Fender Strat - American Standard or Classic Player 50s?

I have a Classic Players 60's and it is awesome, custom shop parts all over, love the neck shape and feel. Fret job needs a little work but other then that it has been the best $400 I have spent on a guitar in a LONG time...

 

I suggest you play a few Classic Player 50s Strats.
To me mine is everything I was looking for as far as vintage tone.
I did however prefer the typical 5 position switch so I added a pull tone pot for the neck pickup and put the #4 position back to neck and middle.
The 50s #4 position stock is neck and bridge.
There IS a ghost position in between 3 and 4 that works well for the vintage #4 setting, but I like things more defined on the fly.

 

I like the Classic Player series too, but the new American Standards are just dandy, and I'd pick one of those.

 

A few years ago, I had an AVRI '62RI Telecaster Custom. I picked up an MIM '60s Telecaster to use as a backup. The MIM didn't feel or look quite as nice as the AVRI, but it played better and with the same pickups, the sounds were indistinguishable to me. I ended up selling the AVRI and playing the MIM until I left town.

 

Tried a new AS recently...pretty fine instrument. Massively overpriced over here (£1000) but nice.

As ever, though, with production line instruments in the more affordable ranges, it boils down to the individual instrument.

 

I am quite happy with my amer. standard. I've played it for 10 years and it's got a great sound and feel.

 

I love my American Standard. I got the ash-bodied one (sienna sunburst) with a maple neck. I've even held off replacing pickups, like I had planned on. At home, the staggered poles were bugging me on the B and high E string, but at volume with the band, it sounds great.

 

CP60's is one of the most underrated Strats that Fender makes.

 

Well, I got rid of my CP60 to buy one of my two Am Std's.

 

The new American Standards have a lot better tone and feel about them than a Standard or Classic MIM has. If you can afford it get an American Standard. If you want a good MIM find a FSR - Fender Special Run. They usually have better parts than a Standard MIM model. I'm not a big fan of the Classic series so I will not comment on those.

 

Agree on the Baja-stunning guitar. I would definitely go for a CP50s Strat over the US Standard.

 

Maybe try the CP50 since you have had bad results with keeping Am. Stds. in the past? I assume you enjoyed your previous Am. Stds. in the past but ended up not bonding long term, which is probably going to happen with this new example, no? I think you can score a nice CP50 for a good deal and get to see first hand if you like it and if you bond with it.

The CP50 is a nice instrument and the neck is especially comfortable to me....

 

I think both the 50's and 60's are underrated guitars, I liked all of the ones that I have played.

 

Do the 50s and/or 60s have a 7.25 radius?

 

I had an 06 CP60 for about a year. It was a huge step up from any other Mexistrat, and a fantastic value. But there were definitely some quality issues, such as a bunch of half inch long splinters in the tremolo spring compartment that had been finished over, rather than removed before the finishing process. It sounded pretty good, and had great pickups, but the guitar was a bit lifeless and dead compared to my more expensive toys. I threw on a Callaham bridge upgrade kit, and some threaded stainless steel inserts for the neck screws. This helped a great deal, with a better acoustic ring and much better sustain.

I picked up an 08 American Standard a while later, and found that it had a far better fundamental tone than the upgraded CP60 despite being bone stock. Before I sold the CP60 I spent a few days swapping parts back and forth between the guitars to see if I could figure out what caused the difference in tone. It proved to be the CP60 neck that was sucking out all the tone. With the USA neck on the CP60 the guitar sounded brilliant.

I admit that I preferred the shape of the CP60 neck to the USA one, which proved to be a bit thin for my tastes. My wife gave me a Warmoth Fatback strat neck for Xmas this year, which sounds as good or better than my USA neck, and plays much better due to the 10-16" radius.

The point? If I were still in the strat market, I think I would buy a used CP something, sell the neck, put on a Warmoth, throw on a decent steel block to get rid of the lame block on the CP trem, and have an absolutely fantastic strat for crazy cheap.