From: jeff@quake.sylmar.ca.us
Subject: Re: Strat pricing
Organization: Quake Public Access, San Fernando Valley, CA (818)362-6092
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 14:22:45 GMT

In article <55256@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> shaltbj2@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Beetle Futons Shaltbj2 Computers) writes:
>If you are looking to buy a Strat and can hold out til XMAS time, do so.
>Guitar Center, just outside Chicago, has a year end sell on all of their
>equipment.  They have a special sale on Strat's.  Last year, they were
>selling them for $250  <---yes, a NEW Strat for $250.  
>
>If I hear about the sale, I will definitely post.  For those in the Chicago
>area, check it out.  It is a really nice store, and every selling holiday
>occassion, they have good sales.

Did you happen to note where they were made?

There are quite a few Guitar Centers here in California - in the LA area,
one in Hollywood, another in Sherman Oaks, one in West Covina...  (that
one may not be still there - I haven't seen it mentioned lately)  San 
Francisco and San Diego come to mind as well, and the mailers come from
the warehouse in Chatsworth.  I *have* heard that the Chicago store is 
pretty nice.

Though I've done pretty well at them, they have the reputation of being
kind of like the equivalent of "Al's Used Cars" - lots of salesmanship
and hype.  One thing you can say, their sale prices are usually pretty
good, they have a lot of buying power with so many stores...
To be fair, I have had both good and bad salespeople there...

Also, one of my favorite lines is "Oh, that's right, this weekend is the
`Once a Year Guitar Blowout at Guitar Center they hold about twice a
month'"  They usually saturate the local airwaves with their high-energy
hyped up ads, and occasionally a flyer ends up in my mailbox (they ARE
fun to look through).  It seems like there's USUALLY a Strat in there.
I'd recommend getting on their mailing list...

All that said, and actually having taken advantage of one of their
Strat sales, a few observations:

As mentioned here before, a Strat can be many things - yes, it will say
Fender on it, but I've noticed many sites of manufacture, including
Taiwan and Mexico.  I'm not convinced that this is totally bad, though
it's been noted that the quality on many of the imports is not incredible.

I bought my first Strat at the West Covina store in about '84 or so,
Japanese made (but not a Squier), for $299 plus case.  Black with 
white three layer pickguard, 22 frets, a thickish maple neck I've come 
to like.  It has a locking nut and fine tuning bridge which I have a 
love-hate relationship with - the strings end up in the corners of the 
three "compartments" of the locking nut, and I tend to break strings 
on this guitar more than I do on my 1979 Anniversary Strat.  It is 
easy to tune and adjust the action though, and its a lot LOUDER than 
the '79 - not sure why.  Also a lot lighter, but the '79 is the 
HEAVIEST Strat I've ever picked up, on the order of a Les Paul...  
When I got it, Japanese Strats were not considered to be "good" 
Strats, though today they're seemingly in higher regard than some of 
the other import Fenders.  

Someone in this newsgroup had something good to say about Mexican
Strats, but I can't remember specifically what.  Looking at some
recent messages that I saved, I notice Charlie Bennett likes his 
Japanese Strat which he also paid $250 for; that seems like a good
deal.  Charlie, that's a great breakdown you supplied on the Strat
differences - will make a great foundation for a FAQ, something
I'd still like to do if I can get the time... didn't get much 
feedback about one though when I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago
so maybe it's not desired or deemed necessary here?  

Also, a friend told me that Guitar Center recently offered *American*
Strats for less than $300 - I can't confirm this, must've missed
that radio ad...  makes me wonder, though.

There's a guitar "ghetto" in Hollywood, maybe eight or ten stores in
a three block area;  G.C., Carvin, etc...  I'll have to make a field 
trip soon and report...  (about thirty minutes from here by freeway)   
Should be interesting.

-Jeff
Xref: sparky alt.guitar:6322 rec.music.makers:8473 rec.music.bluenote:5835