£250 upgrading vs. £2500 buying a Custom Shop

LPManic · December 2020

What is the forum view on this issue?

I am not instinctively a Strat person. But I have been gassing for a CS Strat for months now. There is a red one I particularly love.

But I have a Mexican Strat which stays in tune, is super light, and sits in the corner untouched. But I don’t really like it. It’s too light, the strings feel too light, and it feels like a toy.

But I was playing it tonight and I thought with a setup, heavier strings, new knobs, and maybe even some CS pickups or new wiring, it would be really nice.

But is this just wasting money on a Mex Strat that will always be a Mex Strat? Or am I being snobby? (I fully accept I might be being snobby)

All chat welcome!

MikeS · December 2020

I had a Mexican Tele I felt the same with. Decided to send it to Jonathan at Feline, who completely transformed its playability.

An affordable way to find out if it really is for you or not.

Jono111 · December 2020

My first guitar was a pacifica 112 which has had lots of changes and is my favorite guitar, granted my most expensive guitar is a Mexican Strat but still. It depends on whether the upgrade will cure you or will you upgrade but still want the custom.
When in doubt do both is my motto.

tony99 · December 2020

I'm planning on getting a nice 60s classic player refinished, get the neck sanded and I'll be more than happy if it still plays great like it does now

only thing I'm not sure about is whether I can get the fretboard edges rolled

mark123 · December 2020

£2500 is a lot of money for a guitar that you admit to being not "massive" on..perhaps a s/h vintera for £600 to scratch that itch , if not easy sell and not a lot lost ..the other route could be a costly mistake.

ICBM · December 2020

I'd probably go for the upgrades first - it's not that much money even if it doesn't work out, and the most expensive parts - the pickups, and possibly the bridge block - can be re-sold to recover some of the cost.

Strings and set-up first, pickups second, bridge block third. Nothing else makes enough difference to the tone to be worth changing unless you're certain you really like the guitar.

However, 'too light' will always be a problem - if it actually is one - so if that's the *biggest* reason you don't like it, ignore what I just said...

Basher · December 2020

I'm thick as two short planks but given that option B (CS Strat) is an order of magnitude more expensive than option A (upgrade), I'd try option A first.

I'd also try some other Strats before committing to the full CS outlay. I've played a couple of Mexican 70s reissues that were authentically hefty and it sounds like the feel and weight is part of the deal for you.

Personally, I was glad to offload my heavy Strat Plus for a 7lb partscaster that, to me at least, feels much more alive and fun to play.

LPManic · December 2020

Yeah I might go for the upgrades as a little project over the Christmas break. I would like to sand the neck as well and already have all the stuff in the garage to do it. Maybe the upgrades would be the grown up choice. Hard to fight the GAS though!

BloodEagle · December 2020

The most toyish feeling strat Ive ever had was a CS one - played and sounded great though.

PengaMax · December 2020

My first port of call would be get yourself to a strat dealer and get as many through your hands as they’ll let you try, the differences, even between the same models, can feel huge. A few choice upgrades can make a world of difference once you know what you like the feel of.

Dominic · December 2020

I've had quite a few custom shop /masterbuilt teles and Nocasters etc in search of ' the one '..........I'm a country fan and a reasonable player .
I'm not great ,I can do the job competantly,no band outside Nashville would kick me out but I'm certainly not a great guitar player let alone a true 'guitarist '.
I know enough to know and feel a decent guitar .
By default I took a Mex built Brad Paisley tele ,hideously ugly silver sparkle ,in a trade solely to put it back for sale and get my money back .......I thought I would dissmissively give it a quick twang as I photographed it for the advert.
Suffice to say the advert turned into an ad for a CS Nocaster and a CS tele .
Nothing plays,sounds or feels as good as the Brad Paisley .
An experienced friend played it and was awestruck too .
The origin / title/marketing etc means nothing .....it either works or it doesn't .
Sadly , (and this is the important bit ) ....good as it is, it hasn't made ME any better as a guitarist or magically turned me into Brad or Johnny Hiland .
That's the bit to remember as you go to spend £2000 plus .

Slash'N'burn · December 2020

Custom shop , or something in between, don’t see the point in upgrading. Always fancied a 90’s US strat or deluxe

Funkfingers · December 2020

LPManic said:
the strings feel too light

Perhaps, they are.

If the guitar is currently strung with 009-042, change to 010-046 or -048. If currently strung 010-048, try 011-052. Reset the intonation. The increased string tension load should introduce slightly more neck relief. Leave the truss rod for now.

The other easy change that improves the tone of some Stratocasters is permanently down-tuning to Eb. (Hendrix, Vaughan, Edge.)

HAL9000 · December 2020

My view is try the upgrades first. For less than £300 my MIM Std Strat has been fitted with decent pickups (Oil City StoneTones), a Callaham sustain block, and had a setup by Feline. Huge improvement in sound and playability for not too much money..

dazzajl · December 2020

Don’t listen to @Dominic he’s completely wrong.

About the silver sparkle paisley being ugly that is. In all other matters, he is most wise.

JayGee · December 2020

I did pretty much exactly this.

