Recommend me a Strat for <£500

[JSett]

...not for me, before you all think I'm going blues-dad on everyone

A friend of mine is getting married next year and I was going to buy him a guitar as his wedding gift. I know he's a FMIC kinda guy and I've managed to get out of him surreptitiously that he's always wanted a traditional-esque Strat.

So, I'm on the hunt for one.

Stipulations would be that its:

• Classically spec'd out with standard Strat controls and pickups

• Some kind of interesting colour

• Less that £500 new or used

I don't think he's any kind of badge snob so a Squier would be fine. Obviously the most I can get for the least money is key here. I'm happy to set it up etc for him in advance so it's a nice playing guitar.

So, what's your suggestions? Classic Vibe? Secondhand Vintera (if I can find one cheap)? Some 90's Strat of some kind?

These guitars are not my wheelhouse, and I don't follow prices and quality of them.

Thanks in advance

Johnny

[sal paradise]

I’d go mij reissue. You could get 50s, early 60s, late 60s or 70s for that budget. Although most interesting colour is likely to be white.

[Surfysonic]

Reverb is showing the least expensive Vintera Strat priced @ $599 US. You can find older MIM Fender Standard Strats available for $500. I'm a big fan of the Vintera '50s Stratocaster Modified, which gives you the stock 7-way mod (S1 Switch). I only bought the body as I like chunkier necks than the stock modern C neck.

What neck specs does your friend prefer or does it even matter? Rosewood/Pau Ferro/Laurel fretboard or maple neck? Neck radius preference? Body finish color preferences?

The quality reputation for Squier Classic Vibe Strats (like the CV Teles) has been positive. Some decent body finishes on the CV series as well as the Squier 40th Anniversary vintage and gold editions. All priced below $500.

I had a Squier Classic Vibe '50s Stratocaster for a while and it was a solid guitar. The stock pickups were perfectly fine. I did put some Q Pickups Strat pickups. I only moved it on in my ongoing downsizing effort. This was due to some OSG forum influencer from across the pond that put the idea of downsizing into my pea-sized brain. Damn his sensible ideas!! ...My wife thanks him for it.

Used Fender Japan guitars are a bit over $500 here - definitely worthwhile having a look but I can't speak to having personal experience with their Strats - always liked my Fender Japan Jazzmasters and Mustang well enough.

Another option is to see what Stratosphere has for a parts-build. Their website seems to be down for maintenance for the last day or so and today. You can find existing parts-builds for sale on Reverb and eBay but unless specific details (quality components, etc.) are provided, I'd be hesitant to go that route.

Given your time constraint (wedding next year), another option is an MJT build (or some other builder) but the body alone might be fairly close to $500 US depending on wood preference. You can always pair it up with a used or aftermarket Strat neck for reasonable cost. The bonus here is after knowing if your friend has a particular preference in neck and body finish color, you can get him something spot on with what he'd want. It's gonna stretch over the budget but I know you're good at finding deals.

Still, the CV or 40th Anniversary models have a lot of great finish options and could make this a whole lot less time-consuming venture.

Good luck!

[ryland]

+1 on the Squire Classic Vibe 50's. I have one of the sherwood green ones with matching headstock that I love. All I've done is upgrade the pickups after a while. It is a great player and checks all the boxes for me. I highly recommend checking one out if you can find it.

[LVC]

The first series of Classic Vibe Strats which were made in China between 2008 and 2018 (or so) were some of the highest quality guitars Squier produced outside of Japan.

Years ago I got a 2009 CV 50s Strat in a trade, with the intent to flip it. I was so surprised with how good the guitar played and sounded that I ended up cannibalizing it to upgrade my Stratmaster instead.

The CV 50s came in 2TS, LPB, OLY (w/ gold guard), Fiesta red and Sherwood green (w/ matching headstock). If your friend prefers rosewood fretboards, the CV 60s came in 3TS, CAR and BMM. They had Tonerider pickups. If you can find one used, I think it's a pretty solid choice.

Also, I don't know about the UK, but here MIJ Squier Strats pop up from time to time, usually for about €400. I think they overwhelmingly came in black, white and sunburst, but there were a also few cooler colour choices as well IIRC.

[zhivago]

I just saw this on the fretboard, thought I'd pass it on:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussi ... 500#latest

[F15hface]

Squier did some VMs or CVs in custom colours with matching headstocks - there's a BMM on reverb at the minute and I remember there being a sherwood green and lake placid too.

[marqueemoon]

I know this is a guitar forum and we enjoy discussing these things, but it’s a Strat we’re talking about. There are a million of them out there in the OP’s price range.

