Ultimate Strat Shootout! Vintage holy grails versus affordable new Strats
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Guitarist Aynsley Lister plus Guitarist Magazine reviewers Richard Barrett and Neville Martin put a bevy of 'Holy Grail' vintage Stratocasters from the 50s, 60s and 70s up against straight-out-of-the-box Strats from Fender's 2024 range. Which will come out on top for tone?
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Dude. Two hours of dudes playing beautifully on Strats and talking about Strats is one of the best ways I can think of to spend two hours. ❤Without being able to have one of my Strats in my own hands, of course!!!
Neville/Richard/Ainsley/Jamie--Your videos are absolutely first class! And with the highest compliments, all of you are criminally underrated as players.
The moment they got the '56 maple neck out, I realised that Fender got it very right in the beginning. That guitar is sublime!!
What a fantastic shoot-out! Stunning and tasteful playing, as I've come to expect from Guitarist. I've just realised I've watched 25 mins and it's only covered the first two Strats! I'm loving every minute of it. I think my evening's viewing is sorted out! 😎
Excellent show! Everyone did well discussing the different aspects of each Strat. Well done. I quite enjoyed this ! Thank you all
I'm ADD, but this podcast held my attention. Thank you for, "less showmanship" and for more relevant, content, sticking to the music, playing, giving us genuine sound clips; by demonstrating the different Stratocasters in your own styles. In addition, you gave very insightful comments on the Vintage, CS Re-issues and the modern 70th Anniversary Stratocasters; from the Player to the Ultra Stratocaster. When you brought out the vintage '60s purple sparkle Stratocaster, I was hoping you would also bring out the modern, 70th Anniversary (HSS ) Ultra Stratocaster in the flip, flop Amethyst ,nitro finish. An HSS model, but SSS interchangeable. I own a few vintage Strats, but was uncertain about 70th Anniversary models and, what to use for some light gigging. This podcast has helped me make a decision; thank you.
Thanks for the nice comments everyone. It’s difficult to get the nuances we hear in the room come over on video. But it seems to a good degree they did. My red Strat won whatever they said.
🎸🎸🎸
And Richard and Aynsley are great players.
Richard is outstanding. So tasteful and can play anything. Always a joy to hear him play any guitar.
These are the most interesting and engaging videos--it's always great to be invited to the Tone Lounge--thanks! Guitars-wise, I think that the Player Strat sounded the most "Stratty" to me. Aynsley said it sounds "plinky", but that's what I want in a Strat, so it seems fitting. Either way, nice work, Fender!
What an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thank you gentlemen.
What an awesome video. Love this series. You guys are talented, knowledgeable and so welcoming.
Saw Ainsley play at Cambridge. Man what a player. Tone for days that boy!
After watching this I came to the same conclusion, the daphne blue '61 and the lake placid '70 were my favorites out the bunch. That '61 sounded incredible. I would have liked to see an American Vintage 61 strat in the comparison though, just to see how close it actually comes to that blue strat. If it's anywhere in the same ball park, I would think that would be a no brainer purchase, but I was surprised how well the Vintera hung in there. Still had a bit of that body, but much much more articulate. My thought's anyway.
'Tomato, tomahto', really...I wouldn't toss any of them into the wood chipper. hehehehe. What I would like to say is that this has to be one of the best discussions I've seen on the Tube in a long, long time. Intelligent, informed and respectful. Well done, good sirs... well done indeed.
That daphne blue strat is what i need in my life. The sound is inspiring
I have an early 2000 custom shop time machine series daphine blue 61 strat. When i bought it i was fortunate enough to choose between 3 of them all the same guitars except the colors. My best guitar purchase by far. A wonderful instrument. It just had a touch more balance and clarity to the sound than the others. It won.
Ps. It was my least favorite color at the time , but has faded more towards surf green over the years.
@@derosa504 that's a nice experience! I usually gravitate more towards strats with maple boards but that one spoke to me
@@Professional.Bro.777 i didnt want to make my original comment post too long, but the one that started it all.(my love of fender guitars) was a newspaper ad purchase of a black 1971 stratocaster with a maple neck. It was worthless at the time. Even pre internet, 70's era stratocasters were frowned upon due to the late 70s quality controll. Its still my #1 shes been re fretted 3 times. A Meaty sounding stratocaster. A definite characteristic also displayed by the 2 large headstock strats in this video. Thanks for showing.
