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Originally Posted by archtopeddy
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11-06-2020 10:31 PM
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My first electric guitar was a Fender Tele back in the early ‘80s. 25.5” scale, 7.25” radius, 1.650” nut width. Since then I have put together the equivalent of about 8-10 partscasters. I have tried thin necks, fat necks, 10”-16” compound radius fretboards, 9.5” and 12” radius fretboards, wide nut widths, 25” scale lengths, 25.25” scale lengths and probably any other option you can think of.
Right now I have 4 partscasters. A Strat, a Tele, a Jazzmaster, and a 12 string Jazzmaster. The all have similar specs closer to Fender originals than anything else. All have 25.5” scale lengths and somewhat chunky profiles. Except for the 12 string they have 7.25” radius fretboards and 1.650” nut widths. Like I said I tried a bunch of variations. They didn’t feel right to me. The Fender original design specs are worth a look IMHO. Even if you find that you don’t want one with the original specs it might be worth playing one that has those specs so you can compare others to it as a control.
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I have a Warmoth conversion neck on my Partscaster and like it a lot (roasted maple, unfinished). It's not chunky but you can order chunky along with your preferred nut width, frets, etc. You could make it feel a lot like a Gibson neck. Is there a European equivalent? I have absolutely no idea. If not, I would bet that Warmoth are used to shipping to Europe.
Something else- the way the strap button is situated compared to Gibson makes the guitar hang differently and I've never liked it. I noticed that Holdsworth moved the button to the back of the guitar and I tried that, reaming it out a little bit and using the one of the neck screws to hold the button. Works great and I really like how the guitar feels when standing; I have done this with my Teles too. Where Leo put the strap button is just the wrong place for me. Really makes the guitar feel better IME, YMMV.
And of course then there is the question of pickups. For me the standard glassy Strat sound is a nonstarter, particularly for jazz, although I have heard other people played absolutely bone stock Strats and sound great playing jazz. But there is a wide variety of options for Stratocaster pickups. My favorite Strat sound is actually a rock sound (Rory Gallagher); Kent Armstrong makes a set of pick ups to get that kind of sound and I would imagine his son Aaron also offers a similar pickup in the UK which is temporarily still part of Europe. They can rock out with the best of them; clean they are a little darker and fatter and maybe slightly P90-ish compared to the usual Fender pickup. His Strat was a '61 and those pickups are reputed to sound a little different than other years.
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If you don’t need a strat right now, you won’t find one. Once you need one, any old American Standard Strat will do. That’s the sweet spot in terms of price/performance. Put Lundgren BJFE pickups in it and you are done.
And I’m not joking. Had a bunch of them. Got a Fender custom shop strat here now and it’s a piece of art, you simply won’t find a better strat. Yet I play my Heritages and my Mjt tele instead. Don’t need the strat.
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Have you considered a PRS? Paul's original design plan was to create a hybrid between Strats and LPs.
The 513 and 408 are cool options, but there have been many hybrids over the years.
513 vs 408 - How Are They Different?
You said you've tried Suhrs, but did you know that John Suhr originally made Mark Knopfler's Pensa MK-1? John still makes that guitar in his Standard line.
Finally, the Pensa MK2 is almost exactly what you describe: shorter scale, single coils, angled headstock, and even a stop tailpiece. These are not cheap, but there are almost certainly knock-offs around. I would imagine any of the companies you name could build something to these same specs.
http://www.pensaguitars.com/mk-ii
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In my opinion, if you put a short scale neck on a strat it won't sound like a strat anymore. The 25.5" scale neck is a big part of the sound. That's why they sound spanky and chimey.
However, you can get necks that are wider at the nut and have a flatter radius. You can order necks with, say, a 1.69" nut width, a 12" radius (sorry, I don't know metric) and jumbo frets. Something like that would feel more like a 335 and might be more to your liking. Going to a longer scale guitar is an adjustment, albeit a minor one. You'd get the hang of it pretty quickly. It's the price you pay for owning a variety of instruments. You might consider buying a cheap used strat and a ordering Warmoth neck that meets your specifications.
Alternately, the Fender Ultra Stratocasters (you didn't say what your budget is) have a 10-14" compound radius neck and a 1.69 nut width that you might like. They don't feel anything like a standard Stratocaster. Some of the Ibanez strats have a flatter radius than a standard Fender. Reverend might also have something you'd like. You'll never know unless you experiment. If you can get to a city where you can try out a lot of guitars, you might find your holy grail. Time to hop a train and take a short holiday. Good luck in your quest.
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I believe the much maligned PRS (John Mayer) Silver Star has become PRS's best seller! The guitar garners accolades from reviewers for it's quality & sound!
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Originally Posted by helios
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I have re-necked my two Fender Strats with Warmoth necks. Both have 1 3/4" nut width and ebony fingerboards with a 12" radius. A Strat without a floating trem is in my opinion a Tele.
I having a guitar building friend of mine making me a SSH Strat Swamp Ash body that will either use the Sofia Trem or the Vega Trem. The neck will be one of Warmoth necks I own. All ebony and either 12" straight radius of Warmoth's 12"-16" compound radius. I have the Vega Trem on a Yngwie Malmsteen Strat and I love it. I also have a early 90's 57 Reissue with the Blade Runner Trem. That is also a good trem.
