Fender Artist Stratocasters - Opinions Please!

[binge]

Hey guys,

I am currently considering selling my Ibanez RG and getting a Fender Artist Strat and was just looking for some opinions....

I am considering either a Jeff Beck, Yngwie Malmsteen or a Ritchie Blackmore model Strat.

Anyone here owned any of these instruments and would like to give some input on them?

With regards to the Blackmore Strat I had read somewhere, years ago, that the pickups were noisy on it. I tried searching for this again but nothing came up so either this was my imagination or Fender have sorted the issue.

I have always fancied the Malmsteen Strat but the low output pickups have put me off somewhere. I did own a Fender 2010 Telecaster earlier last year and hated the weak S1 pickups on it - would the Yngwie pickups be of a similar output to these does anyone know?

 

[GarMan]

I would play all these strats first before making any decision. These guitars are a far cry from your Ibby. Oh man where to begin? The Blackmore pups are noisy. In addition, the Blackmore strat has 7.25 radius board with vintage frets and a semi scalloped fingerboard. I believe it would take a lot of getting use too. Same with the Malmsteen, but the scalloped is more pronounced with a 9.5 inch radius and jumbo frets. Easier to play, but the scalloped neck takes getting use too. The pickups are very low output, but I have not tried the new Duncan set of pups so I can't make a judgement call there. The Jeff Beck to me feels great and plays great. I just do not like the pups in the JB that much. It is that fender noiseless pup affair. I would look into a ton of other Fenders if you are looking into that price range. For instance, I really like the 62' hot rot strat a lot. I would also look into a Suhr C1 pro, you will not be sorry.

 

[binge]

I would play all these strats first before making any decision. These guitars are a far cry from your Ibby. Oh man where to begin? The Blackmore pups are noisy. In addition, the Blackmore strat has 7.25 radius board with vintage frets and a semi scalloped fingerboard. I believe it would take a lot of getting use too. Same with the Malmsteen, but the scalloped is more pronounced with a 9.5 inch radius and jumbo frets. Easier to play, but the scalloped neck takes getting use too. The pickups are very low output, but I have not tried the new Duncan set of pups so I can't make a judgement call there. The Jeff Beck to me feels great and plays great. I just do not like the pups in the JB that much. It is that fender noiseless pup affair. I would look into a ton of other Fenders if you are looking into that price range. For instance, I really like the 62' hot rot strat a lot. I would also look into a Suhr C1 pro, you will not be sorry.

I live in Northern Ireland and no guitar shops here carry any of these models and I won't be able to try them unfortunatley. I would have to get them to order them in and I would then be expected to buy the guitar, even if I didn't like it. If I did return it I would only get a credit note.

I did own a Suhr in the past, a S4, and I didn't like it and don't think that I would go back to another Suhr guitar.

 

[stetyrrell]

I live in Northern Ireland and no guitar shops here carry any of these models and I won't be able to try them unfortunatley. I would have to get them to order them in and I would then be expected to buy the guitar, even if I didn't like it. If I did return it I would only get a credit note.

I did own a Suhr in the past, a S4, and I didn't like it and don't think that I would go back to another Suhr guitar.

If you decide to pop down south, Waltons and Musicmaker in Dublin have a good stock of Fenders, Walton's being Ireland's main Fender dealer. You can check out the website here http://www.waltons.ie last time I was in, they definitely had the blackmore at least.

 

[GarMan]

I did own a Suhr in the past, a S4, and I didn't like it and don't think that I would go back to another Suhr guitar.

The S4 is much, much different than the C1 or C2. The C series are pretty much a strat with nice specs.

 

[Pelagic]

Love my Beck...never goes out of tune, looks and plays great. I did replace the stock pups which I felt were a bit midrange focused.

 

[robertkoa]

Good point to make sure you play them first.

Coming from Ibanez- you may need a Fender with a flatter fingerboard Radius to feel comfortable- check them first.