Merry Christmas to me....

[duhvoodooman***]

Nailed this last night:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...253D&viewitem=

Not bad for $227.50 delivered!

If it's half the guitar my CV '50s Tele is, I'm gonna love it. A couple of nights ago, I set up a CV '50s Strat that a friend picked up off CL, and it played & sounded just great. But I wanted a rosewood neck, so I went for the '60s version. I also prefer the 3TS finish and the tortoise-shell PG of this model over the 2TS and white PG on the '50s. Looked on eBay and this one was up for bid with a starting price of $200 and no bids at that point. Put in a snipe bid and got it, and for quite a bit less than my max bid.

[Algonquin]

Great guitars... period!

[progrmr]

Oh yea, you'll love it. Same guitar I was putting those neovins in - not hat it had to have them either. Great neck and great tone.

[marnold***]

You're going to be the Spud of the northeast there pretty soon, DVM!

[duhvoodooman***]

You're going to be the Spud of the northeast there pretty soon, DVM!

Not so much. Zero sum game here. Assuming this deal goes through OK (eBay seller looks solid, or I wouldn't have bid), my Xaviere Strat copy will go up for sale. Fretters will get first shot, of course!

[piebaldpython***]

Nice score Vood. I gotta give you a lot of credit for buying someone else's gits sight unseen....someone who you don't know I mean. Of course, the fact you can do your own tech work helps out in that department.

Just curious.........but, uh.........have you modded the Xaviere Strat at all since you bought it nearly 3 years ago???

[duhvoodooman***]

Nice score Vood. I gotta give you a lot of credit for buying someone else's gits sight unseen....someone who you don't know I mean. Of course, the fact you can do your own tech work helps out in that department.

I'm always very careful about the seller on these eBay guitars. I look for very positive feedback and lots of ratings, particularly if it's other guitars or musical equipment. This guy had 117 feedback entries, a 100% rating, and specializes in guitars. Seemed like a pretty safe bet to me.

Just curious.........but, uh.........have you modded the Xaviere Strat at all since you bought it nearly 3 years ago???

Only one very minor mod--I installed a push-pull pot in the volume control position and wired it to add the bridge pickup in series to whatever pickup is selected. I do this mod to all my Strats, 'cuz I love the bridge in series with the middle ("quack on steroids") and neck (like a very beefy middle Tele 3-way switch position).

BTW, it will probably go up for sale at $125 + shipping. No case. Needless to say, it's in pristine shape.

[omegadot]

Nice!

I'm fighting the urge to either get myself an SG or a bass to play with.

[Spudman***]

You dog! I had that one in my watch list. Well, I'm glad someone worthy got it at least. Congrats.



PS. Be careful. It can become addicting.

[duhvoodooman***]

You dog! I had that one in my watch list.

Umm, you have to actually BID, not just watch....

Well, I'm glad someone worthy got it at least. Congrats.

Thankee!!

PS. Be careful. It can become addicting.

Huh? What'd you say? You're breaking up....

[piebaldpython***]

Vood.......how would you compare the GFS Staggered Vintage Alnicos in your Strat to the Alnico pups that were in the Xaviere Tele that you sold to me?

I bet that 12" radius would be great for slide.

Just musing.....sort of........

[sunvalleylaw]

Congrats DVM! That is the one of the CV strats that interested me the most. That sounds like a good exchange to pick up that in exchange for your Xaviere copy!

[duhvoodooman***]

Vood.......how would you compare the GFS Staggered Vintage Alnicos in your Strat to the Alnico pups that were in the Xaviere Tele that you sold to me?

The stock GFS alnicos sound great to me, and I've left them in. Very typical vintage Strat tone, which is what I wanted in that guitar, because I have the hotter Texas Specials in my Strat Plus.

There was nothing wrong with the stock p'ups in the Xaviere Tele, but the ash body & maple neck made it a very bright sounding guitar, so I went to the rounder sounding Alnico 3's.

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats!

That looks great.

[Monkus]

Congrats! If its anything like my CV 50's you'll love it!

[duhvoodooman***]

Supposed to be delivered tomorrow, 12/21. In the meantime, thanks to the nice folks at Zzounds.com, I can look at the guitar BIGGER THAN LIFE:

[sumitomo]

Dang!!! That's a BIG one!!!! Sumi

[duhvoodooman***]

Dang!!! That's a BIG one!!!!

Yeah, that was my reaction, too! I remembered they had large product photos at Zzounds, but I didn't expect it to be half-again larger than the real thing!!

[duhvoodooman***]

OK, here's a couple of shots of the actual guitar.

The previous owner did NOT take good care of it. It arrived in a condition I'd expect for a 10 year-old guitar, not a 2 year-old one. Filthy, for one thing, but that cleaned up easily enough. The strings were rusted beyond belief, and several of the P/G mounting screws and the two bolts that hold the 5-way selector are rusted, as well. Those of you into relicing may find this kind of stuff cool, but a fussbudget like me definitely does not. A fresh set of D'Addario 10's took care of the strings, but the rusty hardware will have to stay, for now.

But the thing that surprised me the most was this head-shaker: Whoever removed the plastic protective film from the pickguard apparently didn't have the patience to peal it from around the pot knobs or remove the knobs to get at it underneath. Instead, it appears that they cut around the perimeter of each knob with a utility knife, cutting down into the pickguard underneath. They weren't even very careful about it, with a couple of obvious slips resulting in cut marks radiating out from the knob circumference. Fortunately, on a tortoise-shell P/G, they're not that noticeable, unless you look closely. But it surprises me that anyone would treat a new guitar this way, even a relatively inexpensive one.

The body wood itself is in pretty good shape, fortunately. There are a couple of digs on the perimeter of the upper right bout, next to the edge of the P/G, visible in the body shot below. Not too deep, though, and a little glossy blacky enamel daubed there should hide them pretty well. The back has a couple of scratches, but is fairly clean, overall.

Now on to the good stuff, of which there is plenty. After thoroughly cleaning and restringing the guitar, I'm certainly impressed with how the guitar plays & sounds. These CV series Squiers really are amazing for the $$. The action is set a little high, but the neck feels great and there's very little fret wear. Intonation is right on the money. No buzzing or any other neck anomalies that I can find. The tuner's are the vintage slotted Kluson style, and are very smooth & stable.

The electronics seem to be rock-solid--no scratchiness or other funny noises from the switch or pots--and the pickups sound REALLY good. These are Alnico 5's, and the bridge, middle and neck pickups measure out at 6.64, 6.24 and 5.91 Kohms, respectively. From what I read at the Fender and Squier forums, these are essentially Tonerider vintage-style Strat pickups (made in the same factory, though to slightly different specs), and they have great clarity & definition. I see no reason to upgrade them, since they are everything I look for in a vintage-tone Strat pickup.

So bottom-line: Once I got past the neglect/abuse the guitar had apparently suffered in it's first couple of years, it definitely lives up to the high expectations I had for it, based upon my first Squier CV guitar, the '50s Tele. I'll probably replace the rust screws and the gouged pickguard at some point, but they're fine for now. Now 'scuse me, while I kiss the sky....