Members fuzzbox Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Always searching for the dream Strat...so hard to find. I decided to try some more expensive ones: EJ Strat: Not what i expected. Very scooped mids and not the bell like tones i thought would be present here. P/U's sounded a bit shrill and stiff in their dedicated positions and just a lack of quack in general from this guitar. Not impressed. The neck was pretty nice but felt better ones. I like the 57 RI much better than this one. No "magic" about it, lifeless. Does he really play these? John Mayer sig strat: Not as vintage feel as it might look. Flatter radius, bigger frets that stick out too much at the edges, cutting into your hand when sliding up and down the neck. Kind of like Tyler classic's do. Never liked that and dont know why they even make it like that? Too dark sounding for a strat too my ears and a bit edgy it felt. Custom shop strat $2500: Nice action and soft C neck felt good but this one was also lifeless and stiff? Now I'm getting worried! Custom shop limited edition Strat $6000: OK, this is it I thought. Well, it was much better than the others. Nice glossy neck and sounded great with a more airy sound. Close to my preferemce but not all the way were I'd want it to be. For $6000 I would have hoped for that little extra to push it over the cliff. But very fine guitar. At $2500 I might have thought about it. Stock US strat maple neck: Too me and at this day and for all other reasons playing a part, this is the one I would pick over everyone else exept for the $6000 CS LTD. Much more alive and the notes bounce out of the guitar much sweeter than the others. Tele 72 classic MIM: Hmmm...picked it up when i was done simply because it was hanging next to the amp. recalled i liked it before...and i dont know if i was just dissapointed by the Custom shops but this one felt better than all of them and sounded at least as good. And knowing the price tag of $600 something it probably enhanced that experience. I did play a 69 Closet classic at the same store ~4 years ago and it was the ultimate strat, never played one like it before that or since. It was ~$3000 then and i had NO means to get it and have been searching for it ever since but w/o luck. Most CS STRATS have been little more than letdowns. Will i ever find one just like it again??? Interestingly enough, the one closest was the tele 72 and the LTD Strat. The cheapest and the most expensive. Not sure what to make out of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members veil Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Strats are crazy, man. You have to play them while ignoring the title and price tag and just find one that you really like. Often it ends up being a cheaper one. I remember playing a room full of US Strats and being kind of disappointed, and picking up a MIM and finding it to be the best one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzbox Posted March 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by veil Strats are crazy, man. You have to play them while ignoring the title and price tag and just find one that you really like. Often it ends up being a cheaper one. I remember playing a room full of US Strats and being kind of disappointed, and picking up a MIM and finding it to be the best one. I've been playing strats all my life and never felt i needed anything more than a stock model. Had some vintage ones but too much to maintain and never played all that well. Sounded nice but my stock models usually sounded better. Bought a $160 Squire a few years ago that immediately became my #1 gig axe, and stayed there for ~ 6 months. Amazed me and others:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members veil Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by fuzzbox I've been playing strats all my life and never felt i needed anything more than a stock model. Had some vintage ones but too much to maintain and never played all that well. Sounded nice but my stock models usually sounded better.Bought a $160 Squire a few years ago that immediately became my #1 gig axe, and stayed there for ~ 6 months. Amazed me and others:D Right on. I'm usually good with stock Strats too. Incidental to your story, the best one I've ever played was a Squier. Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seth Carmody Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Meh, I'd never buy a signature strat/guitar, mostly because I'd never have that sort of money but also because it's way too "fanboy". I fell in love with a sky blue (not sure what the actual colour title is) MIA Strat a few years ago - it played beautifully (even the store clerk agreed that was one of the nicest that had come through the store - i tried perhaps 3 others and it shat all over them) but took up my entire guitar/amp budget. At the time I thought it made no sense playing a $2000 (AUD) guitar into a crappy Chinese solid state practice amp for the next 6-12 months. In retrospect it might have been the guitar though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratStevo Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 I like to buy Mexi-Strats, Mod the Hell out of them, and with the money I save I buy lots of beer get drunk, drop them and laugh!All true but the get drunk and drop part EDIT: Well, really the Drop and Laugh part are not true, but the drunk part...yea that's true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trumpus Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 The best Strat i ever played was an Anderson;) Never been a Strat-style guy myself, but i picked that thing up and it just felt like it was part of my body - a 3rd arm - or 4th leg if you will:D Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 originally posted by fuxxbox EJ Strat: Not what i expected. Very scooped mids and not the bell like tones i thought would be present here. P/U's sounded a bit shrill and stiff in their dedicated positions and just a lack of quack in general fro I read the word "quack" here a lot regarding good sounding Strats. What exactly do you mean by it? Also, what do you mean by a Strat sounding "stiff" or "lifeless?" I'm not trying to make fun or be funny. We throw a lot of these terms around on here and I'd like some personal definitoins on them to enhance my knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninja of love Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 I bought a used '93 American Standard, slapped a set Fat 50's in it, and Voila! Total cost, $650.00 Don't get anal about what is essentially a workhorse guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MonkeyKnifeFighter Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by trumpus .....or 4th leg if you will:D Kuh-Lasssic! ~MkF!"Regiel!