My Dream Custom Stratocaster

Originally posted: 22 Aug 2010
Discrepancy due to failure to export/import blog

The guitar as pictured above is not real and does not exist. I just created it using some basic photo editing tools because they always do not have a guitar according to my personal preference; Reverse black headstock with scale length of 25.5" and 24 frets. And yes, that chrome pickguard! However, its all just imaginary. If only I could have the money to custom make one myself.

I all started when I went to Swee Lee at Bras Basah yesterday, in hope of finding a nice guitar but I was totally disappointed. Not that Swee Lee is lousy, but rather, they didn't have what I really wanted. It is inevitably true that some of Swee Lee's display items are really old. I bet they have been there for years, as the strings and hardware are starting to rust due to negligence. Boo... ... Yeah, I'm indeed quite picky when it comes to my choice of guitars; the shape, the headstock,  the color, and much more but I don't need something high end with even more high end prices. Pricey guitars are only for showoffs and rich kids; It may be a dream sometimes but given enough practice & skill, any regular guitar under a few hundred dollars can still perform decently and any guitar under $1000 can outshine the competition.

As I already own a BC Rich Warlock, which comes with humbucking pick-ups, I really wanted to also own and try the single coil pickups. Tonally, single coil pickups often tend to be lower in output, brighter, and more open sounding than humbuckers. They also have a kind of twang which is quite suitable for blues and country music, but not for heavier rock. The single coil pickup is most commonly associated with traditional Fender Stratocaster designs. However, I do remember that Fender used to have a very special but discontinued range for heavier playing styles and reverse headstock. Anyway, below is an image of an original Fender Classic 50's Stratocaster.

In contrast, Humbuckers tend to be higher in output and have a much darker, thicker and distorted sounds ('higher gain') than single coils. Think of most other guitars like the Gibson Les Paul Standard as below.

But it isn't a hard and fast rule, because many rock players use single coils, and some blues players use humbuckers. It really comes down to personal preference.

Well anyway, I just wanted to try 3 single coils as some of the songs I play actually aren't that metal or heavy then most people think, so I wanted to get a stratocaster. However, Swee Lee's selections of Strat's are limited and old. Actually, the main prerequisite of my criteria is to have a have a black headstock; or rather anything other then natural light maple color. But If I had to choose a color it usually is black. I guess I shall order one from Swee Lee to bring in a Squier Standard Standard Black & Chrome edition. It only has 22 frets and the headstock is regular but at least its black, simlar to the one that Tom Morello from Audioslave plays. But its going to take 3 or even 4 months, but I guess it'll be the perfect Christmas gift for myself then. It'll be a long wait till then...