Wanted to treat myself to something a little bit special, worked my way pretty much right the way across Peach Guitars Wall Of Great Expense (for those who remember the old shop) and somewhat to my surprise found that nothing felt remotely as “right” as the early ‘80s Japanese Strat[1] I already owned but highlighted a certain harsh, abrasive quality in the sound of my guitar, something which in conversation John attributed to the nasty ceramic bar magnet pickups which were fitted.

So I got a set of Bare Knuckles “Slowhand” pickups fitted to my guitar and lived happily ever after with it.

[1] One of the deeply unfashionable and unpopular Fotoflame series. Yes I know but I don’t care, I like it...

Axe_meister · December 2020

I had a 90s American Standard could never get on with it. It was as heavy as hell. Had numerous pickup upgrades. It always sounded rather generic. It had a two point teen, I upgraded to locking tuners but it still went out of tune fairly easily.
I part exchanged for a Mexican made Jimi Hendrix strat. It sounds like a strat should (in my opinion), it's light, it's easy to play, has a 6 point pressed steel bridge and vintage tuners, yet I can dive bomb it and it stays in tune.
Yet it is half the Price of an American Pro series.
Try out some other strata, compare them acoustically first, then with a clean amp. Do the other guitars "feel" different to you. You might even find a guitar that fights back a little makes you play a little better.
I also have £3ks worth of fully blinged out Warmoth strat, setup by Feline Guitars, pickups hand wired by Bareknuckle. I still pickup the Jimi Strat more often.

John_P · December 2020

If you want a CS strat then I suspect that you will still want one whatever you do and be wondering if it would be better.

As for your current strat then you change change the sound and a lot of how it plays but it needs to have a neck you like first.

I have an old highway one strat that always gets compliments on the sound and I know it's a lovely guitar that on paper ticks all the features I'd want from a strat but I rarely use it because the neck doesn't suit me - it feels wider than I like. I changed the pickups about 10 years ago it didn't change how I feel about the neck compared to other guitars that get used more. So I would have a think about whether the fundamentals of the guitar suit you before throwing money at it.

Sync · December 2020

LPManic said:

What is the forum view on this issue?

I am not instinctively a Strat person. But I have been gassing for a CS Strat for months now. There is a red one I particularly love.

But I have a Mexican Strat which stays in tune, is super light, and sits in the corner untouched. But I don’t really like it. It’s too light, the strings feel too light, and it feels like a toy.

But I was playing it tonight and I thought with a setup, heavier strings, new knobs, and maybe even some CS pickups or new wiring, it would be really nice.

But is this just wasting money on a Mex Strat that will always be a Mex Strat? Or am I being snobby? (I fully accept I might be being snobby)

All chat welcome!

Good wood is still good wood.

It doesn't matter where it is made or by whom, a good guitar just is.

If your mexican strat has a great neck and it fits well with the body then there really are diminishing returns going to a USA or CS Strat.

Pickups, wiring harness and hardware (tuners/bridge/nut) can easily be changed and at a relatively low cost.

However rightly or wrongly, the guitar is very much an instrument where the brand, brand's legacy & heritage and country of manufacture is vastly important to the overall package. It's image paralleled with having a great frontman for a band.

If budget is not the constraint, reconciling the above journey ends with an American Custom Shop Stratocaster.

newi123 · December 2020

Custom shops are great, but I think just as much as an aspiration or thing to own as a guitar.

You can absolutely make a great strat from a nice mex with a few choice upgrades. It'll sound great and perform exactly as a strat should.

I currently own my old modded highway one and a 54 masterbuilt. Playing time is 90% in favour of the highway, and gigging is 95%.

Does that stop me wanting to own the masterbuilt? - def not! It's a great thing to have, superbly made, but objectively no better as an actual guitar.

I take (or took) them both as house guitars to jam nights, and the great but non gear players there have no idea that one is 10x more than the other in value.

impmann · December 2020

I spent an afternoon at Coda Music trying every single CS Strat they had - and they had *a lot*. I brought my old Jap Squier strat along as a reference point (modded with Mojo pickups and a cold rolled steel trem block)...
Some of them were fabulous, some were great - but some just didn't 'click' with me. However, I genuinely didn't feel that any of them gave me the step 'above' the old Jap guitar that warranted the price. Then I played a s/h PRS 305 and bought that instead!!!

I'd also echo the points above about cheaper guitars - CS Fenders are lovely, and by their nature are inconsistent in their feel. Its a lot of money to find, and you can get some incredible guitars in the sub £1k category. The Mexican range is now vast and the quality levels are superb.

Point here is, if you don't 'click' with a guitar you can chase your tail down many rabbit holes. I'd suggest that if the Mex doesn't feel right, try playing a couple of other Strats to see if its the style of guitar that doesn't click with you or if its that particular example. Take it with you when you try these as a reference. You can try sticking heavier strings on it (I've never liked 9 gauge which is what Fender insist on fitting) and yes you can can fit new pickups etc - but if it simply doesn't feel right, it never will be right.

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£250 upgrading vs. £2500 buying a Custom Shop

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