Should I Fix My Old Guitar , Or Buy A New One?

1. Norm Jones Says

   Hello there,
   Well, you could get a new one. If you did not over pay on the 94, you will probably get your money back out of it. But I don’t see the point. If you just buy a new Standard Strat, there is nothing about that you do not already have with your 94. Sure the 94 needs a little work. That is part of the fun of having an older Strat. Maintaining them is not rocket science. You can do it. Even if you have not done any work on one before, you can easily learn. Part of the beauty of the Fender/Fullerton desiogn. These babies are easy to work on and maintain.
   New nut? Check the old one. Depress a string at the 2nd fret. You should just see a sliver of light between the string and the 1st fret. Maybe the thickness of 1 or 2 sheets of paper. Just a sliver. If so, that slot is okay and check the next string slot all the way acress the nut.
   Hum? Are you taliking about string buzz. Since I think you know your Strats fairly well, I am guessing you mean an electrical hum. If so, I would guess whoever was the genius to put Mighty Mite pickups in there, probably wired them in wrong. You should replace the pickups anyway. When you do, you will most likely cure that hum problem. You can install the pickups. Not hard to do. Down load a wiring diagram and follow it. so you know which wire goes where. A cheap $20 soldering iron is just fine for this type of work. Get some electrical solder and not plumbers solder (not acid core). You can grab a set of MIM Strat stock pickups for $25 or so. I see them go for that pretty often. It costs more to buy them one at a time unless you happen across a deal (like no one else bids on ebay). Again, getting the parts at your price (in my case bargain price) is part of the fun of workin on the guitar. A set of Tex Mexs will only set you back $65. I have even gotten a set of Fender American pickups for $60.
   Check the nut. Put in new pickups of your choice. Now you have a decent guitar waiting for a setup. Every player needs to learn how to do a setup. Even if they can afford to pay to have it done, they still should learn how. It helps you understand how everything works together on the Strat.
   I could walk you through the setup, But this set has a good article that is easy to follow. Take a look at it. Do the neck relief check. Then set the action by adjusting the saddle height. Set the intonation by adjusting the saddles forward (towards the neck) or away from it. Then set the pickup height. You have your Strat set up and ready to play. As good as the new one and cost you less.http://mysite.verizon.net/jazz.guitar/gu…
   Later,

2. chris Says

   if i were you i would keep it and get some EMG pickups for it. you wont need to pay for labor because they are easy to install yourself, they require no sodering and they come with a diagram that shows you how to install them yourself. it also dosent hurt that they sound f*****g amazing.

3. OU812 Says

   I’d just go play some MIM’s and see if you prefer how they play and sound to the ’94. A setup will not fix hum. Also a decent nut is like $15 and there isn’t much labor involved in the installation.

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5. santos22 Says

   Sure why not go ahead and buy a new one, you’ve already got 4

6. rimbaudr Says

   What model is the ’94? That was the year they released they 40th Anniversary Strat, but there were a few different models/versions.
   What I’m about to say depends on the answer to the above question… it may be moot. I’m just writing about the most common/what I assume it probably is. So… The ’94 standard reissue is a better guitar than the MIM. The hardware is MUCH better and the specs (radius, fret size, etc…) are of the original issue Strats. MIM’s specs are based on ’70s models which, frankly, just aren’t as good (larger radius, larger frets, etc…). The ’94 40th Ann. also has a bone nut… While I’d personally never *buy* a guitar with a bone nut and am not suggesting others do (my wanky vegetarian-ness coming out here), if you already have one you shouldn’t give it up. They sound better than the plastic which is standard issue on the MIM (you can buy designer nuts that are even better, but they’re expensive as fck). As the person above suggested, check the nut… typically, if the nut is damaged, there’s no question about it. I’d guess it’s an issue with the guitar’s overall set-up and not the nut itself. Also, the ’94 has an ash body – the MIM has alder. Both are really good woods, but ash is maybe a tiny bit better (and quite a bit more expensive). When the ’94 was new, it sold for 3 times the amount the MIM sells for now (adjusted for inflation, nearly 5 times more). So, even with putting a few hundred into “fixing” (note: the MIM’s standard pickups aren’t the best ever, either… with either guitar, I’d suggest replacing them) the ’94, it will have better longterm value (if you ever sell) than the MIM.
   Again, though, that all depends on the standard model. The one fault with BOTH, imo, is a maple instead of rosewood fretboard – so I probably wouldn’t do either option. But assuming it is the above, the ’94 is definitely a much better guitar than the MIM.

7. john Says

   My 1st ? would be then “Why did you buy it in the 1st place…but???” I’d , if its a 94 American or a Mexican Fender Strat, I’d keep it and slap some Seymour Duncan Strat p/ups in it and a new nut is no biggie So just save the $500.00 clams for the other guitar and spend about $150 to $175 for the killer p/ups (noiseless!!) and have some dude carve out a nut for ya and glue it on and the p/ups are easy to wire in with a wiring harness which Duncans come with so! It would sound like a whole new animal! And I’ve found if a guitar sounds great, it seems to play better as well! Don’t know much about the MIM so.
   But whenever your talkin about a Strat always mention whether or not its an American or Mexican or ?? made ok! The Americans are great and I’ve got a 25 yr anniv. model Mexican that I really love and man does it sound killer w/ the Duncan replacements I mentioned! Its a screamer now thru my Marshall 1/2 stack w/ 30W Celestions 4×12′s!

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