I happen to like the "quack" that one get from the neck and middle position but don't care for the lead or bridge, hence the humbucker in the bridge. The Malmsteen Strat has stacked humbuckers that are very quiet but still retain the Fender Strat tone. I don't play the Strat much any more but I have collected so many parts over the years, I decided to build the one I want and return the two Fender's to stock configuration and sell them.
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Originally Posted by rob taft
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This is way out of left field and may not be at all what you're interested in, but I recently bought the Parallel Universe Uptown Strat that I'd been eyeing since it was announced at NAMM at the start of the year. It divides opinion as most of the Parallel Universe guitars do.
I already have an American Standard, and a Silver Sky, so I've got the Strat sound covered. The Uptown Strat kind of looks like a Strat and LP's bastard child, with two PAF-based humbuckers. It sounds really good in that mode, but you can also coil split to get a single coil sound. It's definitely not the pristine Strat sound, but it does get you well into the ball park. Having had it for a couple of weeks now, my early takeaways are that it covers a really wide range of sounds (which I appreciate is not what you're necessarily after), and is extremely light and comfortable to play.
Just a thought. Give it a go if one passes through your store.
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Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
TRM, Yes I'm aware of the difference but my point which I failed to make was that in my opinion if one wants the strat sound, it is not just the pickups and decking the Trem or the hard tail version takes away from the unique tonal and tactile characteristics of the Strat.
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Originally Posted by rob taft
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I'd ask myself this :
- do I want the classic, wiry and often aggressive Strat sound but the feel of the guitar is not right for me ?
Then I'd try for a Tele-shaped body with the Strat electronics. The Luxury version : Sadowsky , Anderson or Suhr.
IIRC it was Mike McGuire from Valley Arts who built a Strat-Style guitar for Carlton and later Carlos Rios (Gino Vanelli) with a shorter scale and a 24-fret neck, hardtail. You can find older clips of Carlton where he plays that guitar live on stage.
It does cop a pretty good "in-between" Strat sound I'd say. So you could put a short-scale conversion neck on a body and slap a Strat setup on. Shape that body any which way you like.
- A PRS mongrel will get you many different Strat-Style sounds in an eminently playable package.
I found that for the Hendrix/Stevie Ray/David Gilmore/ early J. Mayer type sound you'll have to get a more or less classic Strat, 50's to late 60's style. I still kick myself for having sold a great Sadowsky Strat from the early 2000's with a set of Barden pickups and the Sad. preamp in it - that guitar could cover a huge array of tones EASY and was a super smooth player on top .... played all kinds of gigs with it, from solo to Bigband Jazz, Top 40 , lounge gigs, pit bands, you name it. I still have my Suhr classic Strat , also capable of covering a lot of sonic ground.
Mike Stern used a 70's Strat when he played with Miles, Wayne Krantz gets great tones, Terje Rypdal, Jeff Beck, Scott Henderson, Lorne Lofsky, Nir Felder, Oz Noy, Mark Lettieri, ....
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My favorite strat-like instruments are my Parker Niteflies. I have one made of swamp ash that is s/s/h and another that has a mahogany body and two humbuckers. Their necks are completely stable and I have never needed to adjust them.
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This is strange and might not sound much like a stratocaster but I've always wanted a Les Paul but with the stratocaster pickup configuration.
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Originally Posted by entresz
https://www.galerie-casanova.com/por...hawk-standard/
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American Performer Jazzmaster. The best Stratocaster I've ever played. Yes, you read that right - the best Stratocaster.
Those Yosemite pickups are just Strat pickups in a Jazzmaster cover and they sound SO great. AlNiCo IV is like... Frank Sinatra's rendition of your favourite pickup.
Stratocaster scale, Stratocaster tremolo and great pickups positioned a bit differently... makes all the difference in the world.
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If the Strat didn't exist and Ikea set out to design an electric guitar for mass production, guess what the result would look like. Next, the web would be flooded with suggestions on how to pimp the Ingvarkaster, and passionate arguments on why X is so much better than Y. I've never been a Strat fan, mainly due to the fretboard radius and the music I play. A G&L Legacy deals with the first issue. Some Strat-type Godins have felt good when noodling at music stores.
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This is what would happen if IKEA designed a guitar:
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The IKEA Stringplånk?
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If you can find one ... early 90's jeff beck sig. Alder body, rosewood fb, compensated tuners, wilkinson nut and most of all 1'' thick neck with 9" radius.
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Thanks for even more input. I'll try and address some of the suggestions as they pertain to me:
Originally Posted by Flat
Originally Posted by starjasmine
Originally Posted by archtopeddy
Originally Posted by lammie200
Originally Posted by Cunamara
Originally Posted by frankhond
Originally Posted by Kirk1701
Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
Originally Posted by helios
Originally Posted by raal
Thanks for all the good suggestions in the thread. First of all, I want to try every single guitar in stock, and see if anything sticks. After that, I'll see where I stand.
Woodside Guitars GS3-JZZ Support
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