Who Makes The Best American Stratocaster? (it’s not Fender)
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Recently Fender released the new American Ultra Luxe Vintage line and sent over the 60’s Stratocaster for me to check out, its a great guitar but it got me thinking…Who is this guitar for? And are they trying to win back some of the market lost to PRS and Suhr? So I decided to shootout the Fender against other American made Strats to see who’s building the best one today.
Thanks to @sweetwater for sponsoring today’s video.
Check out the guitars here [affiliate links]
Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage 60’s Stratocaster
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/BnLJbW
PRS Silver Sky (these are currently $400 off!)
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/3J1xyk
Suhr Classic S Antique
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/qzd3ZN
Suhr Classic S (non antique)
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/JKP047
G&L S-500 (r.i.p.)
https://sweetwater.sjv.io/7agrnd
All the tones today were from my AxeFX III
Check out my Tone Course — now available at a discount
https://rhettshullguitarcourses.com/p/the-tone-course?coupon_code=082625YT&product_id=2869122
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:18 Thanks to Sweetwater
1:54 Fender Ultra Luxe Sound & Thoughts
5:27 There is a problem with the Fender
6:00 PRS Silver Sky Sound & Thoughts
9:33 My gripe with PRS
11:30 Suhr Classic S Antique Sound & Thoughts
14:46 G&L S-500 Sound & Specs
17:20 Theres an issue with the G&L
18:03 Who makes the best strat?
19:03 Let’s talk about Fender
21:35 Fender builds too many strats
21:43 What do you think?
#American #Stratocaster #Fender
Originally posted by UCCJ56k8nBeqWLoxNa6DToAQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xHKvsRlXWU
Why so many models anyway. Why not just have all options a la carte?
Still love my 2008 Fender AV 59 thin skin Strat. Best thing for me is the relatively thin c shaped neck and the 9,5 board radius.
So many models… so little difference.
PRS = The Apple of guitars?
Questions…Questions..
Questions Do you prefer rosewood as opposed to maple and no ESP demo.Also what's your opinion on the Fender Player II guitar. Were there any 60 cycle hums on the PRS, SHUR guitars.
I talked to someone in the guitar manufacturing world and they said that – in particular – electric guitars can be made for under $200.00 on CNC automatic machines and even pickups are automatically manufactured so that really what you should be more interested in is the speaker that you are playing your guitar out of has the most influence over what it sounds like. People who look at guitars for which one is the best are usually looking at the paint job or the price – but not that it sounds almost exactly like many other electric guitars. If you listened to all his picks for Strats – if they were A/B tested – would you be able to tell which brand is being played? And players will change out pickups on expensive guitars – when all they really need to do is adjust a bass knob or treble knob on their amp.
I do get what you are saying about Fender having so many lines of strats. Even outside of their US range they now have an Indonesian base model that seems like it would just be taking market share from their Squire classic vibe series and MIM standards. Then you have a bunch of MIJ ones that are probably comparable to the low end USA models.
Personally as a consumer I say the more choice the better, I would say they are capitalising on the current trend that, lets be honest, youtubers like yourself are fuelling for guitar hobbyists to have multiple guitars. There's always something new to buy.
When I was coming up in the 90s I dont think I knew anyone with more than 1 electric guitar, there was some choice but not like it is today. Most people I knew either had (or wanted) some super strat like an ibanez JS, Jem or RG. Or you played a les paul or fender in a pretty standard config.
I put SS SE pickups in my Mexican Strat… ????
Hey Rhett I like your videos and your honest input on gear. I never saw a video of you speaking about godin guitars. I'd like to hear your input on these guitars. They manufacture all their guitars in north america and have a great quality-price ratio and have a variety of model choice including great strat type options. If I am not wrong I think they're actually the guitar company that manufactures the most number of guitars in north america. Keep up the videos we like them!
More stuff you get for free that you tell us to buy.
