Bought a new Fender Strat today!
Thoughts_Arrive
Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
Finally got around to doing it.
It is a black standard Strat, Mexican made.
I can't afford the American made Strats!
Sounds much better than my cheap guitar!
It is a black standard Strat, Mexican made.
I can't afford the American made Strats!
Sounds much better than my cheap guitar!
Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
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www.cluthelee.com
www.cluthe.com
I always read bad reviews about them.
What are some tips to preserve my guitar, too give it a long life?
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Thanks to all for the posts.
mccreadyisgod, you seem to be the expert here, how do you take care of your guitars?
After each use do you wipe it with a cloth, how do you maintain it?
Some tips?
Change the strings every couple of weeks. I had a guitar tech tell me that the biggest enemy of your guitar is old/dirty strings.
Get it set up by a professional if you don't know how. Or learn how to do it yourself.
Every year or so, check the frets. If they are flattened in spots where the strings contact them, or have grooves cut into them from the strings, have them milled by a technician.
I recently took mine (a 2001 Mexican Strat) in to a shop and had the frets milled, and a professional setup done. It was like getting an entirely new instrument back. To the point that I didn't even realize how off it was. He also told me the same thing the others on this thread said. Nothing wrong with the Mexican Strat. Take care if it and it will last pretty much forever.
BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
HTFD-6/27/08
ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
OKC-11/16/13
SEA-12/6/13
TUL-10/8/14
1) How dirty do you get a guitar? ..and
2) Do you want your guitar to look "new" for as long as possible?
Question 1 is a bit more complicated than you might think. If you sweat a lot, that will really hurt your guitar. If you live in a place with high humidity, or if your guitar is stored in a humid environment like a damp basement, that will also cause corrosion. Corrosion, or rust, is probably the first enemy of an electric guitar. If you sweat a lot while playing, I would keep a microfiber cloth on hand to wipe the guitar down after playing (body, neck and strings) before it goes into its case. If you sweat excessively, then wiping down the body and back of the neck (but not the strings) with a lightly damp cloth might be in order. Sweat is especially bad, because it's not only water, but salt and skin oil. If you find that your strings corrode quickly, then you can look into Elixer or D'Addario coated strings, which use a thin plastic coating to prevent corrosion.
You don't mention what the neck is on your Strat. If it's a lacquered maple board, then you want to keep crud from building up around the frets, and make sure the frets themselves are corrosion-free. You can clean the fretboard with an old toothbrush and a little lemon oil (I use the Dunlop stuff specifically for guitars). Polishing the frets may be a job for a good guitar tech/luthier, unless you're particularly handy. If the neck is rosewood (or ebony, which is really rare for a Strat, but for the benefit of the Gibson players here), you can use lemon oil as well, which has the added benefit of conditioning the raw-wood fretboard. If you live in an especially dry climate, keeping a rosewood or ebony board conditioned is very important. The next enemy is variations in temperature, so make sure to keep it at a comfortable room temperature to prevent warping of wood.
As for the newness factor, some people want their guitar to look bright and shiney-new for 20 years. Others (myself included) like the looks of a guitar that has been there and back. In this case, allowing a little corrosion and pitting on the hardware is considered okay, and letting the clearcoat crack, or "check", is desirable. In fact, there is a recent phenomenon of artificially-aged guitars, which look 40 years old when they are, in fact, brand-new. That said, there's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your new baby in pristine condition. Just figure out which way you want your guitar to look in five years, and maintain accordingly.
It doesn't necessarily have to look new, just sound new and be as new and last for years and years.
I don't play in a band (yet I hope), I just jam alone every 2nd day or so.
I don't sweat that bad when playing, sometimes I get sweaty palms/fingers.
I wipe the guitar down with a dry cloth, do I need to have the cloth damp?
I live in Melbourne, we get hot dry summers, cool winters, sometimes it gets humid in summer.
I change my strings like once or twice a year :oops:
I don't even know how to do it, my friend does it for me :oops:
I believe my guitar neck is rosewood.
The back is a light colour, the fretboard is dark.
How do I know what it is, I forgot what the store dude told me.
It is this one but black: http://www.billyhydemusic.com.au/shop/v ... ndard-hss/
BTW, I don't keep the guitar in a case, it just lies on the spare bed in the spare room lol
An unconventional but neat way to determine your weather conditions (while I'm sure it doesn't rain inside your house
The thing is that this will probably not affect your guitar that much at all, as you probably keep it inside most of the time and the climate there tends to be very different.
Aside from pretty nasty dirt, a dry cloth will be fine. Whatever you do, just stay away from anything that might scratch the finish or contains chemicals that might harm the finish. But as a general rule, the finish of the MIM strats can take a lot. Over the years you'll find out what I mean.
Nah no rust around here, we have a dry climate.
Yeah i think your right. I remember reading Rory Gallagher had some kind of condidtion that made his sweat corrode his strat massively.
Thoughts_arrive im moving back to Melbourne in October. Be keen for a jam then if your up for it.
As for cleaning, I would recommend a damp cloth if you got the guitar dirty (spilled soda, beer, blood, etc) or if your sweat is especially salty. I've known guys who would play a gig, put the guitar straight into the case without a wipe-down, and get the guitar out the next day to find salt crystals on the top of the guitar. But under normal circumstances, a nice dry flannel or microfiber cloth will do the job just fine.
I agree with ScrapeMySky about your guitar being an alder body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard. Alder and ash are the most common Strat body woods, with alder used in most of the Mexi Strats. Almost all Fenders use a maple neck, and if your neck is a medium- to dark-reddish-brown, then it's rosewood. A maple fretboard would be the same color as the back of your guitar's neck, and would have a lacquered finish. Just FYI, ebony is a very dark brown to black wood (hence the name ebony, which means "black") and is popular on Gibson guitars like Les Pauls. Rosewood and ebony are usually not sealed with a lacquer (although the Rickenbacker I'm working on right now has a lacquered rosewood fretboard, it's kinda weird).
Always looking to get into music and bands, I have never had lessons but so don't expect a pro.
PM if you want around October
Thanks dude!