My take on the Fender JV Modified '60s Stratocaster
Is this the true dream late-'60s design Strat players have been wanting for years?
I played one of these recently with the intention of buying it, but I didn't. On paper, this guitar is perfect. In reality, it's a different story.
For those not aware, my favorite Fender headstock design of all time is the 1968 and 1969 Stratocaster. I literally just saw a real one in person recently at the time I write this. I also recently bought a new Squier Affinity Strat specifically because of the late '60s-ish big design.
The Fender JV Modified '60s Stratocaster at first glance appears to be the perfect "modern '69". Same logo treatment, great color, none of the annoyances present on the real '69, and extra modern goodies.
Some quick specs: The JV comes in one color, Olympic White with urethane top coat, and that's totally okay. 25.5" scale, 9.5" fingerboard radius, medium jumbo fret wire, "Vintage-Style Single-Coil Strat" pickups (I don't know if they're alnico or ceramic), basswood body. There is a push-pull for Tone 2 to add in the neck pickup for positions 1, 2 and 3. The headstock face is glossed while the rest of the neck is satin finished.
Unlike the real '69, the truss rod adjustment is at the headstock; this is a very welcome thing. There isn't any black there on purpose to conceal it as much as possible and is smartly done.
So in other words, it totally looks like a '69 but is a very modern guitar, hence why it's a "modified" model and not a reissue.
Perfect, right?
Nope.
Some guitars you just can't connect with
The JV is a made-in-Japan guitar, and it is high quality construction. The build was great, no problems with the frets nor the nut nor anything else.
There are only two things I can nitpick about the guitar. The push-pull on Tone 2 was a little stiff, and the color of the neck could have been a little better. That's it. Again, both are nitpicks and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the rest of the guitar.
I just could not connect with the JV, even though I really wanted to. This was the design I wanted and it totally has the look. But after playing it, there wasn't enough there to win me over and buy it.
If you're not nitpicky like me...
...then you will love this guitar. It's 100% Strat through and through, modern in all the right ways with that oh-so awesome '69 look. And with the push-pull you can get some Telecaster-ish sounds out of it too. The guitar needs nothing and no upgrades are required.
I couldn't connect with the guitar personally, but don't let that stop you from getting one. Japan definitely built this one correctly.
However, if the price puts you off (and it probably will), remember the Squier Affinity Stratocaster. That guitar is a cheap way to get the big headstock Fender look.
This is why some guys can't stand the CBS era Fender Stratocasters
This will explain to you why some guys really don't like CBS era Fender electric guitars.
Firstly I should note that yes, you can absolutely get lacquer finished "made like they used to make them" guitars from Fender today, and easily. All you have to do is buy any Fender American Original series model, and you get the sound, the lacquer finish, all of it.
What I'm specifically talking about here are the older guitars when Fender was CBS owned and they decided to stop using a nitro top coat. More on that in a moment.
I attended a guitar festival this year. While there I of course saw a whole bunch of vintage electrics. However, what I was particularly looking for were Fender Stratocaster guitars made from 1968 to 1970. I found 4 of them, including a 100% original 1969 Fender Stratocaster with cloth coated wiring (which is the more desirable compared to wiring without cloth). Price: $13,500.
Did I have any intention of buying? No. But I wanted to see it anyway mainly for two reasons. Look and feel. I really wanted to get up close and personal with one of these, and did.
It's generally agreed upon that Fender stopped using nitrocellulose lacquer as a top coat in the late '60s. What year exactly? I could not find a direct answer, but it's speculated the urethane top coat began in 1967.
A few words about the '69 price tag before continuing. Yes, the price of the '69 I saw is what this guitar sells for these days. It's 53 years old at the time I write this, the example I saw was in near-mint condition, and somebody will buy it (if it hasn't been sold already). In other words, the seller did have it priced at current market value.
Now I'll talk about the feel first, then the look.
The '69, to be brutally honest, feels what I call "industrial cheap". This is a cost-cutter CBS era Strat, and it definitely felt like it. Both the neck and body have a very plastic feel to it.
