Fender American Deluxe Ash Strat with 3 piece body? Normal?

At the $1,200 price point a 1-piece body is really unrealistic. I've heard stories about them showing up, but the only way I know for sure to get a 1-piece body is to order one through the Custom Shop and pay extra for it.

The Suhr I had was 2-piece, and that was at the $2,000 price point; I'm pretty sure it is also an upcharge to get 1-piece body from him.

Since I've never had anything but 2 or 2 piece bodies, I really can't answer your tone question. I really don't think that the number of pieces will impact the tone of the Am Dlx through those SCN pickups.

 

I have a 1 piece ash Melancon Tele -- and it sounds great!

I also have several two piece guitars that sound great!

I bought each of my sons an American Strat at birth. As they were born in the 90's, they have the ill thought of swimming pool route. 2 of them sound great and the other is cool but less resonant.


That's a long way to say that my experience shows that the bit of "magic" that makes a guitar sound great can show up anywhere. Furthermore, my "bad" is likely someone elses "great."

If you like it --- get it.

 

I've got a '97 Am Std Natural Ash strat and I believe it's 2 piece. I know they made some sort of change to these in '98. You can find a bone stock one on eBay for around $600. More if they have upgrades. I hardly see mine, as it's always getting borrowed for records and commercials all the time. Atleast it earns me some money... I've got a set of Kinman AVn Blues pups in it. It's a great sounding guitar!

 

Angelo - good point; Melancons are still the bargains of the small-shop world, particularly since Gerard can get primo swamp ash "right from the source". However, aren't they more like $1,500 these days? I haven't priced a Pro Artist lately.

I should have been more specific and said it was really unrealistic and extremely rare to get a 1-piece from Fender at that $1,200 price point.

 

On Fender guitars, a one piece body is a rarity. 3-piece is typical and every now and then you see a 2-piece. [I own a Y2K American Series Strat with a 2-piece ash body.]

Fender's been building them like this since the beginning of time, so there can't be too much wrong with the practice.

 

Correct, Pro Artists are ~$1500. I bought one of the solid 1-piece ash teles recently for that much.

They're real bargains, IMO. And if you can snag one used, you'll pay ~$1000. (though to be honest I see more of the fancy topped Mels selling used than I do the plain jane finish models.)

 

>> What affect does this have on the guitar?

I've played and owned some 3-piece bodies that sounded fantastic and other that sounded like poop. Same with 2-piece. I've never owned a 1-piece.

I won't say the number of laminations has nothing to do with tone, because everything affects tone. I would only say that the number of laminations alone is no way to judge beforehand whether one guitar will sound better than another.

 

One of the selling points that got me to drop cash on a AM deluxe was the 2 piece body with a very hard to see seam right down the middle as it should be. I see even the more expensive RI's with 3 horribly matched pieces often. I think the deluxe strats are being built very nicely lately, and i don't know if mine is typical but if it is it's a heck of a good deal. 2 piece is getting hard to find w/o dropping a lot of cash.

 

Andy "I hardly see mine,"

This is not your Strat in the screen you posted is it? Cause the line on that one is easy to see. Not to mention, that picture angle is misleading or the body join line does not line up at all the the neck socket.

Correct me if I am wrong. Doesn`t look like a very pro job to me. Guess they wanted to conserve wood and get a body out of it. Looks odd from the angle I am seeing.

 

I think he was saying that he hardly sees his strat, not the line.