- 2 months ago
A detailed sound demonstration and comparison of two similarly priced Fender Stratocasters. Discover the unique sonic characteristics of the Vintera II Road Worn 60s Strat (Made in Mexico) and the American Professional Classic Strat (Made in USA). From neck pickup warmth to bridge pickup bite, hear them both in action.
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MusicTranscript
00:12Hi it's Richard from Guitarist here and I want to show you two strats one made in Mexico one
00:19made in the US they're a similar price and a similar spec it's not so much a comparison of
00:25the tones between the two because they are slightly different construction but we want to know what
00:31you're getting for your money and should you decide to buy one of these where you might want to put
00:37your
01:05money
01:14so
01:20so
01:30guitar solo
01:59guitar solo
02:21It's the Vintero II 60s Rode 1 Strat.
02:26As you can see, it's a sonic blue rosewood slab board.
02:31Let's have a bit of a talk and a play through and I'll go into some of the specs as
02:35we go.
02:35So plugged into the Studio Vox AC15 with a slightly edgy clean sound.
02:53These pickups are the vintage 60s style, so they're about 5.5k, they're about slightly less than that.
03:02They're not a calibrated set. The bridge pickup isn't more powerful, but you can balance them out.
03:07You can't just have the bridge pickup higher. That's the classic look with strats.
03:10That's how they made them back in the 60s and that's what this guitar is all about.
03:15So have a listen to a couple more sounds.
03:40These in-between positions are not hum cancelling.
03:43There's not a reverse wound, reverse polarity pickup in the middle because that isn't how Fender made them back in
03:51the 60s.
03:52So you've nevertheless got that lovely stringy sound.
04:06This guitar's got quite a warm sound to it, which could be down to the pickup wind.
04:11It could also be down to the rosewood slab board.
04:14It's impossible to say really, but it does sit in something of a sweet spot.
04:18mouse
04:22for it.
04:32This guitar!
04:32Here we go!
04:34Let's bring it back on your electronics.
04:36I put it early in, what if you can add based in the pipes?
04:37You didn't carry it back on me and name again.
04:47You don't carry it.
04:48There is any lights.
04:49so there you go with the classic middle and bridge let's pull that down to the bridge now
04:54I'm not using any tone controls on anything here this is the flat out raw sound of the bridge pickup
05:09I have to say that's very easy on the ear indeed quite often with the strat you'll flick down to
05:15the bridge pickup and wish for something with a little bit less top end having said that this
05:20guitar does cater for that because there's the well what was a very popular mod for people with
05:26vintage strats is to wire the tone control so that you have this extra control over the bridge pickup
05:33in this case this tone control here which would traditionally be the neck controls the neck and
05:41middle so we can have leaving this tone control exclusively for the bridge pickup so coming back
05:53to about six or seven we can keep some twang but we can just tame that extra what people call
06:03the ice
06:04picky edge this guitar isn't particularly guilty of that in my opinion but with a bit of drive and
06:10certainly a bit of volume they're flicking between the neck and the bridge it's quite nice to not have
06:17that clang let's have it wide open again
06:40so that's swapping between about six and a half on the tone control I'm moving it by ear rather than
06:46by
06:47the numbers so there's a really good case for each of those sounds rather than saying ouch I need to
06:52turn that tone control down it's just a choice between whether you want to go slightly fuller
06:56sounding or whether you want more of that traditional strat twang which it has plenty of with lots of body
07:02in the tone so having heard some sounds let's get into the specs in a bit more detail as I
07:10said earlier
07:10this is the 60s style and in keeping with that and with it being road worn
07:16it's a nitro cellulose body and neck finish and though it's not immediately apparent
07:22the original road worn series came out of Mexico in about 2009
07:27and though there were great guitars and they were very popular
07:30they've refined their aging process a bit I think since then
07:33so the nitro has got a nice checking that you see in certain lights and that is on the body
07:41and on the neck and on the face of the headstock as well
07:45so let's be methodical about this I'm going to start at the headstock
07:49we've got the standard Klusen type split tuners
07:53we have a what Fender are calling a 60s C neck
07:59it's quite slim it's not one of the chunky ones it's a lovely shape though
08:03we have the vintage radius 7.25
08:07we have what Fender are calling narrow vintage tall frets on here
08:14on the slab rosewood board
08:16the clay dots and position markers
08:20standard four bolt fixing to the body
08:23the body's an older body
08:26it's routed for three singles as you would expect
08:30though interestingly their bodies are finished and then they're routed
08:34so inside the route there's no paint
08:38the standard 250k tone pots that I've mentioned the blade selector
08:42the vintage style bridge
08:44this has got the vintage slightly wider string spacing
08:48so more modern strats come with a slightly narrower string spacing
08:57the difference is minimal
08:58underneath there you've got a die cast block
