Preamble
I've been dreaming of this guitar ever since I first read about it in Guitar Player back in the '90s. It's a hardtail Strat, by golly! Why would I want one, anyway? Well, it's because in my 40-plus years of playing various S-style electrics, I've never really used the tremolo.
I've been dreaming of this guitar ever since I first read about it in Guitar Player back in the '90s. It's a hardtail Strat, by golly! Why would I want one, anyway? Well, it's because in my 40-plus years of playing various S-style electrics, I've never really used the tremolo.
Imagine my joy when some time in 2014, in response to a message I'd posted on Jamtank, Alienoid guitarist Eric Neoh got in touch; offering me his sunburst 2011 Cray Strat. The deal was sealed in a couple minutes, and a few days later my dream guitar was in my hands. The guitar appeared to be stock. Speaking of stock, this would be a good time to jump right into a few specs, courtesy of Fender.
Stock Specs
Fender Spaghetti Logo on headstock
Single mid-1956 era "butterfly" string tree [guide]
3-color sunburst alder body with unshielded cavities
Maple neck [early '60s “C” profile]
9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard [early '60s slab board]
21 medium jumbo frets
Vintage-Style Single-Coil Strat® pickups with five-way switching
Vintage-Style Tuning Machines
Three-ply mint green pickguard
Vintage-style neck heel truss rod adjustment
6-Saddle American Vintage Strings-Through-Body Strat® Hardtail Bridge
Single mid-1956 era "butterfly" string tree [guide]
3-color sunburst alder body with unshielded cavities
Maple neck [early '60s “C” profile]
9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard [early '60s slab board]
21 medium jumbo frets
Vintage-Style Single-Coil Strat® pickups with five-way switching
Vintage-Style Tuning Machines
Three-ply mint green pickguard
Vintage-style neck heel truss rod adjustment
6-Saddle American Vintage Strings-Through-Body Strat® Hardtail Bridge
Upgrades and Modifications
After restringing and setting up my Robert Cray, I played it for a couple days; and realized that some changes were necessary. Perhaps the most crucial decision was to replace the stock pickups with the trusty Fender Tex-Mex™ Strat Pickups I'd originally installed in Blackie years ago. Now, the stock pickups were amazingly bluesy played clean; with loads of vintage sparkle and chime.
After restringing and setting up my Robert Cray, I played it for a couple days; and realized that some changes were necessary. Perhaps the most crucial decision was to replace the stock pickups with the trusty Fender Tex-Mex™ Strat Pickups I'd originally installed in Blackie years ago. Now, the stock pickups were amazingly bluesy played clean; with loads of vintage sparkle and chime.
Trouble was they just couldn't cut in in overdrive mode [to my ears, at least]. And so they ended up being sold to Rick Lee; a KL-based dentist. Yes, folks, don't you ever think that them dentists don't know how to play the blues. Besides swapping out the pickups, here are the other basic mods and upgrades that I performed on the guitar.
Complete rewire with cloth-covered Gavitt wire
Full foil shielding under the pickguard
Conductive shielding paint in the body cavities
Replaced the stock Fender strap buttons with Ibanez "mushroom heads"
Replaced the stock "butterfly" string tree with a Kluson round "button" string guide
Sound Bytes
Here's a brief sampling of my 2011 Fender Robert Cray Stratocaster® in the hands of up-and-coming stratmeister Syed Aziq. What you'll hear is the Cray plugged into a Zoom G5N and Orange Crush 35RT combo amp.
Here's a brief sampling of my 2011 Fender Robert Cray Stratocaster® in the hands of up-and-coming stratmeister Syed Aziq. What you'll hear is the Cray plugged into a Zoom G5N and Orange Crush 35RT combo amp.
