James Wilsey and Four Fender Stratocasters

James Wilsey posted this on his Facebook page yesterday. Pretty cool!

All of the Stratocasters I used in over 13 years playing with Chris Isaak.

I started with the black one, it’s a 1966 I purchased in Missouri for $200. When we got a record out and started to tour, I got the sunburst 50s made in Fullerton. They never quite matched very well sound wise, the sunburst was always darker sounding.

In 1987 I decided to retire those and go with a matching pair of reissues. I talked to my friends at Fender and had them hold the next two white 62 reissues. I got them to be less concerned about wear and tear (and potential loss) I’d be facing on the road again. And I wanted two that matched better sound wise, and might as well match the color too.

I went down to Fullerton and picked them up in the warehouse, it was a fun day. The guitars were really nice and sounded great. I could not tell them apart. In the studio, I did a A/B test of the new guitars against the old ones. The new ones sounded better by unanimous vote.

I recorded the next album with the new white guitars, “Wicked Game” used one of them, not sure which.

James-Wilsey-Stratocasters

My New MIM Standard Tele

I actually got this MIM Standard Tele a few weeks back, but am finally posting pics now. I bought it off Craigslist for $275. This is the guitar I should have bought first when I started playing again–instead of the cheap Chinese Tele (which I recently gave away). It’s rock solid, has a great sound. On the whole, I’d say it’s slightly better quality than my Blacktop Tele–especially the pots. I’m half considering putting on a vintage bridge and maybe a black pickguard, but I think I’ll play it stock for a while. All I’ve done so far is put on new strings–D’Addario 10-52s (light top, heavy bottom). Pics after the jump with my Blacktop Tele and my Robert Cray Strat.

Tele

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