Would like a few opinions on stratocaster.
Discussion
[quote=Löyly]
You're fortunate in that it's tough to lay hands on a bad Stratocaster now, whereas 15 years ago even some of the American guitars were not up to scratch.
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100% that. It's pretty hard to find an objectively bad guitar for sale these days; everything you buy will hold a tune and if it's been sold by a decent shop will have a good setup. In what looks to be your price range you should just buy whatever sounds good and feels good.
You're fortunate in that it's tough to lay hands on a bad Stratocaster now, whereas 15 years ago even some of the American guitars were not up to scratch.
[/quote]
100% that. It's pretty hard to find an objectively bad guitar for sale these days; everything you buy will hold a tune and if it's been sold by a decent shop will have a good setup. In what looks to be your price range you should just buy whatever sounds good and feels good.
I know what you mean about difficult to buy a bad one, my telecaster is "only" a squier affinity and cost me a tenth of the gibson, sure the gibson looks a lot nicer but sound wise there's definitely not a sound £1100 better.
This is the reason why i am leaning more towards the Mexican at the moment (or even an affinity strat) will have to go i to a shop and try its just typical that one shop has the Suhr in Birmingham and the one which has the Mexican splattercaster is in Sheffield.
This is the reason why i am leaning more towards the Mexican at the moment (or even an affinity strat) will have to go i to a shop and try its just typical that one shop has the Suhr in Birmingham and the one which has the Mexican splattercaster is in Sheffield.
As I said earlier, unless you're on lawyers wages and have tons of money to chuck around I really don't think you'll appreciate the Suhr.
What are you using for amplification? If you're really desperate to spend £1600, I think you'd be better off getting a cheaper Strat and saving the rest of the budget towards a good amp. I know loads of guitarists who get carried away with the trinketry of owning fancy guitars but play them straight into s
tty amp or cheap pedals and sound poor. If of course, you've already got a decent sized tube amp and a solid pedal rig going on then by all means, ignore me.
What are you using for amplification? If you're really desperate to spend £1600, I think you'd be better off getting a cheaper Strat and saving the rest of the budget towards a good amp. I know loads of guitarists who get carried away with the trinketry of owning fancy guitars but play them straight into s
tty amp or cheap pedals and sound poor. If of course, you've already got a decent sized tube amp and a solid pedal rig going on then by all means, ignore me.Haha nope i have a fender mustang 1 at the moment which is fine with the telecaster but the gibson seems to be at the limit of what it can handle so this is due a change too at some point. I have my eye on the fender blues amp.
With regards to the price, i am comfortable with any of the price points mentioned but dont want to just spend needlessly, but no without being crude about things neither would break the bank.
With regards to the price, i am comfortable with any of the price points mentioned but dont want to just spend needlessly, but no without being crude about things neither would break the bank.
Definitely new amp time, forget the guitars for now. Try out some proper amps and you won't believe how boxy and rubbish your current setup is (no offense!). I've got a Mustang II that I used for a while and it's decent little thing for the £200 it cost, but right now the sensible money is definitely on a rig upgrade. I'm back on tubes with a Carvin Legacy, thank god.
A good amp can make a cheap guitar sound decent, but a super expensive guitar through a cheap amp will never sound good. Do a bit of research, think about the sort of tones you want to achieve and the styles you want to play. I think a decent tube amp, preferably a head and a 2x12 cab or a 2x12 combo, a good overdrive/ distortion and a reverb pedal is all you really need*. You'll unlock so much more of the potential of the guitars you currently own and any you own in future - the bottleneck in how good you sound is always a lot, lot more to do with the amp than the guitar.
A good amp can make a cheap guitar sound decent, but a super expensive guitar through a cheap amp will never sound good. Do a bit of research, think about the sort of tones you want to achieve and the styles you want to play. I think a decent tube amp, preferably a head and a 2x12 cab or a 2x12 combo, a good overdrive/ distortion and a reverb pedal is all you really need*. You'll unlock so much more of the potential of the guitars you currently own and any you own in future - the bottleneck in how good you sound is always a lot, lot more to do with the amp than the guitar.
- Once you start spending more than say, £600 on a head / combo a lot of amps come with a built in reverb. If it's a real spring reverb than that's great, but it's only one sound, whereas a good reverb like a Keeley Aurora or a Strymon Big Sky will give you a much wider range of sounds combined with really high sound quality. I tend to avoid amps with a lot of built in effects, or just ignore them and use pedals, usually because the built in effects are pretty basic and generally not much good.
Yep dont worry fully aware that the amp is now the weak link this is going to be sorted as soon as i have a second with this http://m.guitarguitar.co.uk/Product/15101428997300... , my friend has one and i really like the sound it gives.
Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
audidoody said:
Seek out a 1982 or 1983 JV (Japanese Vintage). As good as, if not better than, Fender Custom Shop quality.
