefer Strats with the truss rod adjustment at the headstock/nut rather than at the base of the neck under the pickguard.
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Old 11-15-2013, 01:17 PM
Scriptor Scriptor is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crossbow View Post
I am going to look at a 10 month old American Strat with HSS pickups that I found on Craig's List. What do I need to look for? What are the trouble areas that I should pay close attention to.

I will do the obvious and plug it and try all the pickups. Also I will make sure all the nobs work
Good idea ... I owned an American HSS Deluxe Strat a couple of years ago but traded it ... nice, quality guitar ... the feel and playability were great ... however, I had issues with the the bridge humbucker ... it went dead not once but twice ... since it was under warranty, the pickup was eventually replaced ... perhaps it was a fluke because I haven't seen these issues reported often ...

Check it thoroughly and I hope you get a nice one ...
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