Is a $2,000 strat really better than a $400 strat?

[je32ff]

Okay, I know this is a can of worms but.....
There are like 30 different strats out there (or more). They are priced from the squire stuff up to the 'artist' custom shop things in roughly $100 increments from $200 to $2000. They are almost all alder bodies (a few ash) with a maple neck. It seems like the big difference is in hardware and electronics. What are your thoughts? When you buy a high end model what are you paying for? Am I missing something? It seems like picking out a standard strat thats feels good to you and upgrading pickups and hardware as needed could easily get you a player as fine as anything from the 'custom shop'.

[Dynaflow]

 Hmm, what are you paying for... LABOR for one, the higher end strat's usually have much more hand work on the necks, much better fret dressing, custom radiuses, rolled edges and yeah better hardware, tuners and slightly better pickups. If its a relic obviously you have to pay someone to distress it for you (silliest thing ever IMHO) and chemically alter the finishes etc to make it look vintage  (as if that matters, but like I said IMHO).
 Is it a WAY better guitar? Not on the ones I've tried at the 'Dyna can't afford it, but no one's stopping me from playing one Fender expensive room at Guitar Center'. I will say the necks felt a bit better, but I just can't justify 3 grand on a relic strat (or even 2 grand for a non relic strat or any strat for that matter). I love them to death, they're the most comfortable guitar to hold and play I've ever owned and what they do, they do REAL well. The one I own is a 90 american strat plus (roller nut, and originally had Lace pickups, now has Texas specials in it) which I bought because of some money I came into back then. I'd gladly play a 400 dollar MIM strat and be perfectly happy with it. Some might justify that much for like a VOS Les Paul but I donno, the strat IMHO just does'nt have the level of woodworking, bookmatching and overall finish to pay thousands for. Just my opinion of course worth what ya paid... :D

Regards,

Dyna

[je32ff]

That is kinda my feeling on it. It is not rocket science. It is a hunk of wood that a CNC machine shapes up pretty much the same in mexico as anywhere else. I play mostly an '84 american strat and a Frankenstein strat assembled from god knows what. I also have a buddy with a '75  which feels very different because of the neck and his setup on the guitar. I just can't justify the price range and it seems like it has to be marketing.

[bluesbear]

My son has a Korean Squire. I have a 20 year old American Strat with Texas Specials. We A/B'ed them a few years ago with a number of amps. No one could hear the slightest difference between them. There was a difference in feel but it wasn't that one was better than the other, they just felt different, like a Les Paul and an SG feel different. Maybe the more expensive ones are more consistantly well made, I don't know, but you go to the store, try them out till you find one that feels right and you're all set. Hey, my son also has a cheap Yamaha Pacifica that wipes up the floor with any Strat I've ever played. If you believe the extra money buys you more, you'll probably find it.... but it's as much in the head as in the guitar.
Dave

[tubenit]

" If you believe the extra money buys you more, you'll probably find it.... but [size=14]it's as much in the head as in the guitar. "[/size]

Well said, Bluesbear !   The cost may or may not reflect a better axe.

I build my own guitars and like them alot better than the '62 strat I owned.  It costs me around $425-450 in parts.  

With respect, Tubenit

[je32ff]

Tubenit, those look like $2,000 guitars to me! If those sound and play half as good as they look you are in good shape!

[jjasilli]

Word is that a MIM Jimmy Vaughan or Robert Cray Start is as good as a $2000 Strat.  Though the Jimmy Vaughan street price, new, is $650, they can be had used for $400 or less.  Also the Korean made early '90's Pro Tone Strats can be had for about $300 - $350 used.  Another solution is to put a quality neck on a decent but inexpensive Strat body.  

[jhadhar65]

I agree completely with Bluesbear and others.  I've pretty much always been a Strat guy, except for my relatively brief Jackson excursion back in the 80's.  Even the Strats I had were Mexican models.  I've always modded my guitars and amps and changed stuff to suit me, but I finally admitted that I just wasn't getting the tone and playability I wanted from my Strat and I naturally blamed the fact that it was a cheapo Mexican knock off.  If I had a "real" Strat, the world would at last become perfect.  I couldn't make up my mind which one I wanted and I knew I could never afford a custom axe, so I was stymied.

