Fender American Professional Stratocaster- Have I done the right thing?

[PetesaHut]

I have just ordered the Fender American Professional Stratocaster - Sienna Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard. Not from Sweetwater, however, their following link details the guitar very well.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-fingerboard

1. I have not played one and am purchasing online based on spec and reviews. Have I done the right thing? I hope so

2. I am now looking for a small amp for this Fender and my Epi Casino Coupe to play at home. Obviously I don't need or want a high powered amp. Looking for clean not dirty tones. I am primarily a 66y young acoustic player wanting to play electric again after a long absence from electric. I get that electric and acoustic are two different beasts.

I have the Blackstar Fly 3 Bluetooth as a contender.

Any helpful guidance and comments would be much appreciated.

[ch willie]

You're going to have a fine guitar. I am really impressed by the AmPro models. If I didn't already have my dream Strat, I'd go for one. I have an AmPro Precision Bass, and I am more than happy with it.

The improved pickups and other features make the AmPro Strats attractive to me.

In short, you've made a good choice as far as the guitar goes. I love the color.

Because I'm lefty and cannot find lefty models in shops, 10 of my 11 guitars have been ordered and delivered before I ever played a note. I'm happy with every one of my guitars I've kept. (Les Paul Trad; AmStd Strat and Tele; AmStd Jazz B; AmPro Precision; .Ric 330, Ric 4001, Hofner 500/1, Marin 12-string; Martin HD-28V). Not bragging; just trying to show that my modest collection came to me via ordering sight unseen.

[guitararmy]

Out of the amps I own, my favorite for its size is a Roland Cube 40. I like the Cubes because they don't have any fancy programming, just knobs.

I also have a Blackstar ID Core 10 amp, which is a hoot to play with its wide stereo chorus.

Oh and that sounds like a great Strat! Sienna Burst is one of my favorite Fender colors.

[raysachs]

The Fly is not a good enough amp to play those two fine guitars through. It’s great for what it is, but’s it IS only what it is. I have a Roland Blues Cube Hot for home - it’s got several power levels and sounds great at conversational levels and also when it’s cranked up. It’s small, good size for a home amp. I also have a little Blackstar HT1R for a tiny rental place down south we spend every winter at lately. It’s not as tiny as the Fly, but it’s REALLY LITTLE. It doesn’t sound as great as the Blues Cube, but it sounds really really good. And it’s just one watt, so it doesn’t get all that loud clean.

Both of these amps sound many times better than the Fly (which I also have but mainly just use as an auxiliary speaker after no more than a few hours actually playing through it). A strat and P90s are the two greatest electric guitar sounds there are IMHO - you have em both in your two electrics. Get a decent little amp to play em through!

-Ray

[rmp]

I think you'll love the strat.

Amp wise, what's your planned budget?

if you want a good tube amp, go Fender.

You could get something like a Fender Princeton 12 combo or a Deluxe Reverb if you are willing to throw about 900 bucks at it. Lots of dough yea, but you'd have a killer amp.

There's also the Blues Jr. amps, not as much dough, but a fine amp.

On the other had, a lot of people have been seeming to get on nicely with these little combos from Mono Price ($250, MIC.. if that matters)

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=611815

Solid state amps are options too.

I've never had any of the Cubes, but all the owners do seem to like them.

There's also the Boss Katana or the newer version of it..
https://www.boss.info/us/categories/amplifiers/

If it was me and I had the $$$ I'd do a Deluxe Reverb or a Princeton 12 for something small and compact.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

I have just ordered the Fender American Professional Stratocaster - Sienna Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard. Not from Sweetwater, however, their following link details the guitar very well.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-fingerboard

1. I have not played one and am purchasing online based on spec and reviews. Have I done the right thing? I hope so

2. I am now looking for a small amp for this Fender and my Epi Casino Coupe to play at home. Obviously I don't need or want a high powered amp. Looking for clean not dirty tones. I am primarily a 66y young acoustic player wanting to play electric again after a long absence from electric. I get that electric and acoustic are two different beasts.

I have the Blackstar Fly 3 Bluetooth as a contender.

Any helpful guidance and comments would be much appreciated.

Minority opinion, but for clean tones at low volume (conversational level) most anything is fine. I have a $50 Peavey Backstage that has an absurdly good clean tone. The acoustic even sounds good through it. I always gigged with tube amps, and still mostly use that at home, but I seldom play clean. If low-volume clean was my thing, I'd look seriously at the lower-end Bugeras maybe a used Blues Jr or Blues Cube as others said, but honestly IMO it's hard to go far wrong given what you want to do.

