Gunny47
New member
I went to the city today and hit my four main stores: (48th) Rudy's, Manny's, Samash and (14th) Guitar Center. I'd usually go down to 30th Street Guitars as well but time did not permit. Just wanted to play some strats (whatever the model) so I can get some ideas of what I would want if I were to buy another strat like I mentioned earlier (see Deluxe Players vs Classic 60s Players strat thread of mine)
Rudy's I played a Candy Apple Red '57 Hot Rod Strat and I thought that was pretty cool. I didn't care for the pickups too much in the neck and middle, sounded a little weak I believe they are the noiseless models from fender. The bridge pickup wasn't bad with the dimarzio rails thing. Great guitar overall, typical 50s strat with the fatter neck (niiiice) and maple board. Color was gorgeous and it played like a dream. On the heavier side for a strat it felt.
Manny's I played a few used strats, one American standard strat from 1999 or so. Black. I didn't care for it, the neck felt thin and it fret out at around the 12th fret when I bent the strings. Sounds was very clean (think Robert Cray type) compared to the more old school strats. Didn't like the way it felt much either. Same with a few year old silver MIM standard. I also tried a 2006 Classic 60s and it was not that bad. Lake Placid Blue, but I still liked the Deluxe Players strat much better and some of the other current production models.
At Samash I tried a '56 Closet Classic Blonde strat (sorta like mine). I thought that was killin', but that's mainly because that's what I'm used to. I also played two of the brand new American Standards (one in sunburst and one silverish one). They looked cool. However, I thought they sounded bland and boring. I guess I don't like the standard modern interpretations of strats. American Standards, Mexican Standards, I never cared for any of them. Necks are really thin as well and they just don't spark any magic with me. The silver one was better of the two, but still didn't really care for them.
Then I hit Guitar Center. Even though they had the biggest selection of strats by far, I only played one of them. It was the Classic 60s Players strat and I played it for the whole time I was there. That guitar is simply a beast!
Sonic Blue, plugged into the Tweed Blues Junior (an amp I was eyeing as well for a replacement of my Gibson GA5). The color was really cool, technically a sonic blue, but it is a ligher hue of the typical sonic blue so it's not as nasty on the eyes. Mint green pickguard, aged plastic parts, 2 point trem, the thing looked real sweet. The neck was perfect because it was what I like to call "thin but not." It is the C shape but slightly chunkier and the 12" fingerboard radius made it very comfy to play. On the lighter side in weight for strats it felt to me and the thing sounded great. I was able to pull off the Mayer/SRV tones that I like to get when the amp is wound up a little and with the fat switch engaged. I was also able to get a very nice strat jazz tone out of it with the neck pickup and the mids cut a little bit. The '69 Custom Shop pickups on this guitar sound phenomenal! The brige pickup had a nice bit of meat on it too and never sounded icepicky. The set up was pretty good too.
Overall, that strat is freaking killin' and if I had the cash I would have walked out with it. I liked it much better than the Deluxe Players strat (not saying that the Deluxe Players was bad, that's my second favorite MIM) and I liked it better than any other strats in that to the ~$1000 price range. This one is a winner
Rudy's I played a Candy Apple Red '57 Hot Rod Strat and I thought that was pretty cool. I didn't care for the pickups too much in the neck and middle, sounded a little weak I believe they are the noiseless models from fender. The bridge pickup wasn't bad with the dimarzio rails thing. Great guitar overall, typical 50s strat with the fatter neck (niiiice) and maple board. Color was gorgeous and it played like a dream. On the heavier side for a strat it felt.
Manny's I played a few used strats, one American standard strat from 1999 or so. Black. I didn't care for it, the neck felt thin and it fret out at around the 12th fret when I bent the strings. Sounds was very clean (think Robert Cray type) compared to the more old school strats. Didn't like the way it felt much either. Same with a few year old silver MIM standard. I also tried a 2006 Classic 60s and it was not that bad. Lake Placid Blue, but I still liked the Deluxe Players strat much better and some of the other current production models.
At Samash I tried a '56 Closet Classic Blonde strat (sorta like mine). I thought that was killin', but that's mainly because that's what I'm used to. I also played two of the brand new American Standards (one in sunburst and one silverish one). They looked cool. However, I thought they sounded bland and boring. I guess I don't like the standard modern interpretations of strats. American Standards, Mexican Standards, I never cared for any of them. Necks are really thin as well and they just don't spark any magic with me. The silver one was better of the two, but still didn't really care for them.
Then I hit Guitar Center. Even though they had the biggest selection of strats by far, I only played one of them. It was the Classic 60s Players strat and I played it for the whole time I was there. That guitar is simply a beast!
Sonic Blue, plugged into the Tweed Blues Junior (an amp I was eyeing as well for a replacement of my Gibson GA5). The color was really cool, technically a sonic blue, but it is a ligher hue of the typical sonic blue so it's not as nasty on the eyes. Mint green pickguard, aged plastic parts, 2 point trem, the thing looked real sweet. The neck was perfect because it was what I like to call "thin but not." It is the C shape but slightly chunkier and the 12" fingerboard radius made it very comfy to play. On the lighter side in weight for strats it felt to me and the thing sounded great. I was able to pull off the Mayer/SRV tones that I like to get when the amp is wound up a little and with the fat switch engaged. I was also able to get a very nice strat jazz tone out of it with the neck pickup and the mids cut a little bit. The '69 Custom Shop pickups on this guitar sound phenomenal! The brige pickup had a nice bit of meat on it too and never sounded icepicky. The set up was pretty good too.
Overall, that strat is freaking killin' and if I had the cash I would have walked out with it. I liked it much better than the Deluxe Players strat (not saying that the Deluxe Players was bad, that's my second favorite MIM) and I liked it better than any other strats in that to the ~$1000 price range. This one is a winner
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