Fender Stratocaster - 1968 custom shop reissue relic - Oz Noy Talks about his Strat

Oz's Site www.oznoy.com
Lessons www.guitarjamz.com

[@daywar13]

Nice guitar im getting a fender squier strat for Christmas.

[@Nazzz65]

Those Squires can be nice players. I had two very inexpensive early 90's Chinese S.Strats the necks were actually quite nice and chunky and played very well ($100-$125 in 1990's dollars). So get your Squire as cheap as possible and then take the tinkerer's 'stone soup' approach to some righteous guitar mods and upgrades! For starters Fender's budget Chrome Red, Arctic White or Black are kinda dull so look for a wilder Squre color or an interesting-looking Squire 'Sunburst' finish. I believe Squire is making some nicer colors now with a better selection of colors (metallics too!). This may take a little more searching but why not? If you're getting a Squire 'Vintage Vibe' instrument there are real Fender custom colors avail. Then the fun can begin! Make your Squire Strat your own! They remain mostly easy to upgrade. They have so-called 'dime pots' and largely inferior 'Pacific Rim-' wiring that isn't great for passing signal. Replace the whole wiring harness and pick-ups all at once. Just lift out all the electric parts (pick-ups too). Leave the Asian electric parts attached to the pick guard then throw the whole thing away (or list it on eBay for $15). To remove the original Squire wiring harness and pickups you will need to cut the ground wire to the tremolo spring 'claw' (do it at the spring end but leave the ground wire long enough for re-connection later). Then look for a quality brand name ''wiring harness'' : that's pickups and pots already wired together and ready to 'drop in' to your guitar (MUCH recommended!). While you're at it, get a cool-looking pick guard. Look around there are MILLIONS to choose from!! Your choice! Your Strat! Your style! I tried to replace my cheap CHEAP Chinese Squire tuning machines with vintage-style (nickel) Kluson machines (my fave!). Be aware Kluson-style tuners may not go into some Squire headstocks but no biggie: Schallers, Gotohs or Mini-Grovers or any modern tuners will go in (individually). They might (?) need a little enlargement of the factory tuner holes. To enlarge the holes ONLY use a wood rasp, rolled-up sandpaper or a reamer! DO NOT use a power drill or power tool!!! You can (very!) easily crack any guitar headstock! Even I, 'Mr. Know-It-all' has done this....If you get a 'Vintage Vibe' Squire, swapping out the machines may not matter too too much. Fender seems to use nice Asian-made Kluson copies on some Squires now. Much, much, much further down the road you can get better-quality string saddles. You can easily install a full-sized trem block too for added sustain but not essential. The Fender Strat (and Tele) are like the 'Model T' of guitars because when many ordinary folks bought The 'Model T' many mechanically-inclined folks regarded that car as really a work-in-progress and they tinkered with them extensively. They sometimes practically re-made the whole design of the car and engine. Later this tinkering became a big part of the rise of so-called 'foolproof' designs and notorious, consumer-driven 'built-in obsolescence'. Even the first Corvette was a flashy 'Tin Lizzy'. Please don't mind me. This is just my unsolicited advice and some suggestions for mods to any Squire Strat. Guitar mods can be endless! There is absolutely no reason why you must do anything to your Squire Stratocaster guitar at all! The beauty of these guitars is that along with being the coolest guitars EVER! Any Strat with maybe a little set-up can be played right out of the box on a Christmas morning. That's a cool gift BTW! They do make excellent jumping-off points for a real personalized expression of your style. Rock ON! Your Stratocaster Brother, Tim

[@MyLittleHecarim]

Sweet guitar!! I play a 1984 American standard strat. Absolutely love it!

[@braulionovas8461]

Beautiful guitar I love the color is on fire!!!

[@Pollutens]

I love the resources this guy uses when he funks :D

[@soulagent79]

Does it have a glued on maple board like the original '68 version?

[@Nazzz65]

That Strat is the ONE to get! Love it LOVE it!! You DEFINITELY have your priorities straight!! I love the c.color with the early CBS neck. 'Dakota Red'? Kind of a forgotten c.color now..So many nice RI necks out there but not nearly enough maple boards available.50's Fender was before my time. Transition is my favorite. The Custom Shop is usually too rich for my blood but this is really great to see. Thank you for sharing your toys at Christmastime. As for me, I'm still looking for the Japanese '68 RI. I'll settle for any finish I can get, even 'natural' although they never existed. I'll live with the RI poly.... This MUST be nitro! Anybody know how quickly CBS switched to poly?

