Please suggest a guitar that would fit my description

[Force]

This notion that trems lack sustain is complete bullshit. Even if it were true, it would minimal. There's so many other factors to consider.

The knife edges won't wear out even from lots of dive bombs unless it's many years old or it's a $10 unit. Most of my guitars have trems, some are very old & i have no trouble with them

 

[MatthewK]

Despite my personal love/hate relationship with even the nicest tremolos I have to say that good trems don't wear out in a couple months. I have an Ibanez Edge that is over 20 years old and still works fine.

 

[rikomaru]

If you REALLY want a strat, just get one and throw on a replacement neck. Of course you can use your trem as a hardtail if you want. Either way, with the budget you stated, there's no reason to settle for something "close" to what you want.

Final destination: Carvin or Warmoth lol

 

[GtrEnthusiast]

The knife edges won't wear out even from lots of dive bombs unless it's many years old or it's a $10 unit. Most of my guitars have trems, some are very old & i have no trouble with them

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a 6 hole trem vs the modern knife trem?

 

[stevexc]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a 6 hole trem vs the modern knife trem?

Amongst other difference, the "vintage" style is designed for more moderate vibrato, while the "modern" style locks the strings in so you can divebomb and whatnot without going out of tune. As a result it's a lot more finnicky.

 

[Veritech Zero]

I'm going to second all the Charvel responses. I have one of the new pro mod San Dimas guitars. Plays great now, just needed a tad bit of work out of the box, but most of the issues were with the floyd bridge, doubt you would have issues with a hard tail one.

If not that, I personally haven't owned one (but plan on buying one or the other very soon) but I'd take a look at a Carvin or Warmoth built guitar. Every time I inquire about one I hear nothing but awesome things.

 

[GtrEnthusiast]

I'm going to second all the Charvel responses. I have one of the new pro mod San Dimas guitars. Plays great now, just needed a tad bit of work out of the box, but most of the issues were with the floyd bridge, doubt you would have issues with a hard tail one.

I like the SAN DIMAS HS Hardtail, but finish is big turn off for me. I own two guitars and both of them have plain glossy finish. I'm kind of sick of it, craving for a natural wood finish or a flamed maple or something. But I'm considering it. White one, I guess. Seems like just what I want...

I'd take a look at a Carvin or Warmoth built guitar

Carvin Bolt could have been super, but I can't find HSS/HS on their website. Probably discontinued? Although here's one beauty.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carvin-Bolt...e-/201053146815?pt=Guitar&hash=item2ecfb38ebf

I don't have a clue about Warmoth. I'll have to read more.


Apart from that,
I feel like getting the Godin because of "Assembled in the USA with parts HAND CRAFTED in Canda". Canadian Basswood.

ML-1, Korea, not bad either. Mahogany body, natural finish or an option of trans black with maple veneer. Vintage style Wilkinson Trem, but the neck is quite flat.

Dean Tagliare, most beautiful among the others, made in Indonesia. Alder. I've heard good things about them tough.

I might get the G&L if I get good deal on it. It's probably a guitar I could hold on to for a long time.

So these are the things I want to compare,
1. Candaian Basswood vs Mahogany vs Alder?
2. Canada hand crafted vs Korean vs Indonesian?
3. I remember Chapman saying, "The natural finish does sound remarkably different than the finished finish." What kind of difference does it make?

 

[Given To Fly]

G&L was the last company Leo Fender started. G&L's are the pinnacle of the Stratocaster and Telecaster design. If you A/B a similarly priced Fender with a G&L you'll notice the difference isn't subtle.

 

[GtrEnthusiast]

G&L was the last company Leo Fender started. G&L's are the pinnacle of the Stratocaster and Telecaster design. If you A/B a similarly priced Fender with a G&L you'll notice the difference isn't subtle.

I'm sure it must be great and worth the price, but its bordering my maximum limit. I still haven't made up my mind if I should spend that much.

 

[stevexc]

So these are the things I want to compare,
1. Candaian Basswood vs Mahogany vs Alder?
2. Canada hand crafted vs Korean vs Indonesian?
3. I remember Chapman saying, "The natural finish does sound remarkably different than the finished finish." What kind of difference does it make?

