Please Don't Eat My Stratocaster | 2019 Fender Rarities Quilt Top Stratocaster Review + Demo

[@Trog]

The more I look at this guitar, the more it reminds me of a maple cluster. You've got all the goodness exposed on the front, but the rosewood neck is the chocolate stream pouring down over the guitar (already covered the back) and the aluminum pickguard is ready to wrap it up and have it ready for sale haha reverb.com/item/28978102-video-2019-fender-rarities-quilt-top-stratocaster-w-rosewood-neck-anodized-aluminium-pickguard?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly

[@gonzo5912]

can you tell me the difference between Poly and Nitro finishes.

[@stepvanjoe3469]

I'd say that the finish was not quite cured when they put the back cover on and the screws caused the finish to lift.

[@stepvanjoe3469]

@@gonzo5912 + one is essentially liquid plastic that will dry, and more stable over time the nitro lacquer finish will dry but will never fully cure, is a thinner finish compared to Poly,and being thinner is believed to allow the instrument to vibrate more and sound more open/better, and is softer. A poly finish is more environmentally friendly more durable and is cheaper to apply, and is odorless. Poly is said to also not allow the instrument to resonate as well due to the finish thickness. I have guitars that have nitro and poly and sound wise and playability wise I see no real difference BUT the is something about a guitar finished in Lacquer that when you open the case has that traditional smell and thin feel you will only get from Nitrocellulose Laquer. Hope this helps.

[@shaunw9270]

@@gonzo5912 Polyurethane or Polyester ? Polyester is more brittle. Also there isn't just one formula for nitrocellulose and some modern guitars that have nitro ,may often have a synthetic wood sealer coat underneath, as nitro remains porous forever. It's an interesting topic 👍

[@shaunw9270]

@@stepvanjoe3469 Well said 👌

[@ja7941]

I'm not much of a fender person but this guitar is amazing love it

[@jeffbeck6501]

I am totally a fender person. the cheaper the better. dog food is dog food. buy what's on sale. my china strat sounds better than my collection of 50's and 60s strats and lp's. I paid $31.50 plus $30 in shipping in 2002.

[@bluesrockguitaristmikesall2708]

I get what you're saying,The balance is Fender staying in buisness.They will reinvent the Strat as many times as it is profitable.Me ,I go for the deals. Have a Squier that is amazing.

[@a_new_hourbandofficial9121]

You gotta see it in person then…. Seen one today at my local shop that the owner decided to finally sell and I’m feel like I need it!!

[@lc6705]

btw trogly the tremolo arm would be a lot better for you if it had the little tension spring

[@Punki001]

I like that your show has more and more become a real guitar show, not only a Gibson show. Really nice. You got a new subscriber.

[@michaelheaton9503]

That's my favorite out of the rarities run

[@therugburnz]

I liked the last ones wood color more, but I must agree this one is better all around. Rose-wood neck? I'm wanna try, cuz I never have. Have you?

[@Sabrinathefishinggirl]

I dont like the rarities line. But it sounds good. I still want the eric clapton strat from the 90s with the digital lace sensor pickups. Thats my guitar of choice.

[@rodneymcintosh1484]

Should be called the Warmoth "Partscaster" line...... that's what they look like to me.

[@honkytonkinson9787]

Rodney McIntosh exactly, or a Carvin-caster

[@hieronymus932]

Vintage strat reissues often come without shielding. It reduces noise but supposedly also impacts the sound.

[@David-vd7lv]

Tension spring in the trem arm socket. And for the truss rod you do not have to remove the neck, just loosen the neck plate screws enough to tilt the neck back for access, looks horrific, but it works!

[@wadeguidry6675]

OMG I love that neck!...you can keep the goofy flame top body.

[@LazyCat010]

This is the one I wanted to see. I like everything except the mostly inaccessible truss rod.

[@DM94JAK]

I LOVE the way this thing looks it's beautiful! ... to me..

[@puppyd0gs]

I love how the bridge position sounds almost out of phase. Very dreamy guitar. Love it.

[@svngod]

tbh wish I had the money for this.

[@andrewmoseley4029]

Those guitars need to trade necks and then they’d both look way better.

[@mr.smithgnrsmith7808]

Do not do that

[@markjamesmeli2520]

Yeah, those bridge cover plates on a Strat are similar to the pickup plate on a Fender P-bass...they always get discarded straight away. I like the small differences they've put in to it. The guitar is almost to be "studied." It's got great and wonderful tones to it.

