NGD – American Deluxe 2005 Strat

[Mark H]

Amaaaazing instrument, I’m so happy! Got it for a steal of price.

[sunjamr]

Same as mine, and it’s my favorite guitar in the world. Why? Sure the tone is great, but mainly it’s the most comfortable guitar I’ve ever played. Perfect weight and balance, perfect neck size, nice slippery varnished maple fretboard, cable comes out at the logical spot, strap attaches at the optimum points. And those are some of the reasons it’s the most popular guitar in the world.

Sunjamr Steve

[charjo]

Congrats, Mark. You didn’t even have to pay up for the journeyman relicing. All kidding aside, it’s nice to not have to worry about the first nick. I’ll be looking for the first post.

John

[Mark H]

LOL, great minds think alike… I did actually ask him if there was any extra charge for the relicing! 😉

[Richard W]

Congrats, Mark. There is something so right about the look of a sunburst Strat.

[Mark H]

Thanks Richard. Yes, it’s possible to commence to overthink what color you want when you start considering a new guitar. When it’s a single item on craigslist it’s dead easy, you only have one choice. 🙂

It has the S1 push switch on the volume knob which gives you a total of 10 different pickup configurations; when the switch is up it’s the 5 stock Strat combinations. When it’s down you get 5 more, including all three pickups simultaneously, and some mysterious voodoo trick called capacitor switching on some settings. I’m having fun experimenting.

I got it for $875, roughly half of what it would have cost in 2005. Basically it’s a forerunner to the current Strat Ultra range. I think I prefer the SCN pickups on this to the Ultra’s latest noiseless ones, though I confess I’ve not played one, only listened to them online.

It has other goodies; Fender/Schaller locking tuners, 2 point tremelo (I will leave it where it is now, decked). It has the micro tilt adjuster at the neck block, abalone fretboard markers, all completely stock… Man, what a deal!

[San Luis Rey]

Congrats Mark! That guitar is set up just the way I like with a 9.5 radius on a maple neck. Great choice, enjoy!

Mike

[Mark H]

Thanks Mike, it’s a good one for sure.

[John H]

Congrats Mark… what a great find. You must be excited. Can’t wait to hear it!

John

[Mark H]

Thanks John, yes, I’m very excited. Its playability and tones have far exceeded my expectations.

I’m still working out the second five switching options. I’ve found various diagrams online from different years; Fender issued the American Deluxes with the S1 switch’s down positions wired to activate different circuits throughout the life of the range.

I’ll be putting it on the bench and going through it with a multimeter and notebook tomorrow to see what I’ve got.

[snakechisler]

Nice guitar I had exact same one for a few years I’m not really fussed about original stuff and really liked the noiseless pickups.

I switched to a custom for various reasons but not because the Strat wasn’t a dam fine guitar

[Mark H]

Thanks snakechisler. I also like the noiseless pickups and don’t miss the 60 cycle hum and other artifacts. Besides, you can always add them back in with some outboard gear in the signal chain, should you really want to. It’s very nice to have it under control.

[Author]

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