[stevecuss]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

Minority opinion, but for clean tones at low volume (conversational level) most anything is fine. I have a $50 Peavey Backstage that has an absurdly good clean tone. The acoustic even sounds good through it. I always gigged with tube amps, and still mostly use that at home, but I seldom play clean. If low-volume clean was my thing, I'd look seriously at the lower-end Bugeras maybe a used Blues Jr or Blues Cube as others said, but honestly IMO it's hard to go far wrong given what you want to do.

Lovely guitar choice - the Am Pro Strat is excellent in every way.

As a tube snob, I agree with the above for home playing, it is hard to go wrong. Even so, if I had the budget, I'd get a small tube amp (Blackstar or something similar) and if I could squeeze it, I'd get a Princeton or a Champ of some kind.

Put that Fender with a Fender tube amp and enjoy the gorgeous sound.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

... I am now looking for a small amp for this Fender and my Epi Casino Coupe to play at home. Obviously I don't need or want a high-powered amp. Looking for clean not dirty tones. I am primarily a 66y young acoustic player wanting to play electric again after a long absence from electric. I get that electric and acoustic are two different beasts...

Any helpful guidance and comments would be much appreciated...

$600 total - less if you're a good haggler and/or hit a Coupon Day at your friendly online big-box retailer - will get you both of these all-tube gems:

The bedroom practice/coffeehouse combo:




- and for all but the largest indoor gigs, this one'll cover a 600-700 seat house clean as you need or dirty as you want:




I've been using them as my go-to rigs - the latter for the last ten years - if you search you'll find a whole bunch of other happy owners here on the Electric subforum, and I speak from extensive experience when I say you're not going to find anything with this combination of tone/features/build quality for anywhere near the price; while the V5 can sound a bit dark when playing clean with full-size humbuckers it sings with single-coils and mini-buckers (I use Gretsch semi-hollows, a Gibson LP P-90/goldtop, and a P-90 Godin CW II jazzbox as my primary instruments, with a 3-PU '82 Yamaha SSC-500 and '86 MIJ Fender/Squier Strat as backup)...

IME if you're going to be a one-amp guy you can't go wrong with the V22: loads of clean headroom at just about any volume level, and you can scale it back to 15W for low-level practice - which also shifts the amp into triode mode, opening up a whole bunch of sweet pre-Top Boost Vox-style tones (think Cavern Club-era Beatles/early Stones) that should sound fabulous with that Casino...

[Steel and wood]

Seriously, what's not to love about owning a Stratocaster.

As for amps, I'm a home player flying solo these days and choose to play through a Fender Mustang solid state amp. (I also own a Roland Microcube solid state amp which I really like also). I do like tube amps also and at some stage hope to get myself a Fender Blues Junior or something similar, but a solid state amp with a headphone jack is more practical, versatile and less expensive for home use.

[jseth]

There are a lot of little amps out there now that can give you sweet, clean tones at lower volumes...

I'm a "tube amp" guy... raised in the 50's in and aorund Fullerton, ca., so I've lawsys been partial to Fender tube amps... if money is not TOO much a concern and the amp is gonna stya home mostly, I'd probably want either a Princeton Reverb or Deluxe Reverb... however, even the re-issued versions of these amps can be pretty spendy - and I'm not all that impressed by the re-issue on whole...

Black Star makes a bunch of very cool little tube amps for not a lot of money... there are versions with 5w/.5w, 10w/1w, etc... up to their Club 40. VERY usable sounds in a variety of different modalities, should you decide to explore a little.

Those little "Fly" amps are amazing for what they are; I don't think they'll give you as much "clean" tone as you might be wanting, but they are incredibly lightweight, easy to transport, sound good (to a point)... and really inexpensive!

You have a great electric guitar on the way... realize that the amplifier you employ will be "your" sound... don't cheap out o something tinny and fizzy, unless that's the way you want your guitar to sound!

With electric guitars and amps, it isn't one or the other... they work closely in conjunction to produce the sounds you want to hear...

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by raysachs

The Fly is not a good enough amp to play those two fine guitars through. It’s great for what it is, but’s it IS only what it is. I have a Roland Blues Cube Hot for home - it’s got several power levels and sounds great at conversational levels and also when it’s cranked up. It’s small, good size for a home amp. I also have a little Blackstar HT1R for a tiny rental place down south we spend every winter at lately. It’s not as tiny as the Fly, but it’s REALLY LITTLE. It doesn’t sound as great as the Blues Cube, but it sounds really really good. And it’s just one watt, so it doesn’t get all that loud clean.

Both of these amps sound many times better than the Fly (which I also have but mainly just use as an auxiliary speaker after no more than a few hours actually playing through it). A strat and P90s are the two greatest electric guitar sounds there are IMHO - you have em both in your two electrics. Get a decent little amp to play em through!

-Ray

Hi Ray, I think you have hit the nail right on the head. Not much point spending so much money on guitars only to plug into a less than stellar amp, if I have spend more to get a great result than so be it. (within reason)

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by rmp

I think you'll love the strat.