[@joeyracano1]

I am a CBS collector, but now have become a disciple of the Rarities collection- I love this one, but own the flame maple top and the flame ash top both play like the wind, have tone on top of their tone, and are my main guitars alonf with a 74. I hope to own the whole rarities collection someday Trogley, thanx for your informative and opinionated expose's on all my faves. You da man.

[@maximusindicusoblivious180]

What a fine looking guitar. To me it is reminiscent to those 70s natural finished guitars with the maple necks and white pickgaurds. But this one is so creamy looking. If you haven't named her already Im going to call her "Butterbaby."

[@flapjack413]

That foggy look around the trem plate screw holes is from the holes not being plugged before wet sanding. Whenever I build a guitar, I always fill the holes with wax... Keeps water out and helps with the first installation of the screws since it also acts as a lubricant.

[@glenkepic3208]

nice. played my Arbor from '85 today for the first time in a year or three .Pearly Woodstock style.Micro Cube since here. Sounded and played great. Worth more than the $50 I gave it credit for.

[@d0ctox]

Hi, the curve behind the nut is simply caused by the radius of the fretboard. If you had a flat fretboard, you would see a straight edge there, and a smaller radius would have a more pronounced curve. It confused me on my first neck build too :)

[@ResoBridge]

The story I heard is that Leo Fender tried the aluminium pick guards for their electrical screening properties. Fender stopped using them because the gold anodised layer does eventually wear through and then the exposed aluminium rubs off on the players fingers as a black residue of extremely fine aluminium particles. This is still a problem with the modern recreations. Plus the eddy currents in the aluminium tend to dull the pickup response. As far as cavity shielding is concerned it is just something they never did on the original Fenders (or any other 'vintage' guitar) and now on 'vintage' re-issues, Fender copies that 'feature' of no cavity shielding. I tried an aluminium pick guard on a Strat and it sounded dull and lifeless. The guitar sounded far better with a plastic pick guard.

[@Atlasworkinprogress]

Austin, just so you know, there is usually a Date of manufacture either in the neck pocket or stamped on the bottom of the neck for most Fenders.

[@bluesrockguitaristmikesall2708]

Thanks Trogly,this is the most IKEA looking Strat ever,The shipping box candy bag should only contain "Swedish Redfish".

[@BellTunnel]

I like the idea. I like the anodized guard, the all-rosewood neck, the quilted top even. But there’s way too much brown tones. Like someone’s reality-show challenge was designing a guitar based only on the contents of a bag of mixed nuts.

[@wonderwomanguy]

Holy S***, Trogly! At the 12:15 mark, that was some of the most smoking riff work you've ever done on this channel!

[@thetoneknob4493]

i wanted one of these before fender made a maple top strat so i made my own out of possibly some of the best wood on earth, old Italian mahogany back and a quilted-flame maple top, witch was thick like on a les paul, half the thickness was enuf to be able to match the couture to a 59 i copied, the whole strat only weighs in at 6 pounds 14oz,witch it pretty darn light, i wouldn't sell mine for anything its that good!

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

joe decius nice ☺

[@gooosean]

me : ew, my fretboard is so thin, I cannot scallop it fender : *HAHA EAT THIS*

[@tavicotavio]

The whole neck is the fretboard

[@RickRomanelli]

That guitar is beautiful like a Christmas tree! Vintage tuners are great. Stratocasters are wonderful. Thanks for paying more attention to Fenders.

[@ADaviDTR]

Congrats on passing 60k subscribers! Excellent review, man!

[@jeffbeck6501]

this vintage style guitar is better than the modern style. great review. subscribed. i really like the standard fret polish, oil, and graphite routine. "it came alive after that"

[@zbqb84a]

Ugh I really can't get behind dressed up Strats and Teles. The simplicity of these guitars is what makes them so appealing to me. Leave the fancy stuff that requires lots of glue, time and $$ like figured tops and binding to Gibson. Love the channel.

[@cowtowncustoms2110]

DO NOT change the necks! You will run in to problems with the string spacing because of the modern and vintage trems! Holes on the tuners will be different also. That vintage one is perfect just the way it is!

[@knedy]

*How would the string spacing at the bridge have any effect on the neck? The neck width is the same at the heel and you can just keep the tuners on it's original neck. I SAY SWITCH THE NECKS!*

[@visje1996]

It can always be switched back, you should encourage experiments

[@cowtowncustoms2110]

@James Meaux ,I know but it is showing the qualities of Fenders to a lot of people.