Only when you actually touch one of these and feel it in the hand do you understand why some guys really dislike CBS era Strats so much. It goes far beyond the look, which I'll talk about next. My recently acquired new Squier Affinity Stratocaster has a better feeling body and neck when compared to actual vintage '69 Fender.
As for the look of the guitar, I'll talk about the neck first and then the body.
The best looking part of the guitar is the headstock, mainly because of the logo treatment. Seeing the thick black font, the STRATOCASTER "swoop", the WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO underneath and the busy look of what's going on there just oozes with cool.
The second best looking thing is the fingerboard; it's a nice dark wood (when oiled properly which this one was) that really sets off the fretboard inlay markers nicely.
As for the appearance of the back of the neck, totally awful. It's a no-tint clear gloss urethane finish and just looks like cheap discount lumber.
Where the body is concerned, one word describes it best. Dull. The '69 sunburst finish is muted and lifeless, even with the near-mint example I found. This dull look isn't because the guitar is 53 years old; it came from the factory looking that way. It's no wonder the Black and Olympic White finishes look better, because sunburst does no favors for the '69.
Why would anybody buy one of these?
Somebody would buy this for reasons similar to why I bought a plywood bodied 1989 Squier Stratocaster. If you're chasing after a specific something that only a very particular year can bring no matter how bad it is when compared to other years, that's what you get.
The late '60s CBS Strat will never be as valuable as the early '60s or the '50s Strats, and there's no denying that. But that's not going to stop anybody from buying one who really wants it. Maybe somebody who was 15 in the mid-1980s picked up one of these back when they were dirt cheap as his first guitar and now wants another. He'll spend the 5-figure price tag to get one.
Would I ever own one of these personally? No. I could actually get used to the dull appearance and don't mind the plastic-like feel of it. But what I can't get used to is the truss rod adjustment location at the heel (the neck must come off to perform a truss rod adjustment) and the 3-way pickup selector. Fender didn't standardize the 5-way switch until the late 1970s.
Yeah, I could change the 3-way to a 5-way, but as for the neck, the truss rod adjustment location can never be changed. And I'm not about to take the neck off a guitar over half-a-century in age every time I need to make a small adjustment to the bow of the neck.
I now understand better now why some guys can't stand this particular generation of Stratocaster. Guys who know the early '60s Strats would pick up the '69 and have nothing but vitriol for it.
I also understand that for some, the '69 is a dream guitar. Just not mine.
Also, if you're on the fence of whether you like the CBS-era look or not, the Squier Affinity Stratocaster is a cheap way to find out. It doesn't matter that it's a Squier guitar, because it's about whether you get along with the larger headstock or not. The only way to know for sure is to buy one and find out for yourself.
Kurt Cobain's guitar is worth $800,000?
Cobain's guitar is going up for auction and is speculated to be worth $800,000.
Kurt Cobain's Fender Jaguar auction is said to be worth $800K on the high end.
Ridiculous? Yes. Totally ridiculous. But somebody with a very large bank account who loved the '90s very deeply will buy this guitar. It won't be known until after the auction if this guitar actually hits the $800K price later in May, but it will be interesting to see what it sells for.
Cobain's Jag is a 1969 model in Lake Placid Blue with matching headcap, a competition stripe, and is a lefty. However, this is not the only guitar Kurt played. Fender does sell two new Artist series models which can obviously be bought for way less than $800,000.
Before getting into that, it should be noted that if you really, really want a Cobain style '69 Jag that looks exactly like his does, the Fender Custom Shop can build one for you. If you can't afford the giant price tag for the actual Cobain '69 Jag, just call Fender and have them make you one.
But let's say you can't afford the Fender Custom Shop price tag. What's left after that? This is where the Artist models come in that you can buy today.
First is the twin humbucker Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar in lefty. A right-handed model is also available.
Second is the Fender Kurt Cobain Jag-Stang, also in lefty with a right handed version available as well.
Both guitars are suitable for high-distortion grunge style music and no guitar upgrades are required, meaning you don't need to do any pickup swaps or anything like that.
On a final note, you might see the Fender Vintera '60s Jaguar Modified HH in Sonic Blue (right handed only) and think yeah, maybe get that? Don't be so quick with that decision, because while a good guitar, it's not exactly a bargain. The Cobain Jag-Stang is lower in price than the Vintera, and the Cobain Jaguar is only $70 more.
