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iamqman « Retro »
Published on 07/09/11 at 12:01WHen Dan Smith was brought over by Yamaha they decided to basically shut the Fullerton plant down. They went from making 300 guitars a day down to a handful. This would ensure that they would pay more attention to detail and quality and less on quantity. There was an attitude that they would build guitars that they were proud of and rather take a hit as far as how many guitars they could sell. This woulnd't last very long.
UTILIZATION
This guitars is a classic looking Fender Stratocaster. They went with the smaller headstock and kept basically everything in tact. The weight of the guitar is more fluid and balanced. You will find that easy of play is more of a custom shop piece rather than a mass produced guitar. This comes from Fender:
In 1981 Fender-CBS hired William Schultz, John McLaren, and Dan Smith away from the U.S. division of Yamaha. Schultz became the president of Fender-CBS, McLaren the managing director while Smith was appointed the director of marketing for Fender electric guitars. In a drive to rejuvenate the quality control and Fender's market position, Dan Smith oversaw an upgrading of the basic production model Stratocaster and by late 1981 the new production model was unveiled as the 1982 Stratocaster. It featured a pre-CBS smaller headstock (compared to the 1980 "Strat"), a four bolt neck plate, an overwound X-1 pickup (introduced on the 1980 "Strat" model) in the bridge position and a body end truss-rod adjustment without the Bullet nut. The following year the guitar received a short-lived redesign lacking a second tone control, a newly designed Freeflyte vibrato system and a bare-bones output jack. A reshaped ‘Comfort Contour’ body with deeper forearm and waist contours similar to an early 1960s model was introduced. What it did retain was the 70s-style headstock decal. It's the 1982/83 version of the Standard Stratocaster that has become to be known as the "Dan Smith Stratocaster". After the Standard Stratocaster was discontinued in 1984, Fender Japan produced a 22-fret version with a flat 9.5" radius and medium-jumbo fretwire which lasted until 1986.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds like a Fender Stratocaster should sound. That is one thing about all Fender Strats, they sound almost identical to one another. It is really hard to tell one Strat from another just by hearing it. You can definitely tell a Strat from a Telecaster or a Gibson Les Paul or Sg. They have a character to them that is purely Strat.
This guitar sound great with a Fender blackface or tweed amp. It sounds excellent with any amp but those amps just connect perfectly with this guitar. I love the natural wood grain in the body of this guitar. it gives it a good feeling to the good sound of the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars were only produced for a short period of time. You can find them in the used section of classifieds or ebay. they are hard to find and if you get an American made one then you should hang onto it for collector purposes.
You may not like the head stock if you are after a standard Strat headstock but I can see collectors buying this guitar more than the average guitar player.
UTILIZATION
This guitars is a classic looking Fender Stratocaster. They went with the smaller headstock and kept basically everything in tact. The weight of the guitar is more fluid and balanced. You will find that easy of play is more of a custom shop piece rather than a mass produced guitar. This comes from Fender:
In 1981 Fender-CBS hired William Schultz, John McLaren, and Dan Smith away from the U.S. division of Yamaha. Schultz became the president of Fender-CBS, McLaren the managing director while Smith was appointed the director of marketing for Fender electric guitars. In a drive to rejuvenate the quality control and Fender's market position, Dan Smith oversaw an upgrading of the basic production model Stratocaster and by late 1981 the new production model was unveiled as the 1982 Stratocaster. It featured a pre-CBS smaller headstock (compared to the 1980 "Strat"), a four bolt neck plate, an overwound X-1 pickup (introduced on the 1980 "Strat" model) in the bridge position and a body end truss-rod adjustment without the Bullet nut. The following year the guitar received a short-lived redesign lacking a second tone control, a newly designed Freeflyte vibrato system and a bare-bones output jack. A reshaped ‘Comfort Contour’ body with deeper forearm and waist contours similar to an early 1960s model was introduced. What it did retain was the 70s-style headstock decal. It's the 1982/83 version of the Standard Stratocaster that has become to be known as the "Dan Smith Stratocaster". After the Standard Stratocaster was discontinued in 1984, Fender Japan produced a 22-fret version with a flat 9.5" radius and medium-jumbo fretwire which lasted until 1986.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds like a Fender Stratocaster should sound. That is one thing about all Fender Strats, they sound almost identical to one another. It is really hard to tell one Strat from another just by hearing it. You can definitely tell a Strat from a Telecaster or a Gibson Les Paul or Sg. They have a character to them that is purely Strat.
This guitar sound great with a Fender blackface or tweed amp. It sounds excellent with any amp but those amps just connect perfectly with this guitar. I love the natural wood grain in the body of this guitar. it gives it a good feeling to the good sound of the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars were only produced for a short period of time. You can find them in the used section of classifieds or ebay. they are hard to find and if you get an American made one then you should hang onto it for collector purposes.
You may not like the head stock if you are after a standard Strat headstock but I can see collectors buying this guitar more than the average guitar player.