High-end Fender vs Suhr

[subversion]

greetings friends

for this kinda money, would you choose an upper hierarchy Fender or would you rather choose something 'different' by embracing the Suhr?

i chose Suhr as an alternative for this poll because em... it's very similar to what Fender has to offer + the man's an ex-Fender luthier anyway...

also, there's already a Suhr thread here, hope nothing's too over-lapping...

 

[NanoShred]

No contest really.

Its like comparing a Gen 2 Proton with a EVO body kit ( fender ) to a porsche 911 ( suhr )

Every suhr i have ever played has been of at least master built quality. Always consistent, great sounding pickups, very light, acoustically resonant.

Looks alone, the fenders are already out of the contest. Suhr will do any finish you want, use any bridge you want and gives 5A maple tops for your figured guitars.

 

[leecs]

Competition man!!!! But if theres no Fender, theres no suhr! hehe

 

[subversion]

some of us can relate to Suhr being up there, way beyond what other brand names can offer but there would be many of us here, given budget factors, would deem Fender a wiser pick.

true- Suhr can frankenstein your selection but would there be a 'safe' list of specs that we can look at? maybe one man's ash body is another's plywood?

 

[NanoShred]

Competition man!!!! But if theres no Fender, theres no suhr! hehe

Yeah thats true. Fender is source for all super strat style guitars today. Such a big company like them where guitar is only ONE of their many investments, its easy to see why its gonna be different as compared to suhr who probably only makes a few guitars a month.

 

[NanoShred]

some of us can relate to Suhr being up there, way beyond what other brand names can offer but there would be many of us here, given budget factors, would deem Fender a wiser pick.

true- Suhr can frankenstein your selection but would there be a 'safe' list of specs that we can look at? maybe one man's ash body is another's plywood?

I think the safest specs i can think of, is to go with the traditional strat style options. Light Ash or alder body, jumbo frets, medium C neck with compound radius and pickups to your taste. But, for a strat, generally V60LPs . Alternatively, try the pro series out at guitar 77. They have a s3 in basswood and maple top and a s1 that is of an alder body. Both come in S/S/H and maple necks with rosewood fretboards.

 

[fuzztremecho]

tradition and history wise-fender wins hands down
a lot of guitar masters used fender for the records of the lifetime
also great songs were done on fender

i can't say anything about suhr since i have not played one
so I reserved my judgement

anyway i'm an LP freak so I can't say much here...hehehe

 

[SoulJah]

Suhrs for me all the way, the Suhr will eat up any fender and spit it out and hand it back to you for dessert.

 

[Gearjunkie]

Suhrs any day - unless it's something that is senior master built from the fender custom shop, then I'd think them on par in terms of quality. But i'd still buy the suhr because it would be cheaper then

 

[leecs]

Make a poll between Gibson & PRS Single-cut leh..

 

[subversion]

Make a poll between Gibson & PRS Single-cut leh..

he he... these 2 brands names are well provided for (market-wise) here, unlike the ones in the poll

PS: so the baswood models should be limited in numbers, yes?

 

[edder]

I think any Fender that is build to the same level as a Suhr will be more expensive than a Suhr.

 

[subversion]

true- as mentioned before, the Master Build Fenders are the only deserving opponents of the Suhrs... the gap here is wider than the Gibson/ PRS take.

 

[leecs]

Suhrs for me all the way, the Suhr will eat up any fender and spit it out and hand it back to you for dessert.

U must have trade in your EJ for that Suhr.

 

[penta-tonic]

tried both. no contest really. even the masterbuilt seems to barely scratch the playability or tone of a suhr. well maybe if u looked hard enough you would find one but thats where suhr suhrpasses(heh) fender in consistently producing superb guitars.

