$550 Strat Budget; Talk me out of a PRS!

[studio1087]

I'm selling an 84 Japan Squier Strat on Ebay right now because I don't want a locking tremelo any more.

I wanted a MIM Strat and a Fender molded case.

I test drove 5 MIM Strats yesterday and I was very unhappy with the super thin necks. The guitars felt very odd because the necks were so thin.

The PRS EG's felt great. I like the PRS tremelos.

Considering my budget, I may not stay with Fender.

Please comment, lecture, throw fits, etc. Try to keep it constructive.

Thanks, I really need some input.

[tenebrae]

I won't throw a fit :). For the money those made in Korea PRS instruments are very good. Well put together, well finished, and they have the PRS Wide/Fat neck profile that would seemingly fit your needs admirably. They do use less than stellar hardware/electronics, but again at that pricepoint who'd complain. If you do purchase one a very viable upgrade further down the road would be to replace the nut and replace the pickups. You'll end up with a very tasty guitar for a very sensible sum of money.

Tenebrae

[frank thomson]

$550 = Highway 1

you do the math.

to me, it's a no-brainer.

[frank thomson]

or a used USA strat american series....w/ OHSC...or MIJ....

again, a NO-brainer for me

[RedRain]

With that amount of money I would forget about a case (unless it was included ) and buy something used.

[FrankJohnson]

Without going to the Duncan pup upgrade - this is IMHO about the greatest bang to buck axe going barre none.

Of course I am really biased toward their stuff......

Here are a few examples =

http://www.rondomusic.net/product528.html


http://www.rondomusic.net/al3500prestblkch.html
http://www.rondomusic.net/al3500prestzebra.html
http://www.rondomusic.net/al3500.html


and if you want the more traditional strat type.....
(btw - no extra charge for Sunburst)

http://www.rondomusic.net/st802w.html

http://www.rondomusic.net/st1000.html

HB type Strat if you wish
http://www.rondomusic.net/st1000fat.html

MAn - there are so many here.......gotta be something you like, and if not - 30 day money back Guar. I think you are responsible for shipping if you "just don't like it..... cheap rental if you look at it that way

[wstandis]

You could always buy an american Strat of Ebay. I know some feel it can be risky. But usally the worst that happens is you need to take it to a luthier to get it tuned up.

or

I bought my Strat used (From a music store) for $750. It is an American Re-Issue 62 with tweed case. I would think you could get a very tatsty American Strat $500. In my opinion you can't go wrong. I used to have a MIM Strat and Fat Strat, key word here being used to. I dont want to start a MIA v. MIM thread there have been way too many of those. But you will never wake up in the morning and say I wish I didnt buy the american model. They ARE better IMHO.

[brianf]

The offshore PRS product is fantastic. Just look at the fret edges, perfect. The trems stay it tune so well.

brianf

[DoobieK]

I agree with Frank on both his posts.

Buy American. We are losing enough jobs as it is without buying things from foreign countries when we don't need to. A Hwy. 1 or Amer. Std/Series is the way I would go.

[mmcquain]

For $550 2 come to mind (I've owned both and both are very nice for the $$). You may be able to score either a MIK "Lite Ash" Fender Strat (beautiful natural ash body with birdseye maple neck and SD PUPs) or a MIM "Deluxe Players Strat" - comes with American Vintage Noiseless PUPs (like on the Clapton signature model) and gold hardware (this is what I'm currently playing - see pics in my signature below). I did a little haggling with my sales guy at Sam Ash and got each one with a case for about $550. The guy I deal with at Guitar Center is also good about working on prices with me. Just talk to them and let them know you're serious and they should (if they're any kind of salesman) work with you.

[studio1087]

A good store in Milwaukee has a HWY 1, Honey Blond with Rosewood fret board for $639. Oddly, it's the place where I bought the MIJ 30 years ago. I know that they match the best internet deal that I can find. I'll gladly spend $200 extra on a guitar that I will keep for many years (I kept the last one for 21 years).

I'm going to try it on Monday. Honey Blonde Strat sounds good. My Tele is a burst. Nice pair.

[curtisstetka]

I've sorta re-discovered Ibanez lately. They make some great cheap guitars. I still love Fenders but I'm getting to a point where I don't care so much what's on the headstock.

