I can't seem to find the perfect strat.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tawlks
  • Start date Start date
T

Tawlks

New member
[Skip the first few paragraphs if you want to get straight to the point.]

I've been gassing for a strat lately, and since I've both started working more and given up an expensive habbit of mine (in place of an even more expensive habit; gear.) I thought I'd save up and buy a guitar.

I have a metal guitar, in fact, I have two. I like strat shaped guitars. Both my metal guitars have floyds and EMGs, which is great for br00tz metal, except I don't play metal of that.

I play prog rock/metal, jazz, indie rock kinda stuff.

I want a guitar that allows me to shred, but still sounds sweet for jazz and so on, I play clean most of the time so nice clean tones are important, I can't seem to bring myself to buy a SSS guitar though, I'm interested in HSS guitars. I love strat shapes, and I do love strats, except I can't shred on them, I like larger fretboard radii and low action on my guitars but strats don't really allow that. Most strats seem to have a 9.5" radius, which is ridiculous to me.

So I thought, "Strat shaped.. low action.. shred-able.. Charvel!" But then quickly realised that there aren't any current production Charvels without floyds.

____________________

I'd like a guitar with..

A lot of versetility.
Preferably strat shaped.
Either a compound radius or reasonably flat fretboard, but not like an ESP.
Medium size neck, no bassball bats, no Ibanez necks.
No floyds or Bigsby, I don't mind strat bridges.
More than one pickup.

Suhr Rasmus? I like a no-frills approach to guitars.
ESP/LTD Strat copies?
 
Suhr S1/S2/S3/S4 etc.

4573_Suhr_Pro_Series_S1_Olympic_White_2599_a.jpg
 
Suhr or Tom Anderson

EDIT....I just saw you also listed Rasmus. I would highly recommend the Rasmus S100 (Standard). I've got a Rasmus S200.....great guitar for the money! I don't think you'd be disappointed with it at all. As you probably know, you can get them for $999 just about anywhere.
 
Maybe check this

images


A frend of mne has a Vigier (same wth a floyd).Amazing instruments,really well bult and versatile.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. :)

Annoyingly, for both you and myself I'm sure, I forgot to mention that Suhr/TAG/Vigier are waaayy out of budget for me.

I'm looking for something in the range of Fender Strats, Charvel SoCals, etc.
 
hunter":1djfwrgd said:
Tawlks":1djfwrgd said:
So I thought, "Strat shaped.. low action.. shred-able.. Charvel!" But then quickly realised that there aren't any current production Charvels without floyds.
Click to expand...

Wrong:

http://www.themusiczoo.com/category/690 ... l-Guitars/

Or what about the last wildcard:

charvelpromodwildcard6.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks! Forgive my ignorance, I was under the impression Charvel currently only build SoCals, San Dimas' and those gross Schecter/LTD ripoffs.

It looks like what I'd be after playability wise, I'm not too keen on the aesthetics, but that's not the biggest issue. if only I could find a nice purple SoCal or something without the floyd, that would be perfect.
 
Tawlks":3uyzx2o8 said:
Thanks for the responses guys. :)

Annoyingly, for both you and myself I'm sure, I forgot to mention that Suhr/TAG/Vigier are waaayy out of budget for me.

I'm looking for something in the range of Fender Strats, Charvel SoCals, etc.
Click to expand...

Okay, so if that's the case then I would definitely recommend a Rasmus S100. The playability is identical to an American made Suhr and I'd say the tone is around 90% as good as a Suhr. The S models come with really comfortable necks and a 16" fretboard radius that is great for playing fast runs/legato....they play so well, which is probably contributed to the fact that they are plek'd like every other Suhr out there....which is something that you won't find in any other guitar in your price range. The Suhr pickups sound great as well too. If you are able to play one in person, that would be best. Or, you could probably just buy one direct from a dealer with a return policy and send it back to them if for some reason you didn't care for it. Charvels are cool too, but I prefer the Rasmus (Suhr clones) myself. If I recall the Charvels I played had slight thicker necks (also wider), with a 12"-16" compound fretboard. I preferred the neck heel on the Rasmus compared to the more bulky Charvel neck heel. The Rasmus has locking tuners for quick string changes, which the Charvels do not...(If I recall correctly?) Naturally, the Charvels aren't plek'd from the factory either. And, the quality-control for the Rasmus line has been known to be VERY good, as John Suhr took the time to make sure that all of them were being built to his tight tolerances before actually releasing them to the public. I found absolutely no issues with mine and the setup was great, right out of the box. Although, I believe Charvels are known for good quality-control as well. The only thing that I'm not crazy about on the Rasmus models are the finishes. While they are in fact, nicely finished....the finishes themselves are a bit plain, although I do like the black metallic finish on my S200. Finally, after reading what you are looking for, in terms of playability....I honestly think that a Rasmus would be hard to beat.

