This is my first “real” guitar that I got new back in '06. I was really big into Van Halen so I went with the HSS config. The only mods I’ve done to it is adding strap locks and locking tuners. Everything else is original on it. It has the little 60th anniversary badge on the back of the headstock Fender put on all their guitars that year.
I don’t really play it as much anymore and I had kept it stored away in it’s case for about a decade because I didn’t have room. I’m trying to play it more and figure out where to use it when I record stuff.
I’ve always said if I could keep only one guitar it would be this one. I have a lot of sentimentality attached to it and it’s probably the most “versatile” electric guitar I have by having the humbucker.
The Halo decal is a sticker I got from GameStop back when Halo 3 came out that has somehow managed to not come off after all this time.
HSS strats are just so damn versatile. If it weren’t for the placement of the volume knob, I’m not sure I’d ever play anything else.
A few years ago I picked up a PRS SE EG that look like it had been sitting at the pawn shop for a couple years.
25-in scale length, set neck, side mounted jack, PRS style pivot trem, and most importantly a master volume and master tone that isn’t mounted directly next to the bridge.
I’ll be damned if it doesn’t solve every nitpick I have about fender strats. And the proof is in the pudding. I have guitars that cost 10 times as much but I find myself almost always reaching for the EG. It’s a brilliant instrument and something that’s definitely worth looking into if you’re looking for a strat with more modern ergonomics over the standard stratocaster.
I have the same yr/model, but in black. Mine is the deluxe model with tex mex pickups.
I love it. My main axe. Play it daily. I replaced the trem block with brass after the threads of the original wore out. Changed the saddles to a style that look vintage but cover the grub screws and added locking tuners.