[studio1087]

My PRS interest started when I bought a new Les Paul Faded about three years ago. The jumbo frets on the $800 Faded series were so JUMBO that if you bottomed out the strings on the fretboard, the guitar sounded very out of tune. It was like having a chorus pedal on with the width maxed out. I tried heavier strings up to 11's and it was still terrible. I sold the LP on ebay.

Enter the PRS Santana SE. It is the easiest to play humbucker guitar that I've ever owned and I have had three Les Pauls. The tremelo design is outstanding.

It will bother me to swap a Strat for a PRS Strat knock-off. I respect Fender too much. I'll give the HWY 1 a fair try on Monday. I have not played an Ibanez in years but I had two lawsuit LP style Ibanez's in High school. 78 & 79.

We'll see what happens. It will most likely be the HWY 1 or the PRS.

[Offshore Angler]

I'd swap out the trem and use the remaining $450 to score another axe.

[Don]

I bought a new Hwy 1 Strat for $505 delivered with a free iPod and a new PRS SE Soapbar II for $289 plus tax last November (I'm still selling of small items to pay them off!). It was a banner month!

They're both fantastic guitars. If I had to choose one it'd be the Strat because I like Strats better, but the workmanship on the imported PRS is better.

They both have beefy necks. The Strat's neck is .865 thick at the nut.

[studio1087]

I have the Singlecut Soapbar SE - it's the red one in my avatar. P-90 guitars are very unique screamers. I love that soapbar guitar.

Where did you get a HWY 1 for $505? Wow!

Thanks!

[tenebrae]

I have to marvel at the price differences here in Australia. A HWY 1 is a $1600 instrument that is "gettable" for $1300-1400; a Korean PRS is a $950-1000 instrument. These respective instruments fall under entirely headings inasmuch as a prospective purchase is concerned. When I was shopping for my first instrument after so many years off, I gave the HWY 1s a miss entirely, simply because ther best I could do was $1050 USD; the PRS, on the other hand, was $740 USD...a fair price for a Sanatana SE II. I simply didn't have the $300 to make up the difference. In Australia, a fairer comparison would be between the MIM Fenders and the Korean PRSs. I thought the Korean PRS a better purchase....

A HWY 1, well, that's a different story....I do like them and if I had to chose between a Korean PRS and a HWY 1 at a similar price point, I would be very tempted to go the HWY 1.

Tenebrae

[hawkeye2u]

Tenebrae!
Why dont you & I go to the US stocked up with some serious VISA and buy a shitload of gear, come home, have a nice few new guitars for ourselves and have the trip payed for and some profit to go!!
Theese Yanks have no idea how lucky they are ( no offence fellas)
I just bought a Fulltone Fulldrive FD2 in the US for $US210 incl airmail to OZ
One of those is $450 AUS here!!

[tenebrae]

Hey, hawkeye! A fantastic plan with only two drawbacks: 1) I can't travel very well; and 2) I ain't got no money....well, at least not enough to make such a trip worthwhile. It'd be king hell fun, though :). A small "consortium" of like-minded individuals, each with a reasonable "stake" could probably do alright with sensible buying. That Fulltone of yours, for instance, (nice score BTW) is hideously expensive at Guitar Crazy (the designated Australian Dealer)...you scored it shipped for less than about $280 Australian :yay. There's your plan in action!

Tenebrae

[Plugger]

Oz prices are high, but 30% off list is more or less automatic for Fender and Gibson -- RRP actually represents a 100% markup on wholesale (or at least thats what a local guitar store owner fessed up to.)

So: even at 30% off, the dealers are makeing a 40% markup on wholesale. Still plenty of room to negotiate. There's www.music123.com prices to beat them up with -- unlike MF, they export to Oz, and for reasonable rates. They match MF prices, too.

So, nils desperandum, fellow Antipodeans -- in real terms guitars have never been better or cheaper, I think. And if all else fails, and you're game to import an instrument sight unseen from the US, www.music123.com is probably worth checking into...

-Mark

[Plugger]

Plan B is that I'll be in the US in June, place your orders now...

-Mark

[moonpie]

Tenebrae!

Theese Yanks have no idea how lucky they are

Some of us do

[tenebrae]

Oz prices are high, but 30% off list is more or less automatic for Fender and Gibson -- RRP actually represents a 100% markup on wholesale (or at least thats what a local guitar store owner fessed up to.)

