Guitar purchase/brand opinions

[Smeero]

I have a custom mahogany neck with jumbo frets on a gfs body with two of their vintage alnico pickups and a SD quarter pounder in the bridge. I had to fill the neck holes and redrill. No big deal. Sounds great.  Bodies are extremely light and resonant. So resonant I had to add springs to the trem to get rid of a random buzz. Great strat now.

Also have a warmoth neck on a US mayer body (got a deal, not a fan) with a gilmour pickup setup (N: Custom Shop Fat '50s, M: Custom Shop Custom '69, B: SD SSL-5).  This one is the better lead, but the GFS strat strangely has a better strat rhythm sound

[snz728]

I am really broke and wanted a strat too (never owned one).  I bought an SX vintage strat for like $67 USA about 2-3 years ago.  Took a real chance.  It was beautifully painted (Candy apple red) and the neck was very orange but was great, nice frets, a very wide flat radius (13 I think--something new to me but good with my long fingers).  Anyways it didn't sound as good as the squier vintage vibes.  I changed the pickups out for some dimarzio area pickups and it sounded amazing.  The tuners are cheap and will be replaced someday.  The bridge is on my to do list (wishing for a bladerunner) as are a scratchy volume  pot and switch. (wishing for a bladerunner)

but so far good body and neck, new pickups make a big difference now it surpasses the vintage vibe and others.  Love it but if i touch the tremolo it is out of tune.  I would probably try a sx tele because of my first positive experience with them.

[madbean]

For cheap stuff, I have an Agile Harm which is actually really well made. The pickups are crap, though. But, well worth the money overall.

[timbo_93631]

I put together a strat with some really cheap GFS pickups. They actually sounded pretty darn good for being like 20 bucks for all three. They had a very strange midrangey sound which was not very strat-like but still cool. I've always wanted to try those vintage style gray bobbins they make. I really like the custome shop '69's and the DImarzio area line for strat pickups.

I have had alot of GFS pickups now, and though I don't claim to be an authority on all the different ones they make this has been my experience:
   I first got a set of the '64 stagger "Surfy" Grey Bottoms for my '99 MIM Strat, really nice pickups for the money.  Very easy to get Gilmour type of cleans with those in the inbetween positions, the neck pickup was pretty muddy, but the middle pickup was a crazy blues machine.  Thne I tried the brighton rocks.  Not at all close to Trisonics, but fatter than strat pickups usually are, The middle pickup was DOA and they sent a replacement no questions asked.  I went the whole way and bought the PG with the 6 mini switches to do the phase reversal and series/parallel switching.  That was the best part about that setup, and has made me put a series parallel switch on every other single coil setup I have had.  Next I tried Surf 90's,  They just didn't cut it, then I had one go dead and I checked it out and was amazed to see that they are really just strat pickups in a big goofy case.  Next I got some of the Firebird style mini humbuckers for a 70's Japanese ES335 copy that had big yet lame single coils that were about the same size.  These pickups were freakin great.  They had a nice midrange honk that you don't get with big humbuckers, Rickenbackeresque.  My current setup has a Mean 90 in the neck and a Dream 90 in the bridge, very nice sounding.  I am using a fat strat PG and a tele 3 way swiotch with a mini toggle for series/parallel and another mini toggle to switch between 2 different tone cap values, a .022uF Bumblebee and a .01uF EROMAK-1 cap.  It is got alot of the vibe of a tele but with a midrangey quality in the neck position that is not far off a P90. .  From what I have observed GFS markets some pickups in a misleading manner.  The Surf 90's are just strat coils in that big humbucker housing and the adjustable pole pieces don't do anything and are not really adjustable (spin in their holes , don't go up and down).  Dream 90's are also strat coils in the P90 in a humbucker case style.  Mean 90's have a flatter and wider coil and are more like a P90.  Brighton rocks are just Fatbody tele neck coils with the cover cut away to show the big polepieces.  So buyer beware, but also realize that they are inexpensive and resellable on eBay so you can try out a bunch till you find some that work well for you.   
     I am calling my Strat done at this point and moving on to a Squier Classic Vibe Custom Tele in a few weeks.   I think I am gonna spend the big money on a nice bridge pickup (Don Mare) and bridge (probably a Callaham, glendale so expensive!) and go the Esquire route.  The moral of the story is to find a good slab of wood with neck attached and screw with the electronics til it melts your face off.  Good luck!