 

[snuffleupagus]

but then tone and feel is personally subjective

 

[KennethC]

Long-winded reply:

I see higher end Fenders and Suhrs/Tylers/etc as being on two different planes really. I'd buy a masterbuilt Fender for the vintage feel, look and tone - it's akin to paying for some of the history and tradition behind Fender, and almost like buying lana cake made by Violet herself even though Angie's Choice makes awesome tasting chocolate cakes at great value. I tend to categorise Suhrs, Tylers, Andersons and the like as more modern strats, mostly with fingerboard radii in excess of 10", and adorned with modern offerings such as switcheroos, demeter boosts, Wilkinson/self-patented trems, locking tuners n nuts, yada yada.

I agree with GearJunkie that the Senior Masterbuilders seem to churn out really nice strats, albeit the high price. I DO think that masterbuilt strats may be slightly overpriced for what you get, but whether it's worth it is subjective, right down to the individual. I've found that vintage spec-ed Masterbuilts seem to pose less of a challenge to play on, compared to other vintage spec-ed offerings from Fender. This is my personal experience.

There also are other vintage-type strats from many other boutique makers i.e. DeTemple, Lentz, D'Pergo, GVCG, etc. Most of these are priced equivalent to or above the high end Fenders. I've only tried a Lentz and a D'Pergo so far, and both have been quite impressive in their own right, though I don't think I'd want to pay that much for one at this moment. My Fender vintage spec-ed strat is more than enough for me.

So in summary, for a vintage spec-ed strat, for the price I'm willing to pay, I'd go for a Fender Masterbuilt or at least Custom Shop(some dogs in there, beware!). For a modern strat, I'd take a serious look at Suhrs and Tylers. Suhrs, in particular, seem to offer a lot of value for the price. The Tyler neck is the best neck I've tried thus far. So comfy, almost spongy, it makes me want to play more, and more, and more. I've also tried Tylers and Suhrs that fail to impress me, so dogs are everywhere. Main thing is TRY before you buy, if possible.

Oh ya, dun forget the Parts-casters bunch!

 

[edder]

PARTSCASTER OR DETH! :mrgreen:

 

[KennethC]

PARTSCASTER OR DETH! :mrgreen:

I'm really considering a partscaster Tyler Studio Elite copy. muahahaha. Cheapo Tyler owner wannabe. Just need a neck that has the nice scalloped (not just rolled) edges a la Tyler, and maybe someone who can do those crazy shmear finishes YUM YUM.

If I can't find these...I might have to actually fork out the money for a real Tyler.

 

[SoulJah]

Leecs, nope my EJ is still here with me and so is my Suhr. The only reason why I am selling my Suhr is to free up some funds for investment. I've done loads of mods on my EJ and it's way too close to my heart to let go, installed Suhr Fletcher Landau pickups, and a tyler demeter midboost, I'm actually thinking of doing more mods!

I honestly feel that the hey day of the Fender Custom Shop is over.

There's just really no more consistency that was available back in the old days. I've tried my fair share of masterbuilts and teambuilts, all of them were relics. The one which smoked the most is a John Cruz boat neck shape 56 strat, that was a total killer. The rest were rather lacklustre. I was really dissapointed by the Greg Fessler gold sparkle strat, as much as I loved the color, the guitar really was not all that great.

KennethC's Yuri smoked the Yuri which I tried at sweelee.

The great guys such as Gene Baker, John Suhr, John English, John Page all have left the Fender Custom Shop. This is not to say that the current offerings are not as good. But I personally feel there's just way too much of a concentration on the whole "relic" trend in the Fender Custom Shop. Fender is just holding on too much with recreating the past instead of embracing the futue and reinventing the wheel per se. I honestly feel that this is more of a corporate aim rather than the aims of the existing master builders.

And this is where folks like Suhr/Tyler/Anderson come in. Given the freedom that these guys enjoy, they can pretty much do whatever they want in terms of design. Just try ordering a Fender Custom Shop to your own specs...if your name isn't in guitar world you'll probably never succeed.

With Suhrs/Tylers/Andersons, the whole consistency issue is more or less non existant. Literally perfect instruments, faultless in craftsmanship, playability and tone! It's just a matter of tuning one out to the specs which fit you the most.