strat newb - what to do??

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mcl116

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I've been a gibson guy, it's all i know. I was given an SG as my first guitar and later bought myself an LP. I want to add a different sound to my repertoire with the single coil pups. I've looked at a few options but don't have any experience with strats so I wanted to get some feedback. Right now I'm considering:

Deluxe Player's Strat
Classic Series '60s Strat
Classic Series '50s
Deluxe Roadhouse

Anybody that owns any of these, let me know how you like it and your other thoughts. How they compare to the more expensive strats and whatever else you'd like to include.

thanks in advance!
 
You're going to want to play some guitars. There's a lot of variation among those. Quality wise, I think the 50s and 60s are quite nice. The Lite Ash have a good thing going, but each piece is different, some are gems, some are dogs. The Highway 1's are great if you don't mind the the matte and fragile finish. There's also a lot of non-Fender strat clones out there. Yamaha Pacificas and Peavy Predators have had some great runs, and are cheap used. You can get Xaviere, SX and Agile new online for a song. The latter two get good bang-for-buck reviews, and I have an X, finding it quite competent, if not really thrilling. I gig with it confidently.

If you can find one used (and you can) the recent American series are excellent and pretty consistent. Since they sell as low as $850 new, they go used in great shape for $600 pretty regularly. G&Ls sometimes show up used for great prices, and are arguably on par with Fender's Custom Shop.
 
I grew up playing Gibsons and when I decided I needed a Strat (for the sound) I ran into a few problems. Strats have a very different feel as well as sound. Fender necks and Gibson necks are a different length and take some getting used to. I could never quite develope a feel for Fenders. I did find a used Hamer (Strat body style) which has a neck that feels very similar to a Gibson neck. This probably isn't much help, just something to think about when you try out some Strats (or Strat style.) Happy hunting and I hope you find one that not only sounds the way you want but also has a feel that you are comfortable with.
 
I've got the deluxe roadhouse, and I quite enjoy it. I'm really super biased though, all I've really ever had was Fenders and a few knock offs here and there, so if you get the chance to check out a few strats at a local guitar shop you should mos. def. do that to see what you think.

Seems to me the coils on the roadhouse are a little hotter than other strats I've played. I'm totally in love with the guitar, but rightly so, it's a strat....

:D
 
here goes

Hi,
I've owned most things by fender and can honestly say that the made in mexico strats are much better value than the USA made ones. You need to play a few to find one that feel right for you (keep an eye for the fret ends) but they sound less polite than the new sterile USA strats.

But if your a gibson man you may find the switch to fender necks hard at first and unless it realy has to be fender i'd also recommend the PRS SE EG, these can be had very cheap nowadays off of ebay and play easier than a strat (for gibson fans) and sound very close ( a little warmer maybe but you get all the honk). anyway thats just my opinion.
 
I find the switch from Gibson necks to the V-neck on my Jimmy Vaughn signature Tex-Mex strat to be ridiculously easy. It's the only Fender neck I've played that feels like a Gibson. Best of luck with whatever you choose.-Richie
 
not sure what your budget is, but i have a strat, gibsons, etc, and for a single coil sound, i will almost always pick up my SG classic with P-90s over the strat. I think the tone is just that much richer than the single coils, and I think mine sounds pretty good with upgraded bill lawrence PuPs in there.

Definitley get to a store and play lots of guitars with different set ups and tones there is so much good stuff out there you will find one you like.


Daav
 
Everything has it's place. As much as I love the tone of a EMG through a Dual Rec with waaaaay to much overdrive, there is something to be said for a well made USA Strat through a Fender Twin Reverb.
 
I've had 2 Japanese Fender 60's reissues and they were good guitars. I also have a Japanese 50s reissue Telecaster and it's even better. The newer Mexican made 50s or 60s reissues are good too. I recently played a Robert Cray signature model and it was great! I like hardtail strats so it appealed to me more than most strat players.

The scale length of the Gibson (24.75") and the Fender (25.50") is noticeable but every guitar plays different so don't worry about that. I'd say just play a bunch of guitars and pick one.

BTW, the Jimmy Vaughn strat is pretty cool (and more affordable than his brothers guitar) as are G&L guitars. You could even build one by buying a Warmoth body and neck.

www.warmoth.com
 
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