What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

[JBG]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

i was going to adress this.

i played a clapton strat.

felt like a 50s strat.

im not saying it isnt good, im saying that it wasnt worth the 1,800 for it.

i dont think.

i think many here would agree: an upgraded MIA strat would be just as good or better.

Well seeing as how I didn't spent 1800 then it's fine by me. Doesn't feel exactly like a 50's strat. It's the smoothest neck I've ever played. Plus I liked the boost.

 

[darnright]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

I am still trying to find a strat that really moves me. I've owned probably 50 strats and a couple pretty good copies. Maybe I'm just not a good enough player to play one. I love the sound, especially the 2 and 4 position sound.

Probably the best sounding one I ever had the honor of playing belongs to my good friend Joe (Bungalow Bill). That was an amazing guitar.....especially in his very capable hands.

I'm still looking, in the meantime, I'll stick with the Teles and Humbuckers!

-dave

 

[jimijames]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

The best strat I've ever played belonged to one of my roommates from last year - it is a custom shop '62 heavy relic strat in daphne blue, and playing that through his fender twin gave me an out of body experience - I started playing what I wanted to hear, rather than patterns I've picked up over the years, which certainly hasn't happened with any other strat I've picked up. To me, it sounded like I was listening to someone else playing the guitar - it was that good.

I do like my strat, but it's nowhere near as good as that one was...

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

Eh forgot the Gilmour CS strat and a Jeff Beck CS strat.....those really did something out of the ordinary!

Yeah, truely love my Jeff Beck Strat loaded with Texas Hot Antiquities. This guitar does everything you'd want from a Strat and more. Just absolutely love it. wouldn't sell it for anything. MY perfect guitar.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[DoronEsh]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

Not much of a fender man. Never really found a Strat I liked until I bumped into a Nash Start (http://www.nashguitars.com/gallery/s_series.html) in a friend's store. That was (and is) a different story...

My 1c

DoDo

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

Fav strat was an alder body/maple board with gold hardware. It was the model with the dummy coil and battery powered electronics. Lowest action I had ever seen on a strat and very flexible tonally although it did sound "vintage" by an stretch.

My rosewood board HWY1 is the best I have at the moment. Fully shielded, Its every bit as good as the other one but it is firmly in the vintage category sonically with the Ants being the ideal choice for that guitar

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

I love my G&L Legacy, just the best mix of vintage and modern. I played a Clapton Strat years ago that I really enjoyed, but it was too long ago to say whether it was the nicest.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

My buddy's MIM 60th Anniversary Stratocaster in Blizzard Pearl.

Tex-Mex pickups, hooooo-weee!



I've never been crazy about mine, but 20,000 people on YouTube seem to like it.

 

[j9fd3s]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

the best playing one i had was an agave blue/maple MIM. i brought it home, took some 2000 grit sandpaper to it, and some rubbing compound, played like butter.... stupidly sold...

 

[papersoul]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

I agree, PRS guitars...while nice, never sit right with me. How about a G&L Legacy strat? Have you tried one, they are really nice.
I actually don't like strats personally.

I've played back and forth between modern and vintage US and Custom Shop Fenders, and always dreamt of the the perfect Fender.

In my opinion (a pretty nickpicky one) I've found that the dream Fenders come in the 57 and 62 Hot Rod Series, and the 52 Hot Rod Tele, all three, combine to be the best spec'd Fenders....at least for my taste.

I've contemplated selling a bunch of guitars, just to add those 3 to my stable of Gibsons, and consider myself finished with the tone search.

Gone would be the middle of the road Fenders, as well as all the PRS's and cheapos. Just end up with the best of Gibson, Fender, and Martin.....and a few others, like my resonator, classical, and Dearmonds that blow me away at a cheap price.

After going through well over 100 guitars, that's what the anal retentive guitar lover usually ends with....Fender, Gibson, and Martin. Those are the 3 that slammed the nail on the head.