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

Takes time resetting the string heights

[@rodneymcintosh1484]

@@cowtowncustoms2110 the Fender fans want to see just because they're only interested in the "look" of their Strats over how it plays!

[@jdohse73]

Beautiful. I like the ashtray on that one. If your bridge is floating properly you should almost never hit the body with the trem arm though

[@grantcleveland4506]

I really like this gutiars look! The top is beautiful and works well with the pick gaurd, and I love the headstock being the same color as the fretboard! Just beautiful

[@Riverdeepnwide]

Wowwwww, that thing seems to sound better than even the sum of its parts would lead one to think.

[@ios6605]

8:58 I would say they may have added some epoxy right there to strengthen the holes from stripping out,,, that’s my guess anyway

[@Sameold87]

I think they just go so fast in the process, they don't wait enough time till it's completely dry... So that's the result, but maybe I'm wrong!

[@AkiraSpectrum]

Really digging these rarities, especially this one and the other with the rosewood neck hss.

[@jasonlaird4575]

Must say I’m really digging the new intro

[@thecolorhero1078]

amazing guitar. glad to see you venture into the fender-verse

[@thomaskafafian2871]

The headstock being curved by the nut is because it's made from one piece of wood is my guess. Bent metal saddles is a vintage feature I noticed. And the 5 screws across the top of the bridge. 50s vintage strats had a V shape in the back of the neck. Very pronounced in the 54 and less on a 57 , or known as soft V. 60s strats got the C neck.

[@johnromansky6834]

Those guitars are absolutely beautiful!!!!

[@roscoepcoltrane23]

The first thing I would have noticed would be the rosewood neck. Love rosewood necks.

[@rodolfopuentejrrodolfo2972]

I bought both and I love them the way I have it set tone the sing 🎶 beautiful neck ❤️❤️👍👍

[@Slovy_]

The covers are called ashtrays. They’re take them off and set them on top of their amps and use them for ashtrays

[@rocanrola]

Beautiful guitar! Although I would have preferred the maple/rosewood neck...

[@rich1051414]

A poly finish lifting and bubbling happens sometimes. The screws pull the finish up.

At the headstock the fretboard, at least in vintage Fenders, the fretboard curves in when the fretboard is a veneer, and curves out for a slab board

[@michaeladamcaira9174]

It's beautiful

[@haqq4257]

I have three straps with anodized pickguards and I have noticed a few things with them. Not only do they not leave fingerprints but they make the guitar sound completely different then it ordinarily would with a plastic pickguard. Not better or worse, but three different sounding. I happen to like them very much.

[@PierceThirlen2]

The aluminum pickguard is likely to affect the tone, both acoustically & magnetically. The close proximity to the magnetized string will exert some drag on the strings and may affect the sustain slightly. The aluminum pickguard is more resonant than the plastic pickguard & will modulate the pickups in relation to the strings causing some tonal coloration, for better or worse. Your preference may vary.

[@ResoBridge]

Aluminium is a paramagnetic material which means it exhibits a very weak attraction to permanent magnets. It is however quite a good electrical conductor so the fluctuations of the magnetic field from the vibrating strings can induce eddy currents in the pick guard and these currents can in turn produce a fluctuating magnetic field. My experience of this with a Fender aluminium pick guard is that although the guard was at a sufficient distance not to obviously act as a magnetic brake on string vibration the eddy currents did interfere with the pickups, resulting in a dull muffled tone. It is peculiar because, for a certain period, Fender fitted a thin sheet aluminium screen under a plastic guard (not very thin aluminium foil like that on modern guards). This did have some affect on tone, but a number of people have expressed a preference for the sound of these guitars. Eddy currents seem to be like salt, a little improves the flavour, too much wrecks it. My experience of aluminium pick guards is that the eddy current effect is just too much.

[@jake_of_the_jungle9840]

I love this guitar! It reminds me of the strats that the Schecter custom shop does

[@richardbinder9662]

I was always Gibson guy and in the 1980's played Jacksons and Ibanez locking trem guitars. Still have a couple of each. For the last 10 years it has been nothing but Fender Strats. Amazing this shape is sixty five years old and looks like it could have been designed today. The only thing I don't like about Strats are the volume control being so close to my picking hand. Since I almost always have it wide open I just installed a smaller knurled dome knob and polished the knurling off with a bench grinder and spray painted it white. Works perfect and I can still roll the volume on and off. That is one of the nicest Strats I've seen.

