I own both, Suhr and Fender Strats. The Fender CS has the Mojo, but playability wise I clearly prefer my Suhr classic antique S guitars, and the Suhr reliability paired with the authentic noiseless system is a another huge advantage when I play live. No doubt, the Suhr is the better guitar. But I do also love my Fender CS.
Hey Tom, thanks for your input. The Fenders definitely have the mojo, there is some magic going on there. Would love to have a custom shop strat one day.
As a proud Suhr owner .... Any Suhr has had me put a big smile on my face. The feel, the sound and the quality has always been way above the line. Also, a guitar has to stand the test in a band and or in the mix. For the Suhr S - especially the humbucker stands out and gives the guitar a remarkable advantage over any standard strat.
Suhr are beautifully made guitars and sound amazing but the headstock just doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing as the Fender headstock, especially the 70's larger style headstock which look fantastic in my humble opinion. I have them on every Strat I own and even a reverse one on a Telecaster!😱 As always your playing sounds lovely, I'm a massive fan of the Hendrix double stop style of playing.
Thank you Richard! I totally agree with you on the Fender headstocks, I'm a big fan of the 70's headstocks although none of my Fenders has one. I actually got myself a Fender Squire Bass VI last week which has a late 60's headstock (I think) and looks super cool. I'm planning to do a video on that one in the next few days.
The Suhr wins it for me. The Suhr V63 pickup is supposed to be more Strat-like. Also, the Suhr has the added advantage of being noiseless with the SSCII system. Lastly, the tuning stability is not only from the locking tuner..it's also from the fact that it has staggered tuners and no string tree.
Locking tuners don't add to tuning stability and string trees are usually added to actually help tuning stability. Props to Suhr for making a guitar that's so basic yet performs above all else. But the price is demands that. Suhr does add some nice tech like stainless frets and pickup/electronic features that Fender doesn't offer for this price point. A lot of people rag of Fender as being "overpriced for just the brand name", but realistically Fender has always offered American models for around $1000 that always outperform their counterparts.
Sorry, forgot to summarize my point. Yes, Fender likes to up-charge their brand, the old adage "my Squier plays better" rings true a lot these days, but brand new, a slightly spec'd mid-level Fender can't be beat. Plenty of companies offer a strat copy outsourced to Asia for merely a few hundred less than a mid-range Fender. The fact that a $1500 Fender can be simply on part with a boutique brand like Suhr or anything you can think of is truly a testament to their quality.
I have a Suhr Classic S and a MIM Strat Lacquer Series which I bought for a quarter of the price. As much as I have fallen in love with the precision and beautiful craftsmanship of the Suhr, I always reach for the Fender! It has more low-mid body and character which appeals to me and inspires me more to play. I find that in refining the S style and ironing out all the creases and flaws, the Suhr doesn’t have the magic that draws me to Strats! The Suhr has a very modern, clear and almost thin/piercing tone at times which I think would pair better with a Benson or ‘darker’ amp. After trying to bond with the Suhr for 2 years I’m probably going to sell it which makes me sad! Great vid btw :)
Hey Adam, thanks for checking out my video, glad you enjoyed it. Interesting points, I was actually close to selling my Suhr the other day but didn't do it in the end. Like you said I've been more inspired to play my Fender Strat, Tele or Les Paul, especially when playing at home. However I love playing the Suhr live, mainly because of how reliable it is but it also sounds 'big' somehow. It is also nice to have the humbucker in the bridge for some gigs. It's nice that you found that Fender MIM Strat, those can be so good. My Tele is a MIM and it is probably the guitar I use the most in my everyday playing.
@@Kbald it’s funny isn’t it! I’m having a similar dilemma with cars at the moment too. Modern cars are so powerful, loads of features and tech but are comparatively less fun to drive that cars from the 90’s - 10’s in my opinion. We can’t have it all I guess!
Agree with the sensible majority here, I own both: Fender Strat has more Strat mojo, because, well, it's a Fender strat. Nothing will ever match that combination of hardware, tone wood, pickups, neck, etc. I get more "happy accidents" and random magic from the Strat. However, Suhr is a more playable instrument overall, w/better stability/tuning. It's much better behaved, making it really the better guitar, especially dependable in critical studio and live applications. Strat is like 1969 Ford Mustang, Suhr is like 1996 BMW M3, if you get cars. Put another way, I write about 80% on the strat in terms of pure inspiration and creativity, and tend to record/play live/practice more with the Suhr. It's just incredibly pleasant to play, quieter, more reliable. Bravo for calling out the ugly "country bend" thing with the Suhr...that sort of says it all. The Suhr can do pretty much every trick the Strat can do, save for one. But that one trick on a Strat covers massive sonic mojo territory. It's a big trick, like making the Statue of Liberty disappear or something.
