I have a 2000 Fender American Strat Deluxe that I took in trade (Strat + $700 cash) for my Soldano Lucky 13 head.
It has Mark Knopfler pickups and sounds incredible.
I have never really gotten along with Strats, mostly because I always find myself looking for more sustain and harmonics than most single coils offer.
A friend of mine has a 1996 Hamer Artist Gataso in Natural finish that he wants to trade for the Strat.
It is really beautiful. I played it once, but not for more than a couple of minutes.
I seem to remember it felt similar to my McCarty that I had at the time.
Here is the only reason I am hesitating.....
I had tendonitis several years ago. I tried everything to get rid of it. Finally, I went to an old Chinese guy in Temple City, CA that did Chi Gong and Accupuncture on my wrist. After several painful hours of treatment and 2 weeks of recovery, it went away and has not been back since!
At the time I was playing a Jackson Soloist and an Ibanez 542R, both guitars had very fast necks, but very flat fretboard radii.
Since that time, I have discovered that flatter radii greatly affect my comfort level. My wrist will start hurting very quickly playing a flat fretboard.
The Hamer (according to their site, which only lists the new guitars) has a radius of 14.5.
The Strat has a radius of 9.5" and is fairly easy to play.
My main guitars are an Ibanez JS-1000 and an Ibanez 540R (with JS-1000 neck), which both have a 250mm (9.8" radius). These necks are very fast and super comfortable for me to play. The thickness of these necks is a little bit smaller than I like, but overall, they are pretty perfect for me.
I played a PRS McCarty for years. The neck was much thicker than my Ibanez JS necks, but was super comfortable.
The Ibanez JS neck to me is like a Corvette, smaller, more agile, and very fast. The PRS was like a Cadillac, very comfortable, still fast but not a sports car.
Anyway.....The Hamer looks interesting and is very rare on a small island. I haven't bonded with the Strat at all.
I'm just nervous about the radius thing.
Any opinions would be greatly welcome!
It has Mark Knopfler pickups and sounds incredible.
I have never really gotten along with Strats, mostly because I always find myself looking for more sustain and harmonics than most single coils offer.
A friend of mine has a 1996 Hamer Artist Gataso in Natural finish that he wants to trade for the Strat.
It is really beautiful. I played it once, but not for more than a couple of minutes.
I seem to remember it felt similar to my McCarty that I had at the time.
Here is the only reason I am hesitating.....
I had tendonitis several years ago. I tried everything to get rid of it. Finally, I went to an old Chinese guy in Temple City, CA that did Chi Gong and Accupuncture on my wrist. After several painful hours of treatment and 2 weeks of recovery, it went away and has not been back since!
At the time I was playing a Jackson Soloist and an Ibanez 542R, both guitars had very fast necks, but very flat fretboard radii.
Since that time, I have discovered that flatter radii greatly affect my comfort level. My wrist will start hurting very quickly playing a flat fretboard.
The Hamer (according to their site, which only lists the new guitars) has a radius of 14.5.
The Strat has a radius of 9.5" and is fairly easy to play.
My main guitars are an Ibanez JS-1000 and an Ibanez 540R (with JS-1000 neck), which both have a 250mm (9.8" radius). These necks are very fast and super comfortable for me to play. The thickness of these necks is a little bit smaller than I like, but overall, they are pretty perfect for me.
I played a PRS McCarty for years. The neck was much thicker than my Ibanez JS necks, but was super comfortable.
The Ibanez JS neck to me is like a Corvette, smaller, more agile, and very fast. The PRS was like a Cadillac, very comfortable, still fast but not a sports car.
Anyway.....The Hamer looks interesting and is very rare on a small island. I haven't bonded with the Strat at all.
I'm just nervous about the radius thing.
Any opinions would be greatly welcome!