Haha. That sitcom comment was pretty funny. I am definitely going to play this guitar.
How many did they make? Seems like they sold out in minutes despite the large asking price. Sweet looking guitar and glad its going to someone who will actually play it.
60 made. It is already scraped up so no sense not playing it.
Are there literally "scratches" on that guitar? That isn't a composite shell, it's the real deal? Same wood as the OG?
From what I understand they start with a guitar as close to what it would have been new (back then) and then age it by hand to look like it has been beat to hell over the years.
The wood is what I was curious about being that ash is hard to find now.
Is it really that hard to find now? I know fender said they were going to stop using it on certain instruments but I still see it being used by warmoth and in some fender stuff and a few other companies. Not nearly as prevalent as it once was but still more than I thought would be out there.
Ash has become increasingly hard to find. We have a thread about it somewhere. Baseball bats are now made of maple instead of ash. The Emerald beetle is destroying the Ash trees unfortunately.
I may be a little bit clouded by the hoopla of it all, but when I hit the low E at the beginning of Ledbetter it sounds just about exactly like McCeady. It sounds fantastic and it definitely has a broken in feel to it. It sounds a lot different than the strats I have now.
Paying for the art and nostalgia but the guitar is awesome as a guitar.
I'm seriously considering at a custom shop in the era of Mike's 59 60 strat. Was ready to pull the trigger on a new ultra american strat but really wasn't sure about the noiseless pickups ... so I did what any reasonable person would do and started looking at guitars that cost twice as much
The McCready strat has custom wound "Josefina" pickups in the spec listing. Anyone have an idea of what pickups in the custom shop closely model these?
I think Josefina is just one of the top people at Fender as far as pickups go. I think she was taught by the main pickup winder that was taught by Leo Fender. I assume it would just be a 1960 strat pickup style that you would be going for. I am not sure what is close on the shop.
Yeah, it appears Josefina is a person. The custom shop order sheet (whoa ...) has "josefina" wound pickups as options. From what I've read the josefine McCready pickups were custom made to exact match his so I'm not surprised "mccready" isn't an option listed (dammit). But they do have options for almost every year from mid 50's to late 60's (who hoo). now I need to figure out the differences in each year.
Yeah, it appears Josefina is a person. The custom shop order sheet (whoa ...) has "josefina" wound pickups as options. From what I've read the josefine McCready pickups were custom made to exact match his so I'm not surprised "mccready" isn't an option listed (dammit). But they do have options for almost every year from mid 50's to late 60's (who hoo). now I need to figure out the differences in each year.
you can probably just contact the custom shop through the fender website. i am sure they have been asked that question before. and if anybody is gonna know, i would bet it would be people at the custom shop. good luck!
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Yeah, it appears Josefina is a person. The custom shop order sheet (whoa ...) has "josefina" wound pickups as options. From what I've read the josefine McCready pickups were custom made to exact match his so I'm not surprised "mccready" isn't an option listed (dammit). But they do have options for almost every year from mid 50's to late 60's (who hoo). now I need to figure out the differences in each year.
you can probably just contact the custom shop through the fender website. i am sure they have been asked that question before. and if anybody is gonna know, i would bet it would be people at the custom shop. good luck!
I'm too nervous too! I dread they will ask me some technical question and I will have a deer in the headlights response. But yeah, that would be the logical way to approach this question. I think I will go that route after I start going through the custom shop option sheet and understanding it ... which could take some time.
I'm also curious on what the cost difference is versus a buying a pre-built custom shop guitar that a retailer sells ($4K-$5K entry) versus if you actually "custom" build your guitar. Fender doesn't list prices in the order sheet, so if I go that route I'll probably build the black strat so I can play Money.
I know some on this board have worked with shops to get orders put in. Long wait time right now for master built. Some are three years out. The shops could answer all of your questions. Who cares if you don’t know all the technical stuff. Fun way to learn!
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Just curious——what would be the difference in the more affordable model? Usually the pick ups & the wood are the two main contributors to what price it is
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The relicing, wood choice, pickups will likely be different. The price will most certainly be different.
Ok...got it. Thanks! I have a Fender Strat American Professional that I got 2 years ago and love. Would the McCready more affordable Strat with different pickups/wood etc be much different than my current Strat and worth the investment? Just curious.
The biggest thing is that you dont have the head master builder of the Fender Custom Shop (FCS) working on these by hand. You can still have a really well made instrument that isnt from the FCS - look at the recent George Harrison signature Telecaster they released last month.
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Ill be honest, i haven't been following this thread, but im pretty sure i just saw McCready's guitar on Colbert tonight (March 30). Lead guitar in the band (special guest). If so, cool to see the younger gen embrace.
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I really hope that the rumours about a more affordable version are true I can see an MIM one in the line up. Judging by other signatures in that line, I'd say it'll be around $1200 or so.
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Normans Rare Guitars guitar of the day on YouTube is one of the Mike's custom 60's strat & the Angela shows everyone how good a player she is & what an incredible job was done making it look & sound like the real thing
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Comments
Ash has become increasingly hard to find. We have a thread about it somewhere. Baseball bats are now made of maple instead of ash. The Emerald beetle is destroying the Ash trees unfortunately.
It would be cool to know if any other musicians picked one up to play instead of paying 500G's for an OG.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
mike uses that on what songs? Even flow, yellow, alive, ?
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
https://reverb.com/item/51084803-fender-limited-edition-mike-mccready-1960-stratocaster-pearl-jam
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/pearl-jam-mike-mccready-more-affordable-signature-fender-stratocaster
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