[hekdiesel]

I am trying to narrow down some choices of stats for a new purchase, I've basically eliminated a new Fender because other than the artist series, they all come with modern C necks, and they feel awful to me, like a toy...

But If money was no object and you were buying a new strat, what would you buy, and why?

Everything matters, craftsmanship, materials, finish options (nitro), hardware. The least important to me is electronics because that is usually the easiest thing to swap.

[felixcatus]

[hekdiesel]

Those Ruokangas are indeed nice, I'm curios to see what other people chime in with.

I've read a lot about Suhr strats and LSL, among a bunch of others, but it's hard getting information on a lot of this.

[cashcow]

Marcus just got a VanZandt. He'll post something at some point. There is a thread in the "Other" section about it.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22197

[andyp81]

I have an LSL Saticoy stratocaster which is by far the best stratocaster I have ever played but they do come with a serious price tag. I have a Suhr standard so cant comment on Suhr stratocasters but the build quality is superb on all Suhr guitars. The second hand value of a Suhr will be far higher than the LSL should you ever part with it in the future.

You cant go wrong with either.

[andyp81]

These guys seems to be enjoying LSL Stratocasters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvU3H_kQ0pI

[marcusnieman]

Yeah, the older Van Zandt strat I just got (STV-R1) hasn't left my hands since it arrived a couple of weeks ago. One of the best made, playing and sounding strats I've ever played.

If money were no object, I'd have to go with a Revelator SuperKing strat:

http://www.revelatorguitars.com/

I would have considered a Bill Nash guitar but since he's really starting to mass produce them to sell through dealers, I've heard that the quality is slipping a bit.

[hekdiesel]

I had not heard of Nash until today, those are fairly reasonably priced.

[hekdiesel]

I could do without the relic'ing as well, my outlook is that I want to wear it out myself...

[marcusnieman]

If you can find one of these, I'd put them right up with the Fender Custom Shop strats:

http://www.guitarsjapan.com/1991_Japan_Custom_Edition_ST54-128_Stratocaster.html

[hekdiesel]

That looks amazing.

What about momose strats how do those stack up? I get it by the lack of enthusiasm that the new Tokai strats aren't very impressive. I found a high end shop by me that has Suhr and Anderson strats, the Suhr are pretty amazing, I like the Andersons too but they weren't as impressive as suhr the seemed more modern and didn't have that vintage cibe

[wulfman]

VanZandt, Navigator and Bacchus would be my choices for strats. Momoses are equally good but the Bacchus is so close in quality that for the cost I don't think it is necessary to go up to a Momose.

Navigator and VanZandt have nitro finishes with the VanZandts having very thin finish. I think that works to their advantage for tone.

After going through several strats I settled on these two:

Bacchus relic (with momose pickups)


VanZandt one-off:

[hekdiesel]

Those two look great as well. If anyone has a contact in japan that deals Vz and Nav/Bacchus please PM me

[marcusnieman]

Check these two sites frequently and type Vanzandt in as a single word:

http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/ This is their U Box site that sells used guitars. I've purchased several guitars from them including my latest Van Zandt. Hiroaki handles International sales

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/ec/cmHeaderSearchProduct/doSearchProduct/cmHeader/%20/%20/1?wd=vanzandt&registKeyword=true Ikebe is another good one that sells internationally.

[hekdiesel]

Thanks Marcus