New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

[TRex]

I just realized I have not bought anything major in a few years. It took me a while to fully grow into my gear and use it to its fullest, so until now I never felt I needed an upgrade.

So, I have atleast $250 I CAN spend on updating my arsenal so to speak.

1. My Squier Affinity Stratocaster is lacking that clear Fender Stratocaster tone everyone loves. It muds up very fast, sounds harsh, and has a VERY low output compared to my Epiphone, so it isn't cost effective to upgrade from. I would like to have an Alnico magnet pickup and real 250k pots for once, lol.

It plays fantastic for being what it is, and is setup very well for a beginner, so I would to be able to sell it pretty easily for >$80 to a newer player. That could possibly be enough for me to get a Squier Classic Vibe strat that has everything I want. I'm going to try one once my local shop gets a few in stock.

2. I could wait on the strat and work on my Epiphone Les Paul Standard. 3 Push pull CTS pots and the gibson replacement I put in a few months ago, new wiring, a pair of SD Humbuckers, maybe a bone nut. I'll wire it to have coil splits on the volume pots and a master series/parallel control on a tone pot.

The coil splits probably will yield a more strat like sound than those affinity pickups, lol. This will leave me with a single versitle, nice guitar.

This guitar has been my bread and butter since middle school. I picked it out at my local guitar center when I was in 6th grade, and sounds perfect acousticly to my ears. Every time i have gone on stage, it was with me, even when it wasn't the choice guitar for the song (like most Hendrix stuff). I plan to keep it forever even if it isn't my main guitar anymore.

This should leave some cash that I might be able to put toward a strat or maybe a new amp.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

I would either save towards a new amp or upgrade the Les Paul. If you have a good Epiphone it is definitely worth it to get some nice pickups in it IMO. That being said, there is no replacement for a good amp.

 

[TRex]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

I would either save towards a new amp or upgrade the Les Paul. If you have a good Epiphone it is definitely worth it to get some nice pickups in it IMO. That being said, there is no replacement for a good amp.

The amp I have has been great, I mostly just need a amp that can do bass as well.

I guess that's a vote for upgrading firsy

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

My Squier Affinity Stratocaster is lacking that clear Fender Stratocaster tone everyone loves. It muds up very fast, sounds harsh and has a VERY low output.

A quick peek under the pickguard will soon explain why - dogbreath pickups and nasty 500k pots.

I would like to have an Alnico magnet pickup and real 250k pots.

Mad as it might seem, Squier Affinity STRAT, Bullet and Hello Kitty model guitars seem to gel fantastically well with active pickups. EMG-SAV and -SLV pickups have Alnico rod magnet polepieces. Solderless wiring looms permit experimentation with control layouts. e.g. You could simplify things to M.Vol., M.Tone and add a level booster device. Duncan AS-1 Blackouts for Stratocaster can be rigged up to offer two output levels.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

Sounds like the Epiphone is near perfect just way it is. I'd worry that these upgrades could actually cause it to lose its magic.

There is this great myth of the "one guitar that can do it all". So I would spend the dough on upgrading or replacing the Strat.

And then the next thing I would buy....since it is your main guitar and the love of your life, I'd search high and low for a duplicate of your Epiphone Les Paul. I call it the Number One-A guitar. I can assure you that if my Number One G&L Legacy went down, I have a duplicate that feels, plays and sounds the same....I can gig with it and not miss a beat, and not be the least bit uncomfortable. If you gig, a Number One-A is a must have.

Good luck, and happy hunting.

Bill

 

[greekdude]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

There is this great myth of the "one guitar that can do it all". So I would spend the dough on upgrading or replacing the Strat.

That's true. Even the most versatile HSH strat will never match a tele or an LP or even a basswood HSH super-strat or a neckthrough all maple.
I don't know about the mods on the EPI. It will still sound like an EPI no matter the splits and taps.

 

[TRex]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

A quick peek under the pickguard will soon explain why - dogbreath pickups and nasty 500k pots.

Mad as it might seem, Squier Affinity STRAT, Bullet and Hello Kitty model guitars seem to gel fantastically well with active pickups. EMG-SAV and -SLV pickups have Alnico rod magnet polepieces. Solderless wiring looms permit experimentation with control layouts. e.g. You could simplify things to M.Vol., M.Tone and add a level booster device. Duncan AS-1 Blackouts for Stratocaster can be rigged up to offer two output levels.

