Dilema as to what guitar to get... (Kind souls please help out)

N

NewGuy

New member
I've recently decided to get a strat for it's tone and specification. I've noted what kind of guitars I liked. Have tried, fender mim satin strat and standard tele, ibanez sz320, jackson soloist, squire strat, epiphone LP, yamaha pacifica 612.

I liked:
tele bridge pickup sound- sound very full and warmth to me.
strat countour body
25.5'' scale neck
like a strat layout of knobs and switches

disliked:
floyd rose for its high maintenance and I don't use it at all
24.75''- just not used to it
muddy tone

Currently looking into YJM strat, ESP vintage series and CIJ Fender strat. I'm also open to suggestion. I'm into neo-classical, classic rock, hard rock, 80's metal and some blues. Oh budget is 1.5K but can stretch till 2k.

Dilema lies in what neck profile to get. C, U, V etc... So far I've an idea of modern C which is like a fender satin strat, U is like a jackson soloist but I've no idea what V feels like. Also wood body difference between ash and alder. I think ash is more complex sounding and alder is more plain and bright. Please correct me.
 
NewGuy said:
I've recently decided to get a strat for it's tone and specification. I've noted what kind of guitars I liked. Have tried, fender mim satin strat and standard tele, ibanez sz320, jackson soloist, squire strat, epiphone LP, yamaha pacifica 612.

I liked:
tele bridge pickup sound- sound very full and warmth to me.
strat countour body
25.5'' scale neck
like a strat layout of knobs and switches

disliked:
floyd rose for its high maintenance and I don't use it at all
24.75''- just not used to it
muddy tone

Currently looking into YJM strat, ESP vintage series and CIJ Fender strat. I'm also open to suggestion. I'm into neo-classical, classic rock, hard rock, 80's metal and some blues. Oh budget is 1.5K but can stretch till 2k.

Dilema lies in what neck profile to get. C, U, V etc... So far I've an idea of modern C which is like a fender satin strat, U is like a jackson soloist but I've no idea what V feels like. Also wood body difference between ash and alder. I think ash is more complex sounding and alder is more plain and bright. Please correct me.
Click to expand...

Just try as many Strats and Teles as you can ... look for either the Mexican or Japanese ones which are in your price range. Neck contour and neck/body material is something you need to decide yourself based on what sounds good to you.

Either Strat or Teles are very mod-able, you could replace either the Strat bridge pickup or replace the Tele neck pickups to get a balllpark neck/bridge tone of the other model.


Some reference material:

Neck Shapes:

90529494.BbWKY9ul.jpg



Wood Tones:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/wood.aspx
 
Thanks for the info. Can someone also tell me the different between 1 piece, 2 piece body (erice johnson strat) and the normal strat body what difference will it make...
 
doesn't matter how many pieces, as long as they are glued well together, they produce good resonance. luthiers would tell you a single piece is best but the tonal difference is quite insignificant to the common ear.

since a Jap Fender is on your list, there's an ST72 in the classifieds which you might wanna consider.
 
Result of day 1 of guitar hunting.

I tried:
Fender strat ST62-66DMC (vintage white from Davis), Fender strat ST62-78tx (yellow from guitar77), Fender tele TL68-83BC (Beck from guitar77), Black american standard strat at guitar 77, ESP Vintage Plus 3TB from Davis, JS1000 BTB from guitar 77, MIM Fender Satin Strat.

After trying quite a few guitars, I decided to get a strat cos of it's countour body and it's nice tones. What kind of strat is still a big problem. I like the ESP vintage neck feel but it still feels very new and unlike the vintage label it should be. I dislike the stock pickups that came with the ESP though. I also like the semi mat finish on the BECK tele. I like the neck feel of the american strats though most prominently the flatter neck radius. I also noticed that ash have a nice complex sound that breaks up nicely when over driven where as alder have a nice clean chime to it's sound and basswood on the other hand is pretty mellow sounding. Now, I'm left with the question of what kind of strat to get. CIJ or american? Ash or alder?

Haiz... seems like this next instrument is a serious affair for me.
 
i'd respect whatever you get in the end because you've assessed your needs & decided on the one which meets those requirements.

i own an alder/ ash/ basswood strat:

*alder- all rounder, sounds great clean + driven. doesn't accentuate the top end frequency too much which can be quite repulsive with single coils (single coils lack bass inherently so some compensation has to be factored in)

*ash- very protrusive in the upper frequencies but it gives the player one fo the best lead tones (driven) especially in the neck pickup position

*basswood- the wrong wood type for a strat: NOT!! when i first picked up an ST72 to try (master Beez made me try this...), i was taken aback by its lower frequency response which was more inviting than what the above two wood types had to offer. this is especially rewarding if you dial in a high gain/ drive setting with lots of palm muting

you might want to consider 2008's American Standard Strat which, surprisingly, wouldn't cost you a bomb... 8-)
 
This may be unproductive reply, but I like to give hats off to you for a good job for your first day of guitar hunting. You REALLY went through quite a lot of guitars, heh.

Out of curiosity, what kind of guitar do you have prior to you deciding to get a strat? Do you own any of the guitars you mentioned in your first post?

