Best Strat for under £1000?

[ScottBeckett]

Hi guys

I'm looking on buying a strat, but not looking to spend over £1000. What would you recommend out of the choices?

I know you can get the player series for £599 but is it worth the extra £400 for the American HSS series? That's what I'm looking at.

I'm not a big soloist, just a strong rhythm player and songwriter.

[geetaruke]

Is it the HSS configuration that you’re mainly going for with this purchase? The Player series is available in the HSS configuration itself.

[Chickee]

I just got this from Guitar Center today. Excellent deal. Do you have GC across the pond? That would be $439 English pounds to you!

[Bob Womack]

You know, I tried to like all the lower lines but what I finally ended up liking was a 2009 American Standard Strat.



it was that much better, and much of the better seemed to be in the feel, the rounded fingerboard, etc.. My review is HERE. You could get a really clean used one in your range. As I recall, the HSS ones are the same price.

Bob

[ScottBeckett]

Lovely guit that Bob. Do you mean the lower lines as I. The strats that are around the £500-£600 mark? How much did you pay for that?

[Guildman]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

You know, I tried to like all the lower lines but what I finally ended up liking was a 2009 American Standard Strat.



it was that much better, and much of the better seemed to be in the feel, the rounded fingerboard, etc.. My review is HERE. You could get a really clean used one in your range. As I recall, the HSS ones are the same price.

Bob

Same here Bob, I got 2005 American deluxe HSS under a G. Top of the line neck regardless of opinion about the rest of the hardware but LSR nut, locking tuners, S-1 switching. No complaints here.

[Davis Webb]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

You know, I tried to like all the lower lines but what I finally ended up liking was a 2009 American Standard Strat.



it was that much better, and much of the better seemed to be in the feel, the rounded fingerboard, etc.. My review is HERE. You could get a really clean used one in your range. As I recall, the HSS ones are the same price.

Bob

You can't get those at all Bob. They are rare if even one could locate a motivated seller. Next......classic vibes Squier is your best value for money.

[YamahaGuy]

Does it HAVE to be a Fender? The Yamaha Pacifica 600 series (611 or 612) are a lot of guitar for the money. Top notch everything. Locking tuners. Seymour Duncan pickups. Tusq saddles. Tusq nut. They punch well above their weight.

[FrankHudson]

I can't answer what seems to be the OP's assumed question as I haven't played and priced enough new Stratocasters to make an informed judgement.

But in an attempt to add value, I'll suggest that there are a lot of used Strats of all lines out there under a grand. Unless one is in love with pristine looks or the warranty, that's another way to go in looking to maximize value.

I greatly enjoy my Fender Mexico made reverse Strat (a configuration marketed as a Jimi Hendrix model at times). It's not a current model however.

I played a used early 90s Strat Plus for many years with pleasure. Well made, sounded good, good vibrato system.

I've heard good things about the Jimmy Vaughn model, which is now exactly $999 US dollars new.

A current model that intrigues me is also from the Fender Mexico line, the EOB Strat and is over $1000, which has kept me away so far.

Though my Strat Plus was Fender US model, I guess what I've experienced in that the sub-$1000 range is that Fender Made in Mexico Strats are worthwhile instruments.

[Ian111]

Player Strat if you like relatively hot pick ups and still get Strat tones. Vintera if you want more vintage tones. I think the Player is a more versatile pickup that can cross more genre’s and do it well, not just get by.

[letterk]

Have you looked at Shijie? A bit hard to find, but they get phenomenal reviews.

[rokdog49]

Other than sometimes varying physical characteristics, usually the necks and headstocks, the differences between most Strats are the electronics.
That would be the internals and the pickup combinations.
I found the color combo I wanted in a nicely built Mexican Strat that played like a dream. I then had custom wound pups put in it which are much better than the stock bar magnet cheapies Fender sticks in there. Then I replaced the stock bridge plate and saddles with a vintage Wilkinson Ashtray and brass barrel saddle array...Boom!
The whole rig ended up costing me under $800 complete and it sounds the way I want.
Even with the American made Strats you’re often better off buying a third-party pup like a Seymour Duncan or whatever. You can get the exact tone you want whether it be 60’s Surf,70’s rock,80’s etc. and in single coils, noiseless, humbuckers, blades, filtertrons or whatever.
The truth be told, Stratocasters come in more pickup configurations than just about anything.
If you like the 1969 Hendrix sound, you can get those. if you like the Knopfler sound, David Gilmour, Clapton, etc., etc. you can get those.

[BoneDigger]

There are a few American Professional strats out there used on Reverb for close to $1000. That's a heck of a lot of strat!

[Sax Player Guy]

Okay, take my blather with a grain of salt, as I have only been playing guitar for about two and a half years.

I have mostly played acoustic, but did get a low-end Gibson Les Paul "Special" sometime back. Well, recently a Squier Affinity Strat popped up on my local craigslist for 20 (yes, twenty) bucks. I snapped it up. Now here's the thing. I have loved messing around with this bargain strat, but it has a quite narrow nut, making me all fat-fingered. I have to be very careful to avoid the ol' "ding-ding-ding-thub-thub-ding" sort of effect on some chords. Maybe this will force me to improve my left hand accuracy?

Anyhow, this has led me to do some still incomplete research (maybe one of you with more knowledge can weigh in and help me) that seems to say:

Squier Affinity nut width: 1.6 inches.
Most foreign-made strats (incl. Mexico), and older American ones: 1.65 in.
More modern American strats: 1.685 in.

This last spec, the more modern Americans at 1.685 puts the nut width right up there near Gibson Les Pauls (1.69, I think), and also closer to the acoustics I play. Hard to believe that less than 1/10 of an inch spread over six strings would make a noticeable difference, but it does. To me, anyway.

I was having so much fun with this Squier Affinity strat that I've been thinking about selling it and getting a wider-nut strat. It would be great if there were such an animal as a Mexican (or other) relatively affordable strat with a 9.5 radius neck and wider nut width. Is there such a thing?