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NGD! 73 Stratocaster - in full CBS-era glory!

Progrocker111

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
4,013
Just pulled the trigger and bought a Strat after a long time. Its a alder/rosewood 1973 all original Strat (well, except a common 5 way switch). :) Very lightweigt, with suprisingly deep and woody tone with lots of mids and airiness. Combined with quacky and snappy early 70s staggered poles pickups its a pure 70s Ritchie Blackmore machine, very musical Strat. Simply very funny guitar for 70s rock. :dude: I have had positive experiences with these early 70s Strats, they still are very similar in tone to late 60s ones from my experience.

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Dave P

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2001
Messages
976
Nice! I have a pair of 75 Strats, one is lightweight and one is a tank. LOL
 

Midnight Blues

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,703
I love '70s Strats, especially the headstocks! Congrats Prog, HNGD
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and play her in good health!
 

Anje

Active member
Joined
Jan 3, 2002
Messages
1,170
Nice clean one congrats; I also love those big Headstock Strat, and yes you can find some great ones from the early/mid 70's.
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
I had the exact same guitar for a long time - sunburst, rosewood, 1973. Very beat up. Sounded great, even given my struggle with Strats.

Well done on this one - looks in good condition. Will it need a refret to get the bends going on?
 

gary buff

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2001
Messages
107
Hope you have better luck with yours than I did with my natural finish mpl neck '73 I bought in '75. It was hard to play, sounded thin and wouldn't stay in tune. In short, one of the worst guitars I've owned out of many. Sold soon after for an early 70s LP Custom as many did back then--thing played fine even with the stock small frets and sounded great through a Marshall, unlike the Strat.

So I got a "bad" Strat and a "good" LP--again, hope your Strat is "good"!

Gary
 
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deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
I had a '73 for a short period too, I don't think I've ever had so many "tone" compliments as when I had that guitar. Long story short, the shop I taught at offered it to me for what they paid, which was nothing, but after paying off 50% of it I hit hard times. It was a sunburst/rosewood model too, total beaut.

Congrats!
 

cincyguitar

Active member
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
431
Congrats on the new 73 Strat dude.....hope it sounds as good as it looks !
 

Texsunburst59

Active member
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
765
Congrats on killer score!

I picked up a my '75 Fender Mocha Strat a few years ago in a trade for my $500 Fender Tele.

Mine has a slim neck and is also weighs just a hair over 7 lbs.

The pickups on this guitar sound amazing.

Here's a couple of pics.

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The Shifter

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
3,397
Congrats on killer score!

I picked up a my '75 Fender Mocha Strat a few years ago in a trade for my $500 Fender Tele.

Mine has a slim neck and is also weighs just a hair over 7 lbs.

The pickups on this guitar sound amazing.

Here's a couple of pics.

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Oh man, it's good to see this guitar again. I love this one.
 

The Shifter

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
3,397
Killer SB Strat, progrocker! That bridge looks crazy clean.

Since we're posting '73s here's mine. It was kind of a mess when I got it. Had a G&L wiring harness on a single ply white guard.
I tracked down a 1973 pickguard and put in a Fender Custom Shop '69 set. I figured that was close as I could get to '73 without buying an OG set.
It's been re-fretted and pretty much the only things original to the guitar are the neck and body. Super lightweight.
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