09:01it's not deep drilled or anything like that
09:03it's very standard but it works pretty well
09:05standard screw in arm
09:07at some point in this guitar's future
09:10maybe someone's going to put a bit of PTFE tape
09:12on the threads to stop it wobbling around
09:15but at the moment it works great
09:19as you can see I've swapped over to the American Pro Classic Strat
09:24this is the US built one
09:26it costs about 150 UK pounds more than the other one
09:30so it's very very close in price
09:31what I intend to do here is to have a talk and a play
09:35like I did with the other one
09:36then we'll get into the specs in more detail
09:39so let's start with the neck pickup
09:57the first thing that strikes me
10:00picking up this guitar and playing it
10:03is that I'm really noticing
10:04that the pickups are a different voicing really
10:08they are called the Coastline pickups
10:12they've got a few more winds on them
10:14than the vintage 60s type on the other guitar
10:17these are a little bit over 6k
10:21and I do feel that you hear it
10:23obviously a different guitar
10:24different piece of wood in the neck and body
10:26it's impossible to absolutely empirically state
10:29that that is the thing that's making the difference
10:32but I believe that it is a significant part
10:35of the difference in tone
10:36especially as we have a maple board
10:38which is traditionally thought of as brighter
10:41but this guitar isn't really brighter
10:43it's got a bit more heft
10:45maybe it goes lower and higher actually
10:48on reflection it's more bottom end
10:50and a little bit more top
10:51let's have a listen to a few more sounds
10:53I'm going to go with the in-between settings here
10:56which are hum cancelling
10:57so that's one of the more modern features we have
11:17let's go middle
11:43okay that sounds pretty satisfying to me
11:46let's go for the bridge and middle
12:03some nice sparkle happening there
12:05still lots of body to the tone
12:10right now let's go for the raw
12:12I mean wide open
12:14no tone controls turned down
12:16or anything like that
12:16the bridge pickup
12:24so I'm getting a much more edgy sound there
12:28we do have the low end
12:29but I'm hearing a bit more snarl in the top end
12:32what I'd like to do
12:34is flick between the neck and the bridge
12:36and then start messing around
12:38with these tone controls
12:39because they're a little bit fancier
12:41than on the other guitar
12:42I'll talk you through that
12:53that's quite a cruel thing to do to any strat
12:56hear the neck pickup
12:57then flick to the bridge pickup
12:58without the tone control down a bit
13:00but as you can hear they are reasonably well balanced
13:03even without having done any jiggery pokery
13:06but what I would like to do
13:07is bring this down say to about seven
13:10see what we get
13:11this configuration is identical to the other guitar
13:15in that we have one tone control for the neck and middle
13:19and one tone control exclusively dedicated to the bridge
13:22so these are the grease bucket tone controls
13:25which essentially are a slightly more tweaked version
13:29of your standard control fender
13:30don't publish the specs
13:32but we have a capacitor and a resistor going on in there
13:40what I'm going to do is talk you through
13:43this is wide open
13:48down to about six
13:53I'm hearing an effect here in the room
13:55but it is more subtle
13:56so I'm going to go down further
13:58I'm going to go down to about four
14:05up to five
14:13so wide open again
14:23I don't know how much the difference is coming across
14:26but as the player who's hitting the strings
14:29and getting that instant feedback
14:30I'm liking being down at about six
14:33for that bridge pickup
14:34and I suppose we should have a little bit of a look
14:38at how the grease bucket works on the neck
14:40to turn the guitar up to do so
14:43so genius
14:51I mean that's really quite bloaty down there
14:57mind you could
15:04that's wide open
15:12what is that
15:13about five
15:14between five and six
15:15I have to squint
15:16because I'm not wearing my readers
15:27it's pretty versatile
15:28I mean
15:30how much
15:31how much that matters on the
15:34the neck pickup is
15:35depends on the kind of player you are
15:37personally
15:37I really like the extra versatility
15:39of the grease bucket circuit
15:41on the bridge
15:42it seems a little bit more refined
15:45though this guitar does have
15:47that slightly different voice
15:48I was talking about
15:49where I think it goes lower and higher
15:55there's still a sweetness to it
15:57but it's maybe not as sweet as the other guitar
16:00I don't know
16:06well I think it's time to get into a bit more detail
16:09about the specs on this
16:10because there are some modern refinements
16:12so maybe going from the headstock end first
16:15we have this satin finish maple neck
16:18that's a nine and a half inch radius board
16:21but before I get ahead of myself
16:23we have these classic gear staggered tuners
16:26they're an 18 to 1 ratio
16:28so there's super fine control
16:31the low E and A
16:33are taller than the other posts
16:36so this gives you a slightly better angle
16:39over the nut
16:40so when you've got that one string retainer
16:43which is up on quite a tall washer
16:44you don't want too much of an angle
16:46that can lead to sticking
16:47so little refinements like that
16:48are all in place
16:49which is great
16:51they are medium jumbo frets
16:53on this guitar
16:55I've told you about the radius already