I bought the American Professional ii Stratocaster as well as the AP ii Telecaster Deluxe. I absolutely love the American Professional ii series. I plan on one day owning every guitar in the series and believe that one day 20+ years from today they will be highly sought after.
That '56 on the bridge was FANTASTIC
Those guys have been talking about a Strat for more than 2 hours never being boring and always informative and very please to hear. My hat is off.
Great playing all 4 of you!!!
I can hear the differences. I appreciate the range of years and prices. A very fair representation! Love and agree with almost each comment offered. Thanks so much!✌️❤️
Let's get the 1st thing out of the way: this was a great & very enjoyable watch. I'm a leftie & have a 3TS 2001 USA Standard strat that I adore. I was jealous seeing all these.
Thing is, though, be real, a Mexican or even American repro was never in with a shout. Would you guys ever do another video of ONLY none-vintage Strats, maybe by price, to give the players & vinteras a chance? Maybe something like Mexican standard, player I, player II, Vintera I, Vintera II, US Standard, US pro I, US pro II, US ultra, & US vintage I & II? Looking at prices, half are below £1000, & the rest are below £2000. That would give us another 2hrs of glorious noodling & drooling.
This was such an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. Thanks to you all for the great sounds throughout. Always loved Aynsley’s playing, but Richard really is a wonderful, wonderful player too. I think the lesson for me is that in the hands of a top guitarist, any good Strat sounds fantastic. Thanks again!
My 2 favs; the ‘56 and ‘61, by far.
Want to add a few other comments:
Great playing all around. It was a pleasure to hear jamming from such accomplished musicians on these instruments.I loved the commentary and expertise of the panel.
Not many comments on maple vs rosewood necks - it seems to me the maple necks have a brighter tone compared to the darker tone of the rosewood. But maybe the neck has no effect and it is other elements of the guitar.
For me, as good as the newer instruments sound, the older instruments have a character that makes me feel "ahhh that's the sound" when I hear them. Unfortunately, out of my price range.
I love these! ES-335 next please?
Great chat guys, thank you for sharing those amazing guitars and your thoughts on them!!
As much as I want to like '61 or '62, or even '57, when I grab '56, it outshines them all. The look, the neck feel, the sound, bright and sharp as knife, I can play it for hours and hours. Everything is different.
But all great for different styles and sounds. Funny, same guitars but yet totally different
I absolutely loved watching you guys play and having so much fun over beautiful guitars!
The funniest thing is that you ended up with 3 different shades of blue, and all 3 were stellar examples... 😅
Jokes aside, I think choosing between the 3 it would be a nightmare for me... and of course, money is not a problem when we are talking on this level of guitar!
A 1961 refin will cost as much(sometimes less) than a 1969/1970 custom colour /maple cap like this one. And 1964s are around the same price as well ...
Btw Aynsley is such a spectacular player!
Great video, great playing, and some great Strats! I want all of them.
My kinda episode…thanks gentlemen ! 🎸🇺🇸🇬🇧🇮🇳👍
Perfect show guys 👌
It's the difference between an instrument build for life with passion and a toy made in a lot of series they are not perfect fromm all of them but they are so much fun to play you get inspiration great video i love it !
Thank you for a realistic analysis of these guitars instead of the usual hype nonsense. In the end all of them sounded good because of the adjustments these experienced players made for each guitar.
2:00:43 You have no idea how much I appreciate you saying this and not trivializing the finances of the average person. Things are so hard for so many of us right now, on either side of the pond and so many “gear related”channels/videos fail in that respect. ❤. I know it’s ok to want the stuff but there seems to be an eternal “money is no object” vibe to so many channels and some of it is frankly a little gross.
Every guitar has a different sound and feel. I absolutely love the old vintage strats and I have to say that Leo got it right from the beginning. I have played several newer guitars that sound very close to the older ones and feel similar as well. I have my perfect strat, but it has taken me many replacement parts and it has been through 5 sets of pickups. It is an Fender American channel bound strat. I finally had a set of pickups made that I specd out and they sound fantastic. I done all the work on it as I do all my guitars, however if I had paid a tech to do it all I probably could've bought an original vintage strat cheaper. Lol. My point is that if you are willing to learn and do the work yourself, you can turn almost any strat into a great guitar.
When Jamie played the 56 the contest was over. Pair this with a Marshall stack and you’re good.
