in another thread flowmaster g stated ...professional-grade instruments. Go for the "real" stuff.

my question to everyone is what is your opinion of real stuff when it comes to the guitar part of surf music ? do standard strats meet the real stuff mark, or would it have to be a custom shop model? there is an obious choice about the av jags and jazzmasters. but what about strats? where is the line for them?
joel

so, i guess next you're gonna tell me this isn't a "pro-level" surf machine?

DP, it may not be a pro-level surf guitar. I wouldn't know as I've never played one. It being a pro-level guitar should be determined by how well it holds up with constant gigging and trips to practice. A pro-level surf guitar shouldn't be determined by tone or appearance as much as I would like that to be true.

Personally I would rather gig with a sturdy Gibson with PAFs for surf rather than a cheapo with single coils.

if you are planning or pro--semi pro--or once a month gigging that pays MONEY----get the real deal!!! the real thing should hold up mucho grande better {mo better!] than cheap junk. my tube silvertones didn"t hold up so well, but i got a bassman head and junked the s.tone. worked MUCH better. when i added the les paul jr tv model, that was much better than the silvertone guitar i had. liked the next one too--a blackface twin. found an esquire and then a sg jr. then i got married and had to liveon a real world budget, a sunn solarus with 2-15's and 2 extra 1-15 cabs. that was a m----------r. have had a lot of junk since then. lots of real crap in the last 10 years. i now use a mexican strat with tex-mex pups and a vox 50 watt modeling amp--can't remember he model number. but i play at home now. for gigging get the real deal!! for bedroom guitarists--junk works fine--cuz its cheap!!! peace

I'm with what everyone else here has been saying - it ain't the price tag that determines "pro level" gear. While I have to disagree a bit with the "sheer durability" test, I do think that reliability is a MAJOR factor when evaluating a piece of gear.

Then again, I know a friend who once used a hot glue gun in place of soldering on his Squire bass, and it's held up for over ten years, and I'd still hesitate to call it "pro level".

Basically, if you can coax the sound you want from your rig consistently and without the constant fear of mechanical failure, that's all that should matter in the end.

~B~

A friend of mind told even if you pay 3G's for a guitar you still need to have it setup and gone through, it almost seems like your just paying for the brand like you do with clothin' and shoes sure the quality can be top notch but on the other hand it's not what kind of guitar you own or play, how hot your axe is or how vintage or where it's made in but it's how the player plays the guitar and technic
is what I say, it starts with the guitar player.

I don't think there is such a thing as a better guitar to another or what is best suited for surf, if you ever notice when you play someone else's axe you will still hear your trade mark or sound no matter what guitar you pick up it will always sound like you or your pickin' style, give me a les paul I'll surf on it as long as it has a tremolo system I'm a happy camper,
any guitar can make surf happen it's all in the players hands and pickin' no matter if it's a squier strat or a real genuine fender or a 3 grand gibson.

Look at the folks in 3rd world countrys like mexico and russia that play surf and music in general they can't obtain good brand guitars or even afford a fender or tanks but they sure make some killer tunes and I give them 2 thumbs up for working with what they have to make music.

-Kyle

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The player is key. If you didn't know it was Dick Dale's strat, and an important part of history, pretty much everyone here would give the "beast" a pass if they picked it up and played it. When I was fortunate enough to get up close and touch, but not play it, I was amazed at how "shitty" it was setup by normal guitar playing standards. If you COULD bend those strings, you could pass pretty much under the next string over without it touching your knuckle! I exagerate, but not by much!

Same thing with David Lindley's silvertones in the 80's when I had the opportunity to handle them, and Bob Brozeman's nationals. If any of us picked up the ones I saw him with we would be buzzin' and clangin' like a 40 year old fridge. But both those guys "cut heads" like nobodies business.

That being said, price, reliability and comfort matter alot to me. That's why my "strats" and "teles" are nice used G&Ls. If they made a Jazzmaster I'd be on it! My AVRI jazzmaster is awesome I do have to say and leaves nothing to be desired, except a gold pickguard. I would love to get an AVRI strat, but at more than the twice the price (both used) of a G&L... Well, someday perhaps.

One of the best guitarists I know only uses a Squier Strat- he plays 200 gigs a year with it.

Set up is very important, no matter the price of the guitar. As there is no one perfect set up, every guitar has to be set up to suit the players needs. And a good set up will might make a cheap guitar play great, just as it can make an expensive guitar unplayable.

Just curious MikeG- what is the cofiguration of your Talman? I used one that had 3 lipstick pups from 94-98 before moving on.

--fd

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Well, my opinion is that certain guitars have certain "sounds," so-to-
speak. For example, a Gretsch is the ULTIMATE machine for
rockabilly; Fender Stratocasters and Jaguars are the same for
surf.

As far as keyboards are concerned (sorry--gotta throw this one
in there), there is DEFINITELY a difference between a cheapie and
a professional-level synth. I see so many people with those $250
or under Yamaha pre-programmed keyboards they sell all over the
place. But my programmable Ensoniq FIZMO and Korg DW-8000
will blow out of the water any of those pre-programmed keyboards
any day. Granted, they've come a LOOOOONNNNGGGG way since
the crappy Casios of the 1970s and 1980s, but they're still nothing
compared to a real programmable synth.

And yeah, you can have synths in surf music--check out my
demo on the last SurfGuitar101 mp3 comp.

Vincent (The Bookhouse Boys)

Is this something you can share with the rest of us, Amazing Larry?!?

i picked strats for the disscusion because there are just so many types to buy.

ok, so let me see if i have all the fact right from the replies.
1. a player will sound like themselves on just about any guitar.
2. even expensive guitars still need to be set up properly.
3.a lot of different type of guitars are used to play surf.
4. some players gig guitars are actually the cheaper varity of higher named guitars. i.e. squire -= fender.

well from what i can gather from the replies is this.
a good player is still a good player even with a low dollar guitar. while there are many replies, noone seems to have an actual discription in the difference between a non professional, and a professional strat might be. it appears that high dollar does not a great guitar buy...
hummmm very curious.
thanks for all the great replies.
joel