Which Strat - £250-500?

ICBM

Second hand Mexican Classic series. Easy to buy at around £400-£450.

tone1

Second hand Road Worn 50's or  60's

paul_c2

No worries thanks for all the help, especially blueskunk who pointed me towards Gumtree. I've found a Mexican standard which is well in my price range and looks good condition (but I've told the seller if its too bad I won't buy it - he's said there's a few small marks), and done a deal, its about an hour's trip to pick it up tomorrow!

shamus26

DO NOT BUY A NEW ONE !!!!,because as soon as you buy a guitar you will most certainly become infected with Gear Aquisition Syndrome (GAS).You will want to upgrade sooner or later to something different or better.It's a bit like how women are with buying handbags.Here's my advice,Buy a used guitar but go for the highest quality that your budget will allow.Drive a really hard bargain with the seller to get that piece of kit as cheaply as you can.Ask yourself if you could sell the guitar that you are about to buy for the same price tomorrow,if not then don't buy it.If selling on Ebay you need to recover 13.4% Reverb.Com charge 3% plus paypal will charge you 3.4% for receiving your money.You need to factor this in when buying so that you can sell stuff on and not lose too much money.
Why don't you just save up and buy a Tom Anderson Classic S a save yourself a load of time and expense in the long run !
All the best whatever you decide,and when you become infected with GAS don't worry as we all fully understand and we'll be here to advise and help you.

paul_c2

I don't know if I ought to start another thread, but I feel its worth also mentioning my "experience" at the guitar shop I went to. I can't fault the staff - they were very helpful, didn't pressure me and didn't hinder me from trying. But trying a new guitar, and trying to make a reasonable evaluation of it, has many challenges!! I am still a beginner, so playing in front of other people is new to me - so I stuck with a few familiar chords which I like, and a bunch of riffs to hear the single notes. The amp was - I can only describe it as - odd sounding. There were 2 others in the shop also trying out stuff, one of them at full volume (I had to shout to converse with the sales guy) - fair enough if he wants to evaluate an amp at gigging volume.....but just saying. And the first guitar was horrendously set up and obviously had never been played in its life. He tuned the thing initially, by ear, about a semitone out. I sussed the tuner on the amp and tuned it again, within about 3 strums it was out. So I stretched the strings, which took it about 1 1/2 tones out, then tuned it again...and again... eventually got it reasonably in tune and sounding chords properly. The amp was in a tilted stand, so you can't see the tuner sitting....they never give you straps and I had to beg for a pick (I should really carry one around I guess!) Then there was what I could only perceive as "something wrong" with the guitar - I strummed a familiar chord (E7#9) and the top notes simply didn't sound out. I honestly thought the pickup height was misadjusted, but visually it looked okay. The second Tele wasn't much better and the Strat played/sounded exactly as I would expect. By this time Mr Amp Tryer had started though, so I was trying to listen in the gaps. All 3 guitars, I felt, weren't set up properly (action way too high, intonation out on at least 1 of them though it might have been the strings) but that might just be me being unfamiliar/weirdly wanting low action and nice strings to strum.

As already said, the staff did nothing wrong and were really helpful, its just a bunch of circumstances which made it not the ideal experience - maybe I'm being daft in thinking that when 2-3 people play at the same time in a music shop, it spontaneously morphs into a coherent band/jam like a scene out of "Fame" or something (did they ever buy stuff?) I just felt a bit nervous trying to semi-coherently evaluate a guitar which obviously isn't set up properly (for me) and which would have cost me a lot of money had I bought it, and could have been a big mistake!

ToneControl

paul_c2 said:

No worries thanks for all the help, especially blueskunk who pointed me towards Gumtree. I've found a Mexican standard which is well in my price range and looks good condition (but I've told the seller if its too bad I won't buy it - he's said there's a few small marks), and done a deal, its about an hour's trip to pick it up tomorrow!

try to take a more experienced player with you to suss the guitar out

Maynehead

I find it impossible to objectively judge my liking of a guitar in a guitar shop. Probably cos I'm too busy trying not to sound crap. Even if you get a room to yourself, sometimes it can take months to realise if a guitar is or isn't for you, not just a few minutes. The guitar being horribly set up doesn't help either.

Best you can do is make sure the neck is not twisted and feels comfortable in the hand, try a few awkward stretches to see if it feels easier or harder than your own guitar. Make sure the fret ends are smooth and there are no dead frets, and just a general check over for dents, scratches and loose parts.

Good thing about a shop is when you take it home and have that OMG what have I done moment, you can easily swap it for another one

Modellista

Couple of points: firstly guitar shop buying is tricky, the sales people are often a bit odd, and the guitars are effectively second hand because they could have been hanging there for ages with people playing them. It's rarely a pleasant experience. You knew you're paying top dollar because it's new, so there's always that lingering doubt of "am I doing the right thing?"

which leads me to my second point. Trying to work out what guitar is for you is a process which can take years. Unless you get very lucky you'll want to sell stuff on sooner or later. So buying used is a good way to minimise loss. Why not buy a Mex standard used, try it for a bit and see how you feel. A couple of years later you can sell it at minimal loss. 

A lovely feature of the guitar market is that age is generally considered a good thing so guitars don't really devalue as long as they're in good condition. If you buy new you have to keep it for a while to get your money's worth. Buy used and you can sell it on at minimal, if any, loss. I know people who buy and sell regularly and actually make quite a bit of profit. On the other hand, they are twats. 

DavusPG

I'm looking to shift a Strat Plus I bought on here and would be prepared to come to a deal with you. It has a replacement neck (a Fender 60th Anniversay one without the roller nut). I got it for a great price and am only looking to get back what I paid. Could be yours delivered within your budget. A lot of guitar for the money. If you're interested drop me a PM. 

littlethoughts

Look on eBay for something like a Fender roadhouse strat, deluxe player/deluxe lone star, classic player, that sort of thing. "premium" mexican so to speak. Or cheaper American such as American Special or Highway 1 - you can get those for about £400. If you are patient you can grab a mexican standard for less than £250 though, so that's probably what I'd look at.

It's always worth looking at FSR models as well. They are limited run but usually with some upgrades over a standard Mexican model.

For example:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Stratocaster-FSR-20th-Anniversary-HSS-/162177059205?hash=item25c2818985:g:GosAAOSwU-pXuuBm

sweepy

Buying in a shop always makes me smile tbh, if you can't tell from a few single notes and chords that a guitar is any good then maybe you should take up drums .