[greyscales]

My first guitar (I'm young still) was an SX SJM, one of those funky Jazzmaster-ish guitars. I would not have wanted to learn on anything else. That thing had a great neck on it, not too wide or fat. The neck pickup was great, but the bridge was only so-so.

A few years later, I decided to mod it and even later decided to refinish it.
I put a Bigsby on it, with a roller bridge from StewMac. I replaced the tuning pegs with locking Grovers (SX's B string tuning peg broke early on). It was playing beautifully until I decided to try putting a new bridge pickup in. The electronics still aren't working, unfortunately. 
I plan on retrying it sometime in the next couple of weeks while I am on break from college.

I sanded the entire body down by hand, which was a task. I wanted a different look from the sunburst finish because it was too orange/yellowish. Not my style. I took the thing apart, filled the holes in it from the old stop-tail posts, and sanded it smooth. Then I went to AutoZone or something like that and picked up some white primer and metallic charcoal spray cans. It went on pretty well, a few blemishes from running paint (over-excitement). It turned out pretty nice though.

If it gets working, I'll take a few pictures and maybe do a demo for you guys. One thing I loved about it was the tone control though. No lie, it sounded like a short-scale bass when rolled all the way down.
Today I ordered a Tele copy for my girlfriend who is learning to play. She needed one for herself, and I remembered how good SX's were for learning. No regrets for $103 shipped to your door.

[thirst4music]

You've probably already made your purchase, but I thought I would weigh in for the sake of anyone else who is wondering about Xaviere guitars.  First, let me say that I have no experience with Rondo.  But last month I bought an Xaviere XV-650, which has a semi-hollow strat-shaped body with two P90 pickups and a maple fretboard.  I paid $223 for it, delivered in a wooden hardshell case.  Very nice.  Well set up and playable right out of the box, feels like a Fender, gets pretty close to a Fender vintage tone but with the added girth and grind of P90s.  A few days ago the three-way pickup selector toggle stopped functioning, but I have heard only good things about Jay's customer service, so I'm sure I could send it back for repair or replacement.  However, since I was already thinking about doing some wiring mods, I am going to repair/replace it myself and void the warranty.  Regardless of this inconvenience, I really love this guitar and would recommend it at twice the price I paid; I have six nice electric guitars (including a Parker) and the Xaviere has become my go-to axe.  I will be ordering an Xaviere strat copy (XV-870) soon.

Let us know what you decided and how it is working out for you.

[ckim715]

Here's what I did:

MIM Strat body with hardware: 120
Mighty Mite V neck: 90
Wilkinson tuners: 30
D. Allen 60's R&B pickups: 100

For a little over 300 bucks, I built a strat exactly to my specifications. Can't beat that!

[GermanCdn]

My experience, Xavieres are decent, I've owned (and sold) 8, mostly as projects and stop gap guitars (i.e. didn't want to shell out the money for a Nashville Tele, so bought and Xaviere, dropped in a middle pickup, and had the same result for a quarter of the price).  Pickups are good, bridges are great, tuners and nuts are junk.  Finishes are quite right with regards to colors, but are generally really well done.  Necks are alright, YMMV when it comes to fingerboards.  I've found the maple ones to be good, but not so much the rosewood, tends to need a lot of cleaning and conditioning to get it up to playing condition, and even then it doesn't feel right.

If I'm not mistaken, Jay's gone to 2 3/16" neck pockets on all of his guitars, so you can buy the guitar, take off the neck, drop in a Stewmac/Warmoth/Allparts neck, a good set of GFS locking tuners and a Graptech nut all for a little over $300.  That being said, you can also buy a Classic Vibe strat for that price, and those guitars are sweet.

The best low-ish price option is to keep your eyes open on Ebay for Squier Pro Tones.  Phenomenal guitars, you can sometimes pick them up cheap if the seller doesn't know what they're selling (otherwise, you're likely going to pay $500).  I picked one up for $150, dropped in a set of Duncans I have lying around, and it is sweet.

For the record, GFS has great customer service.  Anytime I've had a problem with their stuff, there's a new part in the mail the same day to replace it.

[pickdropper]

I agree with the MIM strats and the G&L Tribute Series.

As others have mentioned, the only real issue with the MIM strats is they vary so much from guitar to guitar.

I have a couple of the US made G&Ls and have been impressed with the Tribute series for the money.

[timbo_93631]

Here's what I did:

MIM Strat body with hardware: 120
Mighty Mite V neck: 90
Wilkinson tuners: 30
D. Allen 60's R&B pickups: 100

For a little over 300 bucks, I built a strat exactly to my specifications. Can't beat that!

