When I had my American, I installed a Duncan HotRails humbucker in bridge position, a DiMarzio Blue Velvet in middle, and a Duncan Vintage Strat single coil in the neck. Man, did she sing!
If you are electronically inclined, you can get a cheaper guitar and buy pickups off eBay.
In my opinion, the way to go with an amp is a Mesa Triple Rectifier!!! Pure tube-screaming power! If you like that vintage tone (and I do) a tube amp is THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

 

 

G&L hey voodoochyl! i had a G&L LB-100 bass that was in MINT condition and i didnt know ANYTHING about that damn thing! i recently sold it for like 450 bucks.. did i get burned or what?

 

AIR GUITAR

 

I think a brand spanking new one lists at about $1200 and I saw the guy was selling it for $995. I also found a used one selling with shipping for about $550. I guess it depends how old it was, but it is hard to sell guitars for decent money. I think if it was a few years old you could have done better...but then you could have done a whole lot worse!

 

Nice guitar, but I don't think it's US made. For a lot of musicians, that makes *all* the difference.

I've noticed the knock-offs don't hold their intonation as well, and I wouldn't buy a japan/mexico Strat or Tele myself. But my experience is limited and I'm certainly not a pro. The extra $ it will cost you to buy the US made version may or may not be worth it to you.

You can always put the extra you save $ into a mesa/boogie amp, crank up the gain until the tubes are ready to blow, and forget about the so-so harmonics

 

That guitar is an American made Strat according to Musicians Friend. One of the best guitars I ever had was a Mexican made Squire II Strat. It played great and sounded awesome through this little piece of crap Peavey Backstage Plus amp. I wouldn't count on them everytime, but that's why you should play the guitars first because, like Forrest Gump's mama says,"You never know what you're gonna get".

 

doesnt matter where it is made-its about the woods used to make it-it is all preference!!
imo,try before you buy!!!
dont rule out a telecaster last i had seen better bang for the buck!!
atleast on american made models!!

 

Sorry I missed that it was US made. I'm not saying all US guitars are great and all foreign are bad, just that a lot of people feel that way and my limited experience corroborates that.

"Try before you buy" is the best advice you can get. Play the heck out of it, check the intonation before and after. Check the sustain. Feel the action, inspect the frets, listen to the noise level when you aren't playing, and check all the hardware. No two instruments are exactly the same, so if you have an issue with the one you are playing, try another one.

I've had strats, teles, and a les paul. I love the Telecaster and if it didn't exist, I'd own a strat. But I've had a hankering for a Rick 360 in fire glo for a long time now... hmmm. Christmas is just around the corner too!

 

If you are going for the McCready sound then get the strat. I saw Pearl Jam when they were out in LA a month or so back and he was playing either a Strat or a Les Paul. It also looked like he was playing through Marshall and Fender amps. And can't forget the good ol Rotovibe.