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even an entry level instrument can bring joy

#21
Yes, a Stratocaster it's an adventure!

As a guitar player, I played SGs 60's and Les Paul 60's and 70's, so I bought a used Strato 74... then a 72... a 75... These guitars were a challenge!!! And a big surprise, a door opened, and that's it. Today I have the Strato! Only one! I intend to buy a Goldtop or a Custom LP, like the ones I already had, it's just nostalgia.
 
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#23
I keep a strat around strung with flatwounds. :woot:
It's a mishmash of parts:
  • USA paulownia body that I shipped to Russia so my 1st ex-wife could do an original psychedelic paint job for it
  • titanium trem from Turkey
  • custom knobs from Japan
  • EMG "Lukather" strat set
  • Hipshot tuners
  • Birdseye neck from Israel (Rob Gilmore)
globalTar-2014.jpg


My very first guitar was a tele with a strat neck (National tele deluxe copy!), so this is sort of the inverse of that...
 
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#24
mikewalker said:
I keep a strat around strung with flatwounds. :woot:
It's a mishmash of parts:
  • USA paulownia body that I shipped to Russia so my 1st ex-wife could do an original psychedelic paint job for it
  • titanium trem from Turkey
  • custom knobs from Japan
  • EMG "Lukather" strat set
  • Hipshot tuners
  • Birdseye neck from Israel (Rob Gilmore)
View attachment 5053712

My very first guitar was a tele with a strat neck (National tele deluxe copy!), so this is sort of the inverse of that...
Click to expand...
That's a trippy little beast.
 
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#27
I'm surprised Strats are made as beginner guitars as I find them really fussy to dial in. I find the smallest trussrod adjustments keep mine from either feeling too stiff or too buzzy. And even with a Graphtec nut and string trees, tuning stability is approximate at times.

Beginners won't automatically know how to get the best sonic or tuning performance out of a Strat.

My Strat is a 2021 buttercream MIM body and 2014 MIM maple neck. The neck is the nicest and most solid-feeling neck I've had (there was a 2013 rosewood neck on rotation for a while).
 
#31
One of my favorite instruments that I own is a Squier CV Tele in butterscotch. It looks the part, sounds the part, and feels incredible. The switch will needs to be swapped out at some point and I may elect to put some Nocaster pups in it, but for the price I paid I couldn’t be happier.
 
#33
I let go of a 1984 two-knob Strat to fund synth purchases. I liked the neck feel, but the body hangs funny on me. Fast forward to needing a superstrat, and ordering a blood splatter M-III from ESP USA, along with finding a Jackson USA Soloist in a pawn shop for restoration while waiting on the M-III.







As for cheap instruments bringing joy, I bought a dirt cheap Dean to experiment on, putting cheap single coils in the Rickenbacker positions. I'd imagine having better results with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound 51 style singles.



 
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#34
pcake said:
since i met ariex in 1998, he's always said he disliked strats, and he had some viable sounding reasons. that being said, a couple of his guitar heroes have played them, including ritchie blackmore, and last week, and after we watched a bunch of old deep purple videos, he decided to try a cheap strat with a trem. we had some credit at sam ash (long story), and after i pointed out that one of my broncos uses an affinity strat pickup, i ordered a squier affinity strat in olympic white with maple board and trem, which he said was his preference.

well, after disliking strats for 4 decades, the guitar arrived yesterday. after sorting out a couple things, he started playing it, and playing it, and playing it. we're in a condo, so at dinner time, i reminded him to turn down or unplug. he hung it on the wall, then went and got it, and he played it unplugged till bedtime.

he's totally happy with it. there are some adjustments to make, new strings and straplocks to be added to it, possibly a setup, although it arrived pretty well set up. maybe shielding. but we expected those things.

he's got a glow and excitement i haven't seen from him with a new instrument since 2000. maybe it's because it's so different from what he usually plays (gibson les paul, jackson flying V, jackson warrior, lawsuit ibanez artist), so it's not just a guitar - it's an adventure!
Click to expand...
Strats are great guitars - I wish him much pleasure as he discovers the limits of this one!
 
