New Strat and comment on the new Standard series

So I picked up a new Strat today. It’s an American Professional Classic. Nice guitar. 

On the wall were also the new Standard series, made in Indonesia. Not very impressive. As soon as I took one from the wall all I could feel was fret ends. The salesman said “humidity”. Bull crap. All these guitars are in the same room and same humidity. 

I have Indonesian made guitars and they are great. This batch should never have been put out on the wall. 

Love the new one though. Firemist gold with a beautiful maple fretboard, my favourite.

Tonight I’ll peel the plastic off. 

Nice pickup, congrats! That Firemist Gold with maple is a killer combo.

Yeah, “humidity” sounds like a weak excuse—if it’s just one batch, it’s probably QC. Shame, because Indonesian builds can be really solid.

Enjoy the new Strat, sounds like a great one 👍🎸

👍

Congrats on the new machine, William.  I have a few Indonesian Strats and Squiers.  They can be inconsistent but if you find a good they are great.  I especially like some of late 90s to early 2000s because someone decided to use the 70s neck profiles I prefer.

I hope you enjoy playing that guitar for a long time!

Thanks Christopher, loving it so far and yes I have Squires, Pacifica's made in Indonesia from I think Cort, and they are great guitars. So a bit surprising that the Indonesian Fenders on the wall all had sharp fret ends. And the price savings just doesn't do it for me. I know I could have them dressed, but I like a guitar that feels right off the wall.  

That is a MIM on the far left in black that I added Tex Mex pickups to and locking tuners. That is an awesome guitar with great fret work.

A Godin sits in the middle, again with beautiful fret work.

Bill

Congrats on the new Strat Bill! Looks like a beauty! Would love to see a picture of your collection when you have a minute to post it. Have you ever used Reverb to catalogue and value your collection? It’s pretty nice free feature of the website. Also a great place to browse beautiful guitars.

Wishing you continued joy and success in your guitar journey! All the best, Michael

Hey Mike

great to hear from you. That would take a bit to organize everything. But here are 3 that I am proud to have. 

My Goldtop with P90s, an Eastman 486 and my Pro II Tele. I literally have guitsrs and amps all over the house. For a while, it was really easy to buy and sell but now it’s become much harder to buy and sell and hope to break even. And I admit that I am quicker to buy than to sell. I tend to hold on to things. 

On the wall you can see my Ovation acoustic in black. It is without a doubt the best playing acoustic I have. 

Haven’t thought about Reverb. Glad you brought it up. 

Hope you are keeping well Mike!

Bill

Bill, thanks so much for much for posting. Love the collection and especially love that Eastman. I am a sucker for a semi-hollow guitar they sound so beautiful and are so versatile. Let me know if the Reverb Collection feature was of interest. 

I do appreciate your posts! Wishing you all the best, Mike

Bill, thanks so much for much for posting. Love the collection and especially love that Eastman. I am a sucker for a semi-hollow guitar they sound so beautiful and are so versatile. Let me know if the Reverb Collection feature was of interest. 

I do appreciate your posts! Wishing you all the best, Mike

Hey Mike

appreciate the comments as always.

I did check out the Reverb collection feature. Not sure I want to sign up for another account, to be honest I didn't get past the sign up page but do appreciate the suggestion as I didn't know about it. I don't actually have anything that special. Nothing old or in demand. Nothing like was in the Jim Irsay collection. I watched that on the Guitologist. That was really interesting if you haven't seen it. Some real surprises. 

Regarding the Eastman, I think they are seriously under rated. I bought mine from my buddy Mark and it has seen it's time around different hands and has some gig rash, but it plays unbelievably well and the stock pickups are killer. Through the right amp it handles Malcom's rhythm parts just perfect. I added the Grover tuners. I bought it with chromed Gotoh tuners installed that just didn't fit it in my opinion and the volume and tone knobs were changed to Gibson units from something else that someone had put on at some point. 

Be good Mike!

Bill

I'm just now seeing this William. Congrats on the new Strat, I am loving that Firemist!

Enjoy it for years to come.

Thanks man! Appreciate it 

Thanks man, appreciate it! I’m really loving it so far, hard to put it down.