cobrahead1030
Well-known member
10 years after moving into my house, I finally got around to ripping out the disgusting old carpet and doing some minor renovation to my jam room. Having the nicer space made me realize I'd acquired too many guitars, so it was time to downsize a bit. That gave me a good excuse to buy a few things I've wanted for years but couldn't justify cost-wise.
I found both of these semi-locally, for a fair price.
The Suhr is everything I wanted in a more modern Strat. Bridge is set up for floating, which I don't really use a lot, but I like the way they feel. This is a classic S antique, it has some distressing on the body but not the neck. I wondered if that would bug me, but I don't notice or think about it while playing it. The fretwork is impeccable and the SS frets feel great up & down the neck. The access carve around the heel is subtle, but it does make a hair easier to get around the upper frets. Neck shape is nice & meaty without being too clunky. This one has an SSV humbucker and the ML single coils. It's a little bright sounding initially, but bumping the tone controls down to 8-9 get into very comfortable territory for my ears. The tone knobs let you cover a lot of EQ range quite easily. Having played a handful of Suhrs over the years & always being impressed, I can at least say this one lives up to the hype. Don't know if I'd shell out $4k for a new one, but they're definitely at a solid price point used. The fiesta red color doesn't photograph well, but it's grown on me quickly.
The 2006 R7; what you see is what you get. It's super loud acoustically, which isn't a big deal to some, but it matters to me at the price point these come at. This one came with a Motor City 2nd degree black belt bridge and TWreck neck pickup. I like the bridge pickup a lot, it's pretty much what I expect from a versatile PAF type. I don't know the exact specs, but it's described as "more mids and push than its Old School cousin, but stays clear" which I'd say is accurate. It feels right at home playing boomer rock up to 80's metal & cleans up nicely. The neck pickup, I don't think they make anymore and is supposed to be their version of a t-top. I don't have any reference to compare it to. It's a little dark sounding but not in a bad or muddy way, I usually roll the tone knob off a hair on neck pickups and this one starts right about where I like it. It doesn't have hint of mid-push like the bridge does, but it's not scooped, and it doesn't have the bright plinky sound going up the neck that some pickups tend to have. The neck profile is big & chunky, but not a baseball bat like a few R7's I've picked up. It plays surprisingly well all over the neck, definitely a step above most LP's in that aspect. The rosewood board has just a hint or red in it which I like, and this one has some natural play wear which makes me not feel like it's too expensive to enjoy.
Time will tell if I still feel this way after the honeymoon phase, but at the moment I'm really stoked about both.
Here's a few shots of the new jam space as well. I just started a new job which is eating up a lot of my time for the next month or so, but I'll try to get off my ass and record something with these soon.
I found both of these semi-locally, for a fair price.
The Suhr is everything I wanted in a more modern Strat. Bridge is set up for floating, which I don't really use a lot, but I like the way they feel. This is a classic S antique, it has some distressing on the body but not the neck. I wondered if that would bug me, but I don't notice or think about it while playing it. The fretwork is impeccable and the SS frets feel great up & down the neck. The access carve around the heel is subtle, but it does make a hair easier to get around the upper frets. Neck shape is nice & meaty without being too clunky. This one has an SSV humbucker and the ML single coils. It's a little bright sounding initially, but bumping the tone controls down to 8-9 get into very comfortable territory for my ears. The tone knobs let you cover a lot of EQ range quite easily. Having played a handful of Suhrs over the years & always being impressed, I can at least say this one lives up to the hype. Don't know if I'd shell out $4k for a new one, but they're definitely at a solid price point used. The fiesta red color doesn't photograph well, but it's grown on me quickly.
The 2006 R7; what you see is what you get. It's super loud acoustically, which isn't a big deal to some, but it matters to me at the price point these come at. This one came with a Motor City 2nd degree black belt bridge and TWreck neck pickup. I like the bridge pickup a lot, it's pretty much what I expect from a versatile PAF type. I don't know the exact specs, but it's described as "more mids and push than its Old School cousin, but stays clear" which I'd say is accurate. It feels right at home playing boomer rock up to 80's metal & cleans up nicely. The neck pickup, I don't think they make anymore and is supposed to be their version of a t-top. I don't have any reference to compare it to. It's a little dark sounding but not in a bad or muddy way, I usually roll the tone knob off a hair on neck pickups and this one starts right about where I like it. It doesn't have hint of mid-push like the bridge does, but it's not scooped, and it doesn't have the bright plinky sound going up the neck that some pickups tend to have. The neck profile is big & chunky, but not a baseball bat like a few R7's I've picked up. It plays surprisingly well all over the neck, definitely a step above most LP's in that aspect. The rosewood board has just a hint or red in it which I like, and this one has some natural play wear which makes me not feel like it's too expensive to enjoy.
Time will tell if I still feel this way after the honeymoon phase, but at the moment I'm really stoked about both.
Here's a few shots of the new jam space as well. I just started a new job which is eating up a lot of my time for the next month or so, but I'll try to get off my ass and record something with these soon.
