Anybody try out the John Mayer Strat yet?

If they hadn't stuck John Mayer's name on it, they'd be selling it at half the price.

 

I'm really interested in this strat too. Not a huge John Mayer fan but I do like his music and appreciate his talent. He is a much better player than his "commercial" music implies.

It seems like this strat is very much like the SRV strat with different pickups, satin neck, and non reverse tremolo.

There is an interesting post here on it:

John Mayer Post

 

John Mayer can play and I love the way he dialogues but his music doesn't really connect that deep with me, although I do appreciate how he crafts his tunes each time I hear it on the X.

The specs of his sig strat sound killer! If it's put together with good woods I can't imagine it not being a great guitar. Let's face it, those are typically not Fender's baseline specs - they are more in line with the boutique market. I'd love to try one - the pickups sound a little freaky though, well, at least on paper.

 

I fall into the camp described above: John Mayer appears to be a very accomplished guitar playing talent and good song writer, but his (popular) music doesn't connect with me personally. Of course, he's what 19? And I'm 40 years older than that, so the disconnect is totally understandable from a life experience standpoint. His music popular music is targeted at the teens.

I do loathe, though, the idea of name-brand guitar makers putting an artist's name on a guitar in order to try to sell more of them. If they threw in the hard shell case like VaughnC suggested, that would help. Then again, I've read that the gig bag they sell with this guitar is somehow "no ordinary gig bag".

 

I'm not a big Mayer fan either, but I'm willing to checkout his Trio when they are at the Fillmore in early Sept. As for the JM Strat, I just got one last week. It had all the features I like (Alder, Medium C Neck, 9.5 radius, dark rosewood board, 42mm nut width, vintage bridge & tuners). It plays like a charm and I REALLY like what Fender did with the Tone controls. It's got a Master Volume and the first Tone is for the neck pup. The second Tone works on both the middle and bridge pups. Why all guitars aren't wired like this is anyone's guess. It gives the player a lot of control over the amount of bass/treble. My amps are an Allen Old Flame and a Tweed Deluxe clone. Haven't been able to fully open it up on yet the OF, but on the Deluxe it absolutely kills!

The net, net is that regardless of what you think about the artist who's name is on it (thankfully, on the back of the headstock) this is an absolutely great guitar. IMHO Fender got this one right!

BTW, mine is a 3-tone burst. The case is great too. I perfer gigbags that can be strapped onto my shoulder so the InCase has the protection of a hardshell but with the convenience of a gigbag.

Go check one out for yourself. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Great looking guitar and the gig bag is intriguing.

It doesn't have a cover for the trem in back? I'm surprised... Hopefully it won't hook one of your shirt buttons (or your belt buckle, or your zipper, depending upon how low you wear your guitar).

 

Hmmmmm I'll have to look into that. I have a first run SRV that I love...........but to make it perfect I would need to change just that...........different pickups, satin neck, and a non reverse tremolo. (I've changed just the Pick ups and blocked the Trem.)

 

see I'm only 25 and I love Mayer...his pop songs and his playing. This strat really interests me. I want to play one when they are available. I'm looking for a more vintage style strat anyhow so this might be the ticket.

Tim

 

I played one thru a Dumble and the next thing I knew Lisa Bonet was at the door...

 

telling you to turn it down?

 

Older post that I'm going to try and bring back to life...

John Mayer irritates the snot out of my wife, I will not listen to him play the radio tunes, we left a Counting Crows show before Mayer (the headliner) performed, but he's got great taste in what equipment he likes...I did enjoy his Crossroads performance, but he still irritates me.

Anyway, I went to Melodee Music in Leesburg, VA yesterday and played SEVERAL guitars (Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, '62 AV, Highway 1, 50's RI, 60's RI, '56 Relic Limited, John English Masterbuilt '59, and a John Mayer model). The John English Masterbuilt is incredible, but I couldn't justify the $3,200.00 price tag. I don't really care for the faded Sonic Blue either. The EC model was Candy Green - the greatest color ever! but the vintage frets really just didn't grab me - same with the Ice Blue '62 - nice neck shapes on each. The Desert Sand '56 Relic had jumbo frets, but again was a little pricy and not the greatest color. The Eric Johnson was pretty darn cool...something to think about in the future. The Mexican made two Strats both had floating trems and would not tune, at least while plunking around in the music store. And finally, the Highway 1 has an American Series neck, shallow and wide - not my favorite.

So I decide to try, what I later find out is a John Mayer Sig model. They had two, one in sunburst and one in Charcoal with a racing stripe. Since I hold all Stratocasters to try and equal my beloved '93 SRV model, the sunburst was out, but the vintage vibe and neck girth made the JM easy choice. I really thought the p/us sounded exactly like a Strat's should and the satin finish on the back of the neck reminded me of the relics. I like the vintage hardware, the absence of a signature on the front of the headstock and the racing stripe. The In Case gigbag, is the coolest thing I've come across - gigbag is not the correct term. It's padded, solid, and has tons of storage/carrying options. The guitar has mint green vintage amp knobs as well. The frets are huge too! I have had a backplate on a strat and I always keep the trem flat on the body - easy fit for what I'm looking for.

I still don't think Mayer deserves a Signature model, but this Stratocaster has been done very well! It has every feature that I would ask for on a Custom Shop model and the price was right - $1360.00 out the door.

Mike

 

I'm not a strat guy by any means, nor am I a huge fan of his either. I liked him on the Crossroads DVD, his playing was nice, his tone was even better. A girlfriend of mine saw him on Austin City Limits and said that he was "way better than Buddy Guy" I almost hit her in the throat, but you know, that wouldn't be right. As for his strat, it may very well be the coolest strat I have ever played. I love the tone knob for the bridge pickup, and the neck on that guitar is great, reminds me of an SG neck for some reason. It sounds amazing, plays great, and doesn't have his name written all over it. If my concious and pocket book would have allowed me to, that thing would have been going home with me!

 

The JM model was one of the nicer Strats I played on my latest quest. I just thought it was too much money for basically an American Standard Strat with a few tweaks.

 

Yeah would have been nice if it was sprayed thin coat nitro like the EJ. I like the EJ spec wise but prefer rosewood boards.

 

Really, a JM Strat? Like there aren't enough varieties of Strats around. I don't think Fender will stop till every Strat player has his own model designation. How does one keep up with all this???
greg c

 

Vaughn - The sound that I hear in my head revolves around SRV's neck and neck/middle pickup settings. My SRV Strat does an excellent job nailing that tone (as it should, I guess), but the Mayer seems to nail the booming snap coming of those wound strings. The G B E strings don't sound harsh, they sound focused.

Honestly, I have hard time describing pick up tones...but I know what I like when I hear it. I have not removed the factory installed 10s and put on GHS 11s yet, but I like what I hearing so far. I'm hoping to have a chance this weekend to bring the volume up and really put the guitar through its paces.

So far, this guitar sounds like what a Strat should sound like.

Mike