Recommend an HSS strat

I'll highly recommend looking for a PRS Studio. The version with the two Narrowfield pickups and a 57/08 humbucker at the bridge from 2011-2013 is my favorite of SSH guitars. It covers the bases of Strat sounds really well, is very quiet, sounds like a monster, but cleans up beautifully. And the humbucker balances with the Narrowfields very well.

They had an S2 version but the core version is what I recommend as they're different models. There were also a couple of older versions, but you really want the Narrowfields and that 57/08. Check out reviews of it; Every one I've seen has been very positive.

It's also available as a hardtail, but the PRS tremolo is great.



Another I'm interested in trying is the PRS Fiore, which is Mark Lettieri's signature model.


My Orange Tiger Studio, Hobbes, has the 57/15 LT at the bridge, and sounds fantastic. I swapped the 5-way selector switch for the C24 one and repurposed the tone pull switch to switch the middle pickup for the bridge/neck combo, which sounds amazing with the Narrowfield an 57/15 LT. FWIW, all 3 of my 3-pickup guitars have this switch, as the middle pickup does not quite equal the combination of the outer two....

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A bucker sized P90 works good with single coils. Gets some quack paired with the singles and more beef than a typical Strat pickup. I have Duncan P rail in the bridge of my Strat, almost always in the P90 mode. Which makes my guitar a PSS.
 
I got a Suhr Classic Pro S a few days ago and it's fantastic!

Thornbucker Plus in the bridge and MLs in the middle and neck

Just a complete thoroughbred and I got it second hand and in your budget
Used mint is always the best option if you are confident to QC it and let someone else take the hit. It also gets more great gear in to budget .
 
I own a few that I really like. HSS is one of my favorite pickup combinations for playing in a cover band.

Suhr custom build carve top Standard
Suhr Classic Pro
Anderson hollow drop top classic
Fender American Standard Strat
Fender American Special Strat

These all have difference in tones when compared to each other. My list also covers a wide price range. You can get a good feeling and good sounding HSS guitar in many price ranges. You can also get them with many wood combinations and pickup specs. It all depends on what you want to do with it. Some of mine are mahogany body with a maple top and maple neck with rosewood fretboards. Some have alder bodies. One is ash with a maple neck and maple fretboard... I would recommend trying to nail down what you want to do with it and what tones you are looking for.

The balancing of the pickup volumes is done by setting the pickup heights correctly. I think all of mine automatically tap the HB when you put the switch in the in between position to give a more authentic quack to that switch position.
 
My Charvel USA Select HSS is the one guitar I'd keep if I had to sell my others. It's like driving a fine car. A big factor is deciding if you want a low output neck p/u or if you like the hotter ones. I like mine low to clean up and get Hendrix-ish. I can step on a boost to get the high gain 'noodle' when I want it. I bought used on Reverb and was fortunate that it worked out. The first one I bought didn't but a resold it. It was a MIJ Charvel and felt light and cheap. It had Hot Rails in the neck. Cool for buttery leads but I could also do that with humbuckers. My complaint against the Charvel USA HSS is the single volume knob and it's location. I don't know what they were thinking. But that's easily solvable if you don't mind modding. I also added a treble bleed. It's a must for me.
 
I had this UltraStrat that was great. I wanted the vintage voiced pickups, but I put a SD Lil' '59 in the bridge and it matched up really well. Got some more punch and thicker tone, without overdoing it. That push toggle on the volume is sweet. The bridge on mine was stable, stayed in tune really well, and I floated it, enough to pull up 1 & 1/2 steps on the G string, and about 1 step on the B & E strings. I wish I never would have sold it actually. It is beautiful and the sparkle doesn't really come through on the photos, but it's not gawdy. Fretboard excellent, fretwork excellent, intonation issues zero. The FR model has the humbucker stock. I've never seen a Strat with a lil '59 in it the bridge, but it has a little less balls than a full humbucker, but a lot more balls than a vintage single coil. I would recommend one of these.

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maybe it's me, but when someone asks for a HSS Strat guitar I immediately think it should resemble, well, a Strat (headstock, etc) no matter who makes it. Just sayin. Otherwise they would ask for an HSS guitar-period.
 
I tried the Lil 59 in this one. Traded it out for the P Rail, which is almost always on the P90. Parallel bucker works well with the singles too. 2 S1 switches and a superswitch handle the switching for the P Rail, and match the volume pot to the singles or the bridge. The S1 switch knobs all say Volume, but this has a volume, tone for singles and tone for the bridge. P90's match the singles a lot better than a bucker does. I have yet to get around to removing the logos, which I will one of these days.

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