If your budget was around £2000, which Fender stratocaster would you buy (if any)? Or would you save for something else, like a Nash S-63?
I’m trading one of my guitars and thinking of getting a Fender strat. I’ve read some worrying discussions about Fender QC, otherwise I would probably choose the latest American Vintage II '61 stratocaster. Apparently the finish is not thin nitro, it has a poly (or some other) undercoat as well, which is a bit disappointing to me, but not a deal breaker. I’m more worried about the gap between the neck and the body that many of them seem to have. How does the body resonate if the neck is not touching the body as much as it could? Yeah, I worry about the really nerdy stuff. 
I’ve never had a Fender strat before. I had a Suhr Classic Pro, which I didn’t bond with. I suspect it’s the stainless steel frets or it’s just too modern for me (too much of a “heavy metal” spec with a “super fast” neck… I play slowly and that makes me happy).
Feel free to recommend other guitars as well. I have 2 Fender Teles and a Gibson LP Special so far.
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I love the LSL guitars. Used and especially 2010-2015 or there about. I have a s-type and a tele and they are entirely hand made in-house and they feel it. For some reason they do not hold their value well but I only buy used anyway. Both of these are one piece swamp ash bodies and the strat weighs in at 6.6lbs jusy shy of 3kg.
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Thanks for the recommendation, John!
Do you find them often in the used market in the UK? There is a lovely Fiesta red one for sale on Reverb, but it is in the US. I’ve never bought an instrument from overseas, but I assume I would need to pay import duty & tax charges. Looks like for a £2000 guitar (plus shipping), the import tax would be £600.
I just watched two demos of Fender AVII '57 and '61 by Manny’s Music. These are the best demonstrations I’ve seen of these guitars, they make me want to buy both of them!
I think I just have to take a leap of faith and see what the quality is like. I really like the sound of both '57 and '61 pickups.
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I agree you would likely need to pay your VAT I don’t think US made guitars are levied with import duties though… I don’t know how prevalent they are on the UK I know Peaches used to be a dealer I just know I’ve bought tow of them well under $2,000 USD… I will say and we all know this, there is nothing like trying before you buy but I live in a city of 3M people about an hour and a half outside of LA at is still hard to go shop to shop and find anything and when you do, it’s always full retail. I like the hunt myself and I’m always looking for a deal… guitars have gotten insanely expensive in the pandemic and post pandemic economy but it seems things are starting to turn in the used market… Happy hunting and you certainly can’t go wrong with a Nash or Fender…
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My first “nice” guitar was a Nash T-63 that remained my #1 for the next five years, and I still have it and play it often. I give them a huge +1. I’ve owned and played many other Nashes since that first one, and they’ve been reliably great guitars for the money.
Nash gets a lot of criticism from some quarters for the occasionally over-the-top relicing, but TBH I don’t find them much more offensive than some of the “heavy relic” stuff that comes out of the Fender Custom Shop. And at least from what I see on Reverb, it seems like there’s a steady increase in the number of Nash builds that aren’t so over the top. The new ones have more of a “gently used in your buddy’s bar band” aesthetic, versus the “blunt weapon recovered from the zombie apocalypse” vibe of some of their older builds.
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I will continue my search for a Stratocaster in 2024. I couldn’t decide which Fender model to get and they were all weighing around 8 lbs, which is on the heavy side for me. My old Fender American Series Telecaster is 7.7 lbs, shouldn’t strats be lighter than teles?
So I got another guitar that has been on my bucket list: Gibson SG Standard ‘61 (6.14 lbs!). I should receive it tomorrow. 
That is the Stratocaster i would have recommended! Nice looking SG.
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Oh man, I love a good SG!.. I had one of the 61’ reissues many years ago when I was trying to do the whole Derek Trucks thing. Someday I want another, maybe with the vibrola trem.
They have such a great, cutting midrange to their attack that both the Les Paul and 335 lacks.
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I was sold on the SG by Robby Krieger and young guitarists like Ahren Shreeve and Jack Griffiths. I must have watched Jack’s demo of ‘61 SG few dozen times, such an articulate player. I also read it lends itself to fingerstyle very well. Of course, SG comes with lots of “hard rock” heritage, but it’s much more versatile guitar than that!
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One thing led to another and now I have a strat again: Morsola S-Type. Nitro finish in Daphne Blue, aged neck with jumbo frets and rolled edges, Alnico 5 Cat Whisker pickups, CTS pots, Gotoh vintage tuners. The builder (Joel) is a really nice guy who lives in Hertford, about an hour where I live. Check out Morsola Guitars
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You might want to look at the Fender Strat American Original 60’s.
I lucked our with a Fender Strat 1960 Custom Shop that I bought on Reverb at a very generous price.
The problem you are describing on the American Vintage II 61 strat, is unacceptable for a guitar over $2k. I was told that the Fender American Vintage were finished with a lot of layers of nitro paint and clear Lacquer so that the finish would look like new for a long time. I personally don’t like the plastic look. If I was to buy a S type guitar with early 60’s specs, I would go for a Nash S-63. I also once had a Suhr T something. I liked the way it played, but not the way it sounded. Being unsure that changing pickups would do the trick, I sold it.
