Stratocaster – Luegra

Shopping Goodwill Online

Every few days, I go to the Goodwill auction website (www.shopgoodwill.com) to see what music equipment I may be lucky to pick up (I rarely go to an actual Goodwill store, as there never seems to be anything that interests me). The site has a separate category for musical instruments, with sub-categories for guitars/basses, stringed instruments, percussion, woodwinds, brass, electronic, and amplifiers/effects. As for the guitar section, most of the items are garbage, but there are a few items that come across that are worth a second look.

Of those few items, some are actually quality instruments. I have seen many Fender, Gibson, Guild and other name brands on the site. However, most of these are being scouted by dealers, and the bids are much higher than I want to compete with. Occasionally, I am able to snag a decent buy. Such might be the case with my recent purchase of a Fender Squier Strat. With a quality Fender gigbag, shipping and handling, the total was about $80.00. NOTE: Be sure to check the shipping cost before you bid on anything. This is a national auction site, so if you are on the east coast, and the item is from a Goodwill store in California, the shipping cost may be more than the item itself! Also note that sales tax is not included until after you purchase, so be sure to mentally calculate that. Finally, note that many items will not be shipped and must be picked up locally.

So when the Strat arrived, there was a bit more work to be done on it than the Goodwill photos showed and were not in the description. I knew that I would have to get a replacement whammy bar and knobs, but I did not see that the output jack was broken and needed replacement. Also, there are some major dings that bits of the wood are chipped off. Finally, the owner took a Sharpie pen to it. Some of the writing is just names of bands, others look like autographs. Not sure who the signers are, but a good cleaning with nail polish remover or Goo Gone should clean up that stuff.

I have already ordered replacement knobs, whammy bar, and output jack for those areas. As for the wood divots, fortunately, those areas are along the side where the sunburst finish is black. I can patch that area and do some sanding/finishing without having to re-finish the entire body. Parts and finishing materials, the cost will probably be about $20.00 total. Time-wise, it will take me a while, as my new job still has me doing some overtime until more people are hired in. I look at this as more of a passion than trying to make money, so if and when I sell this, I will probably break even.

Again, if you decide to hit the Goodwill auction site, bid carefully. You may get a bargain out of it!

Chew on it and comment.

My Christmas Gift to Myself

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have a safe and pleasant New Year. This was my first Christmas alone, as mom passed away last January and I was not in the mood to spend the day with anyone. I basically sat home, did a little writing, and watched some football games.

I did, however, buy myself a Christmas present. Since I had no one to spend some money on, I decided to spend it on myself. I didn’t want to break the bank, but I did want to get myself something that I would enjoy. About two weeks before Christmas, Fender had an online sale for a few of its guitars at 40% off. I looked at the list, and saw that there was a Squier Affinity Stratocaster, regularly $249.99, going on sale for $149.99!

Now, I haven’t played much electric guitar in the past 10 years or so, and have been selling off a lot of my unused equipment, including guitar amplifiers. I have two electric guitars left in my collection (a 70s-era Guild Starfire hollowbody and a 90s-era made-in-Mexico Fender Strat that was my workhorse during my final electric band days). The Affinity series for Squier/Fender used to be the low-budget line back in the 90s. I had an Affinity Telecaster from that period that was OK at best, as the tuners and bridge/saddles were cheap and the body was cheap plywood with hollowed out cavities that were filled with styrofoam. I paid about $100.00 new for it and junked/modified it for a few years until I sold it off with my house cleaning. However, the Affinity series seems to have been upgraded by Fender, with its Sonic series being the new lower-cost series.

The Affinity Strat looked to be a bargain for the price, and they had it available in a cool Surf Green color. Total cost was $158.99, and it came via US Postal to my PO Box in a little over a week.

I have to say that I am really impressed with the workmanship. Yeah, it’s made in China, so that probably has a lot to do with the lower cost. The body is solid and has some heft to it. The hardware is good, and the pickups are typical Strat sounding — not hot but not weak either. The neck has a matte finish to the back of it, which needs a buffing with some OOOO steel wool to smooth it out a bit. The fingerboard looks like rosewood, but is Indian Laurel, most likely a cheaper wood that the Asian market uses on mass-produced guitars.

I have always loved the sound of a Stratocaster, especially that switch position of neck/middle or middle/bridge pickup selection. It’s a glassy tone that Stevie Ray Vaughan used so well (although he had some hot-rodded pickups). Plus, I always enjoyed playing around with surf instrumentals by The Ventures and Dick Dale. I haven’t tried out the tremolo bar yet. The bridge looks a bit different from other Strat whammy bar systems, so I hope that it doesn’t crap out after a few bends.

All in all, it is a really good guitar for the price. Checking the Fender website, this guitar is on sale again at 20% off, or $199.99, until supplies last (https://www.fender.com/en-US/8-days-deals/affinity-series-stratocaster/0378000557.html). That leads me to believe that they may be getting rid of either this model or the Affinity series completely. So I would recommend that, if you are looking for a solid beginner electric guitar, or a reliable backup, you order this model while you can. It is backed by Fender, so it does have some good reputation.

Chew on it and comment.