#37
pcake said:
since i met ariex in 1998, he's always said he disliked strats, and he had some viable sounding reasons. that being said, a couple of his guitar heroes have played them, including ritchie blackmore, and last week, and after we watched a bunch of old deep purple videos, he decided to try a cheap strat with a trem. we had some credit at sam ash (long story), and after i pointed out that one of my broncos uses an affinity strat pickup, i ordered a squier affinity strat in olympic white with maple board and trem, which he said was his preference.

well, after disliking strats for 4 decades, the guitar arrived yesterday. after sorting out a couple things, he started playing it, and playing it, and playing it. we're in a condo, so at dinner time, i reminded him to turn down or unplug. he hung it on the wall, then went and got it, and he played it unplugged till bedtime.

he's totally happy with it. there are some adjustments to make, new strings and straplocks to be added to it, possibly a setup, although it arrived pretty well set up. maybe shielding. but we expected those things.

he's got a glow and excitement i haven't seen from him with a new instrument since 2000. maybe it's because it's so different from what he usually plays (gibson les paul, jackson flying V, jackson warrior, lawsuit ibanez artist), so it's not just a guitar - it's an adventure!
Click to expand...
I have one too. Same color. Can't play it but just the same, always wanted one. Like it a lot.
 
#38
I have a Squier Strat from 1980/82 MIJ that is very good.
I put new pups (Klein) and pots in about 15 years ago that sounds great….. they were around $300 bucks. Are they $300.00 better than stock? NO WAY! The old pots and switches were getting beat.
I also have a MIA Strat that sounds and plays better, how much better $ not much.
 
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#39
I've said it before, we live in what is basically a golden age for musical instruments. With modern technology, even the cheap stuff is really good. And the more finely crafted expensive stuff is still here anytime one wants to splurge and get something cool.

I'm very much a Strat guy ... but I have no use for the trem, just destabilizes tuning and is a pita, for me. So mine are hard tails. I have a Custom Shop Robert Cray that's real nice, and a number of home builds ranging from nice Warmoth builds to sub $300 Guitar Fetish/Mighty Mite pieces - those cheapies compete well with the pricier ones.

As a tangent, I've recently discovered Alnico 3 pickups are da bomb for how I play (those magnets actually should be called Alni - no cobalt in them, in contrast to the 2's, 4's, and 5's). Anyway, I love the dynamic range of response with those. When I'm basically slapping and popping on the Strat, those notes fly out and convey that energy, then have beautiful mellow tones as well. The standard Alnico 5's tend to add more of the Strat spikiness than I usually want. I may find something else I like down the road, but the Alnico 3's will always be in the arsenal, for sure. We live and learn!
:bassist:
 
#40
I find that the "top end" Squier guitars and basses are often as good or better than the "lower end" of American-made Fender instruments. My metallic black Squier Fat Strat, (I named her "Bennie", pictured below with "Atalanta" and "Trixie") was my #1 guitar for years, and still my "go-to" whenever the song set requires clear cleans and muscular crunch (Metallica's "Call of Ktulu" is a good example). It was made in Indonesia, with an Agathis (eastern evergreen not unlike Pine) body and Rosewood fretboard (this model pre-dated CITES by a couple of years). It plays very well after a good setup by a local tech. I'm still using the stock pickups, though probably not for too much longer-- I'm considering a swap for a set of Lace Sensors (Gold, Silver, and Blue-Red Dually), as I think they're smartly-designed pickups - I like the fact that they can be voiced across the whole spectrum of tone without significant variation in output, and without necessitating a change in pots from the stock 250k.

"Atalanta", my 'Yukon Gold' G&L ASAT Classic, is my "Blues & Boogie" guitar (also great for Cream, Deep Purple, and Zeppelin covers!). Last but not least is "Trixie", my 'Boy Racer Blue' Di Pinto Orbital, with 4 single coils and a Jazzmaster-style vibrato. Trixie is my favorite for almost anything Indy\Alternative, or anything using my Big Muff Pi, for that matter-- those proprietary single coils strike a balance between body and clarity unlike anything else I've ever played, to date.


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