Finding a Strat
and Giving it a
{New Soul }
BY RIch TozzolI
It goes without saying that we guitarists love
our instruments. Sometimes, however, you
need a fresh infusion of wood, magnets and
strings to push the sonic inspiration to a new
level. But with the economy the way it is, it’s
not always possible, or prudent, to break out
the credit card and hit your favorite music shop.
A good alternative, though, just might be in
your closet… or someone else’s. Recently, I
decided it was time for me to pick up a Fender
Stratocaster. I’ve always been a Les Paul or Tele
guy, and while I’ve had Strats at various points
in my career, they just never were my calling—
with my rhythmic style I was always hiting the
pickup selector! But since I sometimes need that
punchy, clean, funky out-of-phase thing that only
Strats can give, I decided to make a move.
I posted an ad online offering to trade a nice
acoustic/electric I had (but didn’t play) for a
decent Strat. Immediately, I got a handful of
replies, although nothing struck me as being
worth equal value in trade for my guitar (around
$500–$600 with no case). I thought, “Hmm,
this might just be the wrong way to go about
this.” As I was about to call off the hunt, I got
an offer that piqued my interest: a red Fender
Classic Series ‘50s Strat in “excellent” condition
that, like my acoustic, sat in a closet unused.
After a little research, I saw that the values for
the Fender Strat and my guitar were close to
each other, and the Fender had what I was looking for: a maple fingerboard, three single-coil
pickups, a tremolo, maple V-shaped neck and
25-1/2" scale. I was a bit concerned that the
guitar was made in Mexico, which I didn’t realize initially. Would it be a guitar of the quality
that I prefer? Would it stay in tune and be quiet
enough to record (my primary purpose for getting it)? Most importantly, would it have “soul”?
(You all know what I’m talking about!)
MIM’s the Word
So, a few days later a kid in his late teens
showed up at my door with his dad to do the
deal. He first played my guitar and really loved
it. You could clearly see that “new guitar excite-
ment” on his face, and I even had flashbacks to
my own younger days. When it was my turn, I
opened up the black hardshell case and saw this
very cool-looking red Strat with a white pick-
guard. I picked it up and was immediately struck
by how light it was (after all, I am a Les Paul
guy!). I wasn’t quite sure that I liked this, how-
ever, since to me weight usually equals tone.
I sat down to play it and quickly noticed that the
frets were sticking out of the top and bottom
of the neck way more than they should. It was
obvious that the neck was dry as a bone and had
shrunk. Plugging it in to a Boogie MK IV, I did
like what I heard, though. Pickup output was low,
but not too bad. It did have that single-coil hum,
but I expected that. Overall, it was kind of cool,
the sound was clean, the trem was decent—it
certainly didn’t wow me. “Okay,” I thought, “the
kid gets the better end of the deal,” and we
decided to make a trade. The soul of this guitar
wasn’t quite there yet, but I had a plan.
Step on It
The first step—and to me the most important—was to replace the pickups. I did some