[@obsessedmind86]

I have a japanese vintage strat from mid 80's and it's really great. I wish i could compare it to this custom shop strat

[@Nazzz65]

Ditto over here. I saw a '67 block logo 'Teal Green Metallic' Tele at my suburban G.Center once. The Teal '67 RI is nice if you can afford it. I actually have a '66 Tele that a buddy convinced me to have finished in the rare Fender 'Teal Green Metallic'. Only The Custom Shop makes something like a Teal Green RI Tele. As for me I looked with my eyes not with my hands. That was 4 years ago. I remember because it was the last time I ever went to The Evil Empire even just to look. I'll bet that guitar is still hanging unsold in the store.

[@salsplace]

Both guitars have a maple neck. The other one has a rosewood fingerboard.

[@djchaseb]

Yeah that's the nice maple cap neck Fender was using in the late 60's

[@Nazzz65]

If you pick up on that detail you are cool by any standard! Those necks are / were so cool. They make such a cool statement yet they are so (for now) very hard to find!! The MIJ '68 RI Strat appears to be out of production! This guitar is nothing like Fender Japan's '68 RIs from the 80's. This Strat is a thoroughbred and big bucks. It seems to be one of Fender's tantalizing 'Custom Shop' creations. This guitar COULD be a Fender 'Time Machine' (light relic?)? w/ maple-cap custom-color Strat? Whatever it is it would mean a lot of Ramen Noodles!

[@Nazzz65]

***** Musikraft, Eden maybe for the maple-cap neck! Looking for that maple-cap neck is frustrating. You see something close to one and they're either laughably big big BIG bucks 'cause they're made from silly 'bird's eye' WTF? Or worse they have botched the details and don't know what a 'maple cap' neck is!!! Brian Jones stock blonde transition-logo '66-'67 Telecaster MAPLE-CAP NECK!! So cool!

[@myke232]

So, with the 5 springs, is the tremolo 'decked'? Meaning it's flat against the body so the trem can only lower the pitch and not raise it?

[@Nazzz65]

Dave's World Of Fun Stuff. Is like gold. HIGHLY recommended! Dave is an experienced luthier (he's got the gray hair, and he's got the wrinkles too!). Dave is fantastically down-to-earth. He has a wicked droll sense of humor. Nobody can know everything but Dave has obviously seen a LOT of guitar stuff come across his workbench. Also, he's a musician himself. Dave will give the same attention to a $45,000 vintage 335 or a funky Silvertone or Harmony instrument. He's more than qualified to work on either. He will tackle any kind of job a customer may want including finishes but he's not afraid to let a customer know when their guitar is a lost cause or ''gooched''. He works out of his basement and he is not selling anything on his blog. Dave has taken on one or two apprentices but I'm not sure they even pay him anything! As far as the Strat trem, Dave has many opinions on the Stratocaster tremolo (vibtrato). Mostly his message about the Strat trem setup seems to be that the setup is really mostly a matter of preference and it can be set up in many different ways. He does insist on a few things with the trem. Even though there seems to be endless ways to set it up. there are still dos and dont's. Mostly his main concern is to get the trem to do what his customer wants it to do. Again, a highly recommended YT channel.

[@markh7523]

pity about the volume levels on this video changing all the time

[@hywel4605]

is there something special about 68 strats? are they made of alder? my nephew has one and it is really heavy beefy axe.

[@Nazzz65]

Everybody has preferences for guitars but if you look around you will find that lighter is better with any electric guitar no exception. Many dealers will show their guitars on digital scales in their eBay listings. If your nephew really has a '68 reissue Strat (the 60's RI w/ the big headstock) and it seems in any way 'heavy' REPLACE THE BODY!! Seriously! Put the original body in the closet if it's heavy! There are so many good light bodies out there for not too much money. Pick a color! Even pay a little extra and look for a 'nitro'-finished one!

[@Wabi-sabi8551]

+Hywel 4 I believe it's all Maple, but I'm certain the neck is maple with a maple cap fretboard. I have a 68 reissue Jap strat from 86 I believe and I don't find it to be heavy. It is my favorite guitar of all time and the neck is pure butter. I have big hands and it plays like a dream. It was Jimmy Hendrix's favorite guitar to play.

[@hywel4605]

my nephew strat is really nice although he needs a lesson on set up. i have a kinkade strat that i designed and half build with maple top and three piece maple neck SD pickups - jon kikkade did the difficult part. it is the best guitar i have ever played and lighter than my nephews strat, has more bottom end.

[@ArielsSmartyPants]

the tremolo is "Crack" .... is what? :)

[@endikasangroniz]

What jack is that? I´ve seen it in many guitar players, specially live.

[@Nariyaga]

A bit blurry but looks like a Providence H207

[@endikasangroniz]

@@Nariyaga Thank you!

[@nickfanzo]

stop pushing the tone wood bs. the neck wood makes NO DIFFERENCE when the guitar is plugged in. its been proven with sound analysis and computer technology.