Stradette Vintage Model Review

[JimPage]

Hey, Mosritians--

Wednesday I received my black-and-white Stradette from Bob Shade. He was kind enough to set it up for the strings I use (Gibson L5 56-12s; I play mostly acoustic country-rhythm/early rock) and to put my intitials in the fingerboard end.

Please let me preface this review by stating two things: Bob is a friend of mine whom I greatly respect. And I am usually very uncomfortable with electric guitars. I have owned dozens, and the only two I really thought were comfortable (to me) were a 1965 Epiphone bat-headstock Olympic and a 330 12-string Rickenbacker that I converted to a six-string. My main guitars are a 1990 Martin D-41, a 1954 0-17, and a 1936 Slingerland Nite-Hawk. Much different guitars from one another, but I benefit from the resistance that an acoustic gives you. So I sent Bob a set of strings and asked him to please set up the Stradette for them.

Bob did so, but warned that the tremelo wouldn't be as smooth as it might be with lighter strings. No big deal to me.

Several years ago, when Bob was just getting into his Hallmark effort, he had showed me a photo of the Stradette. Maybe it is too extreme for many people, but I think it is elegant and classy. ESPECIALLY in black and white!

Well, this guitar exceeed all expectations in terms of build quality, finish, functionality, sound; whatever. Even the case is far beyond what other makers provide.

I haven't had time to show this to more tha five guitar-playing buddies so far, but all have just been thunderstruck by this Stradette. The action, the sound, the way it feels in the hands, the first-class build quality have all been remarked upon. "This takes the electric guitar to a whole new level," is a comment that seems to sum it up.

The finish reminds me of a Rickenbacker in that it is a rich, saturated black. It also plays in some respects like a Rick. I raised the action a tad from what Bob had set, so it felt more like an acoustic in my hands. As I get more used to it, I'll probably lower the action and also go to a lighter-gauge string.

The hardware and pickups were more than adequate; top quality. I like a clean sound through a Class A amp, but one of my buddies was shredding this Stradette through a Line 6 distorted like crazy, and he would not let it out of his hands for 30 minutes.

Only thing I changed, other than the string height, was adding StrapLocs. That is automatic with me.

Now, the item everyone always seems to want to know: "Would you gig with this guitar by itself?" I've been gigging since 1966 and have never gone without a backup BUT have never yet needed one. Spare strings and cables-- even a spare amp head-- yes; but I have never had a guitar fail, except for an EB-0 bass, and that I broke over a drummer's head. So I can't blame the guitar for that.

But I would take this as my only electric and carry an acoustic with a pickup as a backup for a gig.

My advice to Bob: "You are not charging enough for your guitars. Some folks are still confusing value with cost, and that works against you. Also, I want you to make enough profit on this venture so that you will still be around in 25 years." Bob knows style and quality, and how to achieve it in a production environment, and deserves to be rewarded properly for that.

Hope this review is useful and informative to this group, which is the most fun and well-informed guitar group I have yet seen on the Net.

When at the Worldwide Hallmark Headquarters, I played one of Bob's Swept-Wing basses and that was just an eye-opener. I will write about it soon, if you folks want me to. I never owned a Mosrite guitar back in the '60s, but I had a Mosrite bass and can thus speak with some validity as to how this bass of Bob's compares.

--Jim

[GattonFan]

What - no pix? As to what Bob charges, maybe for your custom set up and extras he didn't charge enough, but as pertains to production guitars, one of the attractions to Hallmark is that you can get a retro feel for a decent price. If it goes too high, I'd ( and maybe others) would just pay for a vintage original, or a Fillmore with the Mosrite name - or, depending on finances, just have Eddy Elliott build one. IMHO ...

Dennis

[JimPage]

Hey, Dennis--

Your point is well-taken; it would have to be a moderate increase. But have no fear, Bob didn't seem receptive to my price-increase idea, especially considering the economy.

What prompted my concern about the pricing is that I have known some very good luthier/repairpersons who have gone out of business by charging prices that seemed too low to me. I would try to pay more than I was charged, by 20% or so, as a token of my appreciation for their good services.

On the other hand, some of the prices charged for a couple of brand-name guitars seem to me to be far above their real value.

At least there are a lot of good guitars out there, though, and at various prices, so fewer people have to learn on an instrument that is just painful to play. I believe that junky student instruments turned off a lot of players back in the '50s and '60s.

--Jim

[Veenture]

...//...My advice to Bob: "You are not charging enough for your guitars. Some folks are still confusing value with cost, and that works against you. Also, I want you to make enough profit on this venture so that you will still be around in 25 years." Bob knows style and quality, and how to achieve it in a production environment, and deserves to be rewarded properly for that.

Hope this review is useful and informative to this group, which is the most fun and well-informed guitar group I have yet seen on the Net.

Jim, reading your post makes me feel proud of being a (humble) member on Danny's forum. Yes, let's hope Bob can keep up making Hallmarks for many years to come...and Dennis (GattonFan) has a very good point there!
Lastly, you have sufficiently warmed us up for some pictures of your b/w wonder!!!!
[edit] CONGRATULATIONS of course...

[rynaro]

Whilst in Tokyo recently arpsum led me to a store that had a hallmark sweptwing and stradette vintage... i loved the feel of the stradette but personally i would pay the extra to get the vintage stradette (for the set neck).

I agree what Bob is creating is great and the feel of his guitars rivals instruments for much higher prices.

[JimPage]

Hey, Rynaro--

I think Hallmark makes a set-neck Stradette as well as the bolt-on neck one. I went with the bolt-on as Bob mentioned that the bolt-ons seemed to have a brighter sound, which, for my type of music, was more appropriate.

--Jim