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Andersonology Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by trumpus The best Strat i ever played was an Anderson;) Never been a Strat-style guy myself, but i picked that thing up and it just felt like it was part of my body - a 3rd arm - or 4th leg if you will:D Brian I've said it here before a million times, and I'll say it again. the Jeff Beck Strat is the best strat out there, and at $1399.00 new, they're the best bang for the buck. I have one and I love it...pretty much my main axe now. I have a TA Pro-am & Drop Top btw, the JB "out strats" both of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 At $600.00 the Jimmie Vaughan Strat is the best bang for the buck.....OR the new upgraded Standard MIM Strat at $399.99 Why pay twice as much. The Beck can't be THAT much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fusionid Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 feel your painI was searching for the perfect strat for like 5 years. I always wanted to have one but never actually got one that I liked. Dangerous little devices...temperalmental and shaping your playing. That was what made it so hard, for me to buy the first strat. I got so desperate I went to guitar center and tried lots. I ended up falling for a Am delux with the SC pups with a rosewood fingerboard. I was set on buying it but "found out" about the 50th anniversary and decided to mail order it knowing that it was the same model but with maple neck. I can not even begin to discribe how freaked out I didnt play it first. When it arrived I had a full range of feelings. I love this strat to death but it is not perfect in a sense that I just doesnt let me do what I want. It has to dictate my playing which is bitchy but it sounds so freaking awesome. It is like that girlfriend that always plays hard to get, you always end up doing what she wants but is also the most "fun" one. I dont know if my post helped. but basically Im saying that I play differently because of this instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wilbo26 Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 I have a MIM strat I got in '97, put some Texas Specials in it, and its perfect for me. Great one piece maple neck, stays in tune well once you break in a pair of strings on it and don't go nuts with the tremelo bar. I seriously never worry about getting another electric, because I just don't need one. 300 bucks plus another 120 for the pickups and I was done. I've played Strats at GC that cost 5X what it did and they play like crap. Like somebody else mentioned, with strats, you really just have to play them and pick the one that fits you. Mine was the first guitar I picked up when I walked in the store, and after playing dozens of different ones, its the one I ended up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 I was pretty happy with my Standard MIM Strat until I got turned on to the Hep Cat Boo Daddies and saw and heard Joel Dasilva play his '57 reissue Strat through his '64 Super reverb, and get that stinging vintage '50s tone. I haven't been this excited about a group or player since I first heard Hendrix. Their new DVD is hot as a firecracker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Don't ignore any Jap strats you come across! They're awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninja of love Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by jimihalen Don't ignore any Jap strats you come across! They're awesome! Jap? How about Nip, Slant eye, rice eater?Racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by ninja of love Jap? How about Nip, Slant eye, rice eater? Racist. I try to offend everyone equally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fourth Floor Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 I can echo your sentiments.I'm currently in love with a Custom Shop strat. It's a relic and $6000AU. But perfect neck, weight and tone. Fell in love after ignoring my Strat for several years. Got reminded of how well they fit and the contours feel like part of your body.My main guitar at the moment is a MIM Tele with 3 Kinmans pickups in it. Not that I don't have a bunch of US electrics but this is my go to guitar.----------------Oh, and maybe you are Japanese, but "Jap strats" don't seem to be considered. It's referring to the guitar with kinda a rhyme, not a person or even the person who made it. Correct me if I'm worng here.Don't mention the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninja of love Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by jimihalen I try to offend everyone equally. Just don't let it happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by ninja of love Just don't let it happen again. ...damn dirty Ninjer.Wait, what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninja of love Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by jimihalen ...damn dirty Ninjer. Wait, what? Looks like you nipped that one in the bud.Ooops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etvetv2001 Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Isn't "Jap" just an abbreviation of "Japanese?" What's wrong that THAT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeverist Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Just a nit, but that pic you have is a 72 Deluxe, not a Custom. The Deluxe has two hums and a strat style headstock, while the Custom has just a neck humbucker, with a Tele style headstock, bridge, and bridge pickup.So, which one was it? I picked up a Custom one day, just demoing fuzz boxes, and ended up taking the guitar home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ninja of love Posted March 5, 2006 Members Share Posted March 5, 2006 Originally posted by etvetv2001 Isn't "Jap" just an abbreviation of "Japanese?" What's wrong that THAT? Racist! Say it to a Jap sometime.Whoops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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