I just instantly loved the sound of the 56 maple sunburst strat, as I say, instantly. I just love that inside, behind the upper front teeth, clung of it,... it's just a deep reaction; and I just realised that I've been playing a 57 reissue for 30 years, so I'm probably just reacting to the familiar. Having said that, my strat has the white EMG's, but still I hear a similarity. The thing is, when I bought the guitar, I tried it and bought it without plugging in, which seems crazy to me now, but perhaps I thought I would be changing the pickups anyway, seeing it was second hand with the EMG's already installed, and maybe I thought it would be swapped out quickly by me, but having used it for so long, I never got round to changing 😊the pickups, and it sounds great to this day! Maybe the active pickups are transparent , and reproduce the natural sound of the guitar well enough anyway. I'm not averse to different strat sounds, and quite liked the Vinterra 2 as well, but that fifties strat sound is just so pretty to my ear. If I wanted a thicker or smoother sound for driving tones, I could always use a humbucker instrument, but could only get that clear pure toot from the fifties strat.
I'm sorry, but you guys make the best videos. Monster players, humble, relatable, beautiful playing, and always interesting. More, please.
What does this series of genuine compliments start with an apology?
@@Jllyrol311 its just the typical litotic way of speaking that idiots do a lot of these days.. and a kind of passive-aggressive exaggeration? Mostly done to attract attention.
Great Job Guys! Love the vintage ones as well. But Fender is still making great guitars! The 70's ones are as good as any! Ask Ritchie Blackmore Lol
Very very nice video and comparison!!! Amazing playing from you guys , congrats!!! And amazing taste of music as well, for me the Vintera 2, 60, stands really well compare with the others, with another that have the price to much higher, what do you guys though??
the way mr richard barret play the tones is so good
Yeah. He did some stuff that I had to back up and play a couple more times and then bookmarked to learn his licks. ❤
Great demos, comparisons, and analysis guys!
Those 2+ hours flew by. Neville's fiesta red strat gets the win! ☝🏆🥇The Daphne blue strat is a very close 2nd with Aynsley's 70's strats in 3rd place. The MIM Vintera II was the darkhorse. The Player strat was a stinker!
I think there is one commonality, which will unfortunately cost you money. When you touch and play a custom shop or an older guitar, you can typically tell someone loved and worked with it. Much like a child who has had a great upbringing, it just shows through. My son's players that we recently bought has an exceptional ring, which is the foundation for mods, which we are doing now. I'm getting to show him all these value and tonal comparisons. Great video.
I would love a Tele episode ❤
Much quacking and duck walking! Great video!
Strats!? I’m in! Ainsley Lister to boot! Whooo hoo!
Nice! I like this sort of comparisons and talking of guitars. However, I do miss timelines... :(
I have a nearly exactly identical CS Strat to Neville.. all the way down to the specs. Except the pickups. Mine has the Ancho Poblano Josefina set. It’s a lifetime guitar. I got my 62’ aged nitro pickguard from crazyparts, just in case that’s where his came from.
The guy in the middle, what a fantastic guitar player!
This video helped me decide to charge endless guitar testing in my stores, by the time spent in store and also by percentage of instrument price. We have huge number of guitar "scientist" who never buys, just waisting our time.
As you guys are from a business, you should also promote an idea, not just to report how many physical shops are closing,...
It varies so heavily from guitar to guitar, even if they're from the same year. I bought my favorite Custom Shop Strat at Chicago Music Exchange, I played a dozen of them and one stood out head and shoulders above the rest (a '61 Journeyman). It was much more pronounced acoustically, and just cut through the mix in a way the others didn't when plugged in. But really they were all a little different from one another. Differences from guitar to guitar are even more pronounced IMO with Les Pauls.
That said, love the video!
There wasn’t a “bad” sounding guitar here. It would come down to in-the-hand feel for me. And, being honest, the look if I actually had to choose😊. Luckily I don’t need to choose. I have a Strat that ticks the boxes. It’s done it for me onstage, and I’ve heard it played onstage including really big concert and festival gigs, so it’s proven. It has realtime wear, the patina of years of use, so it looks cool. Does it matter what year it was made?
The 56 Strat is the thing dreams are made out of ❤
This was super interesting. What would have made it better is if you had done a mini shootout with the Vintera, Pro 2, and Ultra since those are the only guitars that 99% of the viewers might reasonably be able to own. I'd be particularly interested in your comments on Pro 2 vs Ultra. If this was in there somewhere and I missed it I apologize - please point me to it!
