Electric Guitars

[Branden]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to get some thoughts. In terms of tone, the Fender Stratocaster is by far my favorite guitar. How can you beat those classic guitar tones of SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, David Gimour etc... But in terms of playability... I FVCKING HATE FACTORY FENDERS!!! Does anyone else find the 7.25" and 9.25" fretboards unplayable? Especially for setting low action and string bending. Also the narrow string spacing drives me nuts. And the control layout is also irritating. With the volume knob horribly close to your picking hand. And don't even get me started on the tremolos. Terrible design. But such a great looking, great sounding classic guitar. I have long wanted to get me a nice American Fender Stratocaster, but can not find one that plays well. I like 16" fretboard radius, wide string spacing, jumbo or larger frets, but Fender offers none of these options on their factory models. And the only guitars that come standard with these specs are heavy metal/shred guitars. Which is cool because I play in that style and love heavy metal, but you can't get those classic tones with them. The closest I have found that Fender offers as a factory model is the American Special Strats. They have the jumbo frets, but still the narrow string spacing and 9.25" fretboard radius. Anyone else share my opinions here?

[jpnyc]

I played strats for years. Then I finally stopped assuming I knew everything and tried a 24.75" guitar with a TOM bridge. I never want to play a Fender again.

[bubkus_jones]

If you like the sound of a Fender, but don't like the various options they come with, build a Warmoth. Get a Strat (with the same sound), but a wider neck (1-11/16, 1-3/4, etc.), flatter fretboard (up to 20 inch?), upgraded vibrato (Wilkinson, Floyd), moved controls, etc.

Sure, you'll have to assemble it yourself, but hey if that gets you what you want.

[Dr. Scottie C]

You mean 9.5 radius.

I find the 9.5 radius to be perfect..... even Gibson's 12" radius is too flat for me.....and some of those I-been-had's with the 20" radius.... no thanks.... those are painful to play for me.

I love everything about the stratocaster..... I have owned 103 different guitars (granted 16 have been strats)....I have yet to put my hands on a guitar that's in the same building.

[el guitarrista…]

I love strats, but sometimes it's difficult to find a neck and fretboard that feels comfortable to you. For me my '65 strat avri and my fender 1990 mij 62 reissue copy work fine for me. What I would suggest you may have to look at a fender custom shop strat or call the to oder the type of strat you want, go a a boutique builder like Suhr, Tom Anderson, K-line, ro someoneof that nature and order a custom made strat just for you, or build yourself a using parts from warmouth to your exact specifications. Of course, the frst two options are way more expensive than the 3rd so you might want to look at a broader range of options.

[Branden]

Ah yes. I have looked into this. This is definitely something I am considering.

[Branden]

Ah yes. I have looked into this. This is definitely something I am considering.

[onelife]

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Branden wrote:

... But in terms of playability... I FVCKING HATE FACTORY FENDERS!!! ...

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The Stratocaster design is 60 years old and has, in some ways, been improved upon. As a couple of previous posters have suggested, Warmoth gives us the opportunity to pick and choose from those original design elements and/or their improvements so we can build our own high quality "custom" instrument. You can get the looks, "classic' tones and playability of your choice for the price of one of those Factory Fenders.

[peskypesky]

I'm a Strat-lover. Have 7 of them. Definitely my favorite electric guitar. 

One really cool thing about them? If you don't like the neck, just unscrew it and get another one that you like more. How cool is that?

If you like a flat radius, simple, just get one from Warmoth or one of the other licensed neck-builders. You can also get any contour you want.

Oh, and as for the position of the volume knob? Well, if you're Jeff Beck, or one of the many players who like to use the volume knob for swells while they're playing, this is actually a plus.

And if you don't like where the volume knob is, VERY easy to get rid of it and go to a 1 volume, 1 tone wiring. I've done that on two of my Strats.

[billybilly]

The beauty of a strat is that you can add and subtract parts and pieces to your liking.  There isn't a factory strat out there that would be for me but I have two partscasters that are just perfect.   This is my favorite...

