Strat or G&L? School me

Manning said:
I've owned/played seven Fender strats in my time ranging from a '61 to an '93. They not garbage, but they are all-too-often nothing special, certainly not good enough to earn any "brand loyalty" from me.

My opinion, nothing more. But I'm just pointing out that it's not an unfounded opinion.
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I know-just a sore spot with me.no big deal-just gets old. A tool is a tool. Like I said it's the user IMHO of course.
 
I have a mid-90's G&L Legacy. It's a very nice guitar, but it's not exactly a strat.

The body shape is a bit different but the main difference for me is the bridge. The G&L bridge is a much larger hunk of metal and is setup to float so it can pulled up and down. This causes the strings to sit significantly higher off the body than on a standard strat. So it's just a very different playing feel.

The quality of the G&L is great however. So I'd say try one out. But don't just buy one off Ebay and assume it will feel exactly like a strat :).
 
I've owned a couple of Strats (vintage reissues and modern) and a G&L (S-500). They were all good guitars, but different.

The vintage Strats have a very curved fretboard radius (7.25"), and vintage (tiny) frets and vintage pickups. So you're not going to get the action too low, and you'll get some 50/60Hz hum.

The other Strat had a 9.5" radius and medium frets (as well as locking tuners, a 2-point tremolo and Lace sensor pickups). So, this guitar was much easier to play, quieter, and easier to keep in tune.

The G&L had a 12" radius and jumbo frets and slightly thinner neck profile. Modern feel, easy to play and sounded really good.

As far as sound goes - they all sounded like a "Strat" (3 single coils and a 5 way switch). I played all of these before I bought them, so everything was in order in terms of tone, build quality , etc.

I would say try a couple of variations out, and see which one sounds/feels best to you. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll be able to cover those Strat tones convincingly.

If you're not sure what radius is, it's the curvature of the fingerboard. A lower number is more "rounded", a higher number is "flatter". Don't confuse this with neck profile, which is the back of the neck
 
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Wow thanks everyone. Really good observations on all sides. I'm gonna keep my eye open for something on the used market. I don't want to spend too much coin since it will be my 3rd guitar and i;ve spent more than enough on my other two:) A Suhr...OMG, would love one if i already didn't have my other two. Silhouette musicman is interesting...I'll try one out for shits and giggles (what a weird expression btw)
 
Any thoughts on a 2006/2007 USA strat 60th anniv? its a charcoal grey/blue metallic finish. local one for sale for $700. Looks to be in good shape.
 
Chewie5150 said:
Any thoughts on a 2006/2007 USA strat 60th anniv? its a local one for sale for $700. Looks to be in good shape.
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the only bad thing about buying a used guitar is that 99.999% of used guitars are badly in need of a luthier's caring hands.

Between a fret level, nut file, good setup, and truss rod adjustment/heel adjustment (before setup!), you're looking at $150 minimum for a rightly-done job- which is why you should make sure it's the guitar you want, so that you're not turned off immediately when a used guitar sounds bad.
 
I think there are a lot of great used ones out there and you can try one without spending an arm and a leg.
Head over to the Gear Page and look around for a Strat or a G&L.
Or your local Craiglist ads. A million used ones out there.
Easy to resell also.
Decide what radius you want.
Decide the fret size you want.
Decide if you want single coils, or a mix.

I had an American Deluxe with a H/S/S setup.
Never bonded with it, but it played great and setup easily.

I now have a Telecaster Am Std 60th anniversary for the single coil sound and love it.

You can also build one yourself easily with the parts you want.
I would disagree about used being a problem for setting up.
Setups are easy. Fret level is easy also with some basic tools if it needs one.
You should know how to do these anyway and it is fun.
 
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I have played many great Strats, I do not find a problem when it comes to build quality and such. As stated before, if you want the strat sound, get a strat.
On the other hand, if I could choose, I would buy a G&L. Simply because I like them better and they are great bang for the buck.
 
American Standard Strat with bent saddles is a classic that's hard to beat. Hello Music has been blowing out 2012's.
 
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