Here it is, the Stratocaster that I often refer to as “the first”, “the original”or if I’m channeling my inner Stevie, my “Number One”
because it is the first American made Stratocaster (and guitar) that I’ve owned. It was a birthday present from my wife, though I did spend many hours picking it out from all of the strats at the local guitar super store. It’s an ash bodied American Standard with a Sienna Burst paint job and Custom Shop Fat 50s in all 3 positions. The maple neck is well finished with the edges rolled nicely and the fret ends filed smooth. It has a beautiful, subtle wave like grain with a birthmark on the third fret and consistently impresses me in that it feels more like a nicely worn in neck then some Custom Shop necks I’ve tried in the past.
It really exemplifies a guitar who’s tone rings out loud and long. Recently when hammering in a nail into my recently finished basement wall, the same wall where my guitars were hanging, I could hear exactly how different my guitars were acoustically. My recently acquired John Mayer Signature Strat rang out significantly longer then my Black American Standard and my Gold Strat Copy, but my Sienna Strat rang out for what seemed like double the length and volume of even the John Mayer. The neck and body of this guitar are just matched perfectly and the setup from the store was perfect, so much so that I use those measurements to setup the rest of my strats.
Pickups are great all around pickups for The Strat Sound. Bold and punchy but undeniably single coil with sweet tones in the 2 and 4 positions (standard 5-way switch). The bridge pickup is a little shrill at full blast, but thankfully the second tone pot is wired so that you can roll back some of the harshness to get some great rock tones. I run the bridge decked with 5 springs holding it down (no block) so I can’t comment on the tuning stability when using the whammy bar, but I have no reason to doubt it would be fine for normal use.
All in all I am often seduced into playing one of my other, more interesting strats, but every time I plug this beauty in I am reminded why I chose her in the first place. Tone for days and a comfort in playing that makes you want to forget about pedals and just lay back on a comfy couch and play out the rest of your days, and that is exactly how long I intend to keep her.