1979 Fender Stratocaster 25th Anniversary

[El Gringo]

IMNMO (in my narrow minded opinion) the 3 bolt was not a good move at all. i have some 70's strats that look cool, one blonde has bearclaw on the body, another has bar tan top to bottom all matching nicotene yellow, they were also cheap to buy, however the 3 bolt thing if you really pay ettention allows the neck to flex out of tune easier. i,m going to glue my necks in (stone him!) another thing ive never picked up a 70's strat where the neck just grabbed me like a good 57 neck or something.
the closest one would be a black 72 strat with a maple neck, its decent. the best sounding one is a sunburst 73 hardtail, its feather light too. i knew when i picked it up and plugged it in it was gonna be around a while. it does however have the milktoast average feeling 70's fretboard as so many of those do.
the best fender neck i have with a fretboardt to die for is a 66 bound jazzmaster neck. the body is refinned blue with glitter on it (yay!). and some other kind of pickups.it supposedly belonged to waylon jennings guitar player.

Total agreement with in regards to the infamous Micro Tilt neck adjustment 3 bolt neck plate . A real head scratcher for sure . I have to think it was some half baked attempt by the geniuses at CBS running Fender to cut some more costs and thus squeeze some more profits somewhere .

 

[Uncle D]

I’ve a 1979 black telecaster custom. Great shape but also apparent paint issue. Perimeter alligatored/cracked all around the edge only. Strange. Did this finish issue extend to other colors/models?

 

[somebodyelseuk]

The necks moved, because they drilled the screw holes in the bodies too big and the made the neck pockets too loose. Nothing to do with having just 3 screws.

 

[Stiggs]

I wanted a SA since I saw Lifeson play one on the Moving Pictures tour in ‘81. They’re all heavy, I think mine’s just a smidge >9lbs.

 

[Wilko]

Nothing wrong with a well set up three bolt micro-tilt. There are easy tricks.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

The necks moved, because they drilled the screw holes too big and the made the neck pockets too loose. Nothing to do with having just 3 screws.

An old post, but going to offer up my late night a few drinks deep 2cents again for the umpteenth thousanth time.....

Firstly, if you're relying on three screws and your bit is wavering too much on the press the guitar is going to have a big problem when it's strung up. So that theory has some holes, IMO.

Ergo, when I was first told this bit of hearsay I didn't know what to think but here it is: Regardless of fitment, the big issue with micro-tilt was that you were given the adjustment tool. Users thought you could just adjust the neck (without consulting the instructions) on the fly like you do the truss rod. So, they stuck the allen wrench in for adjustment while the screws were tight and thus stripped the neck screws or the adjuster. And, when this would happen....no one would admit to doing it! (funny how that works) Hence, there are a certain portion of 3-bolts out there that needed filling and re-drilling, and/or new adjustment screws.

Second, I still dig the right late 70's maple neck strat. The combination of the thick and annoying fretboard finish plus some girth plus the non-staggered pickups when plugged into a Twin make for a tone almost exactly like a dialed in tele + dynacomp right out of the box. There's a natural compression there that's super funky to my ears.

 

[somebodyelseuk]

An old post, but going to offer up my late night a few drinks deep 2cents again for the umpteenth thousanth time.....

Firstly, if you're relying on three screws and your bit is wavering too much on the press the guitar is going to have a big problem when it's strung up. So that theory has some holes, IMO.

Ergo, when I was first told this bit of hearsay I didn't know what to think but here it is: Regardless of fitment, the big issue with micro-tilt was that you were given the adjustment tool. Users thought you could just adjust the neck (without consulting the instructions) on the fly like you do the truss rod. So, they stuck the allen wrench in for adjustment while the screws were tight and thus stripped the neck screws or the adjuster. And, when this would happen....no one would admit to doing it! (funny how that works) Hence, there are a certain portion of 3-bolts out there that needed filling and re-drilling, and/or new adjustment screws.

Second, I still dig the right late 70's maple neck strat. The combination of the thick and annoying fretboard finish plus some girth plus the non-staggered pickups when plugged into a Twin make for a tone almost exactly like a dialed in tele + dynacomp right out of the box. There's a natural compression there that's super funky to my ears.

If you drill the holes in the body too big, fifty screws won't save it from moving around.
Leo Fender proved he could make three screws work when he was at Musicman and G&L.

 

[Wilko]

There's a natural compression there that's super funky to my ears.

That bugged the crap out of me at the time. though I didn't find it like a compresor. The lower dynamics just disappeared. exactly why a compressor is needed. I have to 70s maples now. One with stock pickups, one with MIJ ceramics. I'm really enjoying the higher output and fatter tone. the 70s just are too thin sounding compared to my pre CBS.

 

[Dave P]

My brother had a really good silver anniversary Strat. It was super lightweight and sounded really good. Most were fairly heavy. I think he traded it towards a 58 Strat he owned for a few years.

 

[willmunny]

If was in the market for a cool "70s"guitar in that price bracket, I would have to consider an avri

American Vintage II 1973 Stratocaster® | Electric Guitars

American Vintage II 1973 Stratocaster®, Maple Fingerboard, Lake Placid Blue

www.fender.com

Just my 2c

 

[Amp360]

I had a white one with the finish issue. It looked like a hard-boiled egg that had been dropped. Not the best sounding or playing Stratocaster, but I think I paid about $400 or $500 for it. I've played a lot of the silver ones over the years as well.

I would rather have an 87-93 USA Strat.

 

[Gridlock]

My, ‘79 with has custom Shop pickups and a few other changes. I paid $1600 for the guitar a couple of years ago.

It was heavy for a Strat, at an estimated 9 lbs. but my only dislike, was that it was a 4-piece body. Sold it, but I’m tempted to buy another ‘70s Stratocaster someday.