So: even at 30% off, the dealers are makeing a 40% markup on wholesale. Still plenty of room to negotiate. There's www.music123.com prices to beat them up with -- unlike MF, they export to Oz, and for reasonable rates. They match MF prices, too.

So, nils desperandum, fellow Antipodeans -- in real terms guitars have never been better or cheaper, I think. And if all else fails, and you're game to import an instrument sight unseen from the US, www.music123.com is probably worth checking into...

-Mark

Plugger,

Yeah, I can get the 30% easily now! If you don't get it, start walking :) and they'll come around....Yet, back then, when I took up the instrument again, I had no idea of how it worked...I know a little more now. It's the extra discounting, over the 30% mark, that can be the bugger to get.

Personally, I wouldn't have the bottle to order an instrument or amp over the net. I need to test them "in the flesh", so to speak. I will remember the music123 tip, though (cheers!).

As to "plan B", what about a nice strat or tele for yourself? Or, are there logistical questions to consider in bringing an instrument back?

Tenebrae

[Plugger]

Well, actually I'm pretty GAS-free at the moment. The AD30VT is keeping me busy enough... thanks once again, BTW... and the thing is, since I don't _need_ another guitar, it's hard to figure out what to buy. There's no organising principle.

I keep looking, anyway. But unless something really special comes along, I think I'll just be window shopping.

Occasionally (once every few years) I'll quite accidently find a guitar that I _must_ have. Usually I'm not particularly looking for an instrument at the time. My most recent acquisition, my MIM Strat, was like that. I was just killing some time in a music shop while my wife was buying some sheet music... she came back and there I was with my new guitar.

-Mark

[Sage]

The PRS is a fine guitar, and if I were in your position I'd go for an EG with 3 single-coils (not sure PRS makes those still, tho).

It is worth pointing out, though, that the PRS is a 25" scale, while a strat is a 25.5" scale. If you're used to strats, the PRS might take some getting used to.

[studio1087]

I have two PRS guitars and 2 Fender Guitars. The scale is not an issue. I like the PRS necks a lot but after 22 years of owning a Strat, Tele and P-bass, dumping my Strat in favor of PRS is bothering me. My heart says Strat and my logic says PRS. The anti-PRS guilt that's getting thrown at me is actually working, hence the trip into town tommorow to play the Butterscotch HWY-1.


By the way, this Yankee is very aware of how lucky he is (far too few of us share this awareness). My wife studied design at Saccii in Forence Italy in College. Many years later (1994),she and I took a three week thrip in Italy and visited her school. I walked into a guitar shop and started looking at Boss and Ibanez pedals and I nearly fainted at the price tags. I thought that the pedals were priced when the dollar and the lirra had completely different exchange rates. The prices were indeed accurate and up to date. I think that a Boss Chorus pedal was about $240.00 USD. The shop owner handled it like it was a chunk of narcotics. I've seen jewelers handle Rolex watches with less care.

Why don't you guys go to a site like www.elderly.com and buy the guitar at USA pricing and pay $120.00 USD air frieght? Are the import taxes that bad?
I've heard of 16 series Martins selling for $1900.00 USD in Australia. That's insane. Is there no way to beat the system? What if a business person just buys the guitar on a State-Side business trip and carries it home.

I don't want to ruin the starting topic but I'm amazed by this topic.

Yankee Doodle John

[Gris]

Forget dogma and all other subjective elements other than what your ear tells you. Close your eyes and play. If it is the PRS then so be it. The soapbar SEs are hard to beat for the $$$.

[LPDonkey]

Well if you've had a strat for 22 years, you're probably like a lot of us here who can't be without one for long, so just remember if you go the PRS route (and a fine route it is) it won't be long before you're Gassin for a strat...not a bad thing to have happen....but probably a reality ;)

[studio1087]

Dogma is one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought that Alannis Morrisette did a great job in her role as God. The above post could be a sign.

Point of clarity; I own a PRS Singlecut Soapbar; it's in my little Avatar to the left (the red guitar). I'm selling an old MIJ Locking Tremolo Squier Strat on Ebay and I'm torn between the PRS SE EC (Strat-Style) and a HWY 1.

If anyone is looking for a pre-Gibson lawsuit PRS Soapbar SE, Elderly has a few of them left in stock for $499 delivered. Mine came from Elderly.

The Strat style EG with Tremolo is still available. Some stores are putting SE's on sale right now. I'm guessing that the SE's are being changed again after NAMM.

