Fender 'Mark Knopfler' Signature Series Stratocaster (0117800-815) - Owners list

[dustyvalentino]

Squier makes som great guitars.


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[Jensen]

Squier makes som great guitars.


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Yes. And there are many other great guitars in that price range as well. It somehow feels stange to play a guitar that costs less than half of the one you just played only to realize that it feels better, sounds better (maybe only according to own taste) and stays in tune better.

[hunter]

Yes, a guitar like a Strat or a Tele is very simple to build, and even with good quality parts and electronics, there's no reason to pay crazy money.


As for the lower-end Squiers, I don't really like them. You can feel they have been together in a rush, and the parts are not of very good quality. And very often they arrive in the music shops with a poor setup and old strings. With a little TLC, a proper setup, new strings, they can be made very playable and well-sounding, but if you've played for a few years and you know good-quality guitars, then they still feel cheap. Which you may or not care about. You can of course upgrade the parts, but then you may just as well buy a better guitar in the first place (used).


I'm considering getting a cheap guitar to play around the house, and one brand that has caught my attention is Vintage. Their Strat models (V6 Reissued) look like fine guitars with good hardware (Wilkinson tremolo for instance). I've also played one, and the playability and sound were really good.

[naif]

Squiers classic Vibe 50's series, especially first series are very good guitars. İ have Fiesta elred maple 2010 model. Pretty good looking too.

[Jensen]

Yes, a guitar like a Strat or a Tele is very simple to build, and even with good quality parts and electronics, there's no reason to pay crazy money.


As for the lower-end Squiers, I don't really like them. You can feel they have been together in a rush, and the parts are not of very good quality. And very often they arrive in the music shops with a poor setup and old strings. With a little TLC, a proper setup, new strings, they can be made very playable and well-sounding, but if you've played for a few years and you know good-quality guitars, then they still feel cheap. Which you may or not care about. You can of course upgrade the parts, but then you may just as well buy a better guitar in the first place (used).


I'm considering getting a cheap guitar to play around the house, and one brand that has caught my attention is Vintage. Their Strat models (V6 Reissued) look like fine guitars with good hardware (Wilkinson tremolo for instance). I've also played one, and the playability and sound were really good.

I've got the Vintage v52 (telecaster type). It's a very good guitar and I am very impressed by the quality they can provide at such a low price point. I took it to a luthier to optimize the setup after about a year, though it was actually still rather good. In that context I also had a four way switch installed, adding the option to combine bridge and neck pickup in series, which gives a sound that resembles a humbucker but still has telecaster character. Very useful. A great guitar.

My "Stratocaster" is a Tokai Goldstar Sound. About the same price as a Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster. The Goldstar Sound is also a great guitar. I have blocked the tremolo since I never use it, and the guitar stays in tune even better when it is blocked . A very good guitar as well.

[Knopflerfan]

Squiers classic Vibe 50's series, especially first series are very good guitars. İ have Fiesta elred maple 2010 model. Pretty good looking too.

Although I use my MK's a lot I still use my 2019 Squire Strat now and again - I really like it!!

[firmstools]

Just had the news that my MK strat really needs a new neck!!!
Allways had tuning stability issues and now it has been to a top Luther for a set up my fears are confirmed.
It has a "SOFT" neck, ie the maple used on the neck is not really of good enough quality and it is a bit weak. If I play the open strings and then push or pull the neck at the headstock it drasticly changes pitch, another form of tremelo😯 neck joint is rock solid.
My options are,
Find another MK neck, difficult I think
Find a 61/62 neck, may be very expensive
Find a maple neck to make it like Marks other 61 strat.
Any suggestions/ideas?

[dustyvalentino]

Never heard of that. You can do that on any Strat or Tele, even Les Pauls if you are strong enough and brave.

I remember Ruth Moody’s guitar player doing it on a Tele when they supported MK at the RAH.


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[dustyvalentino]

Tuning issues are usually the nut. Either that or just don’t pull the neck like that!


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[quizzaciously]

Never heard of that. You can do that on any Strat or Tele, even Les Pauls if you are strong enough and brave.

I remember Ruth Moody’s guitar player doing it on a Tele when they supported MK at the RAH.


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Yeah, Tommy Emmanuel even bends his acoustic guitar's neck, which is insane:

[Cosmin]

Just had the news that my MK strat really needs a new neck!!!
[...]
Any suggestions/ideas?

The MK strat is covered by a limited lifetime warranty. If you bought it from an authorized retailer and still have the receipt, you could try to get it serviced. Neck warping is specified as not being covered by that warranty but I guess yours is not really affected by warping but maybe too soft of a maple (they’ll be very skeptical of that, btw).

Fender alternatives:

• 60s RI neck, available from their parts catalog - slightly thinner back than MK, thin vintage frets
• Robert Cray signature strat neck - slightly wider at the nut, 9.5” radius
• Road worn strat neck - similar back shape, 6105 frets rather that 6150, road worn finish

Others:

• Allparts SRO-62 - raw neck, slightly thicker back contour, frets are more like 6105
• Warmoth - there is no C shape contour with 0.83” - 0.92” specs but their standard thin contour is fairly close
• Musikraft - they have several C shapes to choose from, you can get very close to the MK spec

Obviously the “others” won’t have the Fender decal but you could keep the headstock blank and get it signed by MK at an upcoming concert... 

[firmstools]

Thanks for the input, some good ideas there.Like the idea of a Robert Cray neck with a flatter radius.
I bought the instrument second hand so no chance of any warranty.
I appreciate all necks will do this if you are brave enough but mine does it with much less effort than my other strats.
Its very "springy" for want of a better word.

[JF]

even Les Pauls if you are strong enough and brave.

at 2:08 

[firmstools]

cant decide if thats cool or instrument abuse!
might try it later. 

[diremark86]

Since we are talking about sourcing guitar components, I thought I would share a pic of this project that I was FINALLY able to pick up today from the luthier. Its been in the works for two years and I know you guys will appreciate it!!!! The body was sourced from Warmoth, I sourced a neck from Warmoth and Musikraft, ended up settling on the musikraft neck as I vastly preferred the grain, and had my luthier put a beautiful nitrocellulose finish on it. All the parts were sourced, of course, from Ingo. Wow. It is truly stunning. Pics don't do it justice. And it sounds even sweeter than it looks!!!!

Having built several guitars from Warmoth products in the last couple years, I have to say I am incredibly impressed. All three play better than any regular Fender I have ever owned. Don't hesitate to order from them.