Would like to see an early 80s 2 knob added to this blissful mix,
.
I'd love to see this done for Teles, ES models (maybe include 345/355s and P90 models too?) and SGs. Would be cool to see a version with Fender amps across the Tweed/Brown/Black range and the various modern models (Hot Rod Deluxe, Blues Jr. etc.) too.
I'd have gone with the Daphne Blue from the options, mainly because it sounds similar to my own 63. Nev's CS gets second place, although obviously it is a bit different once you can feel the neck, hear them in the room etc.
Love the look and sound of the 70's LPB strat.... absolutely beautiful. Can't stand the 70's headstock shape though :)
Wish I could noodle as well as these guys....
Every year, the pickup pole pieces changed in the stager of the (D-G). The reason they sound different in the 2-4 position is the fact the in modern strats 70s to now is the middle pickup is not reversed wound. In proper pickups you can not move the pole pieces as the wire is against them and moving them will kill them in most cases. On plastic modern pickups you can rearrange the poles because the pole are isolated in a plastic case.
Cork sniffing at its finest and I absolutely love it 😍
These guys are so unrelatable..... this feels like a home owners association meeting.
My fav strat “tone eras” are the 54, 64-65, and 68-73 strats.
Great episode what are the wooden Panels hanging up ?
Acoustic treatment to improve the room sonically (it’s a bit of a bare box otherwise!)
Good things cost money, would leave it at that! Daphne Blue’s sound was mind boggling. How much does it cost please? …. I just got the Ultra Strat for now.
Aynsley and the cork sniffers!!! Just kidding. Great video by all.
The 70s look soooo viby and they both sounded epic epic epic, the earlier blue one was the sultans of swing sound for me, and it seems to be well suited for funk, the sunburst had more lowend and the blue 70s with OD just smeered away into heavy dirty grime of heaven
I have 3 different pickguards loaded, so i can change tones from 57 to 60s to 70s just by switching out the loaded pickguards. Its the main reason i love the strat.
The in-between tones on that Player Strat are pretty great. Especially for the price. Have they gone back to rosewood on the newer ones now?
Edit: the Player II is rosewood.
Richard Barrett is KOOL
I’m looking at buying a custom shop, not sure which one, must have 9.5 rosewood board, journeyman relic and clay dots but not sure what year reissue, 61? Any thoughts anyone….. cheers 🤙🏻
You should do a trowser leg turnup shootout.
50s turnups are best obvs
@@guitarist obvs
brilliant ha ha ha
Might be the best youtube guitar comment ever! Literally laughed out loud!
At about 23:10 that's what I was hearing: the new guitar sounds like it has lower action than the old daphne blue one, that may be giving it the plinkyness that is being described (definitely sounds like so). The old one sounds like it has higher action, especially on the low E. I wonder if string action got measured, because it is crucial for not only playability but for tone too 9I learned it the hard way). edit: 51:40 The Player Strat probably has 9s, that's why it sounds thinner or clinky would have been nice to have them all with 10's and adjusted to the same action and pickup height - though I knnow this would be impossible since these guitars all belong to different people.
He said they all have the same set up.
Excellent vídeo!
Which amp are they using?
Orange OR30
Thanks
I had an Ultra in that colour. I sold it after three weeks. I preferred the Mexican Standard it was going to replace.
Moral of the story appears to be that if you can play you can make any guitar sound great.
Exactly. Most players would benefit from more playing and less obsessing about gear
Most if not all the guitars sounded compressed. Was wondering if this was a post compression put in.
I loved this video, but the more I watch this type of video (shootouts), specially when paring vintage and modern iterations of specific guitars are completely pointless, but to entertain. That being said, please do more lol.
the sound of the unplugged guitars is very revealing
Not so much if it's electric the tone comes from the pickups & your finger / amp.
@@utubehound69 oh not again!
Concerning the 70th Anniversary Strat V-Mods it sounds like the J Rocket is still on. I prefer the sound of the ‘61 but the ‘70 is the way to go for just about anything.
Interesting show. We know how they all sound play blues but what about other styles?
Yes - exactly! I want to hear some chords.
No other styles needed, just the blues needed with a Strat 🙏
The brown '70s strat sounded the best
All i learned from this vid is i need that sonic blue old strat.
