UPDATE - Stratocaster problem ( Stratitus) made the Kemper sound raspy with distortion when Gain was used. Guitar returned to Sweetwater

  • Yes, but a guitar isn't an absolute 'I must have it tomorrow' essential for most of us.


    I think what is being suggested here is not that you order and return 10 guitars - it is that you try all the ones in the shop. If you find 'the one' then you buy it. If you don't find 'the one' then you wait till they have something else in or try another shop.


    I have been lucky with Internet guitar purchases. I have also been unlucky. But I've only bought relative cheapies on-line. I wouldn't go to the pricerange you have without a good long try out in the shop. It's not always just about the quality either - there are some guitars that you just don't bond with even if it's functionally and tonally perfect.


    As to your 'problem' - the Kemper is superb at capturing EVERYTHING that a guitar has to give. That is why I love it. But guitars are basically a bit of wood with some bits of metal and some bits of wire. All of which can rattle, fart, pick up noise and otherwise do all kinds of crazy things. And because the Kemper is soooo transparent, it will pass through all the information it is given, even sometimes what you don't want.


    Keep in mind that the Strat was designed to be quickly and easily put together in seperate parts..... Being able to wire up the entire pickups onto a detatchable scratchplate was surely a design born from convenience and cheapness to manufacture as opposed to 'because it's the best way to do it'. There are potentially so many little rattly bits on a strat, and that's before you get to stratitis as mentioned.


    Learning to do basic setups or getting friendly with someone who does them for a living are wise things for a guitarist to do IMO. It's also wise to look at the design flaws in a lot of the classics and realise that the Kemper will make them stand out like a sore thumb ;) I have an IBJL Casino and I love the thing for what it does. But the insistence on the manufacturer of using a tunamatic bridge which rattles like a skeleton in a biscuit tin is beyond me. A £20 Gotoh cures the problem as it no longer relies on a silly little twangy springclip thing that causes grown men to reach for nail polish or superglue. But guitars are one of those things where the makers cannot win. Everyone seems to want vintage and quite often vintage is / was crap.

  • Everyone seems to want vintage and quite often vintage is / was crap.


    agree with everything but that... I play vintage and you can tell the difference.. maybe you're buyin cheapo?? in todays market, vintage is much less expensive than 10 years ago... 5 years for that matter... it's a buyers market. But still to find a vintage strat or LP or 175... you gotta hunt.. what hasn't changed is some guitars got it, others don't... it's all personal preference. I'd argue that it'd be difficult to find another strat comparable to my '63... or a 175 comparable to my '61... much less an acoustic that would hold water against my '40 or '49 Martins... sure there's great guitars out there.. just found a fantastic 59' LP reissue and a '52 AVRI Tele.. both sound and play great! but vintage still floats my boat..

    Gettin' funky up in here..

  • If a guitar company makes great guitars then every guitar should be fantastic...


    If you have to search for the "good one", then the guitar company obviously doesn't make great guitars...


    well... even though they're all made of wood and metal, there's still variables within the parts.. take pickups for instance.. the number of winds on a coil, the type of wire, magnets and degaussing all play active roles in tone... even the way the pickup cover is or isn't applied makes a difference in tone.... again.. all from the same manufacturer and on the same guitar.. they'll sound different. and then the type of tone woods; how they're dried and applied all makes a difference in sonic quality.. and strings.. man the list goes on... thus the quest....

    Gettin' funky up in here..

  • I didnt give up.........The quest ends here...... (hopefully)


    SUHR CLASSIC - SHORELINE GOLD


    [Blocked Image: http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y509/Rockguitarzan/ScreenShot2014-06-25at90030PM_zpseb8934f4.png]


    [Blocked Image: http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y509/Rockguitarzan/ScreenShot2014-06-25at90048PM_zps72d3b8fe.png]


    Maple neck with Indian Rosewood fretboard
    Body wood: Alder
    Neck back shape: 60's C Vintage Medium .830 - .950
    Neck radius: 10" - 13" compound
    Nut: Tusq
    Frets: 6105 Stainless Steel
    Bridge: Gotoh 1088 (Stainless Steel saddles, screw arm, steel block
    Nut width: 1.650
    Hardware color: Chrome
    Gears: Sperzel Locking Tuners
    Pickguard: Parchment 3ply
    Electronics: Stock 3 control Volume Tone Blend
    Input Jack: Face Jack
    Knobs: Plastic Parchment
    Neck, Middle and Bridge pickups: Suhr V60's Single Coil LP (parchment colour)
    Finish: Shoreline Gold



    Sorry if I offended anyone.I do appreciate members input, but when folks "push" me around and tell me what I should or shouldnt be doing...I will push right back. Like I said, make suggestions if you like but know I will decide the best course of action. And folks need to either accept that...or dont. :)

    Edited 5 times, last by lasvideo ().

  • That's it !
    Suhr and Tom Anderson guitars are shoulder to shoulder regarding quality .


    Also, one can find (fantastic almost new conditions) a second hand TA , for the lower price than mass produced guitars.


    Once you play one of them , you will NEVER comeback to any of wet lumber with attractive brand name on headstock .


    Then, you will understand what I am talking about. :thumbup:

    1988 Branko Radulovic Hand Made Strat in Macedonia (SFRJ)

    2006 Steve Vai vwh moded with SS frets and Sustainac 2006 (Japan)

    2008 Fender YJM , moded (USA)

    2010 Tom Andersons Drop Top 2010 (made in California)

    2017 Charvel GG sig Caramelised Ash (USA)

    2022 Gibson ES 335 2011 Custom Shop Cherry of course ( Memphis)

  • Not always true, had Suhr Classic, but like Fender Clapton CS and Gibson CS Axcess much more ...


    Love my Anderson Cobra... sold my 89' T Classic but it was a fantastic guitar... BTW: Did you know Anderson built Suhr parts, bodies, necks, etc..? yup...


    Good luck with it lasvideo, hope it works out for you!

    Gettin' funky up in here..

  • Love my Anderson Cobra... sold my 89' T Classic but it was a fantastic guitar... BTW: Did you know Anderson built Suhr parts, bodies, necks, etc..? yup...


    Andersson and Suhr builds amazing guitars!
    But just a correction, Anderson have never made Suhr parts.
    Tom and John are good friends since when Tom worked at Schecter way back and John worked att Pensa Guitars in NY.
    In those days when John started to build the first Pensa-Suhr models they got the parts from Tom/Schecter. This was way before Anderson Guitars and before Johns time at Fender Custom Shop, and later, Suhr Guitars.
    So some the old Pensa-Suhr guitars have parts from Tom/Schecter but any Suhr guitar is made by John and his luthiers.
    (Both Tom and John have debunked this rumors several times)


    [Blocked Image: http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t103/aguitars/TomAndersonJohnSuhr-forposting.jpg]


  • Correct...


    And the reason they can both make Strat and Tele shaped guitars is because they were both part of 17 guitar companies that "opposed" Fenders "body shape" (Strat, Tele, P Bass) trademark applications in the USA in 2004.
    The 17 "opposers" won the court case, the trademark council of the US did not register the Fender trademarks on the grounds that the body shapes, after 50 years, have now become "generic".

  • Sorry to be a smartass, but being a skilled medicine man I cannot let this go uncommented/uncorrected. ;)


    Please note that the correct term is 'stratitis'. Always has been.
    In medical terms the suffix '-itis' always indicates an inflammation of some kind.


    SCNR.


    I have to agree, distinguished colleague 8)


    OTOH, stratitus sound to me like "tinnitus", which seems more... audio-related


    LOL