Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Apr 27, 2020 0:05:46 GMT -6
This thread is about Stratocasters in general rather than just the Squier family, but as we don't (yet) have much discussion of Fender-branded guitars AND this has a direct bearing on "how to choose between two cheap copies," this is highly relevant and will remain here however momentarily. 
In the '70s and '80s, I'd sometimes be able to admire an early Stratocaster in a shop. One factor that stood out was how wide and deep the "Comfort Contour" cuts are in the upper edge of the guitar. They've come to be called the "rib cut"** and "arm cut." On a truly vintage Strat, the "rib" edge comes within a half-inch of the top, and 3/8" isn't unusual. Even all these years on, I can still remember the look and feel of those carves -- the correct term is probably "sensuous" but most heathens would say "sexy."
While I am a hard-core pragmatist, the fact is that there is something weirdly amazing about a deep-carved Strat. Everyone who knows what I'm talking about has at least once played such a guitar -- and with very rare exception anyone who sneers or snickers at the notion HAS NOT.
Getting this sort of depth depended entirely on the extra few minutes taken by a craftsman (and I use the term loosely) on a drum sander. Over the years, though it really was only a couple of minutes, Fender allowed less and less time for a guy to stand there grinding wood off, so the cuts got shallower and shallower. Customers didn't seem to notice much, even as the Contours lost their Comfort, so it made obvious business sense... but the art faded away.
Back in the '70s, some early Japan cloners (e.g. Tokai) got hold of actual vintage guitars like the Strat and meticulously copied them. Really, they weren't knockoffs but true clones, right down to the innards of the pickups. As such, some USA players began to notice that they could get what was basically a vintage Fender for less than a new Fender.
Though not known for smart moves, Fender apparently wasn't totally stupid and knew how fast this could cut into their sales. After a few years of this they cut deals with Japanese manufacturers to produce true clones, simply with the Fender logo. One result was the birth of the reissue (RI) concept... which of course the Japanese had been doing for a decade but Fender took credit anyway, so there ya go.
Anyway, one of the signature identifiers of an actual reissue -- as opposed to a half-arsed knockoff with a Fender badge, which I sometimes sarcastically call a "Strad" -- is what some have taken to calling "the Fullerton carve", meaning the way the bodies were made at Fender's original factory. And, truth to tell, I often initially judge a Strat copy on how much effort the factory put into achieving those wide, deep cuts -- a man has to respect a forger who goes the extra yard, right?
I have an MIM Squier Series (1994), and that rib edge is right about at 1/2". At the other end of the scale, my Washburn WS-4, while overall a really good s-s-s copy comparable to a Squier Standard (and makes a good showing against early MIMs) has a short shallow cut that is 7/8" at my most optimistic. In future comments on Strats and Strads, I'll likely comment.
References online are VERY rare. I can't get a link to the actual post, but have a look at this thread on the Strat-Talk forum from 2012 -- page down about 1/3 of its length and you'll see a stack of edge-wise Strat photos. I intend to track the guy down and see if I can somehow get permission to post them here.
____________________
** -- And, yes, I cringe every time I see "tummy cut"
In the '70s and '80s, I'd sometimes be able to admire an early Stratocaster in a shop. One factor that stood out was how wide and deep the "Comfort Contour" cuts are in the upper edge of the guitar. They've come to be called the "rib cut"** and "arm cut." On a truly vintage Strat, the "rib" edge comes within a half-inch of the top, and 3/8" isn't unusual. Even all these years on, I can still remember the look and feel of those carves -- the correct term is probably "sensuous" but most heathens would say "sexy."
While I am a hard-core pragmatist, the fact is that there is something weirdly amazing about a deep-carved Strat. Everyone who knows what I'm talking about has at least once played such a guitar -- and with very rare exception anyone who sneers or snickers at the notion HAS NOT.
Getting this sort of depth depended entirely on the extra few minutes taken by a craftsman (and I use the term loosely) on a drum sander. Over the years, though it really was only a couple of minutes, Fender allowed less and less time for a guy to stand there grinding wood off, so the cuts got shallower and shallower. Customers didn't seem to notice much, even as the Contours lost their Comfort, so it made obvious business sense... but the art faded away.
Back in the '70s, some early Japan cloners (e.g. Tokai) got hold of actual vintage guitars like the Strat and meticulously copied them. Really, they weren't knockoffs but true clones, right down to the innards of the pickups. As such, some USA players began to notice that they could get what was basically a vintage Fender for less than a new Fender.
Though not known for smart moves, Fender apparently wasn't totally stupid and knew how fast this could cut into their sales. After a few years of this they cut deals with Japanese manufacturers to produce true clones, simply with the Fender logo. One result was the birth of the reissue (RI) concept... which of course the Japanese had been doing for a decade but Fender took credit anyway, so there ya go.
Anyway, one of the signature identifiers of an actual reissue -- as opposed to a half-arsed knockoff with a Fender badge, which I sometimes sarcastically call a "Strad" -- is what some have taken to calling "the Fullerton carve", meaning the way the bodies were made at Fender's original factory. And, truth to tell, I often initially judge a Strat copy on how much effort the factory put into achieving those wide, deep cuts -- a man has to respect a forger who goes the extra yard, right?
I have an MIM Squier Series (1994), and that rib edge is right about at 1/2". At the other end of the scale, my Washburn WS-4, while overall a really good s-s-s copy comparable to a Squier Standard (and makes a good showing against early MIMs) has a short shallow cut that is 7/8" at my most optimistic. In future comments on Strats and Strads, I'll likely comment.
References online are VERY rare. I can't get a link to the actual post, but have a look at this thread on the Strat-Talk forum from 2012 -- page down about 1/3 of its length and you'll see a stack of edge-wise Strat photos. I intend to track the guy down and see if I can somehow get permission to post them here.
____________________
** -- And, yes, I cringe every time I see "tummy cut"