Where the pickup height the same on all the guitars?
Have played for 30 years, i play better with cheap guitars, then no expectations just a tool. Have had a vintage 1955 goldtop and 1963 strtocaster, they took the place of the music and became my attention, i like to be free, my tone is not the best of the best, but i play like myself and can express emotions. My main rig is a J&D strat and a Gretsch amp from the 60ies(15" inch speaker) Rangemaster and OD1+wah, thats it.
This guy gets it.
The point about the treble not piercing so much and stays sweet is very true about alot of vintage bridge PUs...i made the same experience for example with my 63 Jazzmaster the treble PU is cuttig tru very nice but stays enjoyable, would have been interesting to get to know with gauge of strings where on these strats, and by the way love these videos ❤
From memory, the vast majority felt like they were strung with 10-46. I think Aynsley uses an 11-52 set tuned to Eb. The 56 had quite a low action and may have benefited from a new set. Hope this is of some use 👍🏻
@@richardbarrettguitar1228 hell yeah, thank you so much, fantastic job there
The neck heel is a solution looking for a problem.
I really liked the 75
The first part talking about the vintage strat sounded like a bunch of wine tasters hahaha, far too posh for me ;)
Yup...blue 61 all day long!!!!
“Fruity”, oh matron!! 🎸
The £599 Sunburst Player to me sounded very Claptonish if that’s a word lol
I stole a pair of San Francisco jail socks once too, lol
Modern models sound good but they are too hifi, they lack the mojo of the vintage and cs ones.
The v-mod 2 pickups are so sterile to me. I had them in my fender build and swapped them out for a second hand set of USA standard 2005 which have much more chewy-ness and warmth. Kept all the wiring, pots etc from the v-mod 2 though so I still have the flexibility with adding the neck into the bridge.
Out of the shoot out I'd take Richard Barrett home.
I watched the whole thing, (because I love Strats) it was painful though. I think everyone could see where this was going. Neville made the best decision and got out early.
@@widdlemonk we aim to please!
I noticed all the modern ones have the trem bar in and the vintage ones don’t (except the red one for a little bit toward the end). It seems like the trem system is an afterthought for vintage strats.
It’s amazing how the Strat is still so iconic inspite of the trem system being mostly unused until the 80s/90s?
What drive pedal is being used by Richard?
J Rockett Calibre 45
If it’s not blind folded like Andersons does it’s not a true comparison knowing what your playing gives a perception of value and preference
GREAT
Should have thrown caution to the wind and voted on the best component of each guitar, removed them and at the end built the ultimate strat then burned it.
If we can bill you for that we might consider it! 😂
56 was MUCH the best spanky, honky quintessential Strat! Others were pale, tame immitations. All great guitars, because they're Strats though.
The 56 ❤
One thing I’ve noticed between the older vs newer debate is the fact that pickups have become ridiculous in the amount of different versions. Like a Stratocaster with Texas Specials and one with 61 era winding. I feel like the pickups have more to do with the sound and quality of the guitar more than anything. The whole over wound thing is over hyped. Leo Fender got it right in the 50s then into the early 60s he got it right then as well. In my opinion a Stratocaster sounds so much better with under wound pickup’s more than an over wound pickup does any day. Like I said earlier Texas Special pickups sound harsh next to a Stratocaster with period correct wound pickups
I have a couple USA strats and a couple MIJ and I just did a comparison today, the MIJ same pickups same everything, sounded like completely guitars. Felt the same, sounded completely different. The USA was Ultra and an old standard. The Ultra neck, made me realize I much prefer vintage soft V chunky, and do not like the modern D compound radius and wider nut of the Ultra, and the noiseless I knew would be different, while good in certain situations, I preferred the vintage tone. The standard C and vintage style pickups stock, is one that everyone can find something to like. I had a AM Pro II and hated the electronics. Its not worth the money IMO. I think the best value are the JV Modified 60’s but the 50’s is versatile HSS. USA had the best quality wood and hardware, the MIJ is softer maple and basswood which I dont mind. I just think the JV Modified 60’s is a fantastic bang for the buck. If you treat it well, the wood is softer, treat it well and they are great gigging guitars. But if the Ultra had a standard C or D neck 9.5 radius, that would be the one for me. Especially in studio. The noiseless can sound fantastic with some tweaking. That neck though… Too modern.. For me.
I don't know how you really assess these when you know in advance which guitar is which.