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Super Strats
klasaine
Apr 4 2019, 02:55 AM
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$5000.00 is a bit much for a beat up Strat. I wouldn't buy one regardless of my means.

But, as a guy who has had a lot of guitars and also worked in two guitar shops I will say that the difference between a heavily modded/upgraded $350 axe and a $1500 to $3000 axe is (most of the time) demonstrative.

You owe it to yourself to try a Tom Anderson, LSL, Suhr, Tyler, Nash, Sadowsky, Xotic or a high end Ibanez or 'Custom Shop' Fenders and Gibsons and "honestly" compare and evaluate. And I mean honestly. It's easy to be biased after all the work you've put into finding the right pkups and paying a luthier for an immaculate setup.
Of all the guitars I've had and still have, Only one compares with my higher end instruments. A $400 mim tele with new pickups and bridge. I've gone through a lot of cheap Strats that sort came close to my 'good' ones but ultimately fell short, even with new pkups, better parts and a great set up. I'll have two up for sale shortly.

In short, a $2000 or thereabouts solid body from a good builder (and there are many) is 90% of the time gonna be a better axe than you can Frankenstein from a budget electric + new parts, etc.

*Can you make great and compelling music on a cheap axe? Of course. The 'music' isn't the guitar. It's you.

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Todd Simpson
Apr 4 2019, 04:02 AM
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This is the reason people still search for ancient Ibanez RG5xx series guitars. Even though you can buy a new one now that they are reissued. Some combinations of steel and wood just work well for some players. For some guys, it's searching for an old Strat, or old Tele, and for some it's searching for a new SUHR or other boutique builder. In the end it really does come down to the player. If you hold a guitar in a music store, and you connect with it, buy it! Buying a guitar, especially one you have never put your hands on, is a dicey proposition imho. You gotta actually play it to know if it speaks to you.

Todd
QUOTE (klasaine @ Apr 3 2019, 09:55 PM) *
$5000.00 is a bit much for a beat up Strat. I wouldn't buy one regardless of my means.

But, as a guy who has had a lot of guitars and also worked in two guitar shops I will say that the difference between a heavily modded/upgraded $350 axe and a $1500 to $3000 axe is (most of the time) demonstrative.

You owe it to yourself to try a Tom Anderson, LSL, Suhr, Tyler, Nash, Sadowsky, Xotic or a high end Ibanez or 'Custom Shop' Fenders and Gibsons and "honestly" compare and evaluate. And I mean honestly. It's easy to be biased after all the work you've put into finding the right pkups and paying a luthier for an immaculate setup.
Of all the guitars I've had and still have, Only one compares with my higher end instruments. A $400 mim tele with new pickups and bridge. I've gone through a lot of cheap Strats that sort came close to my 'good' ones but ultimately fell short, even with new pkups, better parts and a great set up. I'll have two up for sale shortly.

In short, a $2000 or thereabouts solid body from a good builder (and there are many) is 90% of the time gonna be a better axe than you can Frankenstein from a budget electric + new parts, etc.

*Can you make great and compelling music on a cheap axe? Of course. The 'music' isn't the guitar. It's you.

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Kristofer Dahl
Apr 4 2019, 08:12 AM
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QUOTE (klasaine @ Apr 4 2019, 02:55 AM) *
$5000.00 is a bit much for a beat up Strat. I wouldn't buy one regardless of my means.

But, as a guy who has had a lot of guitars and also worked in two guitar shops I will say that the difference between a heavily modded/upgraded $350 axe and a $1500 to $3000 axe is (most of the time) demonstrative.

You owe it to yourself to try a Tom Anderson, LSL, Suhr, Tyler, Nash, Sadowsky, Xotic or a high end Ibanez or 'Custom Shop' Fenders and Gibsons and "honestly" compare and evaluate. And I mean honestly. It's easy to be biased after all the work you've put into finding the right pkups and paying a luthier for an immaculate setup.
Of all the guitars I've had and still have, Only one compares with my higher end instruments. A $400 mim tele with new pickups and bridge. I've gone through a lot of cheap Strats that sort came close to my 'good' ones but ultimately fell short, even with new pkups, better parts and a great set up. I'll have two up for sale shortly.

In short, a $2000 or thereabouts solid body from a good builder (and there are many) is 90% of the time gonna be a better axe than you can Frankenstein from a budget electric + new parts, etc.

*Can you make great and compelling music on a cheap axe? Of course. The 'music' isn't the guitar. It's you.


With the risk of beating an old cliché, I do agree that you get something else if you pay more. And depending on what you are looking for - you also get what you pay for.

I played this ~$6000 guitar for a few months and it is a spectacular metal axe:



I am primarily looking for inspiration. If I were only looking for playability/stability I would sell all my guitars and just go for this Sgt Doom guitar. With a ~0,7 mm action and complete tuning stability after days of whammy abuse - there is nothing to argue about.

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Mertay
Apr 4 2019, 08:36 PM
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1000 is overall a good estimate, maybe push that down to 800 max but thats for very few guitars that are probably not designed for a majority (Yamaha stuff for example)...

The upper is a bit complicated for me. For a shredder, I'd expect more than "good enough" alternate lower gain tones as a bonus. The standard Charvel, Ibanez HSH type guitars can be considered versatile but if they're going to be super expensive then I expect more. Not being humiliated side-by-side by an SG or LP for example.