In other words, if you're going to get a Kurt Cobain style guitar, specifically get a Kurt Cobain Artist model, because you're not really saving anything getting the non-Cobain model that has similar hardware.
Guitar strings is a big business
You wouldn't think something so simple is such a big deal, but it is.
"Increasing sales of guitars across the world is expected to drive demand for electric & acoustic guitar strings over the forecast period", according to Yahoo! Finance.
The forecast period is 2021 to 2028.
In 2020, the electric & acoustic guitar strings market was a $483 million dollar industry. In 2028 (which is truly not that far away), it's projected to be a $645 million dollar industry.
Try to wrap your head around the fact that guitar strings alone is almost a half-a-billion dollar industry, and that by '28 it will be well past that.
What is making the guitar strings industry future so great?
Answer: Live music performances are becoming common again, guitar sales are going up, and string manufacturers are getting smarter with business expansion strategies.
It's the business expansion strategies that are the most interesting. In the near future, you may see guitar strings for sale in places you wouldn't ordinarily. You may also see promotions for certain musical instruments where the string manufacturer is prominently mentioned to help sell the instrument.
An example of this is something you've most likely already seen. Some guitars are promoted as being sold new with D'Addario strings installed. Just the mention of that brand tells the buyer, "Oh, good. I know the strings that come with this guitar are quality and not junk."
Seeing this is nothing new to buyers of guitars, but it's been going on long enough where when you see D'Addario, you automatically think good string. And, in all honesty, it is. But seeing that brand name, again and again, that's all marketing. D'Addario really knows how to do that right.
You may see similar styles of marketing for guitar strings in unconventional places in the near future - and not just for D'Addario. Fender, Jim Dunlop, DR Strings, and more are all getting in the game on this.
Does this mean the price of strings will go up?
No. What string manufacturers have done, smartly, is that instead of bumping up the price, they have introduced higher grade product options instead.
D'Addario is a great example of this. Their XL line of strings is the same low price it's always been. But they also have the premium NYXL line.
It is vitally important to have a decent gateway product that everybody can afford, which is what the D'Addario XL is. Without the XL, there couldn't be NYXL. Guitar players get the XL, get to know the D'Addario brand, and then feel comfortable enough to spend more on the NYXL because trust in the brand has been earned.
The low-cost string will stay around, not to worry.
Will expensive strings make an acoustic guitar sound any better?
It is material and shape you need to pay attention to more than price.
This is specially going to concentrate on metal guitar strings. No, not the music genre. The material.
In the world of acoustic guitar strings, the material types you have generally available are bronze and phosphor bronze, and the shape can be either round or flat top. I'll cover the more exotic materials in a moment.
80/20 Bronze: "Loudest" string in most instances, meaning it projects the most. When you want an acoustic string that really rings out proper, you use bronze.
Phosphor Bronze: Not as "loud" as 80/20 bronze, but the overall sound is more balanced when strumming all the strings. If you encounter the situation when strumming where some strings are so much louder than the others that it presents a genuine problem, use a phosphor bronze string set.
Flat top: The D'Addario EFT16 set is an example of this. If the finger drag noise across strings really bothers you, then this is the set you want. It is phosphor bronze, so it will not project like 80/20 bronze does, but it will have a balanced sound without those annoying finger drag noises.
The more exotic stuff
Silk and steel: Several string companies make these. The string is soft both in feel and in tone. If your fingertips get wrecked easily from the regular options, you'll like these a lot. They are not expensive.
Coated strings: Elixir is the go-to brand for this stuff, and this is one where yes, you will spend more on these. Usually double that of a regular bronze set. Elixir does offer their acoustic coated strings in both bronze and phosphor bronze. These are worth the money for their longevity, especially if you don't play your acoustic guitar that often.
In the end...
You spend more money when you want the coated stuff that lasts an extra long time.
For just about everything else, you have to decide whether you want something that projects, something that's more balanced in tone, or something that feels more comfortable.
More often than not, it's the comfort factor that matters most. The more comfortable the feel when you play, the better you sound because you're not fighting with the instrument.
Go try a silk and steel set.