American Strat vs Import vs Squier

[vonFrenchie]

I need a bit of help with my perdicament. A friend of mine (my manager) wants to sell his American Fat Strat (standard). He is the first and only owner. Its seen a fair amount of action in its 5 years of existence. He and I both agree that its worth 600 bucks.

I have no doubt that somewhere along the road I am going to buy new pickups, rewire the guitar, new bridge, all that jazz. I've already found some formidable pickups, I already have crazy wiring schemes in my head, and found a good bridge (that will come alot later if i buy the American)

Should I purchase the American Strat or go with a much cheaper new Squier or split the difference with a used (lovingly) import strat?

[gfxbss]

alright, ill put in my personal experience w/ strats.

i personally prefer the imports. for the simple fact that often times, the only difference between them and the american is the electronics. however, for $600, it seems to be a fair deal for an american.

ive had probelems w/ squires necks twisting....

also, maybe look into a G&L? i honestly prefer these over the offical strats.

Tyler

[sumgai]

vF,

There certainly is something about that 'Best of the Best' brand-name cachet, I can't argue with that. Squier is just a designator in the heirarchy of quality vs. pricing, so if you happen to love one, take it. Imports, by definition are supposed to be cheaper, and therefore of lesser quality, but many of us have shared stories of seeing/hearing of/owning these lumps of wood, and swearing to their being just as good in all things as any MIA Strat. With enough anecodatal evidence of this nature, I couldn't fault you for going this route either.

Ah, but that MIA, that's usually a cut above the rest, ain't it? Unless it has been thoroughly thrashed, without love, then it may well be worth the going rate. I'll assume you have checked eBay and craigslist for your area, thus you are comfortable in your agreement on $600.

So would your planned $200 or so of improvements make it worth more? No, probably not. And the same can be said for any of the other guitars you mentioned. The only reason to do this is that you love the feel of the thing, and that it whispers your name when you go to bed at night: "..... Frenchie..... oh Frenchie..... come, play me, I need to be held and played...." When you get that kind of feeling from a guitar, you don't care about its pedigree, you snap it up, and you bare your teeth at anyone who so much as glances your baby wrongly. ;D

If you don't feel that way about it, then you're just marking time until the right guitar comes along. In that case, let your finances dictate your actions. Cold, but true nonetheless.

Any neck can twist, given sufficient provocation. But I've seen cheap (~$50) Japanese imports from the 1960's whose necks are still straight as an arrow, and that play as well today as they did 40 years ago, all due to more-or-less proper care. (More likely, they simply weren't abused to death, they just languished in a closet somewhere, waiting for eBay to come along. ) I've also seen a Brian Moore neck go from nice to caa-caa in one week, and that wasn't the owner's fault. Never did figure that one out. It takes all kinds, and the really vast majority of necks don't have problems so big that your local repairman can't fix 'em. Don't lose sleep over this aspect, that's my advice.

HTH


sumgai

[gfxbss]

just out of curiosity, doesnt every guitar call your name saying that you must play it? or is it only a problem that i have?

Tyler

[UnklMickey]

well Tyler, i sorta have that problem.

but, not ALL guitars call out to me.


for instance:

[hammeroff]

vF,

Have you considered hunting down a nice feeling MIM strat? If you're planning on replacing a bunch of stuff anyway, you'll save money and have a guitar made of the same stuff as a MIA model. You can probably find one with the bridge you want too, unless you want a Wilky or something.

I've had my own Squier ripped apart for 2 months now, and I've been playing my dad's MIM strat. For the ~$300 he paid for it...it's one hell of an axe.

[dunkelfalke]

to be honest, why don't you buy a cort g270? it looks more or less like a strat, has got the best bridge you can buy for a strat, locking tuners, roller nut and roller stringtrees, lace sensors and a modern ibanez-like neck pocket, so you don't have to buy any additional stuff.

and it costs only 480 euros ($622) in germany, so it should be even cheaper in the usa.

