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Post subject: Help me with my next guitar please?
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:34 am
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Hi!

I got a Les Paul Studio, but I find it too heavy and uncomfortable and I don't like its neck very much - too thick and hard to slide up and down on. What I would like is one with about the same power and punch in the pickups, but maybe a little more smooth (is that what you call more modern?) distortion sound and one that is lighter. A friend of mine has got a Strat and I like its feel and thin neck very much - maple on the back so it's fast and easy get up and down and rosewood on the front. So I checked out the American Deluxe HSS, but I'm not sure if that will satisfy me when I'm used to the power of my LP.

What do you guys think? Can the HSS deliver? And by the way how light is a Strat in general? I think my LP is around 9-10 lbs...

I play modern and hard rock and punk(-pop) like Sum 41, Green Day, Foo Fighters, blink-182, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, Yellowcard, Linkin Park (etc.), but I would like to be able to play some bluesy and slightly distorted tones as well like some of Bryan Adams songs for instance.

I play through a Marshall JCM2000 TSL100.

If the HSS can't deliver the sounds I want would it then be a good idea to put another pickup in the bridge, or will another guitar fit my needs better? Will the S-1 switching system work if I change the bridge pickup?

Sorry for the long post - hope you get through it and can help me. Thanks :)


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:07 am
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A Strat will never completely sound like a Les Paul, as an LP has a mahogany body and set neck, not to mention a shorter neck scale. A strat with a humbucker will sound like something in between the two – until recently I had a set of Seymour Duncan Humbuckers (a Seth Lover neck and Custom 5 bridge) in one of my strats and even though it made the sound much more aggressive, it never did not sound exactly like a Gibson. That said, you can get some very heavy sounds with a humbucker equipped strat (ask Eddie Van Halen!) You can always get a strat with a hum’bkr and if the sound is not aggressive enough there are a ton of options from Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan and others – just do your research and be sure you know how to use a soldering iron!
As for the s-1 switching system, I not sure on that one...


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:50 am
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Okay, thanks a lot! As for the LP vs. Strat thing, it actually doesn't matter that much. It's more important to me if I can't get a sound similar to the bands I mentioned and the style those bands have. Anyone else have any comments?


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:52 am
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By the way what does a set neck mean?


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:02 pm
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I also own a Gibson studio. I felt the same way you did and considered buying a Strat w/ humbucker to get a Fender/Gibson-like sound. I almost bought the American Special Mahogany HSS Strat. I think the guitar is awesome and has a dirty sound with a heavy vibe. If your convinced that a HSS is what you want check it out. In the end, I bought an Amercian Strat with Single coils. I don't regret it at all. Something about buying a Fender with a humbucker seemed wrong to me.


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:45 pm
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runenees wrote:
By the way what does a set neck mean?


Strats have bolted on necks. Set neck guitars have a mortise and tenon joint. The neck extends into the body of the guitar and is glued into place. A set neck usually offers greater resonance then a bolt on neck. It's part of the reason for the "fatter" tone of the LP over the Strat.

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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:00 pm
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pklrlo wrote:
I also own a Gibson studio. I felt the same way you did and considered buying a Strat w/ humbucker to get a Fender/Gibson-like sound. I almost bought the American Special Mahogany HSS Strat. I think the guitar is awesome and has a dirty sound with a heavy vibe. If your convinced that a HSS is what you want check it out. In the end, I bought an Amercian Strat with Single coils. I don't regret it at all. Something about buying a Fender with a humbucker seemed wrong to me.


I haven't noticed that one on Fender's web site but I'll look closer. Thanks for the suggestion. But won't it be heavy like a Studio if the body is mahogany? Can the three single coils give you the power of your LP or do you just not need it?


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:01 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
runenees wrote:
By the way what does a set neck mean?


Strats have bolted on necks. Set neck guitars have a mortise and tenon joint. The neck extends into the body of the guitar and is glued into place. A set neck usually offers greater resonance then a bolt on neck. It's part of the reason for the "fatter" tone of the LP over the Strat.


Ah okay, thank you for that explanation...


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:09 pm
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runenees wrote:
Okay, thanks a lot! As for the LP vs. Strat thing, it actually doesn't matter that much. It's more important to me if I can't get a sound similar to the bands I mentioned and the style those bands have. Anyone else have any comments?


If the artists you want to sound like use humbucker guitars then you'll need one too. A strat will never sound like a les paul, even with a humbucker. Have you considered an Epi les paul thats weight reduced with chambers?

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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:25 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
runenees wrote:
Okay, thanks a lot! As for the LP vs. Strat thing, it actually doesn't matter that much. It's more important to me if I can't get a sound similar to the bands I mentioned and the style those bands have. Anyone else have any comments?


If the artists you want to sound like use humbucker guitars then you'll need one too. A strat will never sound like a les paul, even with a humbucker. Have you considered an Epi les paul thats weight reduced with chambers?


What I meant when I wrote that the LP vs. Strat thing didn't matter that much was that maybe I can get a sound like the artists I mentioned without sounding like a LP if you know what I mean? And that was one of my questions - if the Strat can give me the power and all that like a LP can, but not necessarily sound like one.

About the Epi I don't think it will satisfy me when I have payed a Gibson. Not to ditch your suggestion, but I think I would be happier by moving up a class. The new Gibsons are chambered to. There is just a lot of talking about whether it is good or not and Gibsons are so expensive so I thought that maybe a good old Strat could do the job for me. But I still don' know if that is the case though...


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:47 pm
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If you're not hung with it sounding just like a Les Paul, you can get some very heavy sounds with a HSS strat - I would say comparable to the groups you mentioned. As I also mentioned you can always install more aggressive pickups to get the crunch you're after. With the Seymour Duncans mentioned above in my '93 strat I could get some serious crunch; there's plenty of options out there The strat should be lighter and will feel more ergonomic than an LP...


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:57 pm
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TRWilley wrote:
If you're not hung with it sounding just like a Les Paul, you can get some very heavy sounds with a HSS strat - I would say comparable to the groups you mentioned. As I also mentioned you can always install more aggressive pickups to get the crunch you're after. With the Seymour Duncans mentioned above in my '93 strat I could get some serious crunch; there's plenty of options out there The strat should be lighter and will feel more ergonomic than an LP...


Okay. No, I like the sound of my LP, but I'm not looking for a guitar to "clone" the sound, just one that sounds equally good in its own way and will fit my needs for weight, neck and playing styles. And exactly as you say, the Strat seem more light an ergonomic. I have just always had that idea in my head that if you wanted to play hard rock and maybe even get a few metal sounds out of your guitar Strats were NO WHERE close, but that's not totally it don't seem. And as I said earlier I play through a TSL100 and that's not exactly incapable of gaining your tone :)

So the Strat HSS (or something similar with a humbucker or two) could be the way to go?


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:14 pm
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I have an LP and a few Strats. The one that can come closest to the sound of the LP IMHO is the Powerhouse Stratocaster. It has a 12db boost that runs on a 9v battery and a dummy coil under the pickguard to kill the 60 cyc hum.

I think the MIM Deluxe series guitars are some of Fender's most underrated. I play my PH more than my American Series Strat.


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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:40 pm
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You might want to consider a P90 equipped axe. A very tasty option that doesn't get enough attention in my humble opinion.

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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:57 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
You might want to consider a P90 equipped axe. A very tasty option that doesn't get enough attention in my humble opinion.


Stupid question, but do Fenders come with P90's? I know that Billy Joe of Green Day uses a LP Junior with a P90 pickup so maybe that would suit me well...


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