New guitar question

[Outa_Tune]

My lovely wife surprised me yesterday with a new guitar for my B-Day. It's an Eric Clapton artist edition Blackie Stratocaster. I played it last night and it's an awesome playing guitar, really nice maple neck and the noiseless pickups have a good range of sound coupled with the TBX and contour controls. It was probably close to $2K, so I want to make sure it's right before my time runs out to swap it. Guitars are kind of a personal thing.... She did listen when I told her once that I don't have a single American made decent guitar. Apparently the guy at GC was pushing the Mexican strats saying the MIA was a rip off and there was zero difference.

Here's the issue, while I totally respect Clapton as a great guitar player, he's not really one of my favorites. I'm more of a Wylde, Page, Gibbons, Rhodes, and Iommi kind of a guy. That, and I already have a strat that I like. Right now I have an Epi SG with EMG 57/66 set, a fake Les Paul, an E series Japanese strat with SD pickups, and a Les Paul semi hollow. I play the Strat 90% of the time, I like the 7.25" radius. The others are 12" radius and are kinda flat for me.

I have been playing a lot of ZZ Top and Zeppelin lately, btw I'm not gigging, just an intermediate home hack for ~ 35 years. I was thinking of getting a Telecaster, that new Jimmy Page one brings me back to Zeppelin 1 & 2. I am one of those guys that always hits the center pickup with my pick, so a guitar with just 2 pickups might be good. Not sure how comfortable the tele bridge is.

I will say that the new Strat smokes my old one for playability. The neck is in another league for ease of fretting clean notes quickly, feel and overall speed. The pickups are nice, but I like to change them around every few years to keep it fresh. I just don't want to put it under the bed and keep it nice for the next guy, I wanna play it.

I will probably go to guitar center this weekend and play a few tele's to see if that's a sound and feel I might like.

Thoughts?

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: New guitar question

You're a lucky man to have such a good woman.

If you're leaning towards a tele, then that's probably what you will get. Put a few in your hand and see which one calls your name.

 

[jeremy]

Re: New guitar question

the clapton strat is great if you like the neck. very versatile with the active electronics. if you want to swap it for something different then see what they have, id be temped to keep it. if do you do swap the pups, the classic stack + neck and middle with vintage hot stack + bridge is a great combo with those electronics, at least for me

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: New guitar question

Wait are you considering selling or trading a guitar you got as a gift? I dunno about your wife but mine would feel bad about that, at best it would discourage her from doing it again in the future. My suggestion is mod the clapton to your liking. its still the guitar she bought you just with your own signature on it.

 

[regan]

Re: New guitar question

It's a gift from your wife dude, & a very expensive & thoughtful one.

You said it's better than your current strat for playability & feel, I'd take the entire scratchplate off it & keep it safe & original, then get a new scratchplate & load it with pickups to get the guitar you'll love with the tones what you want out of it lil '59 neck & bridge with ssl1/stk4 middle will get you those tones, or just get a scratchplate with no middle pickup slot & just get the neck & bridge then theres no middle pup to worry about

Then take your old strat & p/x for a tele,

If I was your wife I'd be pretty hurt & annoyed.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: New guitar question

100% with Regan

 

[Outa_Tune]

Re: New guitar question

Lol, my wife bought me the guitar and said please get something else if this is not exactly what you want. She is fine with me changing it, she want's me to be happy, not to settle for something she picked with no guitar knowledge.

My thinking is to try a Tele and see if I like that. If I go to a Tele, I'll probably buy a nice new neck for my strat later and upgrade that.


One disappointment with the EC Strat, the pickguard looks very cheap, it's a single layer (thin) and doesn't sit flat like the older and thicker multilayer ones. That would have to go.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: New guitar question

If you decide to keep the EC strat, just order a prewired pickguard and keep the original EC on in tact, that way you could always put it back on down the road if you decided to sell it. I recently bought a sweet-looking Fender Aerodyne strat with flame maple crimson top. I'm going to get a prewired PG with Fishman Fluence pups in it and just put the OEM PG in a box somewhere in case I sell the guitar later on.

 

[regan]

Re: New guitar question

As long as she's cool with it, sometimes what wives & girlfriends say aren't what they actually mean.

If you drop Warmoth an email they'd probably be able to make you a neck to the exact specs of the EC neck.

As far as tele bridges go the vintage ashtray bridges can be uncomfy especially if palm muting is a big part of your style the more modern flat types are fine though, I'm not 100% certain but would assume theres an aftermarket modern style direct replacement for the vintage type (ie where all holes line up)

Good luck hope you find the guitar you want & keep the old lady sweet

 

[Demanic]

Re: New guitar question

Sounds like you have a great spouse. If you don't think that she would be bothered, then by all means, try a tele.
My wife knows that with anything expensive like musical stuff or firearms etc. not to try to surprise me with it. I'd much rather choose what I want and it works out better that way.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: New guitar question

You said the new strat plays better than the old one. Sell the old one, get a new tele that plays as well as the new strat. Don't sell a great playing guitar to get a maybe great guitar. Keep the great guitar and look for another great guitar.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: New guitar question

I'm with Steve

She says she's ok with you trading it
But she would be hurt

Treasure the gift
Sell the old strat

Sell all your old gear
Buy her something nice in return

 

[Outa_Tune]

Re: New guitar question

She is not going to be hurt, she want's me to get the one I want. Trust me, after being married 31 years, we don't play those games anymore.