Yea, I looked under the guard to see what routing I had, and I saw those 500k mini pots and knew something had to be done.

I'm not a big fan of Active pickups, as it's another thing that can go wrong and you loose some of the versitility of a passive pickup. Not to mention active wiring is not something I'm used to.

I will definitely give active a go on a guitar later in life though

Sounds like the Epiphone is near perfect just way it is. I'd worry that these upgrades could actually cause it to lose its magic.

There is this great myth of the "one guitar that can do it all". So I would spend the dough on upgrading or replacing the Strat.

And then the next thing I would buy....since it is your main guitar and the love of your life, I'd search high and low for a duplicate of your Epiphone Les Paul. I call it the Number One-A guitar. I can assure you that if my Number One G&L Legacy went down, I have a duplicate that feels, plays and sounds the same....I can gig with it and not miss a beat, and not be the least bit uncomfortable. If you gig, a Number One-A is a must have.

Good luck, and happy hunting.

Bill

That is a little bit of a worry, but I think most of the magic is in how the guitar feels and not so much in the electronics.
If I could afford and had space to have identical backups to my guitars, I would. Most of the time I can get away with using my Stratocaster in its place after I do some amp tuning.

I don't gig often, and I'm often unsure if I am more of a Les Pual or a Stratocaster guy. At this point I would rather have options

That's true. Even the most versatile HSH strat will never match a tele or an LP or even a basswood HSH super-strat or a neckthrough all maple.
I don't know about the mods on the EPI. It will still sound like an EPI no matter the splits and taps.

I like the character of the Eipiphone's sound, I just would like a more "open" sound

IMO The guitar wood itself can't effect the majority of the sound, but I do think it gives it a suttle character to the sound.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

I would get the classic vibe strat if it were me. With stock pickups, it should be on par with your epiphone, quality-wise.
The classic vibe strats DO have that classic strat thing going on, provided you don't find a dud. The ones I've played have been nice for sure.

 

[gottalovethe80s]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

I say try out the classic vibe, if you really like it then get rid of the affinity. you can always save up and find deals on used pickups to upgrade the les paul later.

 

[TRex]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

Sorry for slow response, I have been on planes since 4:00am

I would get the classic vibe strat if it were me. With stock pickups, it should be on par with your epiphone, quality-wise.
The classic vibe strats DO have that classic strat thing going on, provided you don't find a dud. The ones I've played have been nice for sure.

Classic strat sound is what I like. For most modern music I like Humbuckers, but Strats bring the SRV and Hendrix feel.

I'm going to head to Guitar Center or Music and Arts tomorrow or Tuesday to try a few strats. I want to play a bit more on a MIM to compare it to the CV then try a MIA Standard just to put everything in perspective. If the MIA Standard feels enough better I might wait the strat out longer. .

I say try out the classic vibe, if you really like it then get rid of the affinity. you can always save up and find deals on used pickups to upgrade the les paul later.

Yea I guess that's the plan.

I'm not sure about getting used pickups, but I'll take a look at that.

 

[firebirdguy72]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

You could upgrade both if that floats your boat. GFS has got some good, cheap ALNICO strat pups in the $70 range. Throw in some CTS pots, an oak grigsby switch and it should seriously liven up your squier. If you decide to sell the squier later on you could just put the original electronics back in. You could also upgrade your Epiphone and most likely still have a little money left over. There are plenty of used SD' s out there you could find for pretty cheap. Then go with the push pull setup you were talking about.

 

[TRex]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

You could upgrade both if that floats your boat. GFS has got some good, cheap ALNICO strat pups in the $70 range. Throw in some CTS pots, an oak grigsby switch and it should seriously liven up your squier. If you decide to sell the squier later on you could just put the original electronics back in. You could also upgrade your Epiphone also and most likely still have a little money left over. There are plenty of used SD' s out there you could find for pretty cheap. Then go with the push pull setup you were talking about.

They do have some cheap good stuff, but it's time for a change

I am not wild about the body color, fretboard wood, and enough other things that it would be like buying a new guitar in the end.

oh man do airports suck

I will take a look at used pickups for the Epiphone when I hit that route.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

The biggest bang for buck tho in terms of tone is the dollars you spend on your amp.
What amp are you using now?

 

[TRex]

Re: New Strat vs upgrading my Les Paul

The biggest bang for buck tho in terms of tone is the dollars you spend on your amp.
What amp are you using now?

Fender G-Dec3 15w