1979 Fender strat antigua hardtail (maple neck)

sparkykink · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Manchester UK

Hi there Bassy,

Apology accepted, although like yourselves I probably should lighten up a bit & ease off on the red mist (is that a drink)?

Regarding the colour, I don't know whether it is a fading thing, as mine had a lot of exposure to smoke / beer etc for 6 years or so gigging in pubs and clubs & really you would think the laquer would protect the finish.
incidentally the Antigua wasn't my ideal choice, I wanted a natural wood finish but A1 Music in Manchester where I bought it from had a choice of the antigua, sunburst or black .
The Antigua played like a dream, looked a bit different and that's how I got it.
It was only when looking on e-bay that I realised there had been enough demand for a re-issue, I'm not looking to sell, just curious.
I've sold guitars before for peanuts (like the Burns I mentioned), and there's really no future in it unless you really need to.

Bye for now.

1bassleft · Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 12:18 am Post subject:

Red mist, sounds good enough to drink to me Smile

. Interesting about the exposure to pubsmoke etc. Fender's Olympic White certainly looks a bit "have you brushed your teeth?" after a while, but I quite like that patina.

I know A1; although I know the smaller sister in nearby Preston better. Shortly before it changed to "Academy of Sound", a woman from the M/C A1 was assigned to the Preston branch. Don't know her name, but she was a right tough cookie; major battles to get any discounts (again, I prefer it when it's a proper haggle). I wonder if M/C A1 was usually like that? And is it still A1 or something else now?

glw · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:43 am Post subject:

The varying colours of the Antigua finish over the years is not, in the main, a fading thing.

The originals were a short of cream to brown "sunburst". The 1979 reissues were more grey than brown - I always though it looked "mushroom-like" - and 2004's Antiguas were more cream to olive green.

I've no idea why Fender change the Antigua colour with each re-issue, but that's the way it is.

1bassleft · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:59 pm Post subject:

Ah, thanks for the info. FWIW, the original "bronchial asthma" is the finish I like least, but that's just my op. And I've bought some right butt-uglies myself, anyway, so I'm hardly an art critic.

lee_UK · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:15 pm Post subject:

No accounting for taste, in my eyes sparkykink still has one of the naffest looking guitars ever to grace to the Fender logo, but i suppose some like it otherwise they wouldnt have brought out the reissue.

glw · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:11 am Post subject:

lee_UK wrote:

No accounting for taste, in my eyes sparkykink still has one of the naffest looking guitars ever to grace to the Fender logo, but i suppose some like it otherwise they wouldnt have brought out the reissue.

I really like it.

sparkykink · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Manchester UK

The great Antigua debate rumbles on eh ? (careful Lee, you may have a phobia developing there mate ) !

RE:- A1 Manchester.
Happy memories only really.
True enough, Anne & Graham were quite pennywise but I always found them really helpful if you had stuff in for repair & needed to borrow anything for gigging etc.
The staff were always ok , considering being forced to endure listening to the intro's of all those songs of the day over & over again (brown sugar, allright now, smoke on the water etc ) played almost in tune !

Of the more up-market stores ( for grown-ups), I always found Harker & Howarth of Bolton pretty good . Don't know any shops in Preston though.

1bassleft · Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:52 am Post subject:

, I think it might have been Anne. I didn't mind her trying it on; she was a vast improvement on the lanky-haired burks employed at Preston's A1. I could write a whole, almost-humorous thread on those types paid to widdle all day and sell nothing (found in every store worldwide).

Sparky, you must mention the opening bars to "Stairway" - or am I showing my age? I shoot those types on site (EDIT: or even "on sight" - pun not intended). Still, I reckon the store assistant is worse. The type that snatches a guitar off you and "shows you what it can do" Evil or Very Mad

sparkykink · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Manchester UK

Hi fellas,
Hope you're all OK
Just an update on the old A1 store in Manchester.
It's now a small music venue called Sound Control, you know the usual decor (everything sprayed black), overpriced and watered down beer.

Ps. I've still got the antigua strat.

Cheers,
Dave

Tim · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 2:09 am Post subject:

RIP A1, I used to go there just to ogle as a kid Sad

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