I can't sell my old strat, it was my first ever guitar and means more to me than anything I can buy, even though its just a '83 squire.

I need to concentrate on playing more/better rather than having a collection of guitars I don't use much. I was surprised how much better the EC Strat plays, I thought my other guitars played just fine but they are not as easy to play. It's my first Maple neck, seems very smooth and the frets are awesome, they seem to grip the strings a LOT less than my others.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: New guitar question

Sounds like you have a great spouse. If you don't think that she would be bothered, then by all means, try a tele.
My wife knows that with anything expensive like musical stuff or firearms etc. not to try to surprise me with it. I'd much rather choose what I want and it works out better that way.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

Ditto that! My wife bought the Breedlove American C25 that I just sold-off the other day, but I'd had it for about 7 years and she paid for it after I took it home, so there was no surprise. Speaking of surprises... she's shocked that I had it this long, since I go through so much gear. And yeah, none of the firearms over-flowing from my safes were surprises either. She would have even less of a clue what to buy in that regard than guitars. That lack of attention to detail has made it easy for me to fill the safes on the sly over the years... LOL! (Though in nearly all cases, I've eventually gotten around to telling her.)

 

[Red_Label]

Re: New guitar question

She is not going to be hurt, she want's me to get the one I want. Trust me, after being married 31 years, we don't play those games anymore.

I can't sell my old strat, it was my first ever guitar and means more to me than anything I can buy, even though its just a '83 squire.

I need to concentrate on playing more/better rather than having a collection of guitars I don't use much. I was surprised how much better the EC Strat plays, I thought my other guitars played just fine but they are not as easy to play. It's my first Maple neck, seems very smooth and the frets are awesome, they seem to grip the strings a LOT less than my others.

In general with strats, the more you spend, the easier they are to play. I've had everything from $150 pawn shop Squires, to $4K Tom Anderson Classics/Drop Tops... and I can definitely testify that the more I spent, the less I seemed to fight with the guitar. If you ever want to treat yourself to a strat that plays effortlessly and is flawless, get an Anderson or a Suhr. I'm partial to the Andys (owned four of them), but wouldn't kick a Suhr out of bed for eating crackers. I like Fenders (just bought another one last week), but they aren't in the same league in terms of detail, ease of play, etc as those boutique brands.

 

[Demanic]

Re: New guitar question

Ditto that! My wife bought the Breedlove American C25 that I just sold-off the other day, but I'd had it for about 7 years and she paid for it after I took it home, so there was no surprise. Speaking of surprises... she's shocked that I had it this long, since I go through so much gear. And yeah, none of the firearms over-flowing from my safes were surprises either. She would have even less of a clue what to buy in that regard than guitars. That lack of attention to detail has made it easy for me to fill the safes on the sly over the years... LOL! (Though in nearly all cases, I've eventually gotten around to telling her.)

My wife was an NRA certified rangemaster for a while (not sure how often it has to be renewed, so I don't know if it's current) and shot ISPCA. She knows her way around firearms. Even so, from the beginning we've always discussed and agreed upon major purchases. It works better that way.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Masta' C]

Re: New guitar question

I ran this scenario by my wife. Now, we've only been together 12 years, a bit short of your 31, but, after reading all the posts, her advice is this...

1) Keep the EC Strat. Clearly it's a keeper. It plays great and you enjoy the Strat style. Your wife obviously didn't buy it without investing some thought in it and doing her best to get one she thought you'd connect with. "She probably won't admit it," my wife says "but a little part of her will always feel special that SHE could get you a guitar you love to play."

2) You seem inclined to change pickups regardless and your only other complaint about the EC is the pickguard...swap it for a new assembly made to your liking and all your quibbles are solved.

3) Find a Tele you like and put it on layaway until you can sell another guitar you don't like as well or have as much sentimental value over. That way, you minimize the numbers and maximize the satisfaction and sentimentality of your collection. ...her words, not mine.



Oh, and she says "Strats are cooler than Teles anyways."

 

[Demanic]

Re: New guitar question

I ran this scenario by my wife. Now, we've only been together 12 years, a bit short of your 31, but, after reading all the posts, her advice is this...

1) Keep the EC Strat. Clearly it's a keeper. It plays great and you enjoy the Strat style. Your wife obviously didn't buy it without investing some thought in it and doing her best to get one she thought you'd connect with. "She probably won't admit it," my wife says "but a little part of her will always feel special that SHE could get you a guitar you love to play."

2) You seem inclined to change pickups regardless and your only other complaint about the EC is the pickguard...swap it for a new assembly made to your liking and all your quibbles are solved.

3) Find a Tele you like and put it on layaway until you can sell another guitar you don't like as well or have as much sentimental value over. That way, you minimize the numbers and maximize the satisfaction and sentimentality of your collection. ...her words, not mine.



Oh, and she says "Strats are cooler than Teles anyways."

I sense a beginning of conflict...

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: New guitar question

If my wife bought me a $2000 EC sig model, that would be my new #1. If I didn’t like the sound, I’d be trying it through every amp in the shop until I got the sound I wanted and buy that amp.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Re: New guitar question

Oh, and she says "Strats are cooler than Teles anyways."

Your wife is a genius.