 

[RavenMadd]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

Had a 83 fernandez copy of a 60's strat that kicked ass ....fender sued them to change the headstock ......best sound I ever got from a strat .....I miss it

 

[ganzosrevenge]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

Lemme divide this into 3 parts

Nicest PERIOD: A 2006 Custom Classic (named Venus) that I owned for about 6 months. Smooth, chunky but not fat, C-neck, bing cherry transparent, maple board, S-S-S. To me it embodied what a true american stratocaster was, and a better evolution of the 50s style. (Less cut corners). It was lightweight ash, rang like a bell, and actually had stock pots and caps that provided a somewhat useable experience. There was no 9-10 sudden sonic change. Sadly, "Venus" met her demise when my ex put her through my marshall TSL602 and put them both in the great guitar shop in the sky.

Nicest HSS: My current mahogany strat. Chunky Neck, callaham block, machine screws, it plays and sounds like a cross of a strat and a SG. Has a LOT of mass to it, (weighs about 10 lbs, so I think it's "older growth" than most), sustain is amazing, in part due to the decked and clamped bridge and the machine screws for extra clamp power at the neck. Action is somewhat high on it, but it doesn't fret out or buzz AT ALL. However, what I like is that because of the SSL-1s and the 11k Bro with its switching, I can have he neck and middle for 50s style work / blues / rhythm, and then hit the bridge with its own tonal setup and get a nice AC/DC to early sabbath sound, without touching the amp.

Nicest Oddball: The Masterbuilt DeLonge Strat sitting about in Guitar Center, 1 Invader, one Volume, hardtail, thin neck, 12" radius, fast and LOUD. If the HSS is like a Maserati, then the MB DeLonge was like a caterham CSR 320. Brutal, LOUD, FAST, and fun. The only thing that was keeping me from buying it was the mismatch of color on GC's part to what FMIC has, but FMIC sent me something confirming the color. Simple, nothing much to muck about with, and you know EXACTLY what sound it's going to make.

Jason

 

[papersoul]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

I am just not a Fender guy. If stras and teles were the only guitars on earth...I probably would not play. I could never vibe with them and have owned plenty and always sold quickly.

 

[JordanM82]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

A couple winners...

One of our Forum bro's Lazarus already commented on his MiM Pawn Shop find, and I will second that vote, somehow that Strat just sounds amazing... Something special about that guitar...

There was a Used USA Strat at a local shop, I believe it was a 90 or 91... It was priced pretty high (1600) from my perspective tho it was in excellent condition. I asked what was up with it, was it a custom shop etc.... they told me to just play it... I did, and my quest for a new Strat was born... something about that guitar, just blew me away it was everything a Strat should be, and then some... had I the money at the time, I would have bought it and never looked back...

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

My Cleveland Guitars strat.

It's spec'ed out as a fat back 57 with a V-C back shape. The body and neck are USA Custom. The body is a 3 piece (like many of the solid colors were) and the neck has incidental flame and mineral deposits and streaking like a real 50s neck. The frets and radius aren't vintage though, 6100s sitting on a 14" radius

The guitar is the lightest strat I've ever held in my hands. The neck/middle pups are aged OC Duff traditionals, non-humcancelling, and the bridge is a 79 Dmz X2N (a pup choice I'm still warming up to). Scott chiselled out the bridge slot for a bucker in the name of authenticity.

 

[mrfjones]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

My Cleveland Guitars strat.

It's spec'ed out as a fat back 57 with a V-C back shape. The body and neck are USA Custom. The body is a 3 piece (like many of the solid colors were) and the neck has incidental flame and mineral deposits and streaking like a real 50s neck. The frets and radius aren't vintage though, 6100s sitting on a 14" radius

The guitar is the lightest strat I've ever held in my hands. The neck/middle pups are aged OC Duff traditionals, non-humcancelling, and the bridge is a 79 Dmz X2N (a pup choice I'm still warming up to). Scott chiselled out the bridge slot for a bucker in the name of authenticity.

good to see you are enjoying it. give me a call when you get a chance.

 

[mrfjones]

Re: What was the nicest Strat you've ever played?

oh yeah I forgot to add this, I have liked a few custom shop strats and the one that Luke has is really cool, but the best on I ever played was a real 64 in candy apple red. what a guitar!