necrosis1193

Short and sweet, my strat needs some fretwork done, and looking at the cost, it seems like it'd be more worth my while to just spend a little more money and get a whole new strat.

I'm well aware that he is one of the textbook cases of someone with an unhealthy tonal obsession, so replicating his sound without spending a few thousand on amps and pedals, and an extra $10-$15 to rewire the middle tone control to the bridge, is next to impossible, but Eric Johnson has one of my absolute favorite stratocaster sounds. However, I don't have $1,800 to spend on an EJ strat.

So, getting to the point now, what should I look for in regards to a strat to help me get into the ballpark of an EJ-ish clean sound, and a lower-gain variant on his lead sound with, but with more treble, under $600, preferably $400 or less? Bonus points too if it can get that Guthrie Govan kind of thing where it's very clearly driven and dirty, but it's so distinct and clear through the dirt that it almost sounds clean.

Rig if it helps is a Tubescreamer, a ProCo RAT, a 535Q, a Boss CE-5, an Ibanez FZ-7, running into either a Blues Junior for most stuff, a Mustang III for occasions where tubes aren't viable, and a Deluxe Reverb VST for demo work.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Capt_Clarkson

Having played the EJ Strat where I work, I have got to admit it was the best sounding Fender I have ever touched, I was gutted the day it sold...

Anyway I would 100% recommend getting a Squier 50S Classic Vibe Strat in two tone sunburst, not only does it look very similar to Eric's Sig, it sounds pretty close too.



Bare in mind that Squier is totally stock parts as well haha

dannyalcatraz

Not a Strat, but a Strat-like guitar: the Godin Velocity


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8lZTeMc7FU&sns=em

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3rUqOXgVos&sns=em

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4t3supFAJA&sns=em


They were discontinued last year, but are still available from some retailers (like MF) for @$900, and are also available used for about half that price (there are 5-6 on GC's website between $400-500).

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Eppicurt

I think you're underestimating how much of his sound comes from his amps and effects.

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dannyalcatraz

The Squier video had a popup mentioning settings on a Korg Pandora. I have a couple- very nice.

When I checked the video in YouTube, the Korg settings are mentioned in the "comments" section:

Korg Pandora PX4D
Amp: UK MDN
Cabinet: 2x12 BLK
EQ: Bass 5, Mid 3, Treble 2, Presence 0, Echo 330 ms

If you check out this vid by the same guy, he again lists the gear setup he uses to nail the sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmoIu-qyNS8&sns=em

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terribleguitar

I guess that's his picking technique that forms his tone for the most part, but I guess that the basics are a strat with vintage-sounding single-coils with tone control at 1-3, a fender amp (luckily, you have one) and some dirt pedals (fuzz face, tube driver, tubescreamer), and also a delay/reverb pedal. That would be enough.

necrosis1193

I've always liked the sound of those in-store, but whenever I played them, the neck always felt really tacky. Which is weird since I never minded my strat's neck, or the gloss neck on a lot of 50's replicas.



Unfortunately the strat he uses is out of my pricerange by about $250.



I always did like Godins...however since one of the main problems with my strat is fret wear, unless the frets are stainless steel, I'd like to buy new this time.

And to the other two, Allow me to clarify: A. It's not that I'm dissatisfied with my strat and think a new guitar will make me happy, it's that my strat needs repairs, and the cost of repairs is close enough to a new strat that it's worth just buying a new one. B. This is NOT a "How do nail Eric Johnson's tone" thread. I just know that my old strat was always too aggressive-sounding to really get something similar to that pristine, glassy clean sound. I'm not trying to copy Eric Johnson's tone, I just want something that gets me in-range, especially with the cleans, since my last strat didn't come close.

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dannyalcatraz

I can't tell you if the frets are stainless steel or not. And while there is a used Velocity at a GC near to me, I'm looking at it for myself...but haven't gotten over to see it yet. (Tied up with family stuff, and can't go shoppies.)

So, while I can't tell you THAT, I CAN tell you that Godin makes 2 other Stratlike models that would be closer to your price range and might get you what you want:

http://godinguitars.com/godinperfseriesp.htm

You'd want to look for offerings in their Session or Progression lines.

For example, this one at Amazon is supposedly $480.
http://www.amazon.com/Godin-Session...t/dp/B003C80S7W

And this Progression is just under $800.
http://www.amazon.com/Godin-Progres...k/dp/B002QGTRAU

Here's a demo of both- hope your Portugese is better than mine!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wXR-McoT-w&sns=em

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gregs1020

what repairs are going to cost this much?

a complete refret costs around $300.

necrosis1193

Now those I like. For what seem like quality guitars, they're fairly inexpensive, I may have to look into Godin next time I look for a new guitar.



Wait, really?

That was the number I got for a fret leveling/crowning/etc.

Can I get a more accurate quote then?

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gregs1020

leveling and crowning just cost me a total of $110 with a complete set up.

strings were additional.

the guitar plays incredibly now.

get a new shop is my recommendation.

necrosis1193

Done and done, you just saved me a good few hundred dollars.

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JustRooster

Came in here to post what Greg did. I got my CIJ leveled for $80.

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dannyalcatraz

Saving money is almost as good as getting a new twanger!

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Dave_Mc

50s style pickups?

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