i have had a couple ibanezes and played a few jacksons and esps but i think that once youve played a strat neck nothing compares, and i dont see why people say they dont work for metal. i can do sweeps,pinch harmonics,hammers all the metal stuff on my strat with no problem

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I like my tone like my women. Full round bottom, sweet and clean but can get as dirty as I desire.

I feel the ONLY drawback with Strats, in terms of metal, are the single coil pickups. If you can get a good set of humbuckers then it's just as good as any Jackson, ESP, Schecter.

-Mike

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2000 MIM Stratocaster
1998 MIM Stratocaster
Super Strat built by me
1974 Hohner Les Paul
Fender/Squire Partsocaster
ESP/LTD KH2
ESP/LTD Explorer
ESP/LTD Eclipse EC50
Epiphone Flying V
Jackson Firestorm DX10D
Hohner Les Paul
Schecter C1+
Yamaha Acoustic

But how many high powered metal players have Strats and record with them?

Randy Rhoads
Krk Hamster
Jaymz Hetfield (Tele actually)

To name a few

basically drop some beefy pickups in one and they are grrrrreeeeaaat. hotrails are an easy swap. or they make duncan blackouts in a sible coil size now

long live metal
long live the stratocaster

You're right, but there's a reason that they go back to the humbucker sound. Most of those guys used Strats and Tele's for recording clean tone and semi-distorted songs. When they get back to the hard metal sound, you better believe that they are not using a guitar with a single coil pickup. Now, before this gets blown up, I know that Yngwee Malmsteen gets away with it and so did Iron Maiden (but Dave Murray ended up getting a humbucker on his Strat later).

-Mike

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2000 MIM Stratocaster
1998 MIM Stratocaster
Super Strat built by me
1974 Hohner Les Paul
Fender/Squire Partsocaster
ESP/LTD KH2
ESP/LTD Explorer
ESP/LTD Eclipse EC50
Epiphone Flying V
Jackson Firestorm DX10D
Hohner Les Paul
Schecter C1+
Yamaha Acoustic

Two, actually... and a trem, but thats nit-picking.

ORC

As usual I am going to suggest Lace pups for a more full bodied sound instead of a standard SC. Red or Blue in the bridge is what you want. I have on occasion tuned my 1989 Strat to drop C. I don't use that tuning as much so that guitar is at Eb right now. And of course I have an LTD that is in C.

Some people put silly rules on guitars and it drives me nuts. They ALL have frets, strings, pups, bridge....essentially all the same components. A guitar will play whatever style you want it to.

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Live guitars: 2009 LTD Truckster, 1989 Strat Plus, 2001 Am Standard Strat, 1996 MIJ Jaguar, 2007 Gibson Explorer 76 reissue, 1999 Ibanez RG7621, LTD MH-301, LTD FM400, 1999 Jackson Kelly, Mystery Les Paul, Hamer Chaparel, Fender FM 62SCE A/E Mandolin

Go with what you like. If you like the Fender necks, play Fender. Have it set up by a trusted technician, especially if going to such heavy strings.



Whatever pickups you want. If you like the EMG's install them. I have a Dimarzio Super Distortion on my HWY 1, and I get that Maiden/Metallica sound with it.



Personal choice there. I have three Strats, 2 with Rosewood and 1 with Maple. To my ears, the Maple neck sounds brighter where the rosewood is more mellow.



Actually most "Super-Strats" are made of Basswood or Poplar...but Alder is fine. Listen to Maiden, Dave Murray plays Fender. He no longer uses that old 57 Fender. He has retired it. He is playing newer model Fenders with Dimarzio single coil looking humbuckers.

Most people play what they want to. If you want to play Fender, modify a Fender to suit your needs. I have been playing Metal on Fenders for years, just need the proper accessories to play it.

Here are the specs on the ESP Kirk Hammet guitar:

ESP LTD KH-602 Kirk Hammett Signature Series Guitar Features:

Neck-thru-body construction
Alder body
3-piece maple neck
Extra-thin U-shaped neck
25.5" scale
Rosewood fingerboard
design
42mm nut width
Extra-thin U neck contour
24 extra-jumbo frets
Dual EMG-81 bridge and EMG-60 neck active humbuckers
Floyd Rose 1000 Series tremolo bridge
Locking nut
ESP tuners
2 volume, tone, and 3-way switching controls
Skull and bones inlays
Black hardware



If you want to play Fender...get either a Highway 1 or American Special. Change the pickups to whatever brand you want.

I own both and both are great. As far as Floyd Rose Tremolos, you can have one installed, but unless you are dive bombing a lot, it is not necessary. Most Metal guitarists think they have to have a Floyd Rose to Dive all the time. You do not need to dive all the time to play Metal, I do not.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

i agree with stratgeek. i've got one lonely hotrail in my strat. it'll get as nasty as need be.

An acquaintance....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKaEhEU8djU

Who says you can't do metal on a Strat?
MULLY

i agree with what rk said about the floyd. personally i block the tail on my strat, because the more solid you have the strings the more sustain & response you get, so yeah unless you use your trem a ton. the floyd actually mellows out the aggression in your guitar

Thick strings and humbuckers are best for drop tunings for metal. Active pickups are most common, such as EMG 85's. Seymour Duncun Pearly Gates is high output, so is the Gibson Burstbucker line.... Maybe try an Angus Young Signature pickup (humbucker)..

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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