These were the instruments that were reportedly made from the original Leo Fender blueprints and the instruments that shocked CBS into realising how stty the US-made Fenders were.
It HAS to be JV (not MIJ - Made in Japan)
Here's chapter and verse
http://planetbotch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/truth-ab...
and some examples
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/fender-jv
I'm incredibly biased, but I've owned my '57 reissue JV Squire Strat since my 17th birthday in 1982. It's been down to the Falklands onboard ship for 6 months (not during the war, we're not that old These were the instruments that were reportedly made from the original Leo Fender blueprints and the instruments that shocked CBS into realising how s
tty the US-made Fenders were.It HAS to be JV (not MIJ - Made in Japan)
Here's chapter and verse
http://planetbotch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/truth-ab...
and some examples
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/fender-jv
) and through multiple house moves and relationships with me. Unfortunately I decided I'd respray it metallic blue at one point, then gloss black, but I stripped it right back down about 6 years ago and finally found someone locally to refinish it (non original Nitro, but what the heck) in the same two tone style it was when I bought it.It just fits me like a glove, especially whenever I play another guitar and come back to it. Even if I play another Strat in a music shop they do all feel subtlety different to mine. I never knew about such details as fretboard radius back when I bought it, but the internet helped there: It turns out the 7.25" radius suits my hands better than the 9.5" radius that Rosewood ones tend to have (there are exceptions of course). Different neck profiles make a difference too (I think mine is called a soft 'V' but I could be wrong). The main thing is to try them to work out what suits you best. For example, I'd imagine that a 'hard tail' 9.5" radius Strat with humbuckers would sound and feel quite different to mine, despite having a superficially similar appearance.
Gratuitous picture of mine just after I got it back from the refinish/rebuild:
I could give you the number of the guy who refinished mine to sort out that scuff on the top of the body.
Daphine Blue looks more green on my screen. I'm planning on respraying a cheap Affinity Tele that I've modified and want to do it in Sea foam green, but might reconsider having seen yours.
Daphine Blue looks more green on my screen. I'm planning on respraying a cheap Affinity Tele that I've modified and want to do it in Sea foam green, but might reconsider having seen yours.
The thing with Fenders in my experience is you have to throw all the received wisdom out of the window and just play the damn things until you find one that works for you.
Cases in point: I have a '78 Stratocaster that I've inherited. By all rights this should be a terrible guitar. Well into the darkest days of the CBS era, three-bolt neck, self-disintegrating finish, the works. But it's not. It's a great player. All the classic Strat tone is present, correct and accounted for. About the worst you could say is that the electrics can sometimes be a bit cranky, but that's the case for any guitar that's getting on for four decades without an extensive service and setup. (I know... but it just doesn't need it.)
On the opposing side, I played a whole bunch of top end and signature models when I bought my last Telecaster. None of them held the slightest bit of interest. I was starting to get a bit worried as I picked up the third or fourth £1500 guitar and struggled to see why you'd buy it over the most basic sunburst Mexican Standard (or especially a good Baja) aside from a bling finish. Then I picked a second-hand '52 reissue and it was just right. Plugged it into an amp, kicked in a Tube Screamer at subtle levels and the sound, response, the way it played were exactly what I'd imagined when I thought of the perfect Telecaster.
Cases in point: I have a '78 Stratocaster that I've inherited. By all rights this should be a terrible guitar. Well into the darkest days of the CBS era, three-bolt neck, self-disintegrating finish, the works. But it's not. It's a great player. All the classic Strat tone is present, correct and accounted for. About the worst you could say is that the electrics can sometimes be a bit cranky, but that's the case for any guitar that's getting on for four decades without an extensive service and setup. (I know... but it just doesn't need it.)
On the opposing side, I played a whole bunch of top end and signature models when I bought my last Telecaster. None of them held the slightest bit of interest. I was starting to get a bit worried as I picked up the third or fourth £1500 guitar and struggled to see why you'd buy it over the most basic sunburst Mexican Standard (or especially a good Baja) aside from a bling finish. Then I picked a second-hand '52 reissue and it was just right. Plugged it into an amp, kicked in a Tube Screamer at subtle levels and the sound, response, the way it played were exactly what I'd imagined when I thought of the perfect Telecaster.
I think that's true of all guitars really. Despite me getting GAS on a regular basis for some guitar or other I know that many of them just won't feel right in my (rather small) hands. I've only bought one guitar 'blind' as £399 for a Gibson Les Paul (Studio in satin black) seemed too much of a bargain to pass up. However I ended up paying to have the frets filed down because it turns out I'm no good with jumbo frets. Ideally I'd have bought one with a slimer '60s neck' too, but didn't realise the differences at the time. Playing a few in a shop might have been a better idea, even if I'd missed the deal (they went back to £550 or so not long after though).