I ended up making a list of all the features and specs I would want if I could afford a custom and I broke them down into a "must have" and a "nice, but not required" column.  Out of curiosity, I started comparing every guitar on the market and actually found five guitars that had all of the "must have's" and some of the "nice, but not required's".  To my surprise, none of them were even Fenders, much less Strats.  Even more surprising was the fact that the one that had the most (nearly all) of the "nice, but not required's" was around $500, not the $2,000 or more that I expected.  So, without much more deliberation, I bought it and it is without doubt the finest (for me) guitar I've ever played.  I don't say this lightly as I've been playing for 25 years and I've plucked the strings on practically everything there is at one time or another.

The guitar?  It's an ESP LTD MH350.  I've always snubbed my nose at ESP and still don't consider myself an ESP guy.  Then again, I have completely discarded my brand prefences for anything musical and I make my selections differently now.  I also don't measure value by price tags anymore, either.  I suspect that's why people buy our amps, too, instead of Fender, Marshall, Vox, etc., even though theirs may even be cheaper.

[G._Hoffman]

Yes, without question, a $2000 Strat is better than a $400 Strat.  The question is, is it $1600 better?  That one you'll have to decide for yourself, but do remember that the $2000 strat will hold it's value better than the $400 Strat.



Gabriel

[EKDENTON]

I thought it odd that anyone would buy a pair of bluejeans that were ripped up and already worn out for the price of a fresh new pair but there are alot of people who do just that.
A ford escort would get you to your destination just as well as a corvette, but in 15 or 20 years the vette will hold more of it's value or be even more valuable than when it was new. Same with instruments.
 I think that maybe a authintic Fender, Gibson, PRS, or an custom shop guitar will hold resale value alot longer than say a squire or a epiphone ect. If you look at Ebay the Fenders from the 70's era are fetching way more than they sold for originally.

I think if a person doesn't care what the name on the guitar is and it plays and sounds good to him then the price doesn't matter.
If I didn't make my own guitars, I think I would choose to buy either a high end Strat or Gibson Les Paul,  I love the short scale length on Les Pauls, and angled neck of the Les Paul, but love the comfort and lighter weight of the Fender. Too bad they don't combine those features. guess that is why i like to make them, so I can get what i want.

[Ritchie200]

A buddy of mine owns a music store and is always, "Play this, and this, and this.."  He knows I'm a Strat guy and one day was just handing them to me to try.  THey all felt clunky in the neck and then he handed me one that was absolutely purrrrfect.  Neck was fantastic.  I always play them acoustically before I plug them in and this one was head and tails above the others.  What was it?  I think it was a '58 reissue (?, can't remember), at $2000+.  It was only when I got home and pulled out my much modified and banged up Jap copy from the '70s, that I realized that the neck and the acoustic properties were the same (except the scalloping)!  IMveryHO, I think it boils down to what feels good to you and what sounds good out of whatever rig you are using.  If you like the name as a collectible, buy it.  Otherwise, if it feels good, hit it!

Jim

[Ty]

its the neck. I have a pair of bit strats, made from cool looking import bodies, If you can find a nice neck and a heavy bridge, youll have a highly playable strat that you can do whatever you want to. save your money. Imo $400-600 range strats are the best.

Ty

[tubetek]

In the early 70s I was lucky enough to get a '65 LakePlacidBlue hardtail strat; the best Fender I ever owned.
(STILL kicking myself for letting it go)
That said, my current strat is a "Mother-Of-Tapioca-Pus" Jimmy Vaughan Tex-Mex. I added GraphTech stringsaver saddles, Sperzel locking tuners, and Texas-Special pickups...It is pretty much as good as my old one and the total investment was $500 US including the cost of the guitar!
I think that as long as the wood is good and the neck straight you are good to go; even with the cost of a pro setup (usually needed on most new Fenders other than the megabuck Custom-Shop models anyway)
You'll have a great player and won't be afraid to gig with it...I know I certainly wouldn't dare leave that old 65 on stage between sets!!
tubetek

[jjasilli]

You'll have a great player and won't be afraid to gig with it...I know I certainly wouldn't dare leave that old 65 on stage between sets!!

Last time a I brought my 69 LP to jam at a bar, my buddies hid it in the kitchen.  We all had a good laugh - very funny stuff.  It hasn't been out since.  I just got a Washburn body & neck to build something LP-like and gig-able (I hope).  

