a new guitar or mod current guitar?

[fenderrules]

my sx strat is seriously dying..

after almost 2 years of being with it, my strat is starting to take its toll..i admit ive not been taking care of it properly until this year...now the saddles are all mouldy, the fretboard is dirty despite cleaning it repeatdley with fret cleaner, rusty switchblade, ok technically speaking my guitar looks like a piece of crap..

ive already emailed luther music and quoted for repair and moding prices of my guitar. i got an estimate of $200 for both, which also involves replacing the saddles and screwing back the middle pup and changing the pups to 1-1-2. asking around again for advice after the quotation, my friends says its really better to get a new guitar (maybe a $400 ibanez) than modding my current one. well, i was advised by pastor glenn lim of surreal not to really buy ibanez cuz even though i could beef up the tone with effects, the clean drive sounds very dead. (not my opinion, but i dont really like ibanez for the tuning keys either...they keep going out of tune)

anyway, so should i invest $1000+ in a brand new fender stratocastor or modify my SX??

thanks guys

 

[slipout]

if im u, i will invest 100 dollars to do my OWN repair as a experince. And probably use the left over money to get a "best bang for the buck" guitar.

Your dirty frets you got try using autosol? My old classical got red thick rust, but it gone in about 5 mins(its pretty long actually) of polishing. But your fret is it weared?

As of saddles, you can get grahptech saddles at 50+ or 40+ (could rem). As for converting to a SSH guitar, you can just get a new pickguard. As for pickups i need to top abit more for 3 pickups. Just rem to note down the wiring before u try to solder the new one yrself incase u screw up something. I tried all these stuff on my pacifica before for the sake of experince. It ended pretty well

 

[fenderrules]

oh okay thanks for advice!

but of course, im taking my guitar to a guitar tech. i know nuts about guitar D.I.Y :roll:

 

[ShredCow]

I'm of a differing opinion.

IMO, your SX has been really a beginner guitar, its done its time, its over with now. You should grab a better axe unless you tell me (somehow) your SX sounds absolutely heavenly.

Get a better guitar. Whether its Ibanez or what not, it doesnt really matter as long as you like it. I dislike Fenders btw.

And whats with Ibanez tuners?

 

[trianglebiscuit]

i believe the dead clean drive sound and such can be solve by a simple pickup swap, which will still cost below that of a 1000+ fender.

im with shredcow, get a new guitar. with a 1000+ budget you could upgrade your amp and stuff along too, loads of stuff to do heh. you dont have to throw away the strat too, you can always keep it and upgrade it some time later if you want.

 

[RazrAsh]

wassup with ibanez tuners?? i find that they're damn stable... havent had one going out of tune for me.. well.. if u want, just upgrade ur saddles and nut, as well as ur pickups.. and do an electronics overhaul as in replacing your volume and tone pots and pickup selector switch.. and u can go strip ur guitar down and give it a new lease of life with a new graphic design or something..

 

[relinquish69]

actually, you can get a decent 2nd hand MIM fender stratocaster at about $600 if I'm not wrong. there are/were a few going at Luthermusic classified ads. why dont you check them out?

MIA, MIM or MIJ, it doesnt really matter that much. a fender strat will sound like a fender strat definitely, so you dont really have to worry so much about the sound. you could always change the pickups though . or you could get a better amp

I'm currently using a MIM standard Fender stratocaster. personally, its serves me well enough . I'm kinda used to using Fender shaped guitars, feels weird if I were to play something else. maybe its just me haha.

but of course, you could get other guitars, not necessary to get a Fender yup. with your budget, you could get your hands on a nice 2nd hand Ibanez RG. well, thats up to you to decide.

oh, if you dont want to buy second hand guitars, thats another matter 8) .

 

[thor666]

While I would recommend you to upgrade if you need to, remember that even if you get a new guitar, it will become as bad as your SX if you fail to maintain it.

You could just get humbucking single coil for the bridge. And if you can fit them in, Graphtech saddles/replacement saddles.

However, the cost of replacing electronics inside the SX will be expensive. Because of that, if it were me, I would just sell it cheap and get another guitar.

You don't have to spend so much on a guitar btw. There are good stuff even at the 500-600 range, both firsthand and secondhand. Try out a lot of different guitars before you buy.

 

[mikemann]

If you want, actually I should be able to give you a solution for under $100. This includes a new S-S-H pickguard, a zebra color HOT bridge humbucker, a coil tap switch mod for the humbucker, and a makeover servicing for the whole guitar.

Just bring your git to me for vetting.

 

[RazrAsh]

haha.. good idea ah mike... haha... see u tmr for jamming bro..

 

[fenderrules]

I'm of a differing opinion.

IMO, your SX has been really a beginner guitar, its done its time, its over with now. You should grab a better axe unless you tell me (somehow) your SX sounds absolutely heavenly.

Get a better guitar. Whether its Ibanez or what not, it doesnt really matter as long as you like it. I dislike Fenders btw.

And whats with Ibanez tuners?

hmmm okay...maybe i should get a new one..

well, im okay with ibanez except with the tuning, especially those with the floyd rose bridges. they keep going out of tune when i tuned them.

 

[ShredCow]

... especially those with the floyd rose bridges. they keep going out of tune when i tuned them.

It looks like you need a primer on how a floyd rose works. For your info, the double locking system of a Floyd Rose is the most stable tuning system out there, short of a fixed bridge with locking nut (ala Ibanez FX-Edge system).

 

[fenderrules]

... especially those with the floyd rose bridges. they keep going out of tune when i tuned them.

It looks like you need a primer on how a floyd rose works. For your info, the double locking system of a Floyd Rose is the most stable tuning system out there, short of a fixed bridge with locking nut (ala Ibanez FX-Edge system).

is that so? i dont really know how to use the ones with floyd roses really well.

 

[ShredCow]

Well, either you get initiated or don't get the FR ones.

An Ibanez SA can work for you.

Also, use the quote button properly. Dont' quote the whole chunk, cut out the points you want to emphasize.

 

[strats]

or get an sz. yummy guitars they are. i'm eyeing for one

 

[ahlek]

Get a new guitar! The SX has outlasted your "beginner phase".

And get something really good ... so that mod instead of replacing is the immediate option when the same situation happen.

 

[DjThugs]

actually...with $1000+ in hand...u can mod your guitar with really good pups and stuff...get a great amp to go along with it and of course,take good care of your axe..cos even if u get a $10,000 axe and not take care of it...there is no point in getting it..if you're more into blues and jazz..then u should stick with your strat..ibanez that are below $400-500 are not really good sounding when played clean..they are more for the distortion kinda stuff..well..its not only the guitar but also the player..so think through as $1000+ isn't a small sum.

 

[tany]

get a 2nd hand fender i say. dont care about ur sx it's not some great vintage guitar or what...get a new one!

 

[xspace]

New guitar...

 

[RazrAsh]

u could always get an ltd with that kinda cash.. wont regret it... good quality, well constructed, immaculate attention paid to detail...