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Old 08-13-2016, 04:12 PM   #1
he/she/it
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Default The Bat-Strat mystery

This is an earlier image of the bat strat.

http://i.imgur.com/HkEUhNE.jpg

And this is a later image of the bat strat.

http://i.imgur.com/LZuCQqV.jpg

I can tell because I'm a very good e-detective. Also, the paint is worn away further in the later image.

But what's also different in the images is the guitar neck. The guitar is a 1957 strat reissue, which is one of Fender's popular reissues. The earlier image has the original 1957 vintage-spec neck installed, while in the later image there's a replacement neck on the guitar.

Here's an image of what the guitar originally looks like.

http://img.audiofanzine.com/images/u...-xx-181669.jpg



Some particular characteristics of the '57 strat include:

It has a 7.25" neck radius, which means the fretboard has a much more pronounced side-to-side curve than modern strats, and other guitars, which typically have a bigger radius, which makes for a less-pronounced curve of the fretboard. You can see how fretboard radiuses are measured, here: http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/Radius.aspx

The width of the neck at the nut (the white piece at the top of the neck, inbetween the fretboard and the headstock) is smaller than on modern strats, which people with smaller hands might like. The difference between that vintage and the modern strat spec is 2mm, but it makes for a significant different in feel, and playability, depending on how large or small one's hands are. You can see the different specs for vintage vs modern strats, here: http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NutWidth.aspx

It also has a very sticky nitrocellulose finish that can make it difficult to play fast, though many people shave the finish off the back of the neck when they get one, and apply their own choice of a more slick finish. Nitro finishes can be done so that they're not sticky and tough to play with, when they're done in a satin manner, and not glossy. I expect WPC would not have been playing his blistering fast early-pumpkins solos without having done something to rework, or replace the nitro finish on the back of his '57 strat's neck.

The truss-rod is located at the heel of the neck, and the entire neck needs to be removed from the guitar body in order to change the neck curvature, which is usually done either when changing string gauges, or in order to accommodate seasonal fluctuations in the wood.

The string tuners on the headstock are vintage-style, which have holes in their tops, which a string-end is fed down into, before the tuners are turned, and the rest of the string wraps around the tuner pole. This is different than modern tuners, where a string is fed through a hole in the side of a tuner pole, and the rest of the string is similarly wrapped around the pole as the tuners are turned.

The stock pickup-selector has only 3 positions, neck, middle, and bridge, whereas modern strats with neck, mid, bridge pickups have a 5-position pickup-selector: neck, neck-middle, middle, middle-bridge, bridge. In an earlier interview, WPC said that he installed a 5-position pickup-selector switch into this guitar, replacing the 3-way pickup-selector, and he can been seen making use of all 5 pickup positions in his live performances with this guitar.



In the later image of BC's bat strat, the replacement neck that is on the guitar has a much lighter, more natural finish, compared to the dark amber of the '57 neck's vintage nitro finish. The new finish appears more satiny, while the original neck's finish appears more glossy. Also, and these are two very challenging calls to make, and I'm part-guessing, but it looks to me like the replacement neck has a flatter fretboard radius than the '57 neck, and the nut-width looks closer to modern strat specs, and not the thinner vintage spec.


My guessed verdict: Billy eventually replaced his '57 strat's vintage, glossy nitro, narrower-width, smaller-radius bat strat neck with a satin nitro, modern nut-width, flatter radius neck.


I wonder what motivated the change, after having it one way for so many years. Like, whether the original neck was damaged, or put on another guitar, or if it was just all the aspects of what Billy came to like in a neck for maximum comfort and playability. Changing a guitar's neck does a lot to influence its sound, and can turn a great-sounding guitar into a bad-sounding one, and vice-versa. I wonder if WPC found a neck that sounded like the original, or if he went for a different overall sound from the guitar when he made this change.



Update: A lot more information about the Bat Strat is in this newer post: http://forums.netphoria.org/showpost...7&postcount=13

Last edited by he/she/it : 08-23-2019 at 06:04 PM.

 
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Old 08-13-2016, 04:15 PM   #2
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candy cane walks

 
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Old 08-13-2016, 04:30 PM   #3
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the jackals lick their bawlz

 
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Old 08-13-2016, 06:20 PM   #4
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This is a good question for Billy at a VIP Q&A.

 
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Old 08-13-2016, 06:42 PM   #5
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please post full info on the stolen gish strat.

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 01:50 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T&T View Post
please post full info on the stolen gish strat.
I don't know much about it, or its whereabouts.


BC talks about it some, here: http://glittercop.blogspot.ca/2010/1...return-of.html

It's an early 70's strat with the larger CBS headstock, and it has 21 frets. It looks like it also has a small-radius neck, possible 7.25". It also looks like it has a thin neck.


Some general info on early 70's strats, from a guitar forum: "The early-70s Strats were a medium-depth "U" shape - actually somewhere between a "U" and a "C". They got to be a little thinner and a little more "U" shaped as the decade wore on. The early ones should be 1 5/8" wide; but by the end of the decade they were getting closer to 1 9/16" wide. They would all be 7.25" radius."


A 1+5/8" nut-width would be the same as the '57 strat.


Quote:
Originally Posted by weasel View Post
no, it was around this time that bill swapped the neck for a squier model neck.
it was shortly before the Brixton show that bill had someone go to Argos to buy a donor guitar for the swap. i'll have a look but there's a video of it somewhere on youtube.

James was so impressed that he also swapped the next out on one of his guitars. i think he mentions it in an interview late that year.
If you find that video, I'd love to watch it.