IMO most budget to midrange Strats with a conventional SSS setup sound more or less the same unless they are outside of the norm in some way, so playability which is highly subjective is the main thing.

[sal paradise]

I like these two on ebay, both 90s mij squier with vintage styling, and both about £350

Bright blue!

Some kind of off-white

And a Brucey bonus left-field suggestion…
80s MIJ Contemporary strat

[JSett]

Thanks everyone!

I don't think he's fussed either way with maple/rosewood/Pau etc. And the colour thing is more to do with me wanting something that isn't so pedestrian as, say, a black Strat. He's into bright colours in general (not a 'wear black everyday' kinda guy) so think he'll be fine with anything interesting.

Good to know the MIJ are affordable too. I'd just want to find a nice clean example seeing as it's a gift. Classic Vibe might be the way forward here

[Embenny]

Honestly, track down an older Chinese Classic Vibe.

I owned two, back in the day. One was a lovely LPB (ish) and I regret selling them. I think I paid $250 CAD each for them.

I've owned a shit ton of Fenders up and down the lineup, and those Chinese CVs were better than 3/4s of the Mexican Fenders I've played and owned, and only barely inferior to some of the US models.

Can't speak to the current Indonesian ones as I haven't played any, but the Chinese ones were absurdly nice for the price. Perfect fretwork, good pickups, great QC. The only weak point was some of the hardware, but by "weak" I mean "noticeably cheaper, but still 100% functional." The wood/finish/frets/pickups needed no work or upgrades of any kind. Some nicer saddles and a chunky trem block had mine feeling as good as any MIJ I've played.

[MKR]

I would go the used MExican made route. They’re workhorse guitars and can be found for good deals

[Surfysonic]

Honestly, track down an older Chinese Classic Vibe.

I owned two, back in the day. One was a lovely LPB (ish) and I regret selling them. I think I paid $250 CAD each for them.

I've owned a shit ton of Fenders up and down the lineup, and those Chinese CVs were better than 3/4s of the Mexican Fenders I've played and owned, and only barely inferior to some of the US models.

Can't speak to the current Indonesian ones as I haven't played any, but the Chinese ones were absurdly nice for the price. Perfect fretwork, good pickups, great QC. The only weak point was some of the hardware, but by "weak" I mean "noticeably cheaper, but still 100% functional." The wood/finish/frets/pickups needed no work or upgrades of any kind. Some nicer saddles and a chunky trem block had mine feeling as good as any MIJ I've played.

+1 Agree to MIC Squiers. My first run Squier J Mascis JM is (MIC) and there's a reason it's been around for so long - it's a sleeper great guitar.

If you can find one, I'd recommend looking for a Squier Vintage Modified Surf Stratocaster (also MIC) with lipstick pickups and rosewood fingerboard. I had a sonic blue one and it was an incredibly wonderful Strat for its price point. I don't get on very well with lipstick pickups (too shrill for me) so I swapped them out for some (I think) '62 AVRI Strat pickups way back then. Got sent along with one of my early purges, sadly. There are some on Reverb currently ranging from $380 to $579. Here's a photo of one that's on Reverb:

[sal paradise]

I have an early china classic vibe telecaster. My band mate has an Indonesian model, and it’s basically identical. They both have that awesome tone.

[Embenny]

I have an early china classic vibe telecaster. My band mate has an Indonesian model, and it’s basically identical. They both have that awesome tone.

That's great news if it's really the case. I've heard mixed reviews about the Indonesian ones, but maybe it's a matter of QC letting some lemons through, which can easily be avoided by buying in person.

I forgot to list it, but I also owned a Chinese Classic Vibe Telecaster for a bit sometime back, and it was also shockingly good. Unlike the Strat with its half-thickness trem block, there's nowhere on a Tele for cheap hardware to actually affect tone. It stood shoulder to shoulder with the MIM Teles I've owned and played.

I don't get on very well with lipstick pickups (too shrill for me) so I swapped them out for some (I think) '62 AVRI Strat pickups way back then.

Not to derail this thread, but knowing your taste I guitar tone, there's a simple wiring solution that would have you loving those lipsticks.

Switch the strat to series wiring instead of parallel. 2-pickup Danelectros were wired in series for a reason. Lipsticks are, indeed, ultra low output and quite shrill. Strat-sized ones are even more so, because they're smaller and can fit less wire in there.

But wire them in series and they gain the output and thickness they're missing, while still very much sounding like surfy single coils. Think of lipsticks as "split humbuckers" rather than true single coils. The magic is in the series combinations, and a strat can have three pairs of them.

That, or try a lipstick humbucker, which just skips a step and puts the series mode into a single position. They sound great, and very much not "like a humbucker."