Here's one in Mercedes Blue that looks pretty sweet! - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rasmus-John-Suh ... 415ca5adfb
 
I know it doesn't have the single coil but you have to give a Washburn N4 a try. They are quite easy to come by also.
 
Fender American Special, jumbo frets, very comfortable, very playable and VERY affordable. They are so good for the money IMHO that if you dont dig the pickups, you have plenty of money left over to change them up...
 
Gainzilla":3e05t21z said:
Fender American Special, jumbo frets, very comfortable, very playable and VERY affordable. They are so good for the money IMHO that if you dont dig the pickups, you have plenty of money left over to change them up...
Click to expand...

Ooh..

This looks right up my street. Seems really good value. How flat is the fretboard? I like to set my action quite low, especially since I use 11's in E. I'd use 10s on a normal strat if I wanted to play fast licks a lot.
 
Tawlks":34h5is0g said:
Gainzilla":34h5is0g said:
Fender American Special, jumbo frets, very comfortable, very playable and VERY affordable. They are so good for the money IMHO that if you dont dig the pickups, you have plenty of money left over to change them up...
Click to expand...

Ooh..

This looks right up my street. Seems really good value. How flat is the fretboard? I like to set my action quite low, especially since I use 11's in E. I'd use 10s on a normal strat if I wanted to play fast licks a lot.
Click to expand...

They are a great buy for the money. Although, I'm pretty sure the HSS strat has the 9.5" fingerboard radius that you didn't want.
 
take a look at Yamaha's Pacifica line. H-S-S and a tap on the bridge.
 
Death by Uberschall":1rzjc36w said:
Warmoth - build it the way you want it. :2thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I'm in the UK man. =/ AFAIK Warmoth doesn't have a UK branch.
 
Tone Zone":3drvckdx said:
Tawlks":3drvckdx said:
Gainzilla":3drvckdx said:
Fender American Special, jumbo frets, very comfortable, very playable and VERY affordable. They are so good for the money IMHO that if you dont dig the pickups, you have plenty of money left over to change them up...
Click to expand...

Ooh..

This looks right up my street. Seems really good value. How flat is the fretboard? I like to set my action quite low, especially since I use 11's in E. I'd use 10s on a normal strat if I wanted to play fast licks a lot.
Click to expand...

They are a great buy for the money. Although, I'm pretty sure the HSS strat has the 9.5" fingerboard radius that you didn't want.
Click to expand...

They all seem to. The neck is definitely my biggest worry, the most flat I've seen any strats on the website were 12". I wouldn't mind a compound radius actually, I saw one strat with a compound radius. Unfortunately, all the ones with ideal necks AFAIK are US signature models and out of budget.
 
Tawlks":dniy1qp3 said:
Tone Zone":dniy1qp3 said:
Tawlks":dniy1qp3 said:
Gainzilla":dniy1qp3 said:
Fender American Special, jumbo frets, very comfortable, very playable and VERY affordable. They are so good for the money IMHO that if you dont dig the pickups, you have plenty of money left over to change them up...
Click to expand...

Ooh..

This looks right up my street. Seems really good value. How flat is the fretboard? I like to set my action quite low, especially since I use 11's in E. I'd use 10s on a normal strat if I wanted to play fast licks a lot.
Click to expand...

They are a great buy for the money. Although, I'm pretty sure the HSS strat has the 9.5" fingerboard radius that you didn't want.
Click to expand...

They all seem to. The neck is definitely my biggest worry, the most flat I've seen any strats on the website were 12". I wouldn't mind a compound radius actually, I saw one strat with a compound radius. Unfortunately, all the ones with ideal necks AFAIK are US signature models and out of budget.
Click to expand...
I believe that it is a 9.5 radius but like anything, I think that its something that you will get used to in time. The jumbo frets help fo rthe lack of radius IMO.

In the past, I refused to use anything that wasnt a 14" radius, 12" being the absolute minimum but after some time my preferred range is 9.5 to 12 and anything higher with rare exception is not as comfortable. I use 9's in Eb LOL, I couldnt imagine playing 11's in standard...

The American special can found new for 699 if you look hard enough and that is a very tough price to beat for a quality instrument IMHO

I should also mention that I am FAR from being an expert in strats, I just know what I like. There are many different flavors of strats to choose from but the American Special did it for me with its neck and the frets and price was very right. After that, my favorite Strat is the YJM. It doesnt sound great on clean and lower gain tones due to the nature of the pickups( and that can be remedied by swapping out the middle) but once youve taken care of that, I absolutely love playing anything and everything on that guitar.
 
i just got Floyd Rose Redmond that sounds amazing and plays great
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top