I very much prefer nitro, I like the fact that you can over spray a 80 year guitar with it and have it all turn out nicely.
 
I think 93% of the stuff I have heard about how guitar construction effects tone has turned out to be a myth.
 
I think there are good chunks of wood and bad chunks of wood and there is quality construction and bad construction and every thing else is dwarfed by those two basic parameters.
 
Just my opinion of course.

Mike when I talk with somebody that can tell me how the guitar will sound that they are going to start building tomorrow..and when they're finished, it does..that's when I'll start listening.
Until then...how does sound while you are playing it.

Playing it is the fun part. :-)

 Mike- "I've never seen actual sales figures... just serial numbers. Are sales figures by model public?"
 
 I really don't know. I was referencing the comment from the Fender sales exec. who said that Hendrix did more for the company than all of their sales staff combined. 
 
 I guess if I were really prone to investigate the matter I would determine if the guitars indeed sold in vast numbers starting around 1968 as compared to earlier sales.But then the question of why still remains which could still be hotly debated. In a comparison we would also need figures from the other makers. I think the Tele was the guitar of choice right before 67-68 as compared to the strat. So probably the only guitar out selling a strat before 65 was a Tele or a Gibson. After 68' my guess would be that the two major makers went toe to toe and back and forth in sales over the years. I'm sure Gibson's marketing strategy lined up with what blew open in 68' concerning the strat. They might have begged Clapton to play one in 68'. The smaller guys cleaned up the leftovers.
 

It's sort of exciting to think of a time when people like the Beatles and Hendrix were on the fore front of internationalizing pop music and electric guitars.
 
There was a before and after.
 
Cool stuff.

"Blueprint scaled" - Bat don't you think that should be defined?
It could be very misleading to some.
 
 

well, it's not that complicated, really, i just means that the major dimensions of the body match a typical strat...
i think the model used was a '57
 
but this was made by hand, so all contours are unique to the decisions made by the luthier at the time, and his choices were spot on.
 
the nitro?
well, i've played every kind of finish, and the 'sound' differences are subtle, but the way the feel and vibrate in your hand is something i picked up on very early....
 
over the years, i've come to care more about the sonics of the wood, i think that the thinnest layer of finish possible is the best, and damn the 'wear', just enough to protect the wood from the elements, and no more.
 
it's subjective for sure, but i am unanimous in my voting.
LOL

@ Spacey,
 
The Deluxe Strat I had must have had the Nitro finish on the neck then.  It was a very thin finish and was definitely very yellowish in color.  It felt as thin as oil and smooth.
 
I traded a fairly new Epi LP, Gibson case and $200.00 for it back then.  I found out a week later when I went into the small guitar shop that the owner was not happy with the clerk that did the deal with me.  He told me that I had picked up one fine instrument.  He said that it was an American Deluxe owned as a backup (#2) to a fairly well-known local blues touring musician.  The owner had ordered a Deluxe and didn’t like the neck that came on the guitar, so while touring through California, he swung by the Corona plant and had a Custom neck installed on the guitar, from the Fender plant.  Everything else was Deluxe, the transparent cream finish, the noiseless pickups, the heavy saddles, etc.
 
Funny thing is, when I sold the guitar, the one thing the buyer complained about was that it had a Fender Custom neck on it and not the original Deluxe neck.  I guess he wanted the locking tuners which is what it was supposed to have.

Starise,
 
I liked the tone of maple better.  A little brighter.  Plus, I just like the looks of maple on a Strat.  Goes back to the Clapton influence, I guess.
 

Bat...
You're right...it's not complicated. Very few Strats are alike. "Blueprint" is pretty much meanignless.
 
Here is a good read about bodies for some. Be sure to make it to RonKirn's post.
 
Finishes in general....each vote is valid and each may have their own reasoning.
 
I'll state again, what is so cool to me is that we now have the oppertunity to have a guitar
made that can be as our wishes dictate.
I believe the price of "name" brand has become so high that luthiers can offer a custom fit
guitar without scaring the picker away.
 
 
 
Mike I've been lucky with my Strats. The only one that just made me put it down was a Custom Shop...but I fixed it. :) It's the only soft V neck I have and really love the feel. Thin nitro too.

i guess i'll just say 'body based on a '57'
 
that'd be more accurate.
 
it truly is a hybrid, so in the long run, it's uniqueness is enough.