Again "the best". If I want the feel and overall experience of a Strat, I will buy a strat and that's the best to me. I am a prpfessional GUITAR PLAYER, not a content creator, and 78% or so of all of my professional session work is covered by a Fender. And I am not just talking the sound or whatever. It is how a strat makes MY hands and ears react to what I get back from the guitar.
Just bought a 70th Anniversary Esquire and it was a no brainer, but when it comes to Stratocasters I GIVE UP. The options are overwhelming. While I miss my old 1961 the various features and costs make it easy to say: "No."
$2800 makes it a non-choice.
i dont really care about the pickups on the ultras or the shaved neck. The SS frets and the bridge are great also love the tuners and the headstocks are the best fender has made for a non custom shop guitar
still have my texas tea ultra one maple neck, i replaced the pickguard with a david gilmour black strat replica and its great if you want a black strat clone
Please explain how tariffs impact prices of American made goods not subject to tariffs. Look forward to more economic analysis.
Suhr is expensive and you don't get a case. would be cool to have included Nash.
Only one Fender strat. Its a piece of American history and nothing can take that away. Same with Les Paul.
Unfortunately, I don't think anything can touch a Don Grosh Strat. Or at least their pups. Honestly, the G&L sounds the best to me.
Regarding the PRS complaint – I've heard you say in other videos that "X" is a great guitar but you'll need to change the bridge, the pickups, the wiring the nut, the neck, the pots and the pickups (maybe a slight exageration on my part) but if I'm dropping 27 hundred bucks on a guitar I'm expecting it to have great pickups. If I played it and didn't 100% like everything about it from the get go I ain't buying it period!
Nice presentation.
I would love to hear a side by side 1 2 3 4 in a row sound comparison. The instant feedback from that would be very revealing. Thanks for the content.
There is no such thing as a compound radius Fretboard. Frets are a compound radius, the radius at fret length and the radius of the crown.
There are two kinds fretboard radii, cylindrical, such as 12" all the way, or Conical from the root word cone, sharper radius at the narrow end, flatter radius as the neck gets wider, exactly like a cone. (Flat fretboards do not have a radius.)
I know that even manufacturers use the wrong terminology… and just about everyone else thanks to those manufacturers promoting their ignorance, which is not to say they do not make great guitars, they do, but that is no excuse to blindly follow them when they are wrong. The correct terminology gives one a true path to visualizing what something really is… everyone knows how a cone is shaped… the same cannot be said for Compound Radius because that only means two or more radii that can be in multiple orientations of one another… to use this word to visualize a conical, one has to actually substitute the word conical for the word compound… makes no sense to do this when just using the correct term to begin with gets us from A to Z much faster.
Anyhow, not criticizing, just hoping people say No to blindly buying into wrong terminology. Now you that know, what will you say next time… Conical or Compound?
And also, Conical Radius Fretboards play and sound better than any cylindrical fretboard… the geometry actually follows the form of the rest of the guitar, how the strings widen toward the bridge, the string action gets distorted on cylindrical, but run true following conical… I think if Suhr used a cylindrical radius fretboard it would be pretty much the same as the Fender considering it shares the same headstock design, whereas the PRS does not.
The Suhr is too bright for my taste.
For me a great strat must:
be made in the US
Be finished in Lacquer
Be lightweight
Have an alder or ash body
Have a maple or rosewood fingerboard
Have a chunky neck (minimum.85” at 1st)
Have vintage tuners
Have a 6 screw trem (adds resonance)
Have a bone nut
Have vintage pickups
Have vintage-height NICKEL SILVER frets (6150-ish is ideal)
Have a neck radius of no more than 12”
I’ve owned 4 Suhrs but cannot get on with them. Stainless frets, skinny neck profile, heavy weight, poly finish, 2 point trem. And they come with a gig bag.
No love for the USA custom shop at Schecter ???? they rival ANY of these. Maybe even better than Suhr
Suhr guitars are excellent build quality, play & sound amazing.
I SAY IT ISN'T AN "S" STYLE GUITAR, BUT REFERRED TO AS "ST" FOR "Strat".