Guitar + Amp info, opinions an advice needed ASAP

Voltar

Voltar

Voltar

Soldato
Joined
2 Oct 2004
Posts
5,806
Location
London, NW1
Hi all,

I'm hoping some of you (thinking dmpoole amongst others) could help me out with some decisions.

Ok background (to give you an idea):

Musically trained for over a decade on various instruments, began learning guitar four years ago, self taught and when I have it with me practice for two hours a day (or more). I play for my own pleasure (hence self taught) and currently use a Fender Stratacoustic but only have really used it accoustically.
I love the feel of the neck so much and the fretboard etc is lovely.

I now want to play an electric guitar and was wondering what you guys would recommend and from where (I'd be up for buying second hand too!).
I need an amp and would like to get a couple of pedals along the way.
At the moment I have the option to get a friend to buy me one from the US and bring it back with her in a few days time. But I need to tell her asap if I want it.

The ones that I have been drooling over for $700USD are:
Fender Highway One HSS Stratocaster (love the 70's styling)
Fender Deluxe Fat Strat (HSS)

Has anyone played on one or both? How is the difference between teh Fat Strat and the Stratocaster?
Which one ought I to choose?

OR:

Does anyone think that there is something better out there for me?
Also, I think that these are going to be a lot cheaper than in the UK I went into Denmark St in London and A US Strat was £680-£750.

Also, I would very much like an amp as I don't own one. Any recommendations out there?

I would like to spend £500 or less on a guitar (don't mind 2nd hand) and £200 or less on the amp and pedals. Also does anyone know of a good stockist to see or is Denmark St in London the best place for me to go? (I'm London based)

Please help me OcUK!
 
HSS strats are pretty versatile, so if either of those take your fancy it doesn't matter which you get. They're both good for most music styles.

As for the amp, the most important part of your tone, what sort of music do you want to play?
 
My opinion is that there is no point whatsoever in getting a HSS Stratocaster. That is not what stratocasters are for. If you want a humbucker then get a different guitar. Stratocasters should be exclusively single coil. That is their "sound".

And to actually aid in your question, the simple answer is: see for yourself!

Get down to the shop and try! You can only really tell what you want when you yourself go down the local music shop and try them out. Try the guitars for their feel and sound. Also, be open minded, try different makes and see how they suit your style. There are plenty of guitars out there to suit any styles.
 
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physichull said:
My opinion is that there is no point whatsoever in getting a HSS Stratocaster. That is not what stratocasters are for. If you want a humbucker then get a different guitar. Stratocasters should be exclusively single coil. That is their "sound".
Click to expand...

You realise having a humbucker which is voiced the same as a single coil equivalent will give little to no variation to your tone? It will just give the guitar a higher output and therefore more "bite". It's the position of the pickup that affects it's tonality most. You'd still get that signature "trebley" tone strats are known for except you'd have the option and versatility for a high output/gain too.
 
A fat strat has a 'humbucker' pick-up (the one which looks fatter), which will make your guitar have a fatter, more 'modern rock' based tone. A single coil pickup will sound thinner, so will be 'weedy' for distorted saturated Metallica style thrashing, but will soar for clean and over driven tones.

Guitars sound more more aggressive when the bridge pick-up (the one closest to the bridge) is selected, which is why the hum bucker is located here on the fat strat.
 
Nitefly said:
A fat strat has a 'humbucker' pick-up (the one which looks fatter), which will make your guitar have a fatter, more 'modern rock' based tone. A single coil pickup will sound thinner, so will be 'weedy' for distorted saturated Metallica style thrashing, but will soar for clean and over driven tones.

Guitars sound more more aggressive when the bridge pick-up (the one closest to the bridge) is selected, which is why the hum bucker is located here on the fat strat.
Click to expand...

This.

Besides, you can have the best of both worlds with a coil tap or split mod.
 
Nitefly said:
A fat strat has a 'humbucker' pick-up (the one which looks fatter), which will make your guitar have a fatter, more 'modern rock' based tone. A single coil pickup will sound thinner, so will be 'weedy' for distorted saturated Metallica style thrashing, but will soar for clean and over driven tones.

Guitars sound more more aggressive when the bridge pick-up (the one closest to the bridge) is selected, which is why the hum bucker is located here on the fat strat.
Click to expand...

Thanks all for replies!

Sounds like I'm looking for the Fat Strat then.
I am probably going to be going for 'heavier' sounds, but want that strat sound and versatility too.


In terms of pedals I'll be picking up a cry baby, a distortion pedal, fuzz pedal and phaser (in no particular order or at any given time).

Ideally I will be playing a wide range of music and need an all round sound and amp which can produce it. I will begin by leaning towards metal (Maiden, Metallica and the such like) as I want to play that stuff due to not being able to on my old stratacoustic (obviously). However there are huge other swathes of musical styles I'll want to try out and eventually find my own.

Some might say well why have you not looked at other brands. Well I'm no brand whore, and open to suggestions, but I'm already used to the strat neck so it would be a natural progression.


Again, thank you all very much for replies.

Would you all think that getting one brought back from the US would be the best bet? (Not keen on dropping £700+ on the instrument alone, if avoidable.)
 
To be honest,
I'd stick to a classic strat. If you're determined to get a Fat Strat or an HSS by all means do. If I was to get one I'd stick with the Deluxe instead of the 70's styled one.
But to be honest I'd nearly always choose a '57 or '62 Reissue over either of those.
 
