Hi everyone, I've been doing a lot of research on strats recently as I thought I wanted to buy one, but the more I find out, the more strats seem to suit a bluesier sound than I want. I'm mostly into indie (which is a terrible genre title and not very descriptive) and would love to have a versatile (non bluesy) sound. Influences include Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, The National, Wilco, Modest Mouse, etc etc. I'm just looking for a versatile guitar I guess and don't know where to begin, there's far too much choice. My maximum price is about $1000, although that is at a stretch. If anyone could reccomend something I'd be very greatful, thanks!

Just go for an HSS Standard. Any shaping you wanna do from there can be done with pedals.

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Hi Jimbo and welcome to the forum. Go to a music store and try a Classic Player Jaguar like this.

http://www.fender.com/fr-CA/products/se ... 0141700309

Cost a grand, versatile and not specifically bluesy. Blues is more a state of mind than a brand of guitar. Good luck.
Claude.

Hi guys, thanks for the help, I just saw a blacktop telecaster, any thoughts on it? I think the classic player jaguar is a bit out of my price range sadly.

Hi Jimbo!

HSS Strat or Jag should do the trick easily. At any rate: Shouldn't "Indie" be about being independent? I recommend to go and play as many different models as you can, and get a lot of experience playing with your amp settings and effects, too. That way you are master of your sound.
Because quite frankly, there has been great blues played on any kind of guitar. It's really about what you as a player make happen. Good luck, and let us know what you decided to get!

Cheers,

Nutter

Haha, couldn't agree more about the "indie" comment, which is why I said it's a terrible word at the start, but for the influences I have, I couldn't think of anything that sounded better. I was looking at a lonestar and roadhouse strat, which i think are both HSS. But the blacktop series is really more affordable so I'm VERY interested in it (I'm a student and therefor poor), as I would love some spare cash to spend on pedals/ save up for a decent amp. So basically a choice between a blacktop jaguar, jazzmaster or telecaster perhaps? I basically don't know enough about guitars to decide And I really apprecaite the help.

Welcome to the Forum! Those are great choices!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Thank you kindly, any advice on which to pick of the three? Basically looking for whatever can be the most versatile without a million pedals, and whatever sounds the least "twangy". Cheers!

i dont care what kind of music you play, theres something in the fender lineup that will
help you play your best.
welcome to the forum.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

The Jimmie Vaughn Strat is prettyy versatile in its range,although it's a great blues guitar it is also great for rock.I play blues,classic rock and alternative on my Jimmie Vaughn all it takes is a couple of EQ tweaks.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I've always admired the Jaguar but I wouldn't call that advice . Versatility is a Jaguar signature, if you try one let us know how you like it

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

It sounds like you're on the right track with those choices. Try to play one in person if you possibly can. If not, check out reviews (especially by people who have similar musical tastes to you) and youtube for demos. Keep in mind sound quality and different amps make it harder to judge by youtube, but it still gives you the general idea of how a guitar sounds. Just don't make your mind up by that alone.

The first thing which popped into my mind when you said "indie" was a Jaguar or Jazzmaster. I think either would suit your needs. When you say that you don't want bluesy or twangy, a Tele is more of question mark since bluesy-twanginess is their trademark. But I don't know, a Blacktop Tele might be all right or I could be totally wrong and you find a Tele which you really like. You also might want to look for a guitar with one or more P-90 pickups. P-90s have a great in-between tone. They're single coils, but they're hot like humbuckers. They're extremely versatile too. The Blacktop Jazzmaster has one P-90 and one humbucker. http://backstage.musiciansfriend.com/Guitars/Electric-Guitars/Solid-Body-Electric-Guitars/Blacktop-Jazzmaster-HS-Electric-Guitar.site1prodH61569.product

You also may not want to rule out Strats completely. Every type of Strat I've played has a different tone. For what type of music you're into you might want to try out a Highway One (they have HSS Highway Ones too).

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Thanks for all the help!!! I'm hopefully going to test drive whatever I can today and see what I prefer. Unfortunately I've heard a lot of reports of problems with the bridge on the blacktop jazzmaster, so I guess it'll probably be the jaguar? Was hoping for something with at least one singlie pickup as well, but not to worry. So very excited about my shiney new guitar...

Stratocasters have been used in every genre of music, from jazz to country to rock to metal. Strats only sound bluesy if you play them that way.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

In case you're still wondering I own Blacktop Tele And I have to say the thing is super versatile, much more than I expected actually even after having play tested the thing to death. It can give you some of the tele twang that they are most known for or it can give you some heavy distortion goodness. I love it, also because of the pure comfort it gives me. It has a gut cut to form against your body, plus it's lightweight and well balanced so it can literally sit on my leg without me touching it and it doesn't fall off. The quality on mine is superb, high enough to make me have a hard time believing it was made in Mexico. And you know the price is right.