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 03:38 AM   #7
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hey remember how it was cool in the 90's to aBUZE guitars, fUCK uP the paint job and put cOOL sTICKERS on them?

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 03:34 PM   #8
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I found it guys

http://www.carverdoug.com/guitars/images/batstrat.1.jpg

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:03 PM   #9
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I don't have much to add except that I think Corgan has talked about preferring the goofy 70s style strat headstocks.

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:04 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1 View Post
hey remember how it was cool in the 90's to aBUZE guitars, fUCK uP the paint job and put cOOL sTICKERS on them?
born2loose

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:07 PM   #11
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also I don't know if there is hard evidence of which picture is older, but the "later" photo has more paint on it in certain spots, see around the tone/volume knobs up towards the pickup switch. And on the same side (the right) up on the wing.

 
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:19 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redbreegull View Post
also I don't know if there is hard evidence of which picture is older, but the "later" photo has more paint on it in certain spots, see around the tone/volume knobs up towards the pickup switch. And on the same side (the right) up on the wing.
I've noticed that, but that's black felt marker, not paint, and it probably wears off quickly with his hand and sweat wiping those places frequently.

I speculate that maybe WPC touches up the black marker in those areas to keep it looking it look as it does. Otherwise, there'd be no explanation for why the silver paint recedes in the latter photo, while the black marker is increased in the latter photo.

Also, in the allegedly earlier photo, the black marker is smeared, whereas in the 2nd, it's more crisply-defined along a line, and looks like it was applied in dabbed streaks. I think WC must replenish the marker to keep the rugged look, as it smears and wipes away with playing. It's a cool look, though, and I think it's worth maintaining.

 
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Old 08-15-2016, 03:17 PM   #13
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too long; didn't read... about the guitar specs

but that Bat Strat gives me a boner

Last edited by dreams of glass : 08-15-2016 at 04:40 PM.

 
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Old 08-15-2016, 04:40 PM   #14
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btw I have severe OCD

 
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Old 08-15-2016, 08:44 PM   #15
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yo this rules, keep posting. best thread in years

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 10:34 AM   #16
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Just in case anyone hasn't followed closely, the bat strat started out as this sunburst in 1993:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/InISOY3ckEU/hqdefault.jpg

Later to appear on SNL, silver and bats in place for the first time:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IpkTWseNluE/hqdefault.jpg

Then came the black sharpied pickguard:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...f150316570.jpg

And over time the sharpie wore off and the silver paint started to chip:

http://67.media.tumblr.com/393b624c7...lwvvo1_400.jpg

It stuck around for the Mellon Collie tour:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kVmlI1GA_Hc/hqdefault.jpg

Then it sat for some years, and came back for Oceania. Appears to have a new neck.

https://yourlifeisnotyourown.files.w...bat_guitar.jpg

Last edited by grape : 08-16-2016 at 10:39 AM.

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 10:48 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grape View Post
It stuck around for the Mellon Collie tour:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kVmlI1GA_Hc/hqdefault.jpg

Then it sat for some years, and came back for Oceania. Appears to have a new neck.

https://yourlifeisnotyourown.files.w...bat_guitar.jpg
Cool. In both of these pictures, the newer neck is on the guitar. You can see the same silver sticker, or tape, or whatever it is on the headstock.


Btw, Bat Strat has their own twitter account: https://twitter.com/Bat_Strat

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 11:48 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grape View Post
"What? Ah. Copy that, boss. The asian will be discarded by tomorrow at thirteen hundred hours."

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 12:19 PM   #19
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are the bats ON the silver, or are the bats negative space peeled off after it was painted silver?

the bats started off all black
but some of them are now white
and in some places there's like bat outlines of sunburst.

kind of redic that billy didn't just go out and buy a black pickguard... just sharped it.. lol.




what does the red sticker say? RAPE BOYS? KORE TOYS? BORE JOYS?

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 01:38 PM   #20
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keep going, bro. i'm a student right now

 
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Old 08-16-2016, 09:56 PM   #21
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does he still has the bat strat? still painted and everything?

 
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Old 08-17-2016, 05:45 PM   #22
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Born 2 Luze?

http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quot...r-47-37-86.jpg

Coincidence? Or sine?

 
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Old 08-17-2016, 06:15 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T&T View Post

what does the red sticker say? RAPE BOYS? KORE TOYS? BORE JOYS?
BORE
DOMS

 
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Old 08-17-2016, 06:20 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T&T View Post
are the bats ON the silver, or are the bats negative space peeled off after it was painted silver?

the bats started off all black
but some of them are now white
and in some places there's like bat outlines of sunburst.
black stickers on top of the silver

the removal of the boredoms sticker peeled off the surface of them and left the white underlayer

some of the bat stickers, when removed, peeled off the silver revealing the sunburst

 
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Old 08-17-2016, 06:34 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JESUSNEEDSAHIT View Post
does he still has the bat strat? still painted and everything?
Nope he gave it to monte.

 
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Old 08-17-2016, 07:18 PM   #26
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Like, sexually?

 
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Old 08-24-2016, 06:51 AM   #27
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like, duh

 
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Old 08-30-2016, 08:50 PM   #28
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Bore Boys.

 
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:34 PM   #29
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Was it really a boredoms sticker? I can't see it. If so, billy is such a tool.

 
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Old 08-31-2016, 01:13 AM   #30
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Is it true that BILLY now owns the Fender-bass from D'ARCY with the misery-smiley ?

Did she hardly use more e-basses than this and the black one with the spots ?

 
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