[@donnyhall2535]

Personally, I would send it back. The finish will start to flake away at those screw holes for the tremolo cover. Alot of people take that cover off and that will make it worse. But as far as looks, it's amazing. Though with it being vintage spec, they should have left the finish, body and neck all vintage. Nitro finish, Ash body and 7 1/4 radius. I think that would be more appealing to true vintage lovers of Fender guitars.

[@SgtPnkks]

the other day i saw one of these aluminum pickguards on a p-bass at a local shop

[@amirkhalid5449]

The precise formulation of the polyurethane probably varies from one supplier to another. That might be why some poly finishes glow under black light but others don't.

[@jasonhill9788]

if you put a trem arm spring in it, the trem arm does not screw in as far, keeping it form getting so close to the body so it won't scratch it, it also firms up the feel and keeps the arm form flopping around. I also don't think the bridge cover is doofy, I have one on my 70's reissue, MIM strat, and love it. BTW those covers are called ashtray covers because most people back in the day would pull them off and use them as such.

[@Atlasworkinprogress]

Also if the bridge is floating you shouldn't have that issue either.

[@peterburi2727]

I have a Start with that pickguard. After doing a swap to a plastic there was a noticeable change in the sound of the Fat 50s.

[@craigusselman546]

I like my Strats traditional but im starting to warm up to these 2019s.

[@thomaskafafian2871]

Everyone hates playing with backplates on. People say it makes it sound more resonant without it, but it definitely feels better on your stomach when you take it off and leave it off.

[@PapaWheelie1]

It’s a bad hombre- I kinda like it

[@adiohead]

I'd of tweaked the truss rod whilst you had it stripped down.

[@davidohara6515]

It has the features I would like order from the custom shop. Maple top strat , rosewood neck , 60s style! Oh yeah! And it looks like a big chocolate bar ! Tasty! 😂

[@avielkharrat5788]

This thing sounds absolutely awesome !

[@iamn2computers]

It's a open pore satin finish on the neck if you can feel the grain still, I have a Mitchell acoustic with that type of finish.

[@michaelmoore7975]

@6:07 Indentations- Looks like where the feed mechanism "bites" or holds onto the wood to either carry it along an automated cutting/sawing machine or holds it when it is being cut during the resaw stage.

[@bills6093]

I watched a couple different Strat vids of the factory, and I never saw them hold the wood in any machine like that, so it likely didn't happen at the Fender shop. But you'd think they would reject the wood if it arrived marked up like that.

[@michaelmoore7975]

@@bills6093 I was thinking more on the supply side where the actual tree is cut up into the rough requirements of the buyer. I've seen where compression indentations actually stress the cell structure well below what can be seen, (a few milimeters) and seems like you cannot sand down enough to get "under" it. But I'm just guessing because the pattern looks that way....could have even set something heavy with that pattern on it at some point. Yes Fender could have rejected it, or maybe clever/tightwad with high dollar wood to realize that part *could* be covered with a pickguard.

[@chuckm482]

I just subscribed ... but please lighten up on the commercials. 5 of them while watching! BTW, I just ordered this guitar last night.

[@texanfournow]

Austin, just wanted to say I enjoyed your demo here more than usual. Maybe it's the Fender single coils...I was starting to get a Nirvana vibe!

[@draleigh8881]

man i wish i could get a rosewood neck for my mustang in olympic white. now that would look cool!

[@pixieloco]

love me a guitar that you need to disassemble entirely to adjust the truss rod.

[@bipbipletucha]

Woooooweeee does that bad boy sound good!

[@ciaindeed8657]

Trogly, speaking of superstrats...... Please do a review of the HM Strat! That would be fun.

[@Nomad-Rogers]

Talk about a shielded pickguard. They are getting closer to true vintage thou If I was fender I would just use Lace Sensor Holy Grails that has that classic strat tone nailed. And yes should have had Gold hardwire.

[@the_nondrive_side]

Looking at those pickups.. Specifically the middle.. That isnt RWRP is it?

[@metallica9999999]

Your amp sounds way better now

[@kentfranklin736]

This guitar is the Fender version of the Les Paul Studio premium plus. Looking forwards to the neck swap. Will look more like 0001. Are you gonna swap the tuners too?

[@HMan2828]

Would be nicer with a pickguard and back plate cut from a rosewood veneer to add some contrast, and continuance with the neck... All hardware gold of course... It does sound really good for a strat though... I find they usually sound dull and muffled.

