HNSD! x2!

So I took both strats to a long jam session yesterday. The Hot Rod sounded amazing. The Nash sounded heavenly. I found myself putting the Hot Rod down fairly quickly to get back to the Nash. I think if I keep the Hot Rod, I need to remove the finish from the back of the neck. The gummy sticky feel of the gloss finish vs the bare wood on the Nash was night and day. The thick neck on the Hot Rod is extremely comfortable to play otherwise.

The Nash is slightly darker in tone but the Lollar pickups combined with the treble bleed circuit on the volume pot let me get just about any sound I desired. The Hot Rod has a standard Fender strat set up, so the volume pot is essentially useless and the tone knobs don't do much either, just no subtlety.

I like the hard tail bridge on the Nash too. I rarely use a floating trek, it's just a source of setup frustration for me.

Two amazing strats, the Nash pulled slightly ahead for me.
 
I think if I keep the Hot Rod, I need to remove the finish from the back of the neck. The gummy sticky feel of the gloss finish vs the bare wood on the Nash was night and day. The thick neck on the Hot Rod is extremely comfortable to play otherwise.
Before you completely remove the finish on the Hot Rod get one of those 3m scuffing pads, medium grit should do, and rub down the back of the neck thoroughly with it...that will take the gloss off and leave a satin sheen without completely unsealing the wood...an unfinished neck can absorb lots of nasty things...
 
Before you completely remove the finish on the Hot Rod get one of those 3m scuffing pads, medium grit should do, and rub down the back of the neck thoroughly with it...that will take the gloss off and leave a satin sheen without completely unsealing the wood...an unfinished neck can absorb lots of nasty things...

I also have a '62 Hot Rod and I've often thought about doing something similar. This is good info.
 
Addendum (poorly written, apologies):

TL/DR version: Bill Nash is a class act, makes a fantastic guitar, and Nash Guitars customer service is excellent.

Reglur version:

Sold the white 62 Hot Rod a while back. Then a few months went by and I barely had time to pick up a guitar. A few weeks ago, I pulled the sonic blue Nash strat out of the case and it was buzz city. I had been meaning to get the strat to a tech anyway to get it cleaned up and set up right. Some of the saddles were screwy and I tend to make problems like that worse when I'm trying to fix them.

So off to the tech. Within moments, he's giving the neck the stink eye and grumbling. Loosens the strings, pops the neck off, puts a straight edge on it (it spins freely), completely loosens the truss nut. Slaps the neck back on, pulls the strings back to tension, looks at the neck, more grumbling and head shaking. This guy is a real character, the look of genuine concern on his face was alarming but also told me I picked the right guy. Terminal back bow. The only real solution would be to take off the frets and nut and shave down the fingerboard, which would cost far more than a replacement neck from, for example, Warmoth. The tech is a cool dude and says there's really not much to do about it, and then we talk neck specs for a Warmoth replacement. As I'm packing up, he also suggests contacting Nash to see if they'll sell me a replacement neck. A fine idea that I probably wouldn't have thought of.

I get in the car and fire off an email to Nash via their website. The email explains how I bought the guitar used off Reverb, how the neck seemed to go south after I had it for a few months, had a tech look at it, would they consider selling me a replacement strat neck, etc. ...

Two hours later, Bill Nash himself writes back:

Our customer service policy is to make the world a better place -one guitar at a time! If you send us the guitar, we will replace the neck at no charge, re-setup and send back - and cover shipping back to you.

Say what?! I had to read it a few times to make sure I had that right. Fucking sweet! We emailed back and forth a little more, talking guitars, the state of the world, etc. We also talked about the neck profiles Nash offers (a standard C and a boatneck). My strat had a C neck but I asked (knowing that I was probably pushing my luck) if it was all the same to them, could the replacement neck be a boat profile instead. The answer was sure, no problem!

I got the strat back about a week and a half ago. I absolutely LOVE the boat neck. It's considerably thicker than the 62 Hot Rod (which are known for having really beefy necks) but it's ridiculously comfortable to play. Between the profile, the slick bare wood on the back of the neck, and the rolled edges, it is an incredibly comfortable and pleasant guitar neck.

Between this S-67 and my old dependable Strat Plus that I bought new in high school, I've never been more strat happy than I am right now. I also slapped a Superman logo sticker on the Nash. My 4 year old gave me the sticker and I asked him if my guitar would be a good place for it. He lit up and so I applied it just below the bridge. Will have to snap a pic.
 
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