Not much for me to give opinions on, really, except that perhaps alder would be a great choice considering you're not doing a particular genre strictly. As for the question with the stock pups, doesn't hurt to change it if you have the budget.
 
Bro sub- I've thought about the american standard 2008 as well. One thing that intrigue me is that will a h-s-h internal routine affect tone differently than a s-s-s internal routing. I think so base on the assumption that more wood around the pickups are better due to great transfer of vibration and thus provide great tones... what are your views on this? Thanks for the insights to the different wood through your experience. You sure are a great mentor when it comes to purchasing guitars. Thanks alot.

Bro THOA- Yeah, I did went through quite alot of guitars trying to find the perfect strat. No two strats are the same and trying to minimise discripency is to know the specification I'm looking at and enjoy playing with for example fretboard radius or preference. I owned a no brand cheap strat, ibanez SZ320 and Jackson Soloist SL-3 before.

Bro Harrison- I was intending to get a CIJ fender strat and changed the neck to one from warmoth cos they are able to build it to exact specification but on second thought I might as well hunt for a guitar I liked totally. Unless of course, the price is exceptionally high.

Just for the record my budget is 1.5k and might increase to 2k. I'm also intending to change pickups to dimarzio HS-3 for the bridge and perhaps the neck as well. As for mid pickups I 'm thinking of a YJM.
 
Off I go to camp, will be back next sat for part two of guitar hunting. I hoped this thread won't just die out but have some interesting and exceptional advices for me.
 
you'd be surprised to know that SSS routing is quite rare in this range, the HSH cavity wouldn't hurt the strat twang in any way, unlike the notorious 'swimming pool' cavity. my Highway1 Strat has an HSS cavity & it's typical Fender tone through & through.
 
HSH routing is not that big compared to a SSS.

If we're talking in terms of wood, its probably around 50-100grams of wood less.
And that is already over estimating. Its not as big a difference as you may think.

The HSH is there due to the nature of it being a strat, it was built to be versatile.
Built to be modded to the user's liking.

Eventually if fender only made it a SSS route, i'd figure quite a few people would get frustrated over the lack of 'customer-centricness' since they could not swap out the pickups for humbuckers.
 
very few people would look forward to get a non-SSS Fender if they are fans of the brand name in the first place. if they do, it's probably a 2nd or subsequent guitar.
 
well id say a yjm strat with maple board would be a good guitar to get but might have to adjust playing to the scallops esp when chording. seems ure pretty ok with the esp strat too the way u describe it. well no guitar is perfect. but a piece of advice would be to go for the feel of the neck carve and radius and the inherent tone of the guitar. electronics should be the least of ur worries due to the huge amount of choice to swap out pickups and all that kinda stuff.
 
Only thing I don't like the ESP for is it's rosewood neck and limited colour scheme for strats. Been browsing and apparently there are CIJ Signature guitars. Anyone have experience with them? I'm interested in the YJM signature strat as well as the Kotzen signature strat.

I like the looks of the neck for the YJM strat but it's body is basswood. I kind of prefer alder. Haiz... The Kotzen strat looks cool but reading reviews state that it's neck is FAT. I don't like chunky neck though.

Looks like the american standard is also a good option. Somehow, I also feel an urge to try some ibanez prestige as well... Arrr... looks like I'm getting no where...
 
NewGuy said:
Result of day 1 of guitar hunting.

I tried:
Fender strat ST62-66DMC (vintage white from Davis), Fender strat ST62-78tx (yellow from guitar77), Fender tele TL68-83BC (Beck from guitar77), Black american standard strat at guitar 77, ESP Vintage Plus 3TB from Davis, JS1000 BTB from guitar 77, MIM Fender Satin Strat.

After trying quite a few guitars, I decided to get a strat cos of it's countour body and it's nice tones. What kind of strat is still a big problem. I like the ESP vintage neck feel but it still feels very new and unlike the vintage label it should be. I dislike the stock pickups that came with the ESP though. I also like the semi mat finish on the BECK tele. I like the neck feel of the american strats though most prominently the flatter neck radius. I also noticed that ash have a nice complex sound that breaks up nicely when over driven where as alder have a nice clean chime to it's sound and basswood on the other hand is pretty mellow sounding. Now, I'm left with the question of what kind of strat to get. CIJ or american? Ash or alder?

Haiz... seems like this next instrument is a serious affair for me.
Click to expand...

Why don't you put your own together? Jot down what you like about various strats, and piece them together yourself?

That's the magic of the stratocaster design. CLF made it such that you could assemble one yourself from parts you really liked. Clapton did it. Knopfler did it. Why not you?:mrgreen:

Even if you find a strat you really like, but don't like the tones, note which tons you've tried, and what pickups that guitar has, then retrofit! Don't fret over electronics... that can easily be changed... worry more about neck quality, body resonance and overall fit and finish.

P.S. Frets can be resized as well...:mrgreen:
 
Of the listed guitars, I'd say avoid the Squier. A Fender MIM or MIJ Strat or Tele would be only maybe be around sgd600, but they're really good guitars. Squier's electronics tend to die within a few years, and all the Squier's I've tried have really poor finishing and construction.

CIJ is as good as MIA but at a much cheaper price, in my opinion. More worth it.
 
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