My Karma ran over my Dogma,
John

[Plugger]

Why don't you guys go to a site like www.elderly.com and buy the guitar at USA pricing and pay $120.00 USD air frieght? Are the import taxes that bad?
I've heard of 16 series Martins selling for $1900.00 USD in Australia. That's insane. Is there no way to beat the system? What if a business person just buys the guitar on a State-Side business trip and carries it home.

I don't want to ruin the starting topic but I'm amazed by this topic.

Elderly is one of the few places I'd buy with any confidence an unplayed instrument; they have a good rep for describing their instruments honestly and accurately, and setting them up to a very high standard. They also know how to pack instruments to survive shipping.

Import taxes are 10% (GST, basically sales tax); no tax on items <$500. So tax isn't the problem, it's my guess that many if not most people want to be able to play an instrument before they plunk down their money, and so getting something shipped over on spec is a bit daunting. In the US, MF etc offer easy "return it if you don't like it" terms, but that's less practical when shipping internationally.

So, if you find an instrument you like at the local music shop, there's a few extra middle-men to get paid. With the variability of QC even in modern instruments, I'd only consider importing an instrument if the price differential was such that even after shipping I know I could confidently resell it for the same price I paid if I didn't like it. This is only really feasible on the higher priced instruments. I was thinking maybe custom shop instruments would be a better bet overall, simply because there's less chance of getting a CS clunker.

Ebay of course is a crap-shoot at the best of times, and things are just getting worse. This is an interesting NYT article on Ebay fraud, which I'm sure applies to guitars: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/te...icle_popular_5

But back to the original topic: what's the street price on a PRS Santana SE anyway ? music123.com says "phone for price" (usually indicates vendor advertising restrictions).

-Mark

[studio1087]

I bought my Santana SE from Elderly for $499 USD and my Singlecut Soapbar SE for $499 USD. I called Elderly yesterday and many of the SE's are on sale for $399 USD. The 100 dollar discount could offset some of the shipping and taxes that you face.

I live in Wisconsin which is about a six hour drive around Lake Michigan to where Elderly is in Michigan yet I've never been there (shame on me). I have bought the two PRS guitars and a Martin OM16GT and a Martin D12X1 12 string. I payed the Elderly Luthiers to install a Martin Thinline pickup in the 12 string making it unreturnable. Everything that I've bought from them has been perfect.

I don't think that you need to worry about buying sight unseen from them. For what it's worth, I'm a Packaging Engineer and I've been very impressed with their packaging. They use triple wall guitar boxes and they seal the guitar in its case in a barrier bag before using fill-air bags or peanuts to brace and block and those are just the guitars that come to my house via an 8 hour truck ride. They use the best of the materials that we sell.

In any event, PRS SE guitars are $399-$499 and the Fender HWY 1's are $629-$639.

John

[Don]

Where did you get a HWY 1 for $505? Wow!

Musician's Friend.

They had $100 off on USA Fenders, I received an e-mail with another $30 off, shipping was free and the deal included a free iPod shuffle thatI filled with my rockabilly collection.

I took a big chance buying sight unseen but the guitar that I received is wonderful!

[studio1087]

I remember getting that MF advertisment. I missed the boat. $505 for a HWY 1 and a free I pod shuffle. That's the sweetest deal that I've heard in ages.

Wow! You did well!

[Stumbler]

For $550 ....or a MIM "Deluxe Players Strat" - comes with American Vintage Noiseless PUPs (like on the Clapton signature model) and gold hardware ....

I have to agree with this that the MIM Deluxe Players Strat is great. I was touring in Africa this summer and wanted to buy a new, less expensive guitar to take. I played, no lie, around 30 Strats in all price ranges, some 2-3 times as expensive, many of which were complete dogs, and nowhere close to this MIM Deluxe Players, and this is the one I chose. GREAT neck on it with big frets, and I like those Vintage Noiseless pups. It's pretty too with the 3 tone sunburst, tortoiseshell guard and the gold.

I've been playing 40+ years, a lot, I have a real 56 Strat, a 55 Tele, I've mainly been a Les Paul guy, and have those and a 335, so I have a lot of experience to compare. At $550 - that MIM Deluxe Players is great. As always though, it would be best to actually play them if you can. There is even variation within models. My 2 cents ...