On the other hand, my MIM 50s Classic Telecaster has a similar neck to the Strat I posted above and I was searching for a Telecaster with the same 7.25" radius as my Strat once I realised there were differences in specs. I still had to play it to be sure, but it's a lovely guitar and without wanting to seem like I have a chip on my shoulder, I can't tell any significant difference between it and a relative's £2.5k custom shop '52 reissue, especially after I swapped over some Fender OV pick ups I already had.
EDIT: 6thGear, that second photo is closer to what I expect for Daphine blue, though you really should look after it a bit more.
On the other hand, my MIM 50s Classic Telecaster has a similar neck to the Strat I posted above and I was searching for a Telecaster with the same 7.25" radius as my Strat once I realised there were differences in specs. I still had to play it to be sure, but it's a lovely guitar and without wanting to seem like I have a chip on my shoulder, I can't tell any significant difference between it and a relative's £2.5k custom shop '52 reissue, especially after I swapped over some Fender OV pick ups I already had.
EDIT: 6thGear, that second photo is closer to what I expect for Daphine blue, though you really should look after it a bit more.
Sheetmaself said:
Yep dont worry fully aware that the amp is now the weak link this is going to be sorted as soon as i have a second with this http://m.guitarguitar.co.uk/Product/15101428997300... , my friend has one and i really like the sound it gives.
Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
If you want an alternative option I could offload my The Twin (1991 Red Knob version) your way for a chunk less. It's a sunning amp, but my back doesn't like lifting it, and I've concluded 8 amps is maybe too many...Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
Sheetmaself said:
Yep dont worry fully aware that the amp is now the weak link this is going to be sorted as soon as i have a second with this http://m.guitarguitar.co.uk/Product/15101428997300... , my friend has one and i really like the sound it gives.
Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
A 40 watt valve amp is way too much for home use. Sorry for all the guitarguitar links by the way!
I would go for one of these.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/2274004000/combo-amp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl-Y2V5yls0
Brilliant amps.
A mate of mine has one, apparently the volume goes up to 12! He only goes up to 1 and a bit though at home, he gigs quite a bit on his own and with a band.
Maybe the junior version would be a better offering for me then. I geuss the same as with buying the guitar i need to take my guitars somewhere and try out the amps.
Thanks for offer of the red dial by the way but i will politely decline.
The main concern i have with the amp is that generally i have about 30 minutes of guitar time whilst waiting for something and assuming valve guitar amps are like valve hifi amps am concerned they will spend a lot of that time warming up. I do like my mustang and will try the mustang 2 or 3 to see if there is an improvement and some other solid state amps due to time limitations.
Maybe the junior version would be a better offering for me then. I geuss the same as with buying the guitar i need to take my guitars somewhere and try out the amps.
Thanks for offer of the red dial by the way but i will politely decline.
The main concern i have with the amp is that generally i have about 30 minutes of guitar time whilst waiting for something and assuming valve guitar amps are like valve hifi amps am concerned they will spend a lot of that time warming up. I do like my mustang and will try the mustang 2 or 3 to see if there is an improvement and some other solid state amps due to time limitations.
No issues with warming them up. If you were recording you would ideally let them warm up for a while, no such issues at home. A tube amp that has just been switched on will still sound better than any SS rig I can think of short of an Axe FX II or a Kemper, but I'd still take a tube amp over those anyway, although theoretically those two SS amps, in particular the Axe FX II, are theoretically the ultimate bedroom tone generator.
Something I am always amazed by is the size of amps used at home. Do you all live in soundproofed houses? I sold a Mustang III because I just couldn't use the power. I bought a Yamaha THR10c as I can run that at a good volume and get excellent tone from it. I'd love a valve amp but from those I've heard, you would be pissing the neighbours off by cranking it.
Ive got a Victory v40 and a 1x12 cab. It's got a 40/15w switch but also lets you bias to a single ended mode - I don't tend to use that so much cause I think it sounds a bit flat.
Point is, even in 15W it gets pretty damn loud pretty damn quick for home use so I use an attenuator between the head and cab. This lets me crank it without it being crazy loud. 40w with the attenuator is still loud!
I tried loads of Amps from 1w to 15w and to be honest couldn't find something that sounded great, both clean and crunchy at a normal house volume.
Point is, even in 15W it gets pretty damn loud pretty damn quick for home use so I use an attenuator between the head and cab. This lets me crank it without it being crazy loud. 40w with the attenuator is still loud!
I tried loads of Amps from 1w to 15w and to be honest couldn't find something that sounded great, both clean and crunchy at a normal house volume.
In my main house i pretty much dont have neighbours, i think the closest is three fields away. However i do have a place in Japan and that is quote built up. Therefore valve amp would be in UK mustang 1 would travel to its new home or be sold and then re-bought over there depending on baggage costs.
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