Please help me choose a Strat style guitar

[Andy Le Blanc]

You have to try out a lot of instruments, the collectors market has removed
most of the great ones. We're all gonna have to wait for the boomers to
pass by before they come back on the market. It doesn't really matter
what brand, make, type, price point, material, every body makes a half
dozen strat models. If you keep looking you will find the instrument that
seems to be just so for what you want to do.
You have to try out a lot of instruments.....no matter who tries to sell you what.

[Markusv]

Andy

So true.. I take for example a recent guitar store experience.
Played multiple strats: Korean, Mexican, USA.
In the end it was a Mexican and the Eric Johnson that I really liked. Both appealed to me for playing unplugged and from a feel perspective.
Now there's a $1500 differnce and yet I'd be happy to buy either. However some of the other Mexicans they had did nothing for me.

But at the same time, I see some folks raving about the Ibanex Roadstar series as well as Aria for great necks etc.

So it is confusing and at the end, as you say, - Play the thing and if it grabs you, - grab it!

Markus V

[Structo]

Yeah, usually after you have played for a number of years you develop a favorite style of guitar.

Be it a tele, a strat an LP etc.

Gibson's have always seemed out of my price range so I gravitated towards the bolt on neck guitars and Fenders.
Pretty easy to build as well.

Most of us after playing for 30+ years develop quite a stable of guitars.

Funny thing is when I started getting into building (or assembling) guitars several years back, I bought a PRS clone kit guitar.

It was rather inexpensive and so I put that aside and built several strats from unfinished parts.

The about a year ago I finally finished that PRS clone and I ended up liking it a lot!
It has a 25" scaled vs the 25.5" Fender scale and I can run heavier gauge strings on it with no problems.
Has cheap humbuckers in it but man, that thing is a player!
My go to guitar recently.
So you never know what's gonna light your fire guitar wise.