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View Full Version : Tried a bunch of Fender Stratocasters yesterday



Robert
November 19th, 2007, 02:22 PM
Went to Avenue Guitars in Edmonton. I tried a lot of Strats.


Jeff Beck Signature
Eric Johnson Signature
Custom Shop
Yngwie Malmsteen Signature
Robin Trower Signature
Classic 60s
Classic 50s
VG Strat


Which one did I like best? Well, I have to say the Jeff Beck signature was very nice. It stayed in tune insanely good. It has a roller nut.

Of the expensive strats, the Custom Shop was the winner, due to it's sound and quality feel. Everything on it seemed to be completely top notch and it was great to play. The Jeff Beck was a close second, followed by the Robin Trower Strat. Both these guitars are fantastic.

I spent a good while playing the VG Strat. I was not overwhelmed by it. It's a nice Strat in itself. One issue was that all those modeled guitars had a definite higher output (louder) than the normal strat by itself. The Telecaster model didn't sound like a Tele to me. The acoustic didn't at all sound like an acoustic, which is understandable. I guess you could get away with this at a gig as a rough acoustic imitation. The humbucker model had very high output. I guess metal players will like this one. The Strat model sounded ok, just louder than the normal strat (without the modeling on).

The tunings are cool though - I think I liked them the best. If it was cheaper, I might consider this guitar, but for the money I'd probably pick the Custom Shop Strat or any of the Signature guitars that I liked.

Next, - probably the Classic 50s Strat - I really liked this guitar I am thinking it may be my next Strat... :Dude: It's doesn't ooze as much quality as those other ones but it felt great to play, I really dug its vibe. The Classic 60s Strat was great too, I just preferred the Classic 50s.

The Malmsteen strat was a surprise - it was really nice it was wasn't for that scalloping disaster - otherwise the neck was great and the pickups sounded good. I don't like that big ugly head either.

The EJ Strat is also top notch quality, but the neck is a bit round for my tastes but the sound of this guitar is phenomenal.

I probably played more than these, but that's all my slow Swedish brain can remember today... :spank:

tot_Ou_tard
November 20th, 2007, 07:18 AM
Robert, what was the difference between the Classic 50s & Classic 60s in terms of sound?


Pretty soon you're gonna have to photograph your guitars from the roof a la Spudman ;).

Robert
November 20th, 2007, 08:15 AM
Actually, the only ones I didn't have time to plug in were those two you mention....:o

Oops - I forgot the VG Strat - added it to the first post too now.

jpfeifer
November 20th, 2007, 09:31 AM
Hi Robert,

I also went on a recent Strat playing expedition to Guitar Center just to see what they had. I find that I learn a lot by playing different models to see which ones I connect with, etc.

I played an Eric Johnson model, a Custom Shop Relic model (late 50's Strat), and the VG Strat.

The Eric Johnson Model was nice. I liked the neck, etc, but the setup was a little too high so it was hard to play than the others.

I had a lot of fun with the VG Strat, but had to wait for a while for the store clerk to find some batteries for it before I could try it. This is my one issue with that guitar. I love the flexibility, but I don't like having to hassel with batteries to use all the cool sounds and tunings. I could really use this guitar for some of the playing situations that I do regularly, such as the Church group that I play with. I would use a lot of the sounds in this guitar. But I'm a little afraid of investing in a guitar like this now only to find that they make improvements to it next year such as adding more sounds, providing a battery eliminator, etc.

My favorite guitar that I tried that day was the custom shop relic strat. I couldn't believe what a amazing tone the guitar had. The notes would sing out of that guitar. I'd never played a Strat like this one before. It was quite unique. But it had an equally unique price tag of about $3000.

-- Jim