On the traditional models (Fender, Gibson), (visuals aside) I'd say it becomes a tonal flavor thing (favoring narrow spots of the spectrum) for the very high-end. To be honest, I can't hear sometimes what the guy who bought it finds noticeable (happens most with strat's) smile.gif but sometimes I do, then complement and enjoy noodling but don't remember any of those guitars haunting my dreams.

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Adam
Apr 4 2019, 09:40 PM
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QUOTE (Mertay @ Apr 3 2019, 11:44 PM) *
I don't really recommend low priced guitars for upgrade unless one really knows what he's after. I'm not much of a buy/seller but do have a gear addict friend and learned a lot from his experiences.

I guess out of maybe 4 guitars cheap but modded guitars he only kept 1, a squire Tele modded with noiseless Fender PU's. Other cheapos either didn't take the upgrade well enough tone-wise, or as time passed and he bought more (expensive r) guitars realized they weren't worth keeping. Even that Tele isn't played much anymore cause of the better guitars.

This is interesting; His latest guitar is a Gibson LP standard but a limited edition which the body is thin. A store we usually visit gave him an amazing discount but even then I recommended against it (a hard guitar to re-sell in the used market). But after we plugged it into an amp my opinion changed. The guitar simply sounded nice.

I think these are the kind of opportunities one can bump into these days aside the used market. Most mid. priced guitar even comes with brand PU's and some guy in Indonesia, Mexico or Korea doesn't leave too much job for the luthier if needed.

Specially past 1-2 years to me it became more rare to find a new guitar being the same price but noticeably better in tone/sustain then the rest (considering if spec.s relatively match). The big brands certainly know what they're doing and improving their production every year.


I know maybe 90% of the cheap guitars aren't even good for the beginners (because a bad instrument may make them quit, like my friend did). Corts are so-so but Epi's and Squire's are horrible. I was very lucky to have been introduced to a Greg Bennett's Samick series that's cheap but of at least mid-price quality and now I'm rocking 3 of those! My latest buy is a model based on Ibanez RG and I must say it's on par with MiJ Prestige models (I compared the two side by side). The only thing bad about it is FR OEM bridge but mine is locked and the pickups that I was going to swap anyway.

About the low-priced and low-quality guitars, there's sometimes a bargain that's great even if you know it'll need investments. I'm a little interested in carpentry and very into electronics, so the cheapest ones are low-risk high-reward for me, even if something goes wrong. But I mean it mostly as a learning experience. Modding makes it harder or impossible to sell at somewhat good price, so it's important thing to consider.

I noticed the prices in used market went up in Poland since the big brands made statements about using different wood and finding a good price/quality guitar is harder because the best ones get sold even faster than before. I don't see many relic'd models but some shops offer relic'd hardware kits.

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klasaine
Apr 4 2019, 10:07 PM
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I want one of these ... https://www.vintageguitar.com/31937/xotic-g...fornia-classic/


Attached Image

I need to sell a couple of things first.
They're around $2200 US for the standard model.

The factory is in Van Nuys CA which is a Suburb of Los Angeles. About 20 minutes from where I live.

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Kristofer Dahl
Apr 5 2019, 08:10 AM
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I would love a boutique strat at some point as well wub.gif

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PosterBoy
Apr 5 2019, 11:55 AM
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I'd love to let you play my Tyler Kris, I think I'd have to pry it out of you hands laugh.gif biggrin.gif

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Mertay
Apr 5 2019, 09:02 PM
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QUOTE (Adam M @ Apr 4 2019, 08:40 PM) *
...


Oh you bought a guitar? maybe I missed give a link if possible I'm curious smile.gif

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Todd Simpson
Apr 6 2019, 09:53 AM
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Here is instagram legend CammyBee1 (39k follower) with his BOUTIQUE SUHR strat. These are great guitars to be sure. Also crazy pricey.


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PosterBoy
Apr 6 2019, 10:59 AM
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Mateus Asato signature Suhr.

There are a few Suhrs I'd love to try with my credit card far away from my reach.

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Kristofer Dahl
Apr 9 2019, 02:14 PM
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QUOTE (PosterBoy @ Apr 5 2019, 11:55 AM) *
I'd love to let you play my Tyler Kris, I think I'd have to pry it out of you hands laugh.gif biggrin.gif


hehe I don't doubt that!

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klasaine
Apr 17 2019, 11:21 PM
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I just sold two electrics and put a down payment on that Xotic 'Cali Classic' that I posted several posts back.
It looks like the picture (below) except that it will have a Rosewood fingerboard.

Attached Image

Here's a link to the Xotic company. It's the same co. that makes the Xotic effects like the BB and AC overdrives and EP booster, etc. http://xotic.us/instruments/guitars/xsc-series

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This post has been edited by klasaine: Apr 17 2019, 11:24 PM
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Mertay
Apr 17 2019, 11:23 PM
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Congrats! keep us updated when it arrives smile.gif

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klasaine
Apr 17 2019, 11:31 PM
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It'll be at least 4 months. Depends on wood availability, especially the Rosewood (Indian) for the fingerboard.

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yoncopin
Apr 18 2019, 01:46 PM
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That's an awesome looking Strat klasaine, congrats. I've never had the chance to play a multi thousand dollar guitar, but don't think my abilities could squeeze better music out of it than a cheaper one. I like the cheapies, most upgrades that cost money are easily reversible and I find trying something new to be more inspiring when I can do it more often. I recently sold my Strat and was able to spend some of the proceeds to get a 2011 ESP Eclipse with P90s. $315 is a comfortable amount for me to spend and feel inspired, looking forward to giving P90s a try which is something new for me.

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This post has been edited by yoncopin: Apr 18 2019, 01:47 PM


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