Holy mother of G*d are those Select guitars nice, or what? Wow!

I believe that I--and others like me--am stupid. Should we not sell our numerous guitars that are in the range of $700 to $1,000 (including even American Standards, which are nice guitars) and replace them with Select instruments?

I should sell about five $800 guitars and replace them with one really amazing Select.

Or will I miss the variety?

I've been thinking about compound radius, because I've been getting more into soloing and extreme bending (whereas in the past I concentrated more on chords). So now I feel like the compound radius would actually help avoiding fretting out and make it easier on my fingertips.

Yet I'm aware that numerous famous world class players used and use standard 9.5 and even 7.5 necks, including those who bend.

Sorry for the random babbling.

Anyone want to chime in on the usefulness of having a compound radius for soloing above the 12th fret and/or the idea of multiple decent guitars vs. less *really* good guitars? Does Clapton use a compound radius or 9.5 all the way up the neck? I notice the Clapton strat is 9.5 all the way. Is that the actual guitar he uses? Are there any pros who actually admit they like or need compound radius?

I think you nailed it when you said "variety".
There's no doubt in my mind these are some fine quality instruments.
But for me? My meager GAS money goes toward variety.
I'd go crazy if I didn't have options.

I have 5 guitars, but I only play two of them. So my answer is the 2 really good guitars. Variety is good, but you can only play one at a time, and every guitar deserves a good amount of playing time.

Variety is the spice of life! I would rather have 5 guitars of different configurations in my arsenal.

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This is a tough one. I haven't played a Select model yet but do feel like my Am Deluxe strat is superior to my other less expensive models. If the Selects are again that much better I would certainly consider having just two of them.

Hey wait! Are we talking exclusively about electrics If not than I have to pick the variety option. I would not want to be without at least 1 nylon and 1 steel string acoustic.

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'09 Am Deluxe Ash Strat
'09 Mex Standard Strat
'10 Mex Standard Tele
Champ 600
Blues jr.
'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

I voted 5 for $4k but if I found a guitar that I liked more than any other I might consider trading up.
Let us know what you decide.

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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.

Ha. I don't think I'm doing anything right now. Just an interesting thought. Interesting 50/50 poll results so far.

In my personal case, I kind of like having some variety on decent but not super valuable guitars, because I'm learning (not that learning will ever stop), and I feel like by the time I'm reasonably decent, by then I might have some money or sell a few and get a REAL GOOD guitar. Right now it would almost be waste as long as the guitars I'm learning on are good enough to not hold me back. So I guess my answer FOR NOW is having five $800 guitars better for me as I play a lot of aggressive stuff anyway, and am trying to learn slide, experiment with different string gages, do my own setups. (Not that an $800 instrument is one to destroy or that $800 is anything to sneeze at, but it's not $5,000 either and plus Fenders are tough and they'll probably survive my use of them anyway, and by the time all 5 of them have a broken neck, hopefully I'll then have $2,000 to get my "my guitar" LOL).

I think I need to wait until I'm more ready for a REAL GOOD $2500 guitar, not learn to play slide on one, I think. LOL. Plus variety is the spice of life like someone said and my excuse for having 5 electrics and one acoustic has been, I think, legit, which is that it is absolutely true that I'm constantly playing a different one (and I love them all) and I might practice less if I had only one guitar (no offense to those who can afford only one guitar).

But I do like the idea of having one REALLY GOOD strat and one REALLY GOOD tele and having those be "my guitars" that might even be with me 40 years and be all beat up on a stage one day. Like how the real players have guitars that are beat to hell, while I play in my bedroom and worry about tiny scratches.

but the thing that gives me pause is that I do (like many of us, I think) have a tendency to buy "cheaper" things and then end up wanting more and getting more and then I end up with five $700 guitars instead of two $1500 guitars. Like I do that with suits, I admit. I own about 20 (twenty) $450 suits, none of which I like all that much, when I should own about five $2,000 suits and be proud of them. I'm trying to avoid that type of pattern with regard to guitars and amps.

EDIT: I totally realize that the Dan Auerbach's guitar tech video I posted in a separate thread shows that I am a total moron for using the term "good enough" and implying that one needs an American Standard strat or tele to meet that "standard." Any guitar can be made to be "good enough" after a good tech gets done with it!!! Dan Auerbach, a world famous guitarist, (and many others) uses guitars that were literally pieces of garbage best suited to be firewood (if that) when he acquired them, which were fixed up by his tech. Like his authentic vintage stuff that's 50 years old that he actually plays on stage.

In fact, I need to find a good tech. Everything I've read tells me that I won't recognize my guitars after a good tech gets done with them in terms of great playability that I did not know was possible.

I already have somewhat of a collection (Teles especially, but 3 Strats too), so I went with the two really high end.

The Select Tele I played was a very nice instrument, but no nicer than my Am.Vtg. FSR Ltd. Ed. '57 Strat, though it was certainly on par with it.

To me that says the additional $2300 went into making it pretty, and it is all of that.

But personally, when it comes to Guitars, I'm not gonna heap on an additional $2300 for pretty - I mean that's a whole other Guitar for Pete's sake.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Fit & Finish of the American Vintage series for less than half the price.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Variety prevents the novelty from wearing off.

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You dig?

Thoughtful post, thankyou for responding. Your last sentence is the budget custom shop. As with vintage instruments some are priceless and some are not. A good tech or your self could assemble guitars parts to produce that magical $2500 guitar you're thinking of at a fraction of the cost. However, owning a Fender select or custom shop guitar or bass is a goal an aspiration an objective of guitarists in general I think.

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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.

If i sold all of my guitars, I still couldn't afford either one, never mind both

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You asked about the compound radius neck. I know none of the great strat players like EC, Beck, Gilmour, use one, so it's not really necessary, but I really like mine. The compound radius neck and the LSR nut are the two features I like best about my strat.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Two years ago, I could've said quantity over quality. Now that I have a few very, very nice guitars (Custom Strat, built with help from this forum, and a Gibson Les Paul Standard) and have a recent significantly increased income due to teaching lessons and gigging twice a week, I actually chose the quality over quantity. I have several Squier/MIM level guitars that I've gotten for super cheap over the years, but I hardly play them now. It's not that I don't like them, I wouldn't have bought them if I hadn't, it's just that when given a better option I go with it. You'd think that I'd sell those cheaper guitars off now, but I keep thinking about how I'm going to eventually mod them!

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I choose the select series.