NGD...MIM Strat

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by maxtheaxe

Totally agree...especially at used prices. There is nothing about a MIM Strat that would make it inappropriate to play at a gig. They sound, play and operate just fine, once set up properly...it is a 'real' Stratocaster.

However...they are also wonderful platforms for customization. I figure that, all in, I paid less than half the cost I would have paid for a MIA Strat with comparable features, once I added the upgraded hardware and pups, and I got something that was exactly what I wanted.

Apart from the cost, it was a matter of my time spent...not an issue, since I enjoy doing this stuff...it really isn't that hard to do.

For example, apart from the hardware and pickup upgrades, I found that the nut was pinching a bit, so ordered a Graph-tech trem nut & installed it. This guitar has a radiused nut-slot in the neck so it was a matter of grinding off the little tab (they make these to fit either radius or flat slots), seating the base of it and finishing the string slots, using a combination of old strings and properly gauged files.

I just finished a New Years Eve gig with this guitar and it sings...got a lot of complements on it. I'm not sure where I am with my MIA Strats now, because this one is better...

Great that you took it out on a gig! Do you think that if you put the same upgraded hardware from your MIM into your MIA strat that the MIA would play/sound just as nice?

[maxtheaxe]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Great that you took it out on a gig! Do you think that if you put the same upgraded hardware from your MIM into your MIA strat that the MIA would play/sound just as nice?

Each of the MIA Strats has it's own mojo, and they already have top-shelf hardware, including Schaller locking tuners, a Wilkie bridge on one of them. But regarding the tone, for example, the Roadhouse has Texas Specials that have that certain hot vintage sound...better IMO for hot clean tones at lower volume, where the American Deluxe has noiseless pups that are great all-around Strat tones that are easy to control either clean or distorted, and at very high volume if needed, because they are dead quiet.

The new one seems to combine both attributes pretty well, plus I really like the feel of maple necks for rock & blues. It could just be that the novelty hasn't worn off...I don't think I'll be divesting myself of any of them in the foreseeable future; might even designate one of those for slide playing (which is what I do with my Tele right now).