Fender Highway Stratocaster Clean Solo Test Shine on You Crazy Diamond Solo 1

[MrMakkolino5]

...great finish...great sound... great guitars... I love this guitars, more of the standard, because the different price is not justified. I love it.

ROCK ONNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

[screechkid116]

Settings?

[screechkid116]

@screechkid116 i mean on your setup

[intrsoul]

Sounds great - I find the nitro finish makes a HUGE difference. The whole guitar just sings with out the poly glop on it. Try some Callaham or Raw Vintage saddles ... the zinc (chinese?) ones that come standard are hideous.

[Guitarvirtuoso666]

@intrsoul

Lol I challenge you to undergo a blind test between poly and nitro

[intrsoul]

@Guitarvirtuoso666 ...sadly, Fender seals the wood with a form of plastic before apply either one, so the benefit of the nitro is lost. But it does make a difference - I own PRS (thin poly), Gibson USA (nitro), Martin (nitro), Jackson (thick poly), Takamine (thin poly) and a HWY 1 (nitro on top of plastic sealer). I'd still take nitro any day... maybe it's a matter of the way the guitar feels in your hands, but there is a difference.

[Guitarvirtuoso666]

@intrsoul

The finish is essential on acoustic instruments. the finish is thought to be the key element of a stradivarius. However on solid body electrics, I think it's a load of bollocks. Pickups (magnets) care only about metal, not paint, or wood.

Your preferences (and mine too ofcourse) are inevitably coloured by your expectations. Therefore I think a blind test between two exact guitars, with only different finishes, could lead to surprising results:)

[roundaboutwrongway]

@intrsoul

Just FYI.

Fenders are covered in Fullerplast (whether with Nitro or Poly on top).

Fullerplast is a clear plastic type coating that is cheaper than primer and fully seals the wood. So what goes on top of it has no material impact on sound, as the wood is NOT breathing. Breathing wood is a marketing gimmick.

SRV's Strat (with all that paint gone) still has fullerplast intact.

Gilmour's Black strat is poly finished from 1969. Fender started using poly in mid 1968.

[intrsoul]

@roundaboutwrongway yes, I learned of the horrors of Fullerplast shortly after my original comment. See my reply just before yours...

[roundaboutwrongway]

@intrsoul

Wow, that is crazy; that we were both randomly thinking and posting of the same thing at the same time.

In all the world, within seconds. Just shows Strats control the collective mind :) haha

[intrsoul]

@roundaboutwrongway yes - ha...I don't subscribe to "breathing" wood either. I think what does happen is that more moisture is able to escape over the years.  less moister = more resonance. That's why PRS, Taylor, etc. spend so much time 'baking' the wood prior to making a guitar. I digress - have you ever played a real pre-CBS nitro strat? It's astonishing... many believe it's due to the fact that the nitro wears thin over time allowing the wood to RESONATE more (not breathe)

[intrsoul]

@roundaboutwrongway yes - ha...I don't subscribe to "breathing" wood either. I think what does happen is that more moisture is able to escape over the years. less moister yields more resonance. That's why PRS, Taylor, etc. spend so much time 'baking' the wood prior to making a guitar. I digress - have you ever played a real pre-CBS nitro strat? It's astonishing... many believe it's due to the fact that the nitro wears thin over time allowing the wood to RESONATE more (not breathe)

[intrsoul]

@intrsoul ...I don't subscribe to "breathing" wood either. I think what does happen is that more moisture is able to escape over the years. less moister = more resonance. That's why PRS, Taylor, etc. spend so much time 'baking' the wood prior to making a guitar. I digress - have you ever played a real pre-CBS nitro strat? It's astonishing... many believe it's due to the fact that the nitro wears thin over time allowing the wood to RESONATE more (not breathe), which I agree with.