1. I personally like mahogany, but I'm one of the guys that believes it doesn't matter too too much. The traditional school of thought is that mahogany is darker, alder is brighter and basswood is crap. Steve Vai's got enough basswood guitars to kinda knock that out the window, and if there's anything I'm not surprised to read on guitar reviews it's that "I was expecting <wood type> to sound super <quality>, but this one is way more <opposite quality> than I expected!"

2. I only know about the Korean factory's general QC, which is pretty high. The country doesn't matter as much as the factory. It's going to have such a minor effect on the specific guitar you buy that I wouldn't worry at all.

3. I love Chappers, but there's some things that he's just completely out to lunch on. This is one of them. I'm sure he'll do a video and he'll play an ML-1 that's painted and Lee will play one that's unfinished and they'll sound different and he'll be super proud of himself but that only proves that two different guys playing two different guitars sound different (see the tonewood video).


Other thoughts:
The Carvin Bolt HSS is still available, it's just called the Bolt. You pick the bridge pickup as the last step.
Check the G&L Tribute series as well, they're affordable and excellent quality.
Don't discount SSS guitars either, there's some excellent singlecoil-sized humbuckers out there (Hot Rails, Hot Stack, Lil '59, Air Norton S, Super Distortion S to name a select few).
Don't get hung up on the little details like type of finish or factory or nut material or whatever. You'll just give yourself headaches and wind up with an "optimal" guitar that may or may not be the right guitar for you - if you can find it. Go with what feels good.

 

[Svava]

This Music Man Steve Morse Y2D is everything you'd want except it's HSH and $1299, but it's also a $2000 guitar normally. That or try and find a Jackson SL1 used. maybe an older one. some of them have kahlers on them.

I must be missing something- why is this particular y2d so cheap?

 

[will_shred]

So these are the things I want to compare,
1. Candaian Basswood vs Mahogany vs Alder?
2. Canada hand crafted vs Korean vs Indonesian?
3. I remember Chapman saying, "The natural finish does sound remarkably different than the finished finish." What kind of difference does it make?

This combination of questions can only lead to a good thread

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

.............
So these are the things I want to compare,
1. Candaian Basswood vs Mahogany vs Alder?
2. Canada hand crafted vs Korean vs Indonesian?
3. I remember Chapman saying, "The natural finish does sound remarkably different than the finished finish." What kind of difference does it make?[/QUOTE]

1. Generally speaking:
Basswood = nice, growley, warm tone with clear mids. (brighter than Mahogany and darker than Alder). Often pretty light weight.
Mahogany = warmest of the 3 woods being compared here, and the darkest. usually heavier in weight than the other 3.
Alder = the brightest out of the 3 here. Has a very balanced tone providing a good mix of low, mids, highs. generally on the lighter side, (heavier than basswood and lighter than mahogany).

2. -I have a Godin handcrafted in USA from parts in Canada and it is without a doubt has amazing craftmanship for such an inexpensive guitar (better than my Gibson LP). In my opinion all of the Godin guitars i've played are worth double the price of what they charge.
-Korean guitars often have very good craftsmanship as well (I have an LTD EC-1000 and build is top-notch, only a small cosmetic blemish).
-Indonesian guitars are a little hit or miss (in my experience). They are often well-made but tend to have a few problems here and there. As far as construction quality from my experience Indonesia is going to come in last in comparison to Godin's USA or Canadian factories and the Korean factory Chapman guitars are coming out of.

3. There could be minute differences here (likely are). But it wont be a night and day difference and most people will not notice any tonal differences anyway.

 

[GtrEnthusiast]

So what I'm thinking is, I'll either get a Carvin Bolt or a G&L Legacy, if I'm willing to spend that much money.

Otherwise I'm gonna get the Godin Session, and change the pickups if at all required.

 

[GtrEnthusiast]

I must be missing something- why is this particular y2d so cheap?

Apparently, the D-Purpleburst is for 1300$ and Purple Sunset is for 2000$.
And body wood: Poplar

Strange

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Apparently, the D-Purpleburst is for 1300$ and Purple Sunset is for 2000$.
And body wood: Poplar

Strange

Poplar is similar to Alder. I have a Godin Freeway Classic which has a maple center w/ a poplar winged body and it sounds phenomenal.