Underdogs Rule
British bluesman and songwriter Aynsley Lister is one of the finest exponents of the Strat this country can boast. So when he told us he favours his 70s Strats over the many 60s and Custom Shop Fenders he’s tried in the past, we were intrigued. Here’s wha
“I got my first electric guitar in 1986. I was in my early teens and back then, in the early 90s, you could pick up 70s Strats for £250,” Aynsley recalls. “People were just trying to get rid of them. And the ones I tried – I suppose they must have been late-70s ones – were quite heavy. So I ended up thinking, ‘Oh, Fender Strats are heavy,’ and I never ended up getting one. But a few years ago I thought, ‘Right, I really want to buy a nice old Strat,’ so I went on the hunt. I’d sold some gear, had a decent chunk of cash and tried a load of 60s Strats, but couldn’t find one I liked. But then I stumbled across that yellow [Olympic White] ’74, the one with the birdseye maple neck. It was the best Strat I’d tried, up to that point. I thought: ‘Hang on a minute. This is from the 70s but it’s not heavy.’ And then: ‘Wow, that looks really cool.’ I remember the guy sent me a picture of it before I went to look at it. And I thought it looked great, so it was probably going to play like crap. But then I plugged it in… It was better than the 60s ones I tried – which were refins or whatever.
“About six weeks later, the same guy, a collector, rang me and said, ‘I’ve just taken another one in. It’s a refin, it’s not really my thing. But as a player, you might be interested.’ And that’s the one Mick Taylor [of ThatPedalShow] has now. Again, it was not heavy – just a good, good Strat. I was like, ‘There’s something in this,’ so I started looking for more and found the Sunburst one [from 1975]. Again, it’s like all this stuff, if you look online people will say that up to ’74 they’re okay, but then [not so good] – it’s almost considered like a cut-off point, like pre- and post-CBS Strats. But I’ve learned you have to take each guitar on its own merits. I saw that Sunburst ’75, beaten to hell, and thought ‘Wow, for a 70s Strat that’s got the thick polyester paint to have been worn that much... That’s not fake.’ You can tell it is the real thing. You can tell someone’s played that guitar to death.” [JD]
“People will say up to ’74 Strats are okay, but then [not so good] – but I’ve learned you have to take each guitar on its own merits.” Aynsley Lister