Fender Deluxe Lone Star Strat vs. ordering a Carvin Bolt

[david(j)]

thoughts?

i love my carvin...it's an incredible instrument. i'm thinking another strat style guitar would be fun. thinking bolt hardtail, hss setup, trying to figure out the finish.

at the same time, the deluxe lone star strat looks awesome. i like the headstock and the black bridge bucker doesn't bother me. pickups look solid, and i like the color schemes that they offer. also, it's less money.

the neck on my carvin 7 string is incredible. i did change out the pickups. i liked being able to choose how it was spec'd. finish options are numerous. neck stability is a big plus here.

the neck on my american strat is very very high maintenance. classic strat, though.

should i just pony up the extra to get an american made, relatively self-spec'd strat-style, or spend less for a high-end import strat? i like buying american if i'm going new. the new lone stars don't really seem to be on the used market yet.

any thoughts?

 

[Wildwind]

I've built four Bolts. Fantastic instruments IMO. Best playing Strat-style guitars I've seen. Stock electronics (switches & pots) weren't great unless they've upgraded those in the last 10 years, but easy/cheap fix.

 

[Jo-Jo Beans]

Sounds like you've kind of made up your own mind already. There are a few doubts you had about the Mexican-made Lone Star that, if you ended up buying it, you might end up regretting or having those same doubts in the back of your mind forever. I think it'd ultimately make the guitar less enjoyable for you to play with that little bit of buyer's remorse nagging at you. Go with what you like about Carvin and what'll make you so happy to play the instrument that you won't want to put it down.

Plus Lone Stars aren't hardtail. You'd have to change out the entire bridge.

 

[Elduderino73]

Just playing devil's advocate here: why not try a different style of guitar? Set-neck: 24 3/4" scale semi-hollow or hollowbody if you're looking for something different.

 

[david(j)]

Sounds like you've kind of made up your own mind already. There are a few doubts you had about the Mexican-made Lone Star that, if you ended up buying it, you might end up regretting or having those same doubts in the back of your mind forever. I think it'd ultimately make the guitar less enjoyable for you to play with that little bit of buyer's remorse nagging at you. Go with what you like about Carvin and what'll make you so happy to play the instrument that you won't want to put it down.

Plus Lone Stars aren't hardtail. You'd have to change out the entire bridge.

I think you're spot on. Sometimes h arming it from a 3rd party helps. Thanks.

 

[david(j)]

Just playing devil's advocate here: why not try a different style of guitar? Set-neck: 24 3/4" scale semi-hollow or hollowbody if you're looking for something different.

I have a couple 24.75 in scale guitars. I dig them a lot. They aren't going anywhere. I'm just jonesing for another stratty member of the family.

Try as I might, semi-hollows just aren't my thing.

 

[Elduderino73]

I have a couple 24.75 in scale guitars. I dig them a lot. They aren't going anywhere. I'm just jonesing for another stratty member of the family.

Try as I might, semi-hollows just aren't my thing.

After making the switch a few years ago I'll never go back to solidbodies. Whenever I pick up a friend's solidbody I realize how much I miss what a semi-hollow does. To each his own.