I live in Calcutta and I know Braganza's makes custom made guitars. Can someone tell me if they use solid alder(not alder ply like in Javas and Squiers) or Mahogany? I want a top notch custom made strat. Fenders and squiers don't fit my bill as I want 22 frets as well as a 7.25" fretboard radius. Why? Because I'm a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix and his tone and a smaller radius helps in thumbing over and playing rhythm-lead style(Choked out notes is not a problem). I'm not a huge fan of Ibanez, Jackson, BC Rich or Cort. I mainly play blues and '60s rock(the Beatles, Hendrix, Cream etc.) and very rarely Led Zeppelin. G&L guitars(Legacy series) fit my bill but I want to save some money and get myself a Marshall Half Stack, a wah-wah pedal and a pickup booster.
do post back here if you find out more. normally, going for a natural/clear finish takes away the mystery of the wood in use. erisa neogy makes strats too, but uses very atypical woods - i can't imagine them sounding like the archetypical alder/swamp ash strat. for my part, i'm looking out for a MIA (or even a good MIM) that fits the budget and will throw in a pickup upgrade. thinking lollars or suhr FLs (the latter are probably the liveliest strat pickkups i've played). any other recommendations? if i'm not happy with what i find, i'm going to go the warmoth way.
By what I've seen and heard, Fender's quality has dropped steadily over the past few years. That's why I tried G&L(which is Leo Fender's final company before his death), they make great guitars at lower prices but they still don't fit my bill. I play a mix of rhythm and lead so that 7.25" radius is essential. Warmoth is an option I'm looking at but it's also a bit pricey............I actually need a guitar that's suited to my own needs. @Flood-I'm assuming you don't want Fender pickups. Lollars are good but you can also try Seymour Duncan antiquities or SD custom shop strat replacement if you want a real vintage tone. If you want something noiseless, Lace makes the best ones I think. Hot output single coils; Seymour Duncan SSL 6 and if you want Single coil sized humbuckers and great harmonic response, try DiMarzio(add coil splits if you want a true strat tone)
alberto's music is in bombay. he delivers a good bang for the buck, but i am not too confident in his ability to give you a "top-notch" instrument as you described. i really like the people and the stuff they have is not bad. it's simply geared towards smaller pockets who need a new alternative to the better squiers, the low-end RGs, etc. not quite the bottom of the barrel, but still budget gear. also, he sources everything from the far east... how about warmoth? with the specs you're looking at, it could work out pretty economically, and you'd still get an excellent guitar of the same caliber as a 7ender CS. invest in excellent parts, and you're set. only looking for one humbucker in my strat - what i want is a strat neck and mid and an alnico II-type humbucker in the bridge. nothing "overwound". vintage noiseless and lace sensors are on the list. not really looking for a hot pickup as such. i find the articulation and dynamics a lot better on underwound pups like the suhrs - i'd sacrifice output without thinking twice there! EDIT: what is your budget like? a "top notch" instrument isn't particularly cheap, but you know that already.
