On going 100% Stratocaster

It's been a very long time since I've done this.

As of now, I only own 3 guitars, all Strats. A busted '93 USA Fender, my '89 Squier II (first guitar) that needs some work done to it, and now the 2019 Squier Classic Vibe '50s. This guitar needs nothing since it's new. In other words, the new one is my main guitar.

The last time I had only Strats and nothing else was most likely when I was a teenager. Probably when I only had the '89 Squier and '93 Fender.

Aside from my very early days of guitar playing, I always had guitars other than Strats whether they were played regularly or not. But now I've gone full 100% Stratocaster.

Am I okay with this? Yes.

Do I feel I'm missing out by not having something else? No. And the reason I can answer with a no is because over the years I've owned almost every guitar type that I wanted to try. Strat is what I came back to and I'm okay with this. But that doesn't mean my guitar journey has stopped. There are still a few types of electrics I want to try out.

Rather than list off all the stuff I've owned, I'll instead talk about what I've not owned yet and whether I'll ever get them or not.

I'll be listing these by type.

SG

The Ibanez GAX30 and AX120 were the closest things I ever had to an SG. When I had them, they were nice, but the necks didn't not agree with my fret hand so they had to go...

...but once you get a taste of that SG flavor, you can get hooked on it.

I would at some point like to get myself an Epiphone G-400 PRO. That's the one that speaks to me the most. Right look, right sound, and a correct SG.

Does it have neck dive? Of course it does. But I still may get myself one at some point.

Explorer

If I ever get one of these, it will be the Schecter E-1. I've talked about that model here before, and I sincerely do believe it's the best Explorer style guitar made right now - if you can even find one.

ES-335

I've owned a semi-hollow before with a Squier Telecaster Thinline, but never a "full size" 335 shape.

This shape, for the moment, really doesn't speak to me. But then again I've never really sat down with one for more than a few minutes.

For the longest time I was actually afraid of the 335 shape because it just looks massive. It's not. The guitar just has the illusion of being this giant thing when seen hanging on a wall at the guitar store. The shape is actually quite playable. Again, Epiphone would be my go-to here. They make a proper 335.

Mustang

I have a specific Mustang I want, the Squier Classic Vibe '60s Mustang. That's the model with all the old-school Mustang stuff on it, which includes the big vibrato plate and the slider switches above the two pickups.

I've done the Jazzmaster and the Jaguar. I tried the Duo-Sonic a while back and didn't care for it. I also tried the Squier Mustang HH but didn't care much for that one either, even if it is an awesome bargain.

Yamaha Revstar

To date, I've never seen one of these in a guitar store. Would love to play one, but nobody ever has them in stock.

Which Revstar? Any. Single-coil, humbucker, whatever, I don't care. What I want is to know how the body and neck feel and then listen to it plugged in after that.

The coolest looking Revstar is, of course, Japanese Denim. Very classy, and a nice reserved design. If I were to pick one, that would be it.

Do I plan on getting any of these guitars soon? No. All of these are just nice-to-have and not need-to-have.

Right now I'm just fine with my new black Squier Strat. And I'm not saying that as "It's okay but I wish I had something better". This black Strat is as good as it gets not only for a Squier but for a Strat in general. It needs nothing and no upgrades are required.

The guitar plays and sounds great. I feel no need to "upgrade" to a "better" guitar, because I don't have to.

There is also something to be said for just going with one guitar and sticking with it. Concentrating on just one puts more focus on making actual music (the whole point of having the guitar in the first place) instead of constantly bouncing around between instruments and not getting anywhere musically.

I think this is part of the reason I was okay going 100% Strat. Having a bunch of different guitars was different and cool, but served to be more of a distraction than anything else.

Yeah, I want other guitars. Of course I do. I always do. But right now I'm in Strat town and staying there because I want to get more music done.

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Published 2019 Dec 19