[@PierceThirlen2]

I think that Strats would look much better with NO top routing other than the pickup holes. I always thought that the big plastic pickguard on a Strat, Tele, or Jazzmaster looked really cheezy and cheap. That's one of the reasons that I prefer most Gibsons. At some point I will be replacing the pickguard and pickup rings on my '72 ES-335 with wooden ones.

[@nigellacey559]

So diggin the rosewood necks

[@bnastali]

And, of course, the metal pickguard cuts down on noise of the electro-type!

[@sassycat]

I like the classic sounding one over the modern sounding one.

[@strat0871]

Gold anodized pickguard were also on precision basses starting 1957. I prefer modern playability with flatter radius, but I don't like so much those "luxury" strats, a classic one looks better to me.

[@PierceThirlen2]

I suspect that the finish problem near the screws is because they DIDN'T drill pilot holes for the screws. That is always a mark of less than stellar workmanship. WIth the CNC machines that they use to make guitar bodies these days there is NO reason NOT to drill pilot holes as part of the CNC operation when making the body. No pilot hole is also what cracked the hole in that double neck SG that you just reviewed.

[@ChristianCaldeira]

Interesting strat! Solid video review/demo. Don't know any other muso review channels that open up the guitars so we can see the guts :) Side note, the presenter sounds like comedian Joe Machi :P

[@mrbesserwisser7447]

To my ears it sounds more or less like a normal Strat w RW fingerboard. Maybe a bit fatter, but that can also be the amp. It has a beautiful top indeed, so that may be worth the price in itself

[@peterlostig]

Wouldn't it be a cool idea to make a "Trogly's myth busting" show? I think you are the right one to busting all guitar myths ✌️😉

[@livefromadive6751]

The maple top is interesting. If they had just laid that thin maple of top of a normal body, before contouring the maple would taper out back to alder in the forearm bevel. But seeing that it does not do that, I would guess the alder was beveled and the maple was bent over it.

[@ericaudet7350]

Wouldnt the pickguard be noise resistant like insulating the cavity?

[@phillipbainbridge9107]

First thing I noticed was the ashtray. Still on the fence about it.

[@Don_of_the_Dad]

I don’t have the rarities series, but I have an American professional with a rosewood neck like this guitar. It’s cool, but it feels really weird. You have to have a couple weeks with a rosewood neck before you can get comfortable with it.

[@colinlillich]

You should try out the fender mod shop sometime...there’s not really any good reviews on it and I’d like to see your specs

[@nizodizo9549]

I am glad you are doing Fender now.

[@LCMSM]

Why are you planning to swap necks? What neck would you use?

[@Holtenstein]

Yeah, you gotta take off the ashtray and it won't look so bad. It's ugly but I like it and the vintage vibe. Although the truss rod adjustments should never require neck removal. Not fun. Yes, that's a finish defect on the back. I don't keep trem covers on the back so that would stand out!

[@juanblanco3187]

I know I know I'm late but I just bought one of these and it is a gem. Plays fantastic the rosewood neck is just killer and feels great. I Love the P Us too. But the reason I'm writing really is to say that I think you are mainly a Gibson Guy ,from what I can tell) so I think you are misinterpreting The rattle of the springs for the middle PU rattling. stuff a piece of cloth or tissue in around the strings to deaden them.

[@ethan-el1zq]

Would like to see a mocha brown three bolt strat from the 70s

[@Spartanm333]

On the Strats - interestingly Fender Master Builder Ron Thorn chose a modern design for playability (on a Squire challenge) noting that the vintage specs can be harder to get along with especially if you are playing lead up and down the fret board. I thought this was a very honest comment at the time (since vintage generally = more money). Full video here: if you don't mind Trogly :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZasaXWejdV1iKM . TBH, personally I feel the same way on LPs - the idea of a (genuine vintage) is nice or a reproduction but the reality is how it feels and plays in your hands (and getting the tone - vintage doesn't necessarily mean the guitar rings or is guaranteed sustain and tone). It's back to what feels best for you as a player, not specs and marketing.

[@Mcsteveberry]

always love a nice crisp piece

[@kravensoda6038]

Beautiful strats bro.... N' good video. Xheers Trogly! Likd 224

[@honkytonkinson9787]

This guitar belongs in a portrait studio from the early 80s. It just needs a matching Kangol hat

[@TK-fk4po]

The look of this thing pretty much sells it for me.