I want a Strat!

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by rcolosi

What type of music will you be playing?

+1

All blues, country type fills, low octane classic rock? SSS

Add some grunge or harder rock (think AC/DC, Green Day, Santana) so SSH.

I cannot think of a planet where I would want a HH Strat. A Strat without single coil tones is a SSO (Strat shaped object) and if you want an HH configuration, many people do it better than a Fender Strat. PRS for example.

Maybe you should look at a Yamaha Pacifica 612. SSH and SSS with coil split.

I urge you to not go down the wide, fat custom neck route. Electrics and acoustics are different animals and should be played as such.

I prefer at least a 1.75" nut with a medium-fat neck on acoustic. On an electric. Narrow and thin work fine - at least for me.

Cowboy chords and triads vs. full barres and power chords & leads. It will take you to a whole different place playing guitar (IMO, YMMV, etc.) My .02

[3notes]

Originally Posted by lowrider

What about pick-ups? I see that Stratocasters come with SSS, HSS, HSH or HH

What should I be looking at?

The Pacifica that I spoke about earlier on in the thread has SSH. A combination you didn't mention. Ha.!! Single, Single with a Humbucker at the bridge that can be split with a pull knob. The humbucker becomes a single coil. I'm using that single coil at this time on a tune that is coming together. It is fantastic.!!

I too love a Strat. They are packed with tones. I prefer the humbucker but I wouldn't slight a Strat with 3 single coils.

[aknow]

I've had about 8 different Stratocasters.
The best Strat is a PRS Silver Sky........check them out!
Good luck

[3notes]

Originally Posted by roylor4

+1

All blues, country type fills, low octane classic rock? SSS

Add some grunge or harder rock (think AC/DC, Green Day, Santana) so SSH.

I cannot think of a planet where I would want a HH Strat. A Strat without single coil tones is a SSO (Strat shaped object) and if you want an HH configuration, many people do it better than a Fender Strat. PRS for example.

Maybe you should look at a Yamaha Pacifica 612. SSH and SSS with coil split

I urge you to not go down the wide, fat custom neck route. Electrics and acoustics are different animals and should be played as such.

I prefer at least a 1.75" nut with a medium-fat neck on acoustic. On an electric. Narrow and thin work fine - at least for me.

Cowboy chords and triads vs. full barres and power chords & leads. It will take you to a whole different place playing guitar (IMO, YMMV, etc.) My .02

Super post by roylor right here.^^^^^^^^^^^

I agree on all points.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by aknow

I've had about 8 different Stratocasters.
The best Strat is a PRS Silver Sky........check them out!
Good luck

Yes.!!! That's John Mayers guitar. Incredible tone on that bad boy.... A PRS Silver Sky. Wow.... $2200 I would spend if I had it to poor into a guitar.

[Steel and wood]

Leo's Stratocaster with its three single coils is timeless and the guitar covers a lot of ground as is.

[lowrider]

Oh well, false alarm. I was at GC this morning. I tried a couple of Fenders with a big ole Marshal amp that was already plugged in, turned on and had a cable. The noise I was making didn't make me happy at all so I took the Strat into the acoustic amp room and plugged it into a Fishman Loudbox Mini, much better. Went and grabbed a MartinX and that sounded way better with my playing and the amp. So now I'm looking for a used Fishman or a sale on one and I'll just have to put a pick-up in one of my guitars.

[jim777]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

My opinion: forget about getting a neck that's similar to what you're used to on acoustic. Play a couple of Strats (1 5/8", 1 11/16") and see how they feel. Lots of beginners stress over "what electric is most like my acoustic", but I think it complicates matters for no good reason.

This x1000. Electrics are obviously similar but also very different instruments. Go to a music store and play some Strats. Play some Teles as well. IMHO Fender upped their game considerably around '12 and I haven't played anything since then that I thought was under built. The MIM and MIJ/CIJ guitars are all pretty good to excellent. I would also suggest when you try a few, play through a clean sounding amp or at least through an amp that can get a clean tone - there are thousands of pedals to make your guitar fuzzy and overdriven but no pedals that will get that noise out of the chain You don't need to go 'custom partscaster' here, a stock recent Fender will definitely do right by you.

[Otterhound]

All single coils . So many forget that there is a tone control on an electric . The dynamics that you get with a single coil at the bridge just can't be copied .
Oh yeah , you may want to consider a hardtail . They are truly special creatures .
While Fender offerings in a hardtail are rather limited , you will find them in the Billy Corgan and Buddy Guy sig models as the base model . I built a hardtail using Fender CS 69 pickups and see no need for a wiggle bar .
Go try some and form your own parameters . Who knows , you may find yourself choosing a Tele or a Jazzmaster or a .....

[619TF]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

All single coils . So many forget that there is a tone control on an electric . The dynamics that you get with a single coil at the bridge just can't be copied .
Oh yeah , you may want to consider a hardtail . They are truly special creatures .
While Fender offerings in a hardtail are rather limited , you will find them in the Billy Corgan and Buddy Guy sig models as the base model . I built a hardtail using Fender CS 69 pickups and see no need for a wiggle bar .
Go try some and form your own parameters . Who knows , you may find yourself choosing a Tele or a Jazzmaster or a .....

I once saw someone shove a 9 volt battery in by the springs so he fashioned a sort of hardtail. It definitely worked and he then had the best of both worlds as he could just pop it out when he wanted to use the bar.

Looked just like this (the fact that it was fairly easy to find a picture online tells me more than just one person is doing it):

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by 3notes

The Pacifica that I spoke about earlier on in the thread has SSH. A combination you didn't mention. Ha.!! Single, Single with a Humbucker at the bridge that can be split with a pull knob. The humbucker becomes a single coil. I'm using that single coil at this time on a tune that is coming together. It is fantastic.!!

I too love a Strat. They are packed with tones. I prefer the humbucker but I wouldn't slight a Strat with 3 single coils.

That strat pickup configuration with a humbucker in the bridge and single coil in the middle and neck is referred to as HSS.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by 619TF

I once saw someone shove a 9 volt battery in by the springs so he fashioned a sort of hardtail. It definitely worked and he then had the best of both worlds as he could just pop it out when he wanted to use the bar.

Looked just like this (the fact that it was fairly easy to find a picture online tells me more than just one person is doing it):

Just as a discussion point, blocking the trem like this is quite common as you pointed out. A block of wood seems the most common approach, though (this is what Clapton did.) What I found interesting was that, upon blowing this pic up, it looks like the guy was using the battery to power an active circuit in his Strat (uncommon but not unheard-of) and decided to just put the battery in that spot, killing two birds with one stone I suppose.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by Bill Sims

That strat pickup configuration with a humbucker in the bridge and single coil in the middle and neck is referred to as HSS.

It was a joke.

[Sonics]

Originally Posted by lowrider

I've been playing acoustic for a little over three years and I've been playing a Martin guitar with a 1 3/4 width. Now I'm going through my second bought of electric guitar fever

So now I want a Strat. I can get a new loaded Strat body from the Statoshpere Shop and then get a 1 3/4 neck Warmoth neck. It looks like they just bolt together, and it would fit my just right.

Does this sound like a good idea?

You could be onto something...



...yes sir!

[wrathfuldeity]

Strat copy with 1 3/4" nut, 12" radius, 2 piece maple neck/fretboard and with micro tilt...mia Peavey Predator, mine was <$100 pawn shop score, diy heavily modded and it is my #1 and #2 is diy modded mia peavey tele copy Reactor. They are great platforms for diy upgrades and for moi every equal of a CS strat.