Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

tone?

tone?

New member
So I went to a few places over the weekend and tried some strats, suhrs, and custom shop strats

To tell you the truth I was set on getting a alder body all maple neck super strat. Unfinished neck would be the best but... How many of those can you find and I have learned the hard way to buy before you try

I can't believe I didn't like the suhrs at all. Played a C2, S1, govan. 
The govan was nice but the others were too bright. 
I had played some suhrs back I'm Greece and they were phenomenal. I just didn't get it. Couldn't bond with them at all and I was ready to spend big bucks. Instead I loved a brand new Eric Johnson strat for 1200$! 
It was fat sounding and warm

Then I went and played some custom shop strats. Nicer and in the tone I wanted. Problem was the ones I liked had a 11/16 nut that I can't bond with. Played two custom shop classics. Alder body, Birdseye maple neck American standard trem. Was great sounding but not as good as the Eric Johnson. I have big paws but just love 1 5/8 necks. I have an ebmm axis and the neck is almost perfect but just a tad too narrow. 

So confused about the suhrs I mean they even had a basswood standard and I thought again that it was too bright. He had elexir strings on all of em. Don't know if that was it. I play with daddario xls. 9's 
My Axis sounded thicker and sweeter than the suhr standard basswood with gotoh vintage trem
Weird cause back in Greece I played a S3 and liked it more than my Axis. 
 

I'm gonna go back tonight and most likely get the EJ 
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

There's no company that knows strats like Fender. Even when I try strats or teles from other companies, they lack something that Fender has. I think what it is is Fender's ability to control the quality of tone and materials all the way up the ladder from $200 - $4000. They've scientifically perfected the art of giving you what you pay for.....so to speak.

Other strat and tele makers are all over the map in regards to that.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Considering I own a CS '56 RI Fender Strat myself, I can heartily recommend them, but if you're looking for 1 5/8'' nut width guitars, Don Grosh makes some really nice strats with typically larger C shapes with that width. I had an H-S-S setup Drop Top Custom that was a beautiful guitar, but the 1 5/8'' didn't work for me (I'm a 1 11/16'' guy myself). What doesn't work for me though, could very well be exactly what you're looking for.

Fender is the master of making great guitars that are affordable. Very often they come setup pretty well and stay in tune very well which you can't say about Gibsons. I don't know enough about the specs on all their models, but I've owned a '62 American Vintage RI, MIM Strat in the 90s and an Eric Johnson strat and I want to say they were all 1 11/16''... but I could be way off. If you really like the Eric Johnson strat and you find a good one, get it! The one I had sounded really plinky and I couldn't get along with the pickups at all. The V shaped neck was pretty nice though (fatter necks are the reason why I eventually sprung for a '56 RI).
 
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Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

That90'sGuy said:
Fender is the master of making great guitars that are affordable. Very often they come setup pretty well and stay in tune very well which you can't say about Gibsons.
Click to expand...

This is so true I have to deliberate making it a sig. But I still love Gibbys.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Well after playing with the Eric Johnson model a bit I found the neck too thick for my liking
what I did find however was a used mahogany strat that I really liked. One of those 50th anniversary ones.
I played the suhr ones again and although the neck fit me well I just couldn't dig the tone coming out of the ones I tried

That mahogany strat was around 850$ too
not bad
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

You badly need to try some Music Man Strat-alikes, man. Badly badly badly.

The only reason why I don't exclusively use MM is that they only comes with 1-5/8" nuts which I can't play. But you want that. They have unpainted necks (tru oil + wax), the best fretwork in the industry and good hardware.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Dude, as I always say, if the guitar you like best is the cheapest one, that's nothing but good news!
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

I think, for one reason or another, Suhr has intentionally made strats that are just a little different than Fenders ... and I'm not talking about only the headstock :) ... I think he's favored modernized versions a little more

regarding the nut width ... I've tried LOTS of necks looking for the right fit ... after a while, you get so you can really distinguish different widths and profiles. these days, I prefer a bigger neck with a 1.650" nut width ... and if you look, that is what many of Fender's custom shop vintage strats and teles have.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Suhr generally builds to order spec - usually a Flatter radius and smaller neck dimensions, as well as 2 post vibrato bridges.
They can build to Fender spec if you want - except for the headstock.

The ones I have do have a different feel - much more refined. Fretwork is impeccable.

I though I preferred the NoNeck neck dimension - Got a Suhr last year with a Medium "C" shape and 16" radius that works well for me. Unfortunately its taking the trip back to the factory for a bridge upgrade and bridge pickup route/install. It wasn't original when I got it so no biggie (going to a Single coil). Its just more of a rub than a route.

The EJ is cool - I have one. Seems a little more polite sounding than my other Strats, but sometimes that just works.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Try a G&L S-500 it's an update of the Strat and works well, plus you can have a lot of custom features with a G&L
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Berkely
nuts and saddles

great guitar just that the neck was too thick for me
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

One thing with the Suhrs if the Buzz Feiten isn't set up correctly they can sound crappy. It's a pain in the @$$ system and the set up is a knife edge but that might be what was wrong.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Nah these were non buzz fieten axes
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

I thought all Suhrs had Fieten I know Tom Anderson ruins all his with it.
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

It has been some time since Suhr removed the Feiten from being stock on his guitars.
He still offers it but now it's just another custom option.

Truth is I too have gone to great length to like a guitar I should logically like but in the end, what we like knows no brand or price range...
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Man the suhr dealer in Greece has an awesome shop and let's you play the guitars for hours
he also knows how to set em up well
I remember playing a few s3 basswood suhrs and loving them
one particular one I loved was a purple rosewood board one
is that still there?

None of the suhrs I tried in that store in Greece made me think
that suhrs were remotely bright
they all rocked on their own special way

strange

Maybe the guy on Greece fits different strings on them besides elixirs
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Yeah, Panagiotis and Antreas are great guys and have awesome stuff!!!

Nah, that gorgeous S3 has long been sold.
Truth is I wanted a Modern so bad I could taste it, otherwise I'd be in serious trouble!!!

And no, no excessive brightness either, I am not sure whether it was the strings or the amps or whatever but IMO every one I heard sounded *just right*
 
Re: Played some Suhrs cs strats and an EJ strat I'm confused

Nothing about the amp man, as I ALWAYS try guitars acoustically
only when I like it will I plug it in

all the suhrs I played at Panagiotis were awesome
ask him if he uses different strings on them or something
 
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