I agree that you can build a parts strat; or buy a decent used strat and upgrade things as necessary like shielding; pickups; wiring, pots and switches; neck - and wind up with a strat that looks, feels and sounds as good as a $2500+ boutique instrument, for $750 or less.  And, you can do mods over time, spreading out costs.

[je32ff]

I found myself waiting for someone to bring me an old twin reverb that I was buying from him. It just so happened he worked at a Guitar Center. I had about forty minutes to kill and what do I see but a wall with about 80 strats on it. First off the setup or lack of setup made comparison a little tough but here goes. Eric Johnson, my favorite by a narrow margin. Did not like the Clapton. the 50's and 60's models felt very nice. highway 1 nothing special. I did not plug anything in so who knows about the pickups. The models that seemed to most consistently play nicely were the mexi starts. The same was true of the teles also. The squire tele is not even too bad I think for the price. Anyway it kind confirmed what I suspected. It is also interesting to look at musicians friend's strat buying guide and see that they are all pretty much the same other than hardware and electronics.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=101934

[Rick51]

My #1 now is a Squier Standard Tele I bought new a few years ago.  It  was set up very well right off the rack.  I changed the pickups to Fender OV 52's.  Now I have about $250 invested and it's a very good guitar.  That left me enough $ left over for a Mission 5E3 kit.  IMHO, that rig sounds about as good as it gets for 60's R&B.

I honestly think there is a major turning point in the price vs. quality curve at about $250.00.  Not to be contentious, say $250-$400.  Above that, I think you are seeing diminishing returns for additional money spent.  Real, but diminishing.  The basics of playability and tone have been accomplished.

None of which should imply criticism of those who do pay up for the more expensive instruments.  These are personal preference choices and real differences.  I would trade my Squire Tele for a custom shop Nocaster...

  

[jjasilli]

Sometimes I think a guitar is like a bottle of wine.  Probably everyone will like a $20 bottle of wine.  Once you get to $50 - $100 per bottle, the wine is probably going to have a personality - be distinctive.  If you you don't like it, you might be happier with with a $20 bottle.  The more expensive guitars start having selectable features in terms of wood choice for tone & appearance, nitro vs. poly finish, neck radius & contour; width @ nut; fret size; tuner choices; pickup choices, electronics & switching options, etc., etc.

If you begin developing personal preferences for these things, you can either do without, research a model that has the features you want; modify an existing guitar; have a custom guitar built; or do it yourself.  Once you hit the $2000 range, there are enough models available that with some research you can probably find a "semi-custom" artist model that fits the bill.  Again, you may be happier with a $200 Squier than with a $2000 artist model with features that you hate.  E.g., if you hate the feel of a V-neck, then you won't like a Clapton Strat.  

[jukelemon]

IMHOP:

First and foremost, a good player can make any guitar sound good.  Technique passes over any kind of bad pu or wood or neck.

With that said though, there are better Fenders/Gibsons i.e. my 51 Nocaster Custom Shop is far better than any other Tele-whether USA or Mexican or whatever.  The level of finish is just superior and it is clearly a better playing playing/sounding guitar than others.  How much better?  Well, enough to justify the tag difference I think

BUT, everyone is mentioning building this and that.  That really is not an apples to apples comparison with the original question in my opinion.  Is there a difference between a Squire and a Custom Shop 54 Strat?  Most certainly-from pu's to neck to tuners.  Worth the money?  I would say Yes if you did not want or know how to build a guitar.

I agree, the Vaughn strat is a steal of a guitar.

[Jeremy]

Tubenit, Those are some drop dead gorgeous guitars....well done!

I also like my homemade guitar better than my $700 strat plus.

[Geo]

I'm always surprised with the hit-or-miss quality of guitars in music stores.
For the money, buying a few specialized tools, and doing your homework, you can build yourself a nice guitar.
I've only bought one electric guitar, and that was my first one, a Strat knockoff from music 123... I'll never buy another guitar cuz I build my own. I know it isn't for everybody, but for me, it's worlds above saving up several hundred $ to buy a brand name guitar. You can choose every feature, from the scale length to pickups to neck angle ETC ETC... and you can carve the neck and heel (if it's a glue-in neck) to fit your own hand exactly!  :)