'60s Classic Players Stratocaster

StratDen · June 15th, 2008, 12:39 AM

As mentioned briefly in another post earlier today, I ended up ordering a 60's Classic Players Strat. I've played a few of these locally in the past and was always impressed by them. I'll certainly give it a full review when it arrives. I do have some early plans to upgrade the pickups. More on that later...

I really like the Sonic Blue color too which is my color of choice for this model.
Here are some catalog pics until the actual one arrives...

Nobster · June 15th, 2008, 10:24 AM

I've got the sonic blue one, had it for about three weeks and it's a great guitar. I can't imagine why you would buy this guitar and take out the Custom Shop 69 pickups though? They sound great to me and it seems a lot of people like them very much and put them in other strats as an upgrade.

Yesterday I made a few minor tweaks: I added a cap+resistor treble-bleed to the volume pot to help keep some of the highs when I roll the volume done a bit, plus I moved the tone controls to bridge and middle pickups instead of neck and middle. I think the bridge pickup needs a tone control more than the neck pickup. Sounds good so far but I've yet to check these mods in a band situation, that'll come later this week.

One more thing; as I'm sure you know, the real Sonic Blue colour on these guitars is much lighter than the pics that you've posted.

brazil66 · June 15th, 2008, 11:39 AM

Now you've gone and started me wanting one to. Darn.

It would have to be a Surf Green thing. Get some photos up when the truck arrives.

StratDen · June 15th, 2008, 11:51 AM

Hi Nobster, Thanks for the post and welcome to Strat-Talk.

Regarding the pickups, it's my understanding that while they are called Custom '69s, but they are not the exact same specs as the Custom Shop '69s. Maybe someone else can clarify that point or I can check with Fender directly and ask. I have been told their specs differ slightly and aren't wound at the CS. I've played both through the same amp clean and to my ears the CS '69's had a higher output and bite. If they aren't indeed the same, the $190 added cost difference may be debatable.

Sounds like your Tone control changes may be a good idea, as well as your volume pot mod. I try and play the guitar stock for awhile before deciding on the changes, including the pickups. This way I feel I don't rush into the wrong decision, and also can better judge/appreciate the change later on.

I've seen some refer to the Sonic Blue on these as a Pale Sonic Blue. Yes, the pics above show a truer blue.

Post back with your thoughts on your changes after your gig.

StratDen · June 15th, 2008, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brazil66

Now you've gone and started me wanting one to. Darn.

It would have to be a Surf Green thing. Get some photos up when the truck arrives.

Yes, certainly will post the pics. I'm also working on the sound file arrangement/upload here as well.

Just Sonic Blue and 3-Tone Burst on this model right now.

Nobster · June 16th, 2008, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratDen

Regarding the pickups, it's my understanding that while they are called Custom '69s, but they are not the exact same specs as the Custom Shop '69s. Maybe someone else can clarify that point or I can check with Fender directly and ask. I have been told their specs differ slightly and aren't wound at the CS. I've played both through the same amp clean and to my ears the CS '69's had a higher output and bite. If they aren't indeed the same, the $190 added cost difference may be debatable.

Ah, OK, I've no idea about that. All I can say is they sound nice (too me) so I'm not at all bothered if they are the exact same spec as any other pickup. I can confirm that they have grey bobbins and they have what looks to be the same cloth covered kind of wires that are on all my CS tele pickups. I took some pics of the underside of the pickguard - if anyone's interested I could post them.

Quote:

Sounds like your Tone control changes may be a good idea, as well as your volume pot mod. I try and play the guitar stock for awhile before deciding on the changes, including the pickups. This way I feel I don't rush into the wrong decision, and also can better judge/appreciate the change later on.

Quite right, don't rush it. I played mine for about 3 weeks and took it to a few band rehearsals before doing the treble-bleed and tone control swap. But anyway, these are really minor mods - they cost less than 1 euro and took just a few minutes. Nothing was cut or degraded and it can be undone in a few seconds with a soldering iron. I might eventually try out some other cap/resistor values.

It's just a shame you have to take the strings/pickguard off to do this (I'm used to teles, where you can just take off the control plate and tweak/test/tweak/test.. away.)

StratDen · June 16th, 2008, 09:36 AM

While the stock pups I find good, I would recommend you try and find a set of CS '69s installed in another Strat for comparison purposes. See if what you find is on par with my perception of them..

Nobster · June 16th, 2008, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratDen

While the stock pups I find good, I would recommend you try and find a set of CS '69s installed in another Strat for comparison purposes. See if what you find is on par with my perception of them..

I'm sorry but I'm very unlikely to find anything around here to compare with. I have to buy most of my stuff online because there are very few guitar shops and the ones that we do have are pretty hopelessly stocked. And anyway, how on earth can you tell what is a "real" set of CS '69s ? without stripping them out and measuring their electrical characteristics side by side on a bench compared to specs.

As you said earlier it may be easier to just ask Fender. I've read reports from several owners of this model that have found AY initials stamped/dated on their pickups and I also heard that that lasted up until some time maybe last year. Mine don't have those initials but does that matter ? of course not. It would be interesting to find out if the pickup specs were changed at any time but frankly, I really don't care who wound my pickups or when it was done. It's what they sound like that counts and so far I'm very pleased with mine.

edit: and I've no intention of changing them!

