Confessional: I Have a Love Affair With Superstrats...and I am not a "Shredder".

[Cosmic Cowboy]

In a time when Vintage is king, and even the new guitars from legacy brands are... if not in name, definately in design...recreations of 60+year old guitar...I rediscovered an old friend. The Superstrat.

I pulled out the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder today, and its fan-tastic. I have others (superstrats) too. A Hammer, and a Carvin.

The Superstrats really are the pinnacle of guitar building, and though a tad pricey, they are not close to the cost of a legacy-brand premium instrument.

Solid-precision construction, great playable necks...big frets...more switching on tap than I actually use.

It reminded me...that you can play anything on a superstrat. Not just cockrock. They really are versitile. I can go from R&B, Gospel, or Funk...straight to ZZ Top, or Dickey Betts rite through to EVH sounds.

Just good workhorse guitars.

Can the Superstrat thing be cool again?

 

[KC]

I've been playing Music Man guitars lately, and while my #1 is a fairly conventional SSS Strat type (a Cutlass) I'm also enjoying the heck out of the Stingray, fender scale / trem / maple neck / flattish radius / asymmetrical neck / 2xhumbuckers (but really bright humbuckers). Really a great-playing guitar, and quite versatile. More versatile than I am, alas.

 

[guitarmikey]

What about my fixed bridge style?

 

[green_henry]

I had an EBMM Luke that was a joy to play. I wasn't crazy about the EMGs when I was practicing by myself, but they sounded great in a band mix. I don't think I'd ever want a guitar with a Floyd, but the other guitars in this niche are definitely worth checking out!

 

[RobRiggs]

I’m with you guys. The majority of my guitars are Super Strats. I’ve played country tunes on a 7-string Ibanez JEM. Super versatile instruments. I love my Strats and Teles, but shread-y guitars are my thing.

 

[Twang-ineer]

I know the fretboard radius thing has been discussed here ad nauseum, but the flat (12") fingerboard and the utility of a splitable humbucker are just much more utilitarian for me. That is the math on my #1 MIM strat, and I have a few other classic looking guitars that all have the flatter fingerboards and humbuckers. I only have one guitar that has the 9.5" neck, and the only reason I have not replaced it is that somehow that MIJ Tele feels like there is a magic mojo about it that I do not want to disturb. I cant abide a Floyd, but a fixed/blocked bridge and a thin, flat neck, I can really dig.
Yeah, the shreddier the better generally... Kiesel necks are my absolute favorite, followed quickly by Schecter and Charvel.

 

[drmordo]

I always thought "Superstrat" meant neck and middle strat PUs and a humbucker in the bridge.

That particular configuration never appealed to me at all.

But I like Strats with two humbuckers. Also, I agree that the neck radius issue is real - I don't like flat fretboards.

I think EVH ultimately nailed down out the ultimate Strat-ish recipe. The PUs, the compound radius neck, the decked Floyd - it just works. My Wolfgang is an amazing guitar.

 

[Trenchant63]

What about my fixed bridge style?

Yes!! Fixed bridge is my favorite super strat setup!

 

[guitarmikey]

Yes!! Fixed bridge is my favorite super strat setup!

Even if it’s a Tele one, like mine?

 

[Peegoo]

Can the Superstrat thing be cool again?

You betcha.

 

[bgmacaw]

Did someone say "SuperStrat"?

 

[Peegoo]

What about a Strat that's a Tele that thinks it's a superStrat?

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

What about a Strat that's a Tele that thinks it's a superStrat?

Id play that guitar. Andy Timmons would approve.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

I know the fretboard radius thing has been discussed here ad nauseum, but the flat (12") fingerboard and the utility of a splitable humbucker are just much more utilitarian for me. That is the math on my #1 MIM strat, and I have a few other classic looking guitars that all have the flatter fingerboards and humbuckers. I only have one guitar that has the 9.5" neck, and the only reason I have not replaced it is that somehow that MIJ Tele feels like there is a magic mojo about it that I do not want to disturb. I cant abide a Floyd, but a fixed/blocked bridge and a thin, flat neck, I can really dig.
Yeah, the shreddier the better generally... Kiesel necks are my absolute favorite, followed quickly by Schecter and Charvel.

Oh. And got a Kiesel too. Its a Delos thou. SSS. Great guitar....made me sell the Suhr.

 

[4pickupguy]

In a time when Vintage is king, and even the new guitars from legacy brands are... if not in name, definately in design...recreations of 60+year old guitar...I rediscovered an old friend. The Superstrat.

I pulled out the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder today, and its fan-tastic. I have others (superstrats) too. A Hammer, and a Carvin.

The Superstrats really are the pinnacle of guitar building, and though a tad pricey, they are not close to the cost of a legacy-brand premium instrument.

Solid-precision construction, great playable necks...big frets...more switching on tap than I actually use.

It reminded me...that you can play anything on a superstrat. Not just cockrock. They really are versitile. I can go from R&B, Gospel, or Funk...straight to ZZ Top, or Dickey Betts rite through to EVH sounds.

Just good workhorse guitars.

Can the Superstrat thing be cool again?

Very true. You can wear the one guitar all night and not miss a sound. They can be made to be extremely versatile.

 

[Peegoo]

They can be made to be extremely versatile.

I have a 1987 Charvel model IV with active EMGs.

It's a beast of a player with that Floyd, but I consider it The Stunt Guitar because I pull it out only when I need stupid wiggle-stick stuff on a recording. I don't use it much because the pickups have a compressed sterility to them; it makes them sound almost clinical in their tone. There's not a lot of character unless I have more than a little crunch on the signal.

The PRS L1, however, does have plenty of great tones on tap both clean and dirty, and it is supremely playable. The two-post vibrato with standard nut stays in remarkably good tune even under heavy 'talent lever' yankin' and crankin'. These cost about the same as a top-end US production Strat.

 

[StrangerNY]

I bought three of them out of necessity - I got a call from a band that does mostly 80s stuff, and I didn't have a guitar with a Floyd, so...

L to R: '04 Jackson Stars (MIJ) DK-05, '22 Ibanez S570AH, '04 ESP LTD M-200.

They're all a lot of fun to play, but I get the most tonal variation out of the Ibanez.

- D

 

[stormsedge]

Five-ish.

 

[stormsedge]

Just saw this one pop up at a shop ~45 min from here. A Fender MIK Strat Showmaster that I’ve never heard of…looks cool, but I really don’t have the room or need for it. (No affiliation).

Fender Special Edition Showmaster QMT HH 2005 - 2007 | Reverb

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[cometazzi]

Can the Superstrat thing be cool again?

Did they ever stop being cool?

I completely agree with you in that they are the pinnacle of guitar form.