• 10inch radius
• .90 to .99 hefty musikraft neck
• Stainless steel frets
• Pau ferro board on maple neck, alder body
• HSS BG Hellabucker bridge/ fralin vintage hot middle/ BG v60 neck phatty
• Clapton mid boost
• pop in Wilkinson trem/vintage spacing (wide)
• earvana nut
• sperzel locking tuners

All done for $750.

Picture before Humbucker, I'll have to shoot some new ones...

[allthumz]

Partscasting is the way to go. I have assembled or will soon assemble 2 tele bodies with Strat necks and a Duo-Sonic body with a Jagmaster neck. A good way to sell and get the most money for what you have.

[peskypesky]

my ideal partscaster:

any decent Squier or Fender body 

Warmoth neck (fatback contour, one-piece flame maple, 1 3/4" nut width, 10-16" compound radius, jumbo stainless frets, 22 frets)

Then add some vintage style tuners, a Tusq XL nut and some good alnico pickups.

I'll be rocking with a smile on my face.

[chipwich]

Really hot guitar billybilly.

However, I likey my '12 American Standard just fine, _especially_ the maple neck and whatever pups they put in them these days.  Hot and tone....full.  The radius is great IMO, and much easier on the index finger while sliding bar chords up and down the neck.  Beautifully finished and the bridge works just fine as well.  Wouldn't change a thing.

[billybilly]

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chipwich wrote:

Really hot guitar billybilly.

However, I likey my '12 American Standard just fine, _especially_ the maple neck and whatever pups they put in them these days.  Hot and tone....full.  The radius is great IMO, and much easier on the index finger while sliding bar chords up and down the neck.  Beautifully finished and the bridge works just fine as well.  Wouldn't change a thing.

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I do envy those who can buy an American Standard and love every aspect of it, as much as it is fun to mod.  You've got fat 50's, as near as I can remember, which to me, are better than the previous years.  I found the preceeding pickups a bit hard on my ears, kinda nasty sounding.

[mschafft]

Teles and SGs are what I grab when I feel like playing in a percussive way. It just so happens that mine have fatter necks than my strats. The three strats I play are similar to one another in terms of playability (2 American Series and a Squier Classic Vibe), they offer that Frusciante-Hendrix-SRV kind of range. It took me a while to get used to the modern C profile, but it is fast and solid when properly set up (string height, nut, tremolo). A strat is a strat is a strat... On a side note, I finally dig both traditional tremolo unit and two-point trems. And I dig the smooth feeling of the modern saddles. As you can tell, I am at work and getting somewhat bored too..

[kayd_mon]

Factory Fenders are cool with me.

If it's the neck that bothers you so much, I'd wager that if you put a Strat pickup set into an RG, it would sound pretty close to a Strat.

[Ratae Coritano…]

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Branden wrote:

Hey everyone. Just wanted to get some thoughts. In terms of tone, the Fender Stratocaster is by far my favorite guitar. How can you beat those classic guitar tones of SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, David Gimour etc... But in terms of playability... I FVCKING HATE FACTORY FENDERS!!! Does anyone else find the 7.25" and 9.25" fretboards unplayable? Especially for setting low action and string bending.

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Seeing as you quote him, all of DGs are either 7.25 or 9.5 radius

[gardo]

I think Fender guitars are great, what bugs me is  when I see a "Fender" guitar on CL and it's a Squire.

I have a Squire and am not knocking them but come on a Squire is not a Fender

[J-E-M]

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gardo wrote:

I think Fender guitars are great, what bugs me is  when I see a "Fender" guitar on CL and it's a Squire.

I have a Squire and am not knocking them but come on a Squire is not a Fender

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Fender seems to think Squiers are Fenders.

Mind you, when I had a Squier strat, I called it a Squier.

If the size of the lettering on the logo (esp on headstocks) was the other way round, everybody would be calling them Fenders - with no ambiguity.

[McCain]

$80

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http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Electric-Guitars/Feb-2013-Great-Deals-Thread-READTHIS-gt-gt-gt-NoSp...

http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Electric-Guitars/Feb-2013-Great-Deals-Thread-READTHIS-gt-gt-gt-NoSp...