software

The local dealer here has a few HWY1 Strats. I picked up one at the shop and played it a bit. Very much like my tele version, in the neck department. I went home and played my MIM stat, and it played not nearly as good, and the small fretwire seemed puny. So i think I'm going to get one, especially since the Xmas specials are on the go now.

Question...what is the quot;greasebucketquot; tone circuit? Does it work? The two string trees? What kind of trem block is on that thing, it look strange through the back plate holes? Is it a nice heavy-resonating one...?

All jokes aside on this one, what is quot;original body contourquot; . My MIM is similar in shapes (a '96), but the tummy cut looks less uniform on the HWY1. Or are they all the same really, just some models mention it.?

This one in the shop looks to be a 2004 (Z4)
Thanks a-plenty

HW1, larger frets, wider spacing by 1/8quot; on vintage trem, heavier trem block(better sustain and thicker tone), thinner finish(more resonance), better tuning keys, better pickups.
I've done the side by side comparison and stock there is a considerable difference. However, my modded MIM smokes the stock HW1 and cost less(including the mods). But that said, the HW1 is a better base to work off of if you are willing to fork out $300 more from the beginning.

The HW1 has better pickups compared to what? I love the H1 I have but I thought the pickups defied physics by both sucking and blowing at the same time.

For the neck and frets alone I would get the H1 over the MIM if cost wasn't an issue. I think the guitar is a great value on the whole but clearly they saved a few pennies in areas most guys modify anyway.

I compared the stock MIM singles to the HW1 singles and the HW1 did sound better. But that also may have simply been the build differences between the two guitars that effected the tone. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have left the stock pups in the HW1 either, but they weren't that bad. I'd love to hear my Antiquities in the HW1.

Originally Posted by TheArchitectThe HW1 has better pickups compared to what? I love the H1 I have but I thought the pickups defied physics by both sucking and blowing at the same time.
For the neck and frets alone I would get the H1 over the MIM if cost wasn't an issue. I think the guitar is a great value on the whole but clearly they saved a few pennies in areas most guys modify anyway.
I'm not much of a fan of the stock pickups, either. I bought my HWY1 used with an skb hard case for $400, so the advantages over the MIM were well worth the price

The neck alone is worth having the HWY1... it feels a little beefier (don't know if it really is or not), the frets are larger, the tuning keys are good enough that they don't need to be replaced, and the fretboard edges have been rolled.

The HWY1 has the stamped saddle bridge, which, depending on your tastes, is a fine bridge and doesn't really need to be replaced unless you don't care for the tone. The biggest HWY1 cuts (from MIA strats) are pickups and finish. If you can score a good used HWY1 that's the better rout to go, IMO.

The only downfall of a HWY1 is the pickup routing... the SSS models are routed accordingly, so if you ever wanted to go fat, you'd better have a router handy.


Originally Posted by JumpMarineI compared the stock MIM singles to the HW1 singles and the HW1 did sound better. But that also may have simply been the build differences between the two guitars that effected the tone. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have left the stock pups in the HW1 either, but they weren't that bad. I'd love to hear my Antiquities in the HW1.

They'll kick ass. Thats what I put in mine.


Originally Posted by MikeSI'm not much of a fan of the stock pickups, either. I bought my HWY1 used with an skb hard case for $400, so the advantages over the MIM were well worth the price

The neck alone is worth having the HWY1... it feels a little beefier (don't know if it really is or not), the frets are larger, the tuning keys are good enough that they don't need to be replaced, and the fretboard edges have been rolled.

The HWY1 has the stamped saddle bridge, which, depending on your tastes, is a fine bridge and doesn't really need to be replaced unless you don't care for the tone. The biggest HWY1 cuts (from MIA strats) are pickups and finish. If you can score a good used HWY1 that's the better rout to go, IMO.

The only downfall of a HWY1 is the pickup routing... the SSS models are routed accordingly, so if you ever wanted to go fat, you'd better have a router handy.

Mine has the cut for a bridge HB. I don't remember about the neck though. Mine is about 3 years old at least. Maybe they changed it.

a Classic 50's, 60's or 70's Strat uses the same tremolo (and block) that you get on a HW1 and while it is a fullsize block it is made from soft pot metal and (IMO) should be reaplced...FWIW, the pickups are also the same and while they are OK they should also be replaced. With those 2 upgrades a HW1 is a killer guitar. As for the gresebucket tone control it is new but I hear good things about it (I have not tried it).

cool, thanks!

I've had a new Hwy 1 Strat for about a month now.

It sounds great! It's very resonant and weighs well under 7 pounds.

I love the finish and the neck is wonderful! The neck is thick (.865quot; at the 1st fret) and feels real good.

Keep in mind that the neck has heavily rolled edges and the bridge has the wider vintage spacing.
This combination causes the E strings to be VERY close to the edges of the fretboard! I'm used to this because of an earlier Strat that I own, but my 14 year old daughter pickup up on it right away and doesn't like the guitar because of it.

The pickups aren't bad. They're the same as the MIM '70s Classic. I put a set of Fralins that I already had in it and it smokes.

The bridge is the same as the MIM Classics and is not very good quality. The intonation screws have very shallow phillips head slots, the saddles threads don't match the height screw's threads well, the height screws have sloppy hexes in them and the block is die-cast.
A Callaham bridge will correct this.

The guitar has H-S-S routes and a 22 fret neck making it necessary to remove (or loosen) the neck to remove the pickguard.

The Grease Bucket tone controls have an added capacitor and resisitor. I believe they're supposed to retain mids while turning down. I replaced them with a master tone control and blender pot. I like to be able to combine my neck and bridge pickups.
I believe the Grease Bucket tone controls have only been used since early to mid 2005.

Because of it's price (I paid $505 new, shipped) and features (vintage style bridge, lightweight solid alder body, nice neck...), it's probably Fender's best deal as a guitar to modify and upgrade.

I replaced the saddles with Graphtec saddles. I did it primarily because I don't like saddles without a groove to hold the string in position. I lost a small amount of high end bite from it but with SC pups I don't see that as a problem. There is still plently. I suspect the heavy shielding and the Ant's I put in it had much more to do with that than the saddles

Got a strat, installed a pair of old APS-1's and an APS-2 bridge, the trem will be replaced by a six screw Wilkinsson or one of my old steel trems that I have in my boxes full of old crap
Very resonant and nice playing guitars, mine is ssh routed.

The HWY1 strat is a very well made instrument. You will probably need some good heavy cast string trees and heavy cast saddles help the sustain. The pickups aren't bad. Fret edges need only a little dressing compared to the MIM series. The only bad part about the HWY1 series is they have multi-piece bodies, usually four peices and they don't have as warm or open a tone as a two peice body.

Snowdog

^Bah I have had several two pieces that sounded like a bad dog...the HW-1's are just MIA with out the fancy finish and some lesser hardware parts, the frets where perfectly dressed one all the ones i have tried


Originally Posted by Rid^Bah I have had several two pieces that sounded like a bad dog...the HW-1's are just MIA with out the fancy finish and some lesser hardware parts, the frets where perfectly dressed one all the ones i have tried

Thats my take on it. Like any flavor of strat you need to run the racks to find the one most to your liking but generally the H1's compare quite favorably to the MIA and up.