Amp wise, what's your planned budget?

if you want a good tube amp, go Fender.

You could get something like a Fender Princeton 12 combo or a Deluxe Reverb if you are willing to throw about 900 bucks at it. Lots of dough yea, but you'd have a killer amp.

There's also the Blues Jr. amps, not as much dough, but a fine amp.

On the other had, a lot of people have been seeming to get on nicely with these little combos from Mono Price ($250, MIC.. if that matters)

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=611815

Solid state amps are options too.

I've never had any of the Cubes, but all the owners do seem to like them.

There's also the Boss Katana or the newer version of it..
https://www.boss.info/us/categories/amplifiers/

If it was me and I had the $$$ I'd do a Deluxe Reverb or a Princeton 12 for something small and compact.

Many thanks I will put those on my list and check them out.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

$600 total - less if you're a good haggler and/or hit a Coupon Day at your friendly online big-box retailer - will get you both of these all-tube gems:

The bedroom practice/coffeehouse combo:




- and for all but the largest indoor gigs, this one'll cover a 600-700 seat house clean as you need or dirty as you want:




I've been using them as my go-to rigs - the latter for the last ten years - if you search you'll find a whole bunch of other happy owners here on the Electric subforum, and I speak from extensive experience when I say you're not going to find anything with this combination of tone/features/build quality for anywhere near the price; while the V5 can sound a bit dark when playing clean with full-size humbuckers it sings with single-coils and mini-buckers (I use Gretsch semi-hollows, a Gibson LP P-90/goldtop, and a P-90 Godin CW II jazzbox as my primary instruments, with a 3-PU '82 Yamaha SSC-500 and '86 MIJ Fender/Squier Strat as backup)...

IME if you're going to be a one-amp guy you can't go wrong with the V22: loads of clean headroom at just about any volume level, and you can scale it back to 15W for low-level practice - which also shifts the amp into triode mode, opening up a whole bunch of sweet pre-Top Boost Vox-style tones (think Cavern Club-era Beatles/early Stones) that should sound fabulous with that Casino...

Many thanks Steve, for the detailed response, as an acoustic player I have much to learn about electric amps. I have a Fishman Loudmouth Mini for my acoustic electrics and I love it. My Casino Coupe doesn't sound all that great when plugged into it, I doubt the new strat will either. I know some use the Loudmouth for electrics and have said it sounds ok, But I want some that will make my Strat and Casino sound really good, excellent might prove to be very expensive Im going to take my time tho.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by raysachs

The Fly is not a good enough amp to play those two fine guitars through. It’s great for what it is, but’s it IS only what it is. I have a Roland Blues Cube Hot for home - it’s got several power levels and sounds great at conversational levels and also when it’s cranked up. It’s small, good size for a home amp. I also have a little Blackstar HT1R for a tiny rental place down south we spend every winter at lately. It’s not as tiny as the Fly, but it’s REALLY LITTLE. It doesn’t sound as great as the Blues Cube, but it sounds really really good. And it’s just one watt, so it doesn’t get all that loud clean.

Both of these amps sound many times better than the Fly (which I also have but mainly just use as an auxiliary speaker after no more than a few hours actually playing through it). A strat and P90s are the two greatest electric guitar sounds there are IMHO - you have em both in your two electrics. Get a decent little amp to play em through!

-Ray

I love my Blues Cube Hot. Sounds great at low volumes. Has a headphone jack that mutes the sound. Very well versatile amp.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by jseth

There are a lot of little amps out there now that can give you sweet, clean tones at lower volumes...

I'm a "tube amp" guy... raised in the 50's in and aorund Fullerton, ca., so I've lawsys been partial to Fender tube amps... if money is not TOO much a concern and the amp is gonna stya home mostly, I'd probably want either a Princeton Reverb or Deluxe Reverb... however, even the re-issued versions of these amps can be pretty spendy - and I'm not all that impressed by the re-issue on whole...

Black Star makes a bunch of very cool little tube amps for not a lot of money... there are versions with 5w/.5w, 10w/1w, etc... up to their Club 40. VERY usable sounds in a variety of different modalities, should you decide to explore a little.

Those little "Fly" amps are amazing for what they are; I don't think they'll give you as much "clean" tone as you might be wanting, but they are incredibly lightweight, easy to transport, sound good (to a point)... and really inexpensive!

You have a great electric guitar on the way... realize that the amplifier you employ will be "your" sound... don't cheap out o something tinny and fizzy, unless that's the way you want your guitar to sound!

With electric guitars and amps, it isn't one or the other... they work closely in conjunction to produce the sounds you want to hear...

I was raised in the fifties also I have taken note of your suggestions and will check them out. Many thanks