Help with choosing a Fender!?!

[cwhitey2]

GAS is starting to get overwhelming...For a Fender!


Never in my life I thought this would happen but it is.

Basically I want anything but a traditional strat.


If it's a: tele, jazzmaster, Jaguar or a semi-hollow I'm interested. I would prefer used but new is not out of the question. I would prefer a HH or P90.

I have been looking at some Fender selects and others in the 700-1700$ range.

I will most likely replace the pups unless they are actually good.



Realistic price range is $1200-0 unless it's the one.


This guitar will be used for every style.

 

[cardinal]

The Fender Elites are great. But I'd really recommend going to a GC or other store and playing everything they've got. For whatever reason, Fenders are highly variable from guitar to guitar. You might be surprised what you like best.

 

[endmysuffering]

Not gonna push you to do anything, but are you sure about a fender? I mean they're ancient guitars that don't really improve upon the guitar formula such as something like strandberg boden- maybe that example is a bit too high tech and out of your budget but what I really am meaning to say is think about it for a while before you buy it.
In the end, so long as you're happy with the guitar nothing else really matters so disregard my opinion if you're dead set on a fender. Best of luck.

 

[budda]

If you like everything except a strat, then you need to go play everything except a strat and decide which one you like enough to spend a grand on. Then you need to research models (past and present) and see which one has the most of what you like about that model. Then you need to find out how difficult it is to get one. Then you buy it.

 

[oracles]

I love the Jaguar and the Jazzmaster (so much I'm having a CS jazzmaster built) but the weak point of both of those instruments is the stock pickups. They aren't unusable by any means, but a swap goes a long ways in really bringing out what they're capable of. The 65 reissue Jazzmaster is phenomenal.

If you do go for a Jag/Jazz, I'd factor in a budget for a pickup swap.

 

[Dodeejeroo]

I love P90 snarl so Jazzmaster would be my pick. I have an HSS Strat that's pretty damn versatile and a traditional tele.

Not gonna push you to do anything, but are you sure about a fender? I mean they're ancient guitars that don't really improve upon the guitar formula such as something like strandberg boden- maybe that example is a bit too high tech and out of your budget but what I really am meaning to say is think about it for a while before you buy it.
In the end, so long as you're happy with the guitar nothing else really matters so disregard my opinion if you're dead set on a fender. Best of luck.

Sooooo many great songs/riffs have been and will continue to be written on Fender and Gibson's ancient designs. You've never lusted for anything from the big F or G? Guitar purchases are so much more than what do-dads are on the latest shred/chug machine. Have you ever driven or ridden in a classic car? Sure, a new BMW could get me where I'm going in more comfort and more efficiently, but its numb and feels soulless compared to my '70 Camaro.

 

[endmysuffering]

I love P90 snarl so Jazzmaster would be my pick. I have an HSS Strat that's pretty damn versatile and a traditional tele.




Sooooo many great songs/riffs have been and will continue to be written on Fender and Gibson's ancient designs. You've never lusted for anything from the big F or G? Guitar purchases are so much more than what do-dads are on the latest shred/chug machine. Have you ever driven or ridden in a classic car? Sure, a new BMW could get me where I'm going in more comfort and more efficiently, but its numb and feels soulless compared to my '70 Camaro.

Yeah, I wanted a tele caster so bad for like 3 months then I wanted a mayones regius now I want a boden 8.

 

[USMarine75]

If you get a chance try these:

Fender Tele All Rosewood Neck - $1500-ish

Fender Tele '52 Vintage Korina - $1500-2000

Both are ridiculous guitars. American made, great quality out of the box, and have that classic Tele twang. There are other more hot-rodded Teles out there (e.g. Jim Root, Charvel, Schecter, etc) but they definitely lack that classic Tele sound and feel. BKP also makes a replacement tele set if you want the vintage sound, but also more modern tones.




And for the guy saying Fender sucks... PULL YOUR PANTS UP AND GET OFF MY LAWN!

tl;dr Danny Gatton

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

I love P90 snarl so Jazzmaster would be my pick.

Careful then, because Jazzmasters don't have P90s.

They look kinda like them at first glance, but they're constructed differently. Not just the shape, the actual magnet/coil setup is different.

 

[Dodeejeroo]

Careful then, because Jazzmasters don't have P90s.

They look kinda like them at first glance, but they're constructed differently. Not just the shape, the actual magnet/coil setup is different.

Wow I always just assumed they were, learn something every day

 

[Science_Penguin]

Wow I always just assumed they were, learn something every day

The Classic Player Jazzmaster Special (rolls right off the tongue, I know...) has JM pickups designed to be a little hotter and a bit closer to P90s in tone. But, in general, Jazzmaster pickups are going to be just a little cleaner and brighter than P90's.

