When I was 15 years old, my dad sat me in front of his computer and pressed play on a video that would change my life forever. It was a live performance of Slash performing “Anastasia,” a song loaded with intricate riffs and the most awe-inspiring outro guitar solo I had ever witnessed. It was at that moment that I found my north star as a guitarist; but more importantly, it was the moment that I fell in love with the humbucker sound.
The journey that followed was one of deep humbucker exploration. From getting my dream Les Paul Studio in high school to outfitting other guitars with Seymour Duncan Alnico IIs, I became a lifelong believer in this sound. Despite spending countless hours learning riffs from quintessential Strat rockers like Tom Morello and John Frusciante, the humbucker sound remained the dominant sonic force over the magic of the single-coils they armed themselves with. But that all changed recently when I got my hands on a Fender Vintera III Late ’60s Strat. After years of defining my sound with humbucker guitars, I decided to go on a different journey.
Could fall in love again — this time with a classic single-coil axe?
Why the Fender Vintera III Late-’60s Strat?
No matter what guitar I found myself picking up, I always gravitated towards ’60s-style appointments. Slim necks and rosewood fretboards became my winning combo, and have continued to be my preference to this day. However, the Vintera III Late 60s Strat is much more than that. A faithful recreation of the CBS-era Strat, this axe boasts a period-correct big headstock, a super smooth slim C-shaped maple neck with a gloss urethane finish, a rosewood fretboard, and a resonant alder body. The stars of the show are its Vintage-Style Late ’60s Single-Coil Strat pickups, which are voiced to capture the nuances of the spank that defined those pivotal years.
Here was a guitar that seemed like something I as a lifelong hard rocker, should be able to resonate with. But even after drooling over its awesome specs, the question remained: Does it rock?
Can the Vintera III Late-’60s Strat Rock?
With the Vintera III Late ’60s Strat drawing lineage from Fender’s most classic models, it’s obvious this axe can rock. You need only look to the countless rock records whose iconic sounds were defined by the Strat to see this. However, the Vintera III Late ’60s Strat’s rock-readiness comes down to much more than its sonic presence on those records. When the axe is in your hands, the question shifts from what you hear to how you feel. When I dig into this guitar, will it explode with its own unique flavor and power? Will it create the same visceral feeling of electricity that I’ve come to love with my go-to guitars? These are the questions I asked myself as I set out to rock with the Vintera III Late ’60s Strat.
First Impressions
The first thing I did when I picked up this guitar was plug it straight into my Victory Countess MKII’s clean channel, cranked the volume to 10, and slammed down the heaviest power chords I could. With this, I was mixing single-coil Strat spank with edge-of-breakup tone in the same way someone mixes chemicals in a Bunsen burner to see what colorful, explosive chemical reaction would come from it. Initially, the guitar fought back against both my heavy-handedness and my sonic expectations, but not in a bad way. It was almost as if it said “you play like this, but I play like this.” With that, digging into this axe felt different from what I was used to. I appreciated this guitar from the moment I picked it up, but it wasn’t until later that I began to understand what I held in my hands.
It was almost as if [the guitar] said “you play like this, but I play like this.”
The Turning Point: Tone
Initially, while connecting with this Strat, one question kept lingering in my mind: Where’s the fat? Through power chords and solos, I couldn’t help but feel a lack of heft from the tone this guitar was singing with. Was it me? Was it the guitar? I discovered my answer when I decided to run this axe through Pearl Jam’s “Do the Evolution.”
I cranked the volume on my Countess, pushed the gain to about six to match the dirt of Mike McCreedy’s gritty sound, and began ripping into the song’s energetic, almost frenzied pentatonic riff. Maybe it was the riff itself, or maybe it was the EQ setting I landed on in that moment. Maybe it was both. Regardless, this was the moment I began to realize what I love about this Strat.
When pushed, it cuts like a hot knife through butter. In position one, the bridge pickup delivers a similar brightness found in bridge position humbuckers, but cuts in a way that make power chords feel more like a knife than a hammer. With its distinct wide-open sound, position two boasted a sweet flavor that made it the ideal spot for leads, with position three acting as the slightly darker option for solos. Positions four and five featured a similar warmth to the humbucker neck sound I’ve come to love, but cleaned up in a way that make them great options for beefy power chords and an even better choice for high-register solos.
The Turning Point: Feel
Once I found a home with the Strat’s tone, my connection with its feel followed closely behind. Despite my heavy-handed playing style, I’ve always preferred ’60s slim taper necks for how they allow players to move up and down the fretboard with ease. However, I might just have a new favorite, because this Vintera III Strat’s late ’60s C-shaped maple neck’s slightly beefier feel provides just enough heft to make digging into it feel like a dream. Despite its rounder 7.25″ radius rosewood fretboard, moving up and down the fretboard felt as smooth as ever — resulting in a playing experience that felt right at home. Once everything clicked, I couldn’t put it down; but is that enough for me to deliver a positive final verdict?
Conclusion
From the moment I fell in love with Slash’s iconic humbucker sound at 15 years old, the Strat, and single-coil tones by extension, became my “outside looking in” sound. From John Frusciante’s funk-rock spank to Eric Johnson’s buttery smooth Strat flavors, I consistently found myself in a place of appreciation for the sound, but always gravitated towards the power of humbuckers for my own rigs regardless. However, today is a new day, as I can confidently proclaim that not only can the Fender Vintera III Late-’60s Strat rock, it has turned the page for me as a player. For players reading this who are going down a similar path, I’m not suggesting that this particular Strat is the one to rule them all. To sum up my findings in this journey, the Vintera III Late-’60s Strat is the one for me personally, but your Strat companion may be a ’50s, ’70s, ’80s model, or beyond. The point is, if you’re a rocker at heart and the Strat is your “outside looking in” axe, then I’m here to tell you that this is a journey well worth taking.
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