redant
Hi there,
I have been playing guitar for good while now. Just for fun. Been in and out of a few outfits over the years.
Electric wise, I've got an Ibanez RG470 which is 19 years old. Back then I bought it for a rock band and the sound was suitable. As you can imagine it has taken a fair share of wear and tear, with rust and knocks and bumps. So it is really not sounding all that great anymore.
But besides that, these days I am looking for a much warmer, richer and smoother sound. I bought a Boss GT-10 some time ago and still I am not happy with the sound I am getting from the old Ibanez.
A Fender Strat has always been a bit of a dream. And with that I mean a Fender Stratocaster American Standard.
So I am naturally wondering if this R18 000 (give or take) will fix my "problem". Will it make such a big difference? Is there really so much to this guitar?
Thanks for your inputs.
Gearhead
redant wrote:
As you can imagine it has taken a fair share of wear and tear, with rust and knocks and bumps. So it is really not sounding all that great anymore.
Please note that there is no connection between rust/knocks/bumps occurring and tone disappearing. If there is any connection, it's the other way around: more wear/tear = more mojo = better tone. To some corksniffing types anyway.
Better gear is always worth more, I would refrain from paying 18k new if you're not sure whether YOU are worth it. One way to try is to buy second hand and let go for very similar price if the instrument does not 'grab' you. If you are >99% that you are buying a sleeper, new is an option.
GuitarDoge
You can get a secondhand american standard in good condition for 9-12k. It will definitely have good tone as a brand new one will. Also a shop will give you a discount from the 18k retail.
However, a guitar won't actually lose tone. New strings, a new setup with better intonation, replacing/repairing frets will make any guitar sound like it did out of the factory or better. Also simply changing pickups can greatly improve your tone.
Also, an SSS strat won't give you that humbucker hard rock tone, however with a bit of discovery a strat can give so much.
And finally I would describe most strats tones as bright and sparkly if that's what you're looking for ?
Stoffeltoo
If the guitar leaps at you with a telepathic high pitched "Buy Me!"
Go for it. There is nothing as good as holding a dream guitar while playing no matter how it sounds. Its your dream do it. Such an itch does not come often and if you have the funds why not?
I still believe that better gear builds confidence and it will stand you good for the future.
Instead of a strat why not a tele? bit more oomph in the tone.
My six strings worth
GuitarDoge
Stoffeltoo wrote:
If the guitar leaps at you with a telepathic high pitched "Buy Me!"
Go for it. There is nothing as good as holding a dream guitar while playing no matter how it sounds. Its your dream do it. Such an itch does not come often and if you have the funds why not?
I still believe that better gear builds confidence and it will stand you good for the future.
Instead of a strat why not a tele? bit more oomph in the tone.
My six strings worth
My opinion strat beats tele any day ? but let's not start that now.
Gearhead
Stoffeltoo wrote:
Its your dream do it. Such an itch does not come often and if you have the funds why not?
I dunno whatcha smokin but I need sum of it. I get the same itch about every seven days, for a week, and it only goes away for a fortnight after a purchase.
IceCreamMan
Price check in the Fender isle ..... American standards now retail for 28 k plus minus, 18k with a nice discount is around the out e door price... Is it worth it, no not really as others have mentioned buy second hand.
I reckon with a RG470 and GT10 you should be getting decent tone...give the strings a change, make sure the lectrics are alright ,set it up and tweek....the rg470 is no slouch built in Japan Fuji plant if I remember correctly...maybe change the pups and experiment. But that's my 2 cents
studmissile
or Tokai Springy?
Gearhead
+1 on the pupgrade for Jap Ibanezes, the guit is good enough to earn good pups and the stock pups are bad enough to want replacement.
GuitarDoge
IceCreamMan wrote:
Price check in the Fender isle ..... American standards now retail for 28 k plus minus, 18k with a nice discount is around the out e door price... Is it worth it, no not really as others have mentioned buy second hand.
I reckon with a RG470 and GT10 you should be getting decent tone...give the strings a change, make sure the lectrics are alright ,set it up and tweek....the rg470 is no slouch built in Japan Fuji plant if I remember correctly...maybe change the pups and experiment. But that's my 2 cents
I saw one tagged yesterday at 18000, sorry I didn't know the actual retail price.
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anyone know why Fender stuff in South Africa is so much more expensive than other brands?
RobbieZ
Stoffeltoo wrote:
If the guitar leaps at you with a telepathic high pitched "Buy Me!"
Go for it. There is nothing as good as holding a dream guitar while playing no matter how it sounds. Its your dream do it. Such an itch does not come often and if you have the funds why not?
I still believe that better gear builds confidence and it will stand you good for the future.
