Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

[Nagisa]

I have a 2014 US Std strat (mystic gold) that is just gorgeous, but compared to my Ibanez AZ hss and LP it’s hard to play. The 9.5 radius isn’t ideal for bends up high and the frets are pretty small.

I tried to sell it online but I’m not getting offers that seem worth it for me to sell it.

I really love the look of the guitar, so I think if I can salvage it, I should. The thing is, my single coil needs are perfectly met by the Ibanez AZ that I recently got. I don’t need a traditional strat. I am thinking about the gap I have in guitars and right now and that would be only 2 guitars: a highish output shredstick, or an yngwie strat. Pretty different, but eventually I want both.

Considering:
(1) putting either a jb in the bridge and a hot rail in neck with vintage rails in the middle. I already have the rails
(2) getting jumbo steel frets installed
(3) turning it into an yngwie strat by buying an official Yngwie neck. In this case I would probably get the YJM neck pickup at least. I’d probably still have either the hot rails or a jb in the bridge.

What do you think? The biggest question is whether to replace frets or buy a new neck. Would jumbo ss frets on the 9.5 radius make a big enough difference?

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

The 9.5" radius is not the problem as much as the fret size I think. Have you ever had the guitar set up by someone who knows what they are doing?

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

It's a strat so if you can find a neck with a flatter radius and/or jumbo frets you will be good to go.
After you get the neck feel right you can focus on pickups.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Thanks guys. Yes I had it set up in a shop which made it better but still nowhere near as playable as my other guitars. I have to keep the action a bit high or it frets out on the high strings. They did a fret leveling actually which removed buzzing but big bends like on the 15th fret of the high e string still get pingy without high action.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

I am just saying that the radius is not necessary the playability issue you might think it is. Both the LP and the Ibanez have a 12" radius, so you order an aftermarket neck cheaper than a refret as see if that works before going further.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Have you tried turning the volume UP!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

You can buy a Warmoth scalloped neck and specify anything you want, and still probably come out cheaper than a genuine Fender Yngwie strat neck.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Hmm with the Warmoth they don’t do leveling right? With the Fender necks do they come leveled somehow? Looking like selling the guitar even at a lower price may be the best thing..

 

[Aliascent]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Since it's a strat, look for an aftermarket neck with your desired radius, however I don't think replacement necks will come leveled. Then again it's a strat and there surely are some second hand necks you could grab.
Also,if you hesitate, why not get 2 different pickguards, one with the JB/vintage/hot rails, and the other one with a yngwie set or similar ? Swapping pickguards is so easy. Bonus: if you end up neglecting one PG, you can resell it as "pre-wired" and not lose much money at all.

Edit: I didn't understand that you were talking about a whole yngwie neck, and not just a neck pickup. Disregard that last paragraph then.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Thanks guys. After checking into Warmoth and doing the math on pickups and all, I’m just going to try harder to sell the guitar. If I decide to get a dedicated shredder later I’ll just get a Charvel with a real Floyd rose and jb

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

How low are you trying to set the action? Never had fret out issues with 9.5”.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Just at factory settings.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

How high is your action (use picks at 12th fret if you dont have a feeler gauge) and what string size are you using?

Just because you "had a setup done" doesnt necessarily mean it is actually set up well...bolt-on tremolo guitar setups are quite a bit more complex and unforgiving vs. the simplicity of setting up a set neck LP for playability (intonation aside, it's literally 2 screws and a truss rod for adjusting the action)

As to price point.... an american standard realistically costs $600 to 650 used, probably LESS / far harder to sell for an in-yo-face contentious colour like Gold Sparkle, since it is very unlike what most people expect in a strat (I'm not particular about color and would be perfectly happy with blue green teal or red, metallic or not, or really ANY of the non-sparkle colors....but with sparkley gold, I'd probably offer 200 bucks less if maple FB, and outright pass it up if rosewood, because it'd be settling for something VERY much outside of my expectations of what a strat should look like --- sorry dude)

 

[Adieu]

Re: Turning a beautiful but difficult to play strat into a soloer

Just at factory settings.

With Fender that means nothing (or "very high" lol)

Their factory setups tend towards "non-existent"