16:58standard join with the body
17:00no special angles or micro tilts
17:02anything like that
17:03we have these finishes
17:06which there are more finishes available
17:08on this particular guitar
17:09this is an illimited edition
17:10it's a faded version
17:13and I think that it's probably not nitro
17:17it doesn't smell like nitro
17:20but that isn't a problem per se
17:23we have the very standard
17:26kind of vintage mint green look here
17:28we have what looks like a standard bridge
17:31but actually this is a slightly narrower
17:34modern spacing here
17:36which is very nice
17:38I mean it does mean that you've got less chance
17:40of pulling the strings off up there
17:42because that can be a complaint
17:44about the more vintage spec
17:46and I'd like to say a little bit more about that later
17:49concerning the other guitar
17:50so narrower string spacing here
17:53and this fretboard the nut width
17:56is about a millimeter more
17:58on this guitar
17:5943 and a half on this guitar
18:0242.2 on the other guitar
18:04so that does put us into a different camp
18:10as far as the feeling goes
18:12this is a modern C
18:13it's slightly shallower
18:15very comfortable
18:16not too thin
18:17sometimes a really thin neck
18:19can actually feel quite uncomfortable
18:20I think
18:22slightly more chamfering on the body
18:25the weight
18:26this guitar is ever so slightly lighter
18:29than the other one
18:29it's about seven and a half pounds
18:31whereas the other one
18:32is more like seven and three quarters
18:34so underneath here
18:36is a steel block
18:37that's deep drilled
18:38that's more like the vintage
18:40it can lead to better tuning stability
18:42it's a little bit fancier
18:44it's slightly higher spec
18:46now one or two more things
18:48about the neck
18:49before we finish here
18:5022nd fret
18:52very obvious
18:53and we have of course
18:54this truss rod
18:55which is not accessed
18:57in the usual 60s vintage place
18:59but this is a two-way truss rod
19:01accessed at the top
19:03so it's easier to live with
19:05you know
19:05you don't have to be loosening anything
19:07or taking necks off etc
19:13so which one would you buy?
19:16I guess it depends
19:17what you're looking for
19:18I know that
19:19from my own perspective
19:21I've always liked the 60s
19:22I like the slab board
19:24I like the aesthetic
19:25I do like the flatter radius
19:28that leads to a better setup
19:29for this guitar
19:31what are you looking at
19:32about 1,349
19:35that's in a gig bag
19:36for the US made
19:39you're looking at 1,499
19:42also in a gig bag
19:43and to be fair
19:45you are actually getting
19:47a slightly
19:48quote-unquote
19:49higher spec guitar
19:51for your money there
19:52so that's worth thinking about
19:54and that's available
19:55in a variety of finishes
19:56and it's available
19:57with a rosewood board
19:58just as this is available
20:00I think just in black
20:01this limited edition version
20:03but it's available
20:04with a maple neck too
20:05so there are a few options
20:07you can mix and match
20:08the spec between the two
20:10to an extent
20:11and well personally
20:13I've already said
20:16and I'll say again
20:17I really really like
20:19this sonic blue
20:20but I do have to say
20:23there is one thing about it
20:24which has troubled me
20:26and that is the cutting
20:28of the nut here
20:29I did notice that
20:30it wasn't superbly
20:31well finished there
20:32though you could put that
20:33down to the road worn
20:37styling if you like
20:38but I just noticed
20:39that the spacing
20:40of the strings
20:41while it's perfectly
20:42even going across the nut
20:43we have ended up
20:44with this low E
20:45being quite close
20:46to the fret ends
20:47in my opinion
20:48too close
20:49I would have to change
20:51the nut out
20:53on this guitar
20:54and to be fair
20:55to Fender
20:56I would say
20:57that that's the first time
20:58having played
21:01probably hundreds
21:02of them
21:03and hundreds of Mexican
21:04Fenders
21:05specifically
21:06I've never seen that before
21:08so I would
21:10like to point that out
21:12I don't think
21:13that the Mexican guitars
21:14are inherently
21:15worse quality
21:16they're just
21:16a different spec
21:19if
21:21this didn't have
21:22that problem
21:22I might be looking
21:23to create a distraction
21:24while I snuck it
21:25into the boot
21:26of my car
21:29so
21:30these are both
21:31great guitars
21:33personally
21:34I'd probably go
21:35with this Mexican
21:37because I kind of like
21:39the vintage appointments
21:40though obviously
21:41it does have that issue
21:42with the nut
21:43what I would certainly do
21:44and would recommend
21:45anyone watching this video
21:46thinking about buying
21:47one of these does
21:48is go to a shop
21:50and try the actual guitar
21:52that you're going to buy
21:53and then you can keep
21:54an eye out for little
21:55things like that
21:56and just get a feeling
21:57from the guitar
21:58a long time ago
21:59in the 90s
22:00I worked in a dealership
22:01which bought in
22:02a big batch
22:03of Japanese strats
22:04and it was my job
22:06to unbox
22:07and clean
22:07and tune up
22:08and put them out
22:09on display
22:09and I did notice
22:10at the time
22:11that some of those
22:12guitars were perfectly okay
22:13some of them were great
22:14and it was very hard
22:15to put your finger on why
22:17so
22:17I think
22:18it's important
22:19to actually have
22:20the thing in your hands
22:20before you make
22:21that decision
22:22and I'll see you