It's a nice guitar. I hope you are happy with yours when you get it.

StratDen · June 16th, 2008, 12:11 PM

Understood. I agree 100% with you about if you like what you have, no need to fix what isn't broken. Out of curiosity I just sent Fender an e-mail asking about the stock pickups in the '60s Classic Player model. I'll post what they say when I get an answer...

Nobster · June 16th, 2008, 02:44 PM

Here's a couple of pics, sorry if they aren't too clear I took them with my phone but they do show the real colour of the guitar. I've included a few under the pickguard shots showing the pups, plus the before and after pics of the mods I made.

Nobster · June 16th, 2008, 03:01 PM

Here are the other pics with under the hood shots:

StratDen · June 16th, 2008, 04:26 PM

Thanks for sharing those pics...

brazil66 · June 16th, 2008, 07:56 PM

Ya,Nob.....I appreciate those pics too. Thanks for taking the time. M.

StratDen · June 16th, 2008, 08:57 PM

Nobster, you were Right!!! I just got a reply back from Fender Customer Relations and there is no need to swap anything. The Classic Player's pickups are indeed the USA Custom Shop '69s. So much for my in-store comparison...

You can't imagine how happy that makes me to learn this (or maybe you can ), as the value the 60's Classic Player Strat is indeed that much more. The news made my evening here.

Here's the e-mail I received:

Hello,
Thanks for writing in. Those pickups are exactly the same. The only
difference is the pickups in the Classic Player are not signed by
Abigail Ybarra. She only signs the pickups that go into aftermarket
packages. Other than that, they are the same. We hope this will help you
out.

Best Regards,

Jeff ........
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
Consumer Relations Department

Nobster · June 17th, 2008, 03:06 AM

OK. It's nice to know that and have the question cleared up. Thanks for sharing the email from Fender.

I guess that something else was different about the two guitars that you compared. Maybe pots/cap values? or even pickup heights? different wood etc, as you know there are a lot of variables involved. Even two exact same models can sound very different.

Anyway, enjoy it!

StratDen · June 17th, 2008, 07:02 AM

Yes, very true on the variables of sound. I'm sure I did perceive a difference, but it's quite possible my judgement was being biased by the info I was given about the two guitars having different pickups prior.. Anyway, I'll have to wait and see what the one I ordered will be like. I just received the delivery tracking number yesterday from Musician's Friend, so it's on the way.

StratDen · June 19th, 2008, 04:12 PM

Ok, the 60's Classic Players Strat arrived today. This is the first scratch & dent that i received from Musicians Friend that actually has a dent. But for 53% off list, I can live with it. It's on the back near the top of the lower bout. It's noticeable when you turn the guitar over, but I after a short time playing the guitar, I wasn't even thinking about it any longer.

As for the guitar. I started playing it unplugged out of the box. First impression. Very resonant and sounds nice acoustically. Neck feels great, very smoooooth (emphasis on the "oooo"). Set-up is great, perfect amount of relief (no buzzes anywhere) and string height is medium-low right where I like it.

I played it through my newly acquired Super Champ in the clean channel and, yeah, these are '69 CS pickups! 30 minutes later I put the gig bag aside and put this Sonic Blue '60s CP into it's new home of a Fender Blonde HSC that I picked up on eBay brand new after someone parted out a new EJ Sig strat.

nd this sonic Blue is just how I've seen others, similar to Nobster's pics. I'll get some pics up soon. Oh yeah, the Classic Player helped me make up my mind about whether or not to keep the '50s Classic, which I just sent back.

thaus · June 19th, 2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StratDen

Ok, the 60's Classic Players Strat arrived today. This is the first scratch & dent that i received from Musicians Friend that actually has a dent. But for 53% off list, I can live with it. It's on the back near the top of the lower bout. It's noticeable when you turn the guitar over, but I after a short time playing the guitar, I wasn't even thinking about it any longer.

As for the guitar. I started playing it unplugged out of the box. First impression. Very resonant and sounds nice acoustically. Neck feels great, very smoooooth (emphasis on the "oooo"). Set-up is great, perfect amount of relief (no buzzes anywhere) and string height is medium-low right where I like it.

I played it through my newly acquired Super Champ in the clean channel and, yeah, these are '69 CS pickups! 30 minutes later I put the gig bag aside and put this Sonic Blue '60s CP into it's new home of a Fender Blonde HSC that I picked up on eBay brand new after someone parted out a new EJ Sig strat.

nd this sonic Blue is just how I've seen others, similar to Nobster's pics. I'll get some pics up soon. Oh yeah, the Classic Player helped me make up my mind about whether or not to keep the '50s Classic, which I just sent back.

Another Strat!! And I thought I had it bad!!

Congrats and interesting to hear that you like this one better than the 50's classic.

StratDen · June 22nd, 2008, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thaus

Another Strat!! And I thought I had it bad!!

Congrats and interesting to hear that you like this one better than the 50's classic.

Well, as I just mentioned in another thread, it wasn't meant to be. I have little luck buying mail order I guess. Asther more time with it, I decided it didn't play (feel) as well as the other Strats in the room.

it went today.