Update on my longish post above:
Scored a Squier Standard Telecaster in vintage blonde with rosewood fretboard and no string trees $200
Bakelite Esquire pickguard $20
CTS Pots $10
Oak Grigsby 3 way switch $10
Electrosocket with Switchcraft Jack $10
Heavy Knurled Knobs $15
On/On DPDT toggle  $2
Relic'd String trees $5
NOS Cream Daka Ware "top hat" switch tip $3

$275 into it without changing pickups or bridge, yet.  A freakin twang and jangle machine.  I left the neck pickup sans metal cover under the pickguard and wired it to the toggle so I can put it out of phase in series with the bridge for a bit more meat.  I did standard esquire 3 way tone switch with 10nf cap on the tone pot and 5nf cap as the bassy preset.  I am pretty happy with it, but still am going to change the tuning machines, nut (bone), bridge (Glendale plate for AM Std. conversion $100 :/  )  and the bridge pickup. 

[JakeFuzz]

$275 into it without changing pickups or bridge, yet.  A freakin twang and jangle machine.  I left the neck pickup sans metal cover under the pickguard and wired it to the toggle so I can put it out of phase in series with the bridge for a bit more meat.  I did standard esquire 3 way tone switch with 10nf cap on the tone pot and 5nf cap as the bassy preset.  I am pretty happy with it, but still am going to change the tuning machines, nut (bone), bridge (Glendale plate for AM Std. conversion $100 :/  )  and the bridge pickup. 

I've often wondered about those top mounted telecaster plates. Are you going to convert it to the through body ferrule style bridge? I've seen so many of these top mounted squire bridges and thought that it would be a super easy conversion but never had the chance to try and do it. Let me know how it turns out

[timbo_93631]

     The Squier Standard is already through body, unlike the Affinity series which are top mount.  The problem is the strings come out in front of the mounting screw holes, just like a Fender American Standard flat bridge plate with the 3 screw mount.  To use a vintage "ashtray" style Fender plate you'd have to drill and dowel the existing string thru holes and move the ferrules back .  Some people drill the vintage plate with an extra set of string through holes a bit forward, but you can run into intonation and string angle issues that way.  Glendale makes a vintage style plate that is longer than the vintage "ashtray" plate and has the 3 screw mounting so everything lines up right.  http://www.glendaleguitars.com/americanstandard.htm
Joe Barden also makes a plate that does the same thing, but has vintage style 4 screw mounting so you have to drill and dowel the original mounting holes to make sure it is all sturdy.  If you were gonna do a partscaster and were looking for a cheap body an affinity would be less of a headache because you'd just have to layout the bridge and drill the through holes and set the ferrules...
    As a side note, I played Squier Classic Vibes and the 60's Custom was consistently better than the 50's, but the hardware, pots, and switches on both were very flimsy feeling.  The tuning machines were pretty awful Gotoh copies too, felt like around a 12:1 ratio making it hard to make precise tuning adjustments.  If those things would have been better I probably would have bought one.  I went with a used Squier Standard in the end because I like the way the "agathis" body resonates, and the fact that I'd have to change the hardware on either guitar so the extra $150 for a CV didn't make sense.  "Agathis" is actually Kauri, the second longest living tree in the world besides California Coastal Redwoods, and the longest living hardwood species.  It is heavy, but very resonant.  A nice thing was the Esquire Bakelite pickguard I got is a 5 hole and everything lined up just right with only a bit of sanding where the end of the control plate fits in, the PG was just a bit snug there, maybe would have been okay with a USA Fender plate, I dunno.

[cjkbug]

on a whim I recently bought a squire tele for about $250. it is a remarkable playing and sounding guitar for the money. I was originally going to upgrade the pickups and hardware but the more I play it the less I think it needs anything done to it. the neck feels fantastic and I find it it my hands more than almost any other guitar I own. most of whitch cost over $1000. noney well spent. Tje cheaper korean and chinese manufactured instruments available today are head and shoulders above the cheapo guitars that were around when I started playing in the '80's. the squire tele intonates and stays in tune great as well.

[jkokura]

My Chinese Epi Dot is fantastic! The way it plays feels very, very comfortably. The only problem I had with it was the electronics, which when upgraded produced a beautiful playing AND sounding instrument.

Likewise, the most recent guitar I have is a PRS SE that's less than 500 bucks, and it's superbly built. Very impressive.

Jacob

[JakeFuzz]

Just got snaked for a mint condition Epiphone '56 goldtop reissue for $180. The post was up for 5 minutes and someone was already ahead of me