[gfxbss]

hmm, i kinda see your point unk. however, with a sander and a saw, who knows what you could make out of it that doesnt look half bad.


Tyler

[vonFrenchie]

This American is pretty good. I've seen/heard it several times. The reason the price is so low is pinstripes were painted on it (poorly) and the pickguard is now pink... after a long long line of various colors. I think Im gonna stick with the MIA

Also... not every guitar calls my name to play it. If it were one of Hendrix's burnt guitars... it would call to be let out of its display case. Oh and this thing

Not so much.

[gfxbss]

haha, alright, i must say that this one really wouldnt call my name to much either. in fact, im not even sure if a saw and sander could help the other one.....

Tyler

[Ripper]

Im a Canadian ( insert joke here )
I Love the USA. Been there many times, and plan on going back many more times.
Now that thats out of the way...
My MIM white Stratocaster is my baby and I wouldnt part with it for love, nor money.
Yes, I gutted it. The electronics were terrible, and the pups were replaced, but other then that its the bees knees!
US Strats are way too pricey for my taste. Though I wouldnt turn one down if it was given to me!
btw...dont blame me for Celine Dionne.

[UnklMickey]

deepblue said:

Im a Canadian ( insert joke here )...

i wouldn't touch that with a 304.8 centimeter pole.

deepblue said:

...btw...dont blame me for Celine Dionne.

well the song does go "Blame Canada...."

but i guess if you don't blame me for Barbara, i won't blame you for Celine.

[Ripper]

I feel a group hug coming Unk!

[Happyguy]

heh, Canada. The grass is always greenest over here Plus we have the 2-4, No wendy's thought

[UnklMickey]

deepblue said:

I feel a group hug coming Unk!

okay Blue.......as long as everyone in the group abides by the rule: No Reach-arounds!

happyguy said:

... Plus we have the 2-4, ...

hey Happyguy, what's the 2-4 ?

[Ripper]

Unk....A 2-4 means, a 24 pack of beer. Its a Canadianism.

[dunkelfalke]

like the old german saying: a day has got 24 hours, a crate of beer has got 24 bottles. this cannot be just a coincidence.

[UnklMickey]

deepblue said:

Unk....A 2-4 means, a 24 pack of beer. Its a Canadianism.

DOH! i feel so owned.

here i was, overthinking, trying to imagine something uniquely Canadian.

okay, so we just call that a case, but it's still 24 bottles/cans.

i shoulda been able to figure that one out.

Falke, living up to that German saying would be a tall order for me. but for my friends............

24 in 24 hours = i guess we'll just take it slow and easy on the drinkin' today!


cheers,

unk

[ChrisK]

Oh, I thought that it was a "pleasing discount".

[UnklMickey]

ya mean like a 2fer?

[ChrisK]

Ya, as in.

[vonFrenchie]

only 24 bottles in one day? thats not alot by wisconsin standards.

[dunkelfalke]

american beer is like sex in canoe anyway (or so i have heard).

[ChrisK]

like sex in canoe anyway

Is that like good or bad?

[dunkelfalke]

sex in canoe is "fscking near to water"

[Ripper]

aaaaah, lets not forget that im talking about Canadian beer. Its a little stronger then my American buddies best brew. Im sure German beer is even more potent.
I dont drink...doesnt matter to me.

[ChrisK]

near to water

?In?
(Scuba doobie do.)

Whatever yer choice in beer, remember that you're just renting it.

(It's the water!)

[dunkelfalke]

deepblue said:

I dont drink...doesnt matter to me.

same here, actually ;D
and even the best german alcohol free beer tasted to me like bitter dishwater.

[ChrisK]

like bitter dishwater

I hope that this wasn't empirically determined. ;D

[hammeroff]

Beer advertisements try and convince you there's several different kinds of beers, and that they're all better than the other.

There are actually only 2 kinds of beer, free and cold. I love them both