A Stratocaster After All These Years

I started playing electric guitar about age 15.  My first guitar was a rather cheap Telecaster copy, which did the job of getting me going in the world of rock and roll.  I didn't much care for that guitar after I had used it for awhile... somehow it wasn't really "me", and I eventually bought a band-mate's Les Paul copy and lived happily ever after.

I've been a firm "Gibson guy" for pretty much all of the ensuing years, although as noted in an earlier blog post, maybe I'm not quite as Gibson as I thought.

Anyway, a few years ago I started paying attention to the interesting unique tones of the Fender Stratocaster, which is of course ubiquitous in rock and blues music.  I wasn't really serious about getting one, but I thought it interesting that in all my years of playing, I had never owned a Strat, and in fact hadn't played one other than picking up one or two in guitar shops.

On a recent trip to Seattle to catch Marcus Miller in concert, my buddy Andy and I dropped by the local Guitar Center to check out the scene.  It's a pretty good store, and overall we were pretty impressed.  I have visited Guitar Center in San Jose, CA a number of times, but thought the Seattle shop was perhaps staffed with more helpful employees, at least on the day of our visit.

I went there determined not to come home with a guitar, since I have a bit of a "problem" in that area.  In the end, I was successful.  Sort of.  I didn't come home with one... but I did have one shipped to me later.

The doll in question was a used red Stratocaster, made in Mexico.  The guitar was very pretty, and priced well below what I figured it would cost in Vancouver.  It sat next to a similar Mexican Strat for the same price, and the other one was not at all nice, which made this one stand out all the more.

I pointed out the guitar to Andy as we walked by... pretty.  Later on another stroll past, I picked up the guitar and tried it out acoustically.  I like an electric which is lively when played acoustically, and this one was that.  Andy played it too, and he said it felt very nice.  He has a Strat at home, so I felt I was getting solid advice.  On yet another walk-by before we left, I figured I should plug it in and just see how it felt electrified... and the answer of course was "it sounded great," played through a Mesa Boogie Mk4.

So I took it to the desk and said I'd like to buy the guitar.  The hitch was that as a used guitar in Washington state, the vendor has to hold onto it for 30 days before allowing it to change hands.  This is part of a pawn shop law to control the sale of stolen property.  So they took my shipping address and said they'd send the guitar after another 3 weeks had passed.  And they did just that, sending it promptly, well packed, and in the end apparently at no cost to me.

Overall, I was very impressed with the transaction, and the unique tones of the Stratocaster are welcome within my stable of mostly humbucking guitars.  And it only took me 35 years to get around to it.

Play on...