I’ve just about come to the conclusion I’m not a “strat guy”... as a player at least. Love the tones others can get, a recent new year live recording of Philip Sayce on YouTube confirms that. For a while I thought it was the relatively narrow 42mm nut but that’s been put to rest by the 52 AVRI tele that’s currently my no. 1. Of all guitar styles I find strats to be the most unforgiving and difficult to dial in, particularly clean.
My journey so far has been:
classic player 60s- neck profile a bit thin, didn’t like the gloss polyester finish or thin sounding pickups.
american standard- liked the wider neck but modern c profile too thin in depth. Prefer a vintage taper.
Partscaster with musikraft neck- should’ve been great on paper, lacked mojo and preferred my tele and les Paul.
and onto several I tied in a shop today:
Am pro hss- new deep c neck still too thin. Bridge humbucker wasn’t great.
american original 50s- neck too cumbersome for a strat and the maple board too sticky. The high e kept slipping off as string spacing didn’t seem to match fretboard width.
clapton journeyman relic custom shop- better setup off the hanger than above but didn’t like the pencil thin but v shaped neck near the nut, virtually no shoulder. £3500!!
custom shop 63 nos- the best of today’s 4 by some margin. I could handle this one but tbh, at £2699 it plays and feels no better than my £1400 AVRI tele. The only real advantage is the whammy bar for the rare song I’d use it for (eg Lenny) and the availability of the neck pickup tone (that’s what I’m missing from my current stable of 335, R8 and tele). Always liked the look of strats too.
I havnt tried the American original 60s Strat and mabye should. Any other suggestions other than give up and stick to the tele and Gibson’s?
Comments
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/118864/fender-cs-60th-anniversary-heavy-relic-strat-sorry-sale-cant-really-afford-to-keep-this-one#latest
You do not need all the types of guitar.
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