If you really are leaning towards the Metallica type sound, make sure you get a guitar with a humbucker or you will just be disappointed. Metal is possible with a single coil, but you will have to shell out on some serious kit to get it to work.

The HSS configuration (humbucker, single coil, single coil from bridge to neck) is a great choice, because single coils sound excellent in the neck position anyway. I would opt for this, if anything, if you are determined to settle on a stratocaster.
 
Yeah for Metal get an HSS.
Really for heavier stuff though I'd be looking at an SG or a Les Paul.
You can get a nice SG quite affordably.
Check out Japanguitars.co.uk
Look at the Greco, OBG, Tokai, Burny, Navigators etc. I wouldn't go for a Gibson simply becuase it says Gibson on the headstock which is what a lot of people do - Most of the early 80's Japanese copies are great guitars.
 
Thanks for replies guys. I'll hopefully be getting an HSS in the very near future :D

Any amp and pedal setup recommendations would be appreciated too!
 
Also interested in amp suggestions. I've been looking at the Peavey Vypyr 30 as a modelling amp.

I don't play, been trying to get into it for ages but not had the motivation or equipment. My guitar is an '95 Ibanez Blazer with HSS config, not sure on the syle I would like to learn to play mind you.
 
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Voltar said:
Thanks for replies guys. I'll hopefully be getting an HSS in the very near future :D

Any amp and pedal setup recommendations would be appreciated too!
Click to expand...

The Blackstar HD-5 is an excellent amp and will set you back ~£300, loud enough to play at a small gig, I assume, and sounds great at low volumes. I have one myself. If you are just starting off playing the electric guitar, it might be worth buying a multi-effects pedal as it will give you a taster for what different effects might do.

I have a Boss ME-50 which has a selection of distortion, modulation (chorus, phaser, flanger etc) and delay settings, as well as a pedal for volume and wah effects. Others on here poo poo this pedal which I think is snobbish, but I think it's excellent since you can get it for ~£150.

I also hasten to add, you are not going to sound anything that could be called close to a Metallica type sound without seriously splashing out. However, you should be able to create a tone which sounds convincingly heavy for your bedroom :)
 
Check out G&L guitars as well, they make a lot of strat style guitars, tend to be a lot cheaper than Fenders and are very well respected.

If I were you I would spent your max amp & effects budget on an amp and add pedals later, you can easily buy/sell pedals but your amp will probably stay with you for longer.
 
A korean G&L (Tribute) is cheaper sure... But I was looking at the US ones recently before buying my new strat and they sure are hard to find and pretty pricey at that.
They tend not to have very slim necks too.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a G&L Comanche or something, but theres a hell of a lot more fenders out there, thus a hell of a lot more bargains to be had.
 
Natima said:
A korean G&L (Tribute) is cheaper sure... But I was looking at the US ones recently before buying my new strat and they sure are hard to find and pretty pricey at that.
They tend not to have very slim necks too.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a G&L Comanche or something, but theres a hell of a lot more fenders out there, thus a hell of a lot more bargains to be had.
Click to expand...

The G&L guitars are some of the ugliest guitars ever made - look at that headstock! It's enough to make the elephant man recoil in disgust :o
 
Nitefly said:
The Blackstar HD-5 is an excellent amp and will set you back ~£300, loud enough to play at a small gig, I assume, and sounds great at low volumes. I have one myself. If you are just starting off playing the electric guitar, it might be worth buying a multi-effects pedal as it will give you a taster for what different effects might do.

I have a Boss ME-50 which has a selection of distortion, modulation (chorus, phaser, flanger etc) and delay settings, as well as a pedal for volume and wah effects. Others on here poo poo this pedal which I think is snobbish, but I think it's excellent since you can get it for ~£150.

I also hasten to add, you are not going to sound anything that could be called close to a Metallica type sound without seriously splashing out. However, you should be able to create a tone which sounds convincingly heavy for your bedroom :)
Click to expand...

Cheers mate.

I won't be gigging (I don't think) as I don't enjoy performance that much.

I'm already familiar with effects etc due to playing with Logic a lot, but as I've never played electric before I don't know which pedals are any good.

I'm probably going to end up using my headphones a lot because they are excellent (Ultrasone Proline 750's) and from an amp they sound great so I'll be able to create the sounds in my head using those and then using my production software.

Sadly, I'll have to pay for shipping as my friend can't take a guitar on the plane with her now.

Fender Deluxe Fat Strat (HSS) is what I'll be going for ($800USD shipped) and will see if I can find it cheaper.

I'll look into that amp and see if I can find one second hand as my budget is about £750 for the moment, but I'll try the amp out if they have them in the shops and if it's good (as I'm sure it is) then will end up splashing out.


edit: I'll hopefully catch you on MSN some time, if you're willing to chat about it all.
 
Fat Strats are very nice guitars, I had a humbucker in one of mine about 20 years ago, but have since replaced it for a Duncan SSL-5 single coil, which gives rather a high output comparable with humbuckers but with the smooth single coilish tone.

Still, excellent choice.
 
I went round a lot of stores today and tried out a whole load of different Strats on a range of amps from £90 to £1500 (amps) to see and compare sounds of all sorts including my desired model, mexican standard, american standard, american standard HSS.

The one that stood out was the Highway One Stratocaster, so after some shopping around and haggling, I went for it. It's an absolute beaut and made the kind of sound I want having tested it on a few different amps and compared it to the sounds of the other guitars I tried out.

I'm a very happy boy today :D



Big thanks to all posters, especially Nitefly :)
 
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