single coil guitar - cheaper than Fender

[lockhart flawse]

I would like a guitar with single coil pick-ups to go with my Gibson. I have been using a £50 strat copy (Japanese of indeterminate make) that I bought for the children but one of them is planning to use it at school. I don't want to spend a lot as I only use it for recording at home - what else is out there? I can probably pick up a Squier Strat for £100 or less - do they sound a lot different to a Fender?

Thanks for any ideas.

L.F.

[Matthew_Eames]

The joy with strats is broadly speaking they always sound pretty much like a stratocaster regardless of make/price I think it's a combination of the floating bridge and SC setup, that is not to say they are all made equal though. my favorite guitars, can never see myself consistantly playing anything else really (hopefully get a 62 AVRI sometime in the future)

The squires are OK but avoid the affinity ones, better to buy a slightly more pricy one, heard good things about the classic reissue style ones (50's or 60's)...worth a look definately
Most importantly with guitars of this price is to play them first, quality is varaible and you can get a good one or bad one for the price, it's down to the individual guitar

Fender Mex Std strats are a good step up, the pickups are quite aggressive in them really, and the bridge block is very light....but they are a "real" stratocaster and all the better for it in my opinion (I know it's a name but they are built well, again depends on the individual guitar) at some point £100 or so on a new bridge block (or the whole unit) and some more vintage style pickups and they are very good guitars. They tend to fetch around £250 2nd hand, good value really.

Tokai's springysound's 2nd hand are also worth looking at, they are VERY good, not super cheap but great quality

Edited by Matthew_Eames on Friday 8th May 14:44

[paulmurr]

I've got an early 90s MIJ Squire Strat and it's lovely. Much nicer than the Chinese affinity Squires that you can buy new.

Maybe look at other manufacturers such as Vintage or Yamaha. Vintage seem to be endorsed by some well known players these days (Bernie Tormé was one that caught my eye) so may be worth a look.

http://www.totalmusicsupply.com/BrandCategory.aspx...

[scumbagjag]

Matthew_Eames said:

The joy with strats is broadly speaking they always sound pretty much like a stratocaster regardless of make/price I think it's a combination of the floating bridge and SC setup

Not if you've got a series 3 with twin humbuckers.

[lockhart flawse]

Thanks chaps - just the sort of info I was after.

L.F.