Instead of a strat why not a tele? bit more oomph in the tone.
My six strings worth
I fully agree. If it is your dream guitar and you can afford it, GO FOR IT!.
AlanRatcliffe
Well, Strats are great and all that (play one myself a lot of the time). Then again, so's an RG - even battered and beaten...
However, A strat will never be "much warmer, richer and smoother" than an HSH Ibby. Not by my understanding of those words. If you'd said "more dynamic, articulate, percussive, resonant and brighter" the answer would be a resounding "yes". Or if you'd asked the same question of a hollowbody archtop...
I wonder - Have you plugged into a nice valve amp yet?
Sure, there's room to improve on the RG's pickups (true of most guitars these days), but the stockers aren't bad. The US Standard Strat is a great guitar, but a Mex Strat isn't bad either and the price differential is large - for many of us, it's worth paying the premium for a better guitar. But I wouldn't blow 12K (second hand) on a US Strat unless I was sure that I wanted a Strat in the first place. I'd probably pony up 5K or so for a (also S/H) Mex model to dip my toes in the Strat pond before plunging into the deep waters...
G-Man
I'd rather just buy a Prestige Ibanez model and upgrade the pickups,that way you'd still have change to take the missus out for a lekker dinner. ?
DonovanB
There are some questions that have obvious answers;
"Honey do I look fat?" NO
"Do I look ok in this?" YES
"Should I buy a Fender?" YES
You can run this over a million ways in your head, be sensible like some of these posts, but if you buy one you gel with it's a great thing. If you don't like it after a while at least it should be easier to sell off again.
There are so many options for strats though so take your time with the purchase. Necks, pups, bridges etc all make a big difference to the playing experience.
redant
Thanks everyone for the great input.
You are all awesome.
I will give this some more thought.
Hypothetically speaking, if I decide to tune-up the Ibanez, which pickups should I consider?
Again - I'm looking for a smoother / fat lead sound. The Dimarzios I've got on there was good for that edgy rock riffs back in the day. But I am not crazy about the sound now.
Playing through a PA at the moment (with the GT-10), but I will consider a valve amp in the future to compliment the kit.
Thanks again.
psyx
The thing is... If you have fallen out of love with a piece of gear, especially your guitar, then its unlikely that you will enjoy playing on it. It will just feel and sound wrong. What I would recommend is sell the ibby or put it in the closet and go out to a few stores...
Take your GT10 and have them hook you up with a few strats they have. Try every model from the squiers, classic vibes, MIM's and MIA's. Thats going to give you an idea of whether you like a strat. Buy the guitar and go home and have a good time.
Playing guitar should be fun and doing it on your dream guitar will likely be a hell of a good time!
GuitarDoge
redant wrote:
Again - I'm looking for a smoother / fat lead sound. The Dimarzios I've got on there was good for that edgy rock riffs back in the day. But I am not crazy about the sound now.
Could you name an artist as an example of the tone you want?
Johnny-B
redant wrote:
Again - I'm looking for a smoother / fat lead sound. The Dimarzios I've got on there was good for that edgy rock riffs back in the day. But I am not crazy about the sound now.
Smoother, fat lead sound? Sound like a Les Paul to me! ?
Chocklit_Thunda
Johnny B wrote:
redant wrote:
Again - I'm looking for a smoother / fat lead sound. The Dimarzios I've got on there was good for that edgy rock riffs back in the day. But I am not crazy about the sound now.
Smoother, fat lead sound? Sound like a Les Paul to me! ?
Yeah I'm thinking the same thing. Fatter usually goes hand in hand with humbuckers (the tone not the players! ? ) perhaps you're looking for a HSS strat? Otherwise a simple pickup swap in your Ibby may get you there too.
IceCreamMan
GuitarDoge wrote:
IceCreamMan wrote:
Price check in the Fender isle ..... American standards now retail for 28 k plus minus, 18k with a nice discount is around the out e door price... Is it worth it, no not really as others have mentioned buy second hand.
I reckon with a RG470 and GT10 you should be getting decent tone...give the strings a change, make sure the lectrics are alright ,set it up and tweek....the rg470 is no slouch built in Japan Fuji plant if I remember correctly...maybe change the pups and experiment. But that's my 2 cents
I saw one tagged yesterday at 18000, sorry I didn't know the actual retail price.
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anyone know why Fender stuff in South Africa is so much more expensive than other brands?
Maybe a highway strat, or second hand American standard. Unfortunately they are now retailing around 25 to 28 for 2012 and up American standards.
As to yr second point this has been discussed previously without a satisfactory answer being proposed thus far. But fender do make sweet products hey
People have proposed a tokai, I third that idea.