Also, they've got that nice little rhythm circuit. Those little extra knobs and switch up on the top horn are actually a separate set of volume and tone controls only connected to the neck pickup. When you activate it, it bypasses the regular vol/tone/toggle setup, switches you to the neck pickup and lets you dial in a different tone. So, essentially, you've got your regular setup, and then you can dial in another preset for the neck pickup and quickly swap between them. Pretty handy for clean tones, but doesn't come into play much when distorted so a lot of people disconnect it... or just roll the volume all the way down and use it as a killswitch.

 

[prlgmnr]

I quite like the look of an HH thinline Tele

 

[tjrlogan]

The Ritchie Kotzen Tele is a pretty unique item. Hard to find used, but if you can get a 15% discount the price is around $1300 plus tax, ship. It's got a baseball bat sized neck and stacked humbucker in the bridge. Also, made in Japan.

 

[MatthewK]

I picked up a used HSS American Standard Strat recently and I looove the shawbucker. It's not very high output and blends well with singlecoils, but it still sounds great with gain. REALLY great, actually.

 

[Given To Fly]

GAS is starting to get overwhelming...For a Fender!


Never in my life I thought this would happen but it is.

Basically I want anything but a traditional strat.


If it's a: tele, jazzmaster, Jaguar or a semi-hollow I'm interested. I would prefer used but new is not out of the question. I would prefer a HH or P90.

I have been looking at some Fender selects and others in the 700-1700$ range.

I will most likely replace the pups unless they are actually good.



Realistic price range is $1200-0 unless it's the one.


This guitar will be used for every style.

Have you considered a G&L? If not, I would highly recommend taking a serious look at what they have to offer.
http://www.glguitars.com/index.asp

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

I'd recommend anything you can get pickguards from Warmoth on. My Strat is my favorite guitar because I can keep swapping out pickguards and pickups to my heart's content. It is currently set up with EMGs and a pearl HH pickguard with a volume knob and a 3-way switch, but I've had all sorts of H and S combinations on there. Even considered p90s before.

tl;dr fenders are awesome for customization.

American Standards are great. If you are handy, I wouldn't bother with deluxe, since they are easy to upgrade.

 

[BouhZik]

do you really care about it being an actual Fender, OP?
because Warmoth would be my first choice for a guitar looking like a Fender with some unusual specs if I was in the US with your budget.

 

[vansinn]

Strats are great! I have to disrespect (no negs intended) comments on Strats being old fashioned, only played because they're so difficult to play, and what not.

Anyways, I may've misunderstood the OP, when saying anything but a traditional Strat.
I did notice your price range, which I think will buy you a good one.

However, if you're looking for something StratCat'ish and still different, try looking up vids on youtube on the Vintage Reissued V6 Filmore strat.
It's a right-hand body with left-hand neck, 60's style overwound Wilkinson pikcups with reverse staggered poles and the bridge slanted opposite of normal, to create a Strat mimicking how Hendrix played a right hand Strat left handed.

You'll have to add hum canceling copper to the cavities, replace the pickup wires with shielded, check all screws, give it a very light fret dress, and do the setup.
Mine has turned into a really neat performer, and at very low costs.

Probably not what you were asking for; who knows..

 

[TedEH]

If you can find one of those all-rosewood neck ones, I'd give that a shot for sure. I'm not a "strat" guy (I do have a mexican HSS that's my go-to for clean noodling at home) - but I've tried one of those rosewood ones in store and didn't want to put it down. The look is really nice, and they play as well as any other good Fender does. If I had the money, I'd have taken it home. This one was a strat, but I'd imagine a tele would be just as good if those are your thing.

Fender gets a lot of hate for being very old-school, but realistically, it's a don't-fix-what-isn't-broken kind of scenario. Not every instrument need to be a mean shred machine. I've never needed to change pickups on any of my Fender instruments. I've got a MiA Jazz bass that sounds great on it's own, and a "road worn" mexican strat that, while a bit noisy sometimes, sounds like a strat should sound, to my ears.

 

[cwhitey2]

Thanks for all the answers guys.


I deff want to try one before I buy (try one again that is) to narrow down what I actually want.



I have considered buying a non Fender, which I don't have an issue with.

The 2 I'm liking the most right now are:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN137402
and
http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN0141600?siid=61069




How are the non USA G&L tele's?


I have also been looking at things like: https://reverb.com/item/3768706-suhr-classic-t-pro-hb-guitar-olympic-white-2016