Best Strat Under $1200 (new)

[Beatbx]

One more vote for the Jimmy Vaughan strat here. I played one last week and it felt and sounded great.

[reverbbb]

Too bad you limited the discussion to (new).

I just happen to have a Strat up for sale on craigslist right now. It is an awesome Strat built from the best parts I could afford. I have dropped the price from $1200 w/case, to $950 wo/case. Here are the specs:

Eric Johnson Neck - 1/4 sawn maple. The color is Ocean Turquoise in lacquer (not offered in EJ guitars). The body is a MIA '57 reissue. It was not easy to locate the '57 pearloid pickguard. The knobs. switch tip and covers are vintage 'cream'. MIA vintage tremolo.

[bluto0251]

I know its slightly more than $1200, but I bought one a few months ago, and it is the best strat I have had,

http://www.guitarsale.com/Fender-%27...-i542192.music

[petebradt]

If you're not hung up on it being new, this is the best Strat, dollar for dollar, on the planet. Others may disagree but I've had mine for almost 10 years and it's exactly what I need. It's made like a real '54, too. Big ol' neck and decent pickups (CS Fat '50s). I don't have the pups or the electronics but other than a nut (setting it up for slide), it's the same. I'll never get rid of mine.

[jrfrond]

Originally Posted by refin

For that $, I would cherry pick parts and build one.That way I could have everything I wanted in pups,radius,color,weight,ect.

+1 on this. Just did a Strat for a friend of mine. ALMOST everything came from AllParts, save for the Callaham tremolo and GFS Grey-Bottom pickups. Plays and sounds better than anything you'll find off-the-shelf.

[airwarrior]

I personally prefer my partscaster, but if I had to go with a production Strat it would be a Highway One with a set of CS 69 replacement pickups.

[jrfrond]

My biggest issues with the bulk of the off-the-shelf stuff I see are dead-souunding wood and poor out-of-the-box setups. The latter is no big deal because EVERY guitar requires setup out-of-the-box, even though I see WAY too many fret ends sticking out of the necks in question. Dead wood is another story. There is no cure for that, and guitars encased in poly lacquer (even Fender nitro finishes use poly base coats) will age very little, "so whatcha hear is whatcha git".

Perhaps I'm a bit spoiled after repairing and building guitars for 34 years. I don't see the point of purchasing a new guitar only to partially gut it and replace the pickups, bridge, trem or whatever with what I like. I'm not attached to brand names, nor do I need to know that Fender, Gibson or whoever made my instrument. I DO want it to play and sound exactly as I want to, and I have a MUCH better shot at it by rolling my own. About the only drawback is that you don't REALLY know what it will sound like until it's all together. Usually, it's BETTER than anything in the stores, but I've also turned out a couple of turkeys over the years. To me, a turkey is anything that sounds like run-of-the-mill store-bought fare.

[bluto0251]

I agree with you on the off the shelf stuff, I first had a mexi std, which was a nightmare, the pickups were dead sounding, the neck one died after 3 months, the fretboard had slight bump in it around the 14th fret. I changed out pups, etc. , but never found a sound I truly loved.

Sold, it then got a Eric Johnson, the strings were out of alignment and the high E fell off the side, my tech tried to fix it, and it got better, but finally never liked the tone.

I then got a 84/87 am std, great guitar, very resonant, same string alignment issue, string alignment was an easy fix. But there is a but. It had terrible stratitis, which I could not get to go away. Whenever I would get the pickups low enough to get rid of the stratitis, it would sound thin and anemic. Didn't really want to fool around with the pickups.

Next was an American Deluxe, hated the noiseless pups, and soon sold it.

If you are mechanically inclined then by all means build it yourself, but I just wanted one that played and sounded like the tone in my head. The 57 RI thinskin has become the strat for me. It quacks when it needs to quack, and the bridge has great tone with volume slightly rolled off, the neck is heaven, and the middle goes with my dirt pedals. I love it, and I paid less than the EJ or the deluxe. Of course it needed a setup, but all guitars do.

The one guitar that I ave bought that was perfectly set up from the factory is my am std tele. It has not been touched in three years by a tech, I have only changed the strings.

[Torsten]

I'd be challenged to find a better Strat than either a Classic Series Strat or a Classic Player Series Strat at that price.
It's easy; just try all the different ones you possibly can - and eventually you'll fall in love :-)

[stantheman]

MIM 50's Classic. The story goes like this - I walked into the store gave the plastic to Ed and bought it - then took Her off the wall and started playing. As I'm playing a guy walks up to the counter and tells Ed he wants to buy The Strat "the big guy's playing".
That's how intoxicating the simplistic beauty of an Olympic Body and an Amber Fretboard and Headstock are.
The Lord has blessed me.

[Scott V]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

Either the '50s Classic or the Jimmie Vaughn Strats will fill your needs quite nicely....
BUT jes' like any guitar make/model, you're gonna hafta sift through the mediocre guitars as you seek out the great ones....

Those are my favorites too, both have excellent necks... Of coarse that's subjective!

[guitaradelic]

I picked up the Road House Reissue (mim), I get a lot of compliments on the tone and I really like the neck, it's a little beefier (maybe the "C" profile). Looks great too, I have the white with the tortoise shell guard. It's worth a look, only 6 bills.

[ter93]

Originally Posted by Johnny Morales

I have an am std with tex specials, looking for a backup - was gonna get a PRS or Gibson but just can't get into them as much as fenders.

Looking for something good as a second guitar. Thinking about the Classic Player 60's or similar guitar - don't want to get an american std because its too similar to my current strat.

What's wrong with buying used? You can get a reissue, which imo are much better guitars (even though the difference is not as noticeable with strats than it is with teles).

[aunchaki]

Originally Posted by guitaradelic

I picked up the Road House Reissue (mim), I get a lot of compliments on the tone and I really like the neck

Nice score. We need to see some pictures! Congratulations.

[nrps]

2008 Fender New American Standard Stratocaster "CANDY COLA" and only $999.99

[batman50]

Originally Posted by nrps

2008 Fender New American Standard Stratocaster "CANDY COLA" and only $999.99

Thats a nice looking one....

[superbadj]

How many of you have compared the Classic Vibe and the Fender 50's Classic and/or Classic Player series? There's a CV 50's here in town, and I played it with a 60's classic player, and felt the CV held its own pretty well, at less than half the price.

But what do you guys think? I've also read tails of people finding CPs for new at GC for like $400 to $450. NEW. HOW? I can't find them for less than $799.

[CA_Dan]

If you can get a deal on one, the John Mayer signature strat is nice. I've seen them for $1,599 but you might snag one for less.

[sa paine]

I know you said new, But why not a US RI (57 or 62) for around that or less ?

[sa paine]

I know you said new, But why not a USED US RI (57 or 62) for around that or less ?

Left out the word USED in my first post, getting late.................