Check out the Jimmie Vaughn with Tex Mex pickups and a soft V neck.I play classic rock and blues and find it great.I was jamming one night with 4 LesPaul players and they couldn't get over the fabulous tone of the Jimmie Vaughn especially for Hendrix stuff.BTW UK do you live on?i'm a real anglophile as all my forebears on both sides of my family are from either Devon,Cornwall or Dorset.I love the islands off Scotland such as Islay etc. absolutely beautiful.

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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 have a vox VT40 and can get some very good tones using my 70s strat. I would think that the 70s reissue strat and the VT50 would be a sweet sounding combination. I understand that the 70s reproduction strats have a U shaped neck. If the seller lives near to you go and try them both out and see if you like them enough to buy.

Sorry for the late reply to you all, I might go try out the amp and guitar we will see how it goes. I really don't know what to buy since I can't test the guitars. I think my safest bet would be a roadhouse because I'm confident I will like the neck from reading specs and I really want to give the Texas Specials a go. But then again I could buy a standard strat with much more colour options and put in Texas Specials myself..argh lol

guitslinger: I am from the Northern Isles of Scotland

I had Texas Specials put into my Squier shortly after I started playing blues and to this day they're still my favorite. They have a certain snarl to them that other pickups I've tried just don't have. Perfect for Blues/Rock.

A roadhouse would be a good choice. If I were you I'd also think about getting an American Special. It has jumbo frets which are excellent if you do a lot of bending (and if you like SRV, you do). It comes with Texas Specials and it's a really good quality, nice playing Strat for the price. The trade off for you is that the S/S/S model only comes in a satin finished maple neck. I'm more of a rosewood person myself, but I've played several Am Specials and the maple neck didn't bother me.

Another option you should think about is a Highway One Strat. The newer ones (2006 and later) have jumbo frets, which makes them great benders too. I like the pickups which come in the older ones (I have an '03 Highway One), but the newer pickups sound a little flat too me. They don't have the same bite and dynamics as Texas Specials do. But getting a Highway One and installing Texas Specials is always an option, and it's what I'm planning to do to mine.

One note on Texas Specials though, the bridge pickup is really twangy and bright. You might find it necessary to take some of the edge off. To do this, you could wire the bridge pickup to one of the tone pots. It makes a big difference and helps make the bridge pickup useful in more situations.

Also, what amp are you currently using? A nice tube amp can make a world of difference in your tone and if you don't already have one I'd suggest taking a portion of your budget and using it for that.

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As TGS mentioned the Highway 1 and/or the American Special's have the jumbo fretts. I personally love them and own one of each. Both guitars have decent pickups. The American Special's Texas Specials, especially the bridge pickup is really bright. Both guitars already have the bridge pickup connected to a tone knob, however the middle pickup is not connected. I am thinking of bridging the middle pickup to one of the tone knobs for even more tone options.

If you can, play as many models as you can and let your fingers and ears do the judging.

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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 will check out the American Special! Im using a Marshall MGHDFX 100 stack at the moment. I know its not the best of amps but I got an incredibly good deal on it (which included a free wireless system) and it has some serious fire power.

There is a tube amp for sale near where I live but I have no idea if its a good amp or if it would be loud enough for gigs
http://www.shetlink.com/classifieds/she ... d_id=40612

I wouldn't really mind a bright bridge pickup, I don't use the bridge that much anyway and I really would like to try some texas specials!