The Ultra Strats are pretty awesome, never had one though. Had the American Professional I until a couple of years ago but sold it when I bought the Suhr.
mime is sick. got it for $1400 new. never goes out of tune. floating trtem. i was blown away. Its my first strat. i havent picked up my Ibanez ior Les Paul since i bought it. And the sound is insane. running 10's Ernie Ball s. its a fine instrument and i would argue if left original will holds its valuemore thn the Suhr but whatever. Its the p[layer not the guitar. That said the Ultra is an amazing guitar and cost $1,200 less
I had an American Ultra Luxe Strat. It is not half the cost of the Suhr, it is more like 80 percent of the price, new. And in my opinion a Suhr is easily worth the difference. I've owned a couple American made Fenders and now I own 3 Suhr guitars.
The only real difference i can hear is some fret buzz on the Fender on some lower frets but it’s very minimal. Even that can be a perk for some people. I think people can like that slight inconvenience as it remains very subtle and it just adds character. Both sound very nice as it is electric guitar and wood aren’t making any difference what so ever. The main big point to Suhr must be the compound radius that makes it just much easier to play. Never played on a Suhr but I reckon I’d love this stuff. Great video man, just goes into it without any fuss.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video. I defintely like my Strat to buzz a little bit for the character. I made this video about a year ago and I still have both guitars and play both quite a lot. The Suhr is the one I bring to most gigs while I use the Fender more for studio work. Both fantastic guitars 👌
Had the huge dilemma for year. Stainless steel frets on the Suhr VS superb sound on Fender. I finally tried 2 ways to fusion that = putting Stratocaster pickups on my Suhr and stainless steel frets on my Fender. Fender is now my number one, it sounds 100% like before, while the Suhr is still a little bit different, but sooooo much nicer than before
I've played mostly Gibson for 40 years. But the Fender sound certainly has it's place. I wish I could find a quality Stratocaster that has the Gibson scale and a compound radius neck. Enjoyed your vid.
if your interested,look into warmoth and design your own neck. i made a gibson scale with 10-16 compound, my choice of frets,etc. put it on a strat body.
Great video. I watched because I am thinking about selling my 79 Strat to get a Suhr for playability. I prefer the tone of the Fender in this video. I wish Fender would take some hints from all of the builders who improve Strats like Tom Anderson, Hamer (USA)and Suhr. I just appreciate modern features like the better trem, compound radius and slimmer neck to body joint.
playability and tone appear to be somewhat at odds with each other, and every guitar is a compromise. Suhr is quite modern; if you want a guitar that sounds like a Fender but deals with the most egregious strat-isms (neck angle, string spacing) but still really sounds like a strat I suggest you look at K-line. a step towards playable from that is Xotic, then Suhr, then Tom Anderson in increasing modernisms. SVL is great if you want a more stable instrument that sounds dead on to a vintage strat.
Great video and I love the tones you got from both the Fender Strat & Suhr Classic S Pro. I'm a Fender Strat/Tele Player. I ain't gonna lie and say I do want a Suhr: but my 2 American Strats have some magic about them, and I can totally relate to what you say about your Fender Strat having that vibe.
Thank you man, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. It is incredible how guitar can have such distinctive characters and vibes. When I filmed this video about 6-7 months ago I was playing both guitars equally but now the Fender has kind of taken over and I'm actually considering selling the Suhr.. I really like that guitar but I just feel like it deserves more attention.
@@Kbald Naaaah keep the Suhr because it can still have value having that humbucker in the bridge for a slightly different sound. But I can relate. I have a Fender Highway One 2008 Strat and she has been the one! I've higher price American made guitars Fender, Gibson but this Highway One just feels right. It's hard to find a guitar that inspires you to play.
The Fender sounds better, but I’m guessing the Suhr is more enjoyable to play, because of the Quartersawn neck, SS frets and fret work, and a better tremolo system? I’m just a hobbyist so a guitar that feels better has more value as long as the tonal quality is acceptable. Thanks for the video.
Hey Andrew, thanks for checking out the video. I agree with you, the Suhr is definitely the winner when it comes to comfort and playabilty. It is a true session machine. The Fender sounds awesome and has a very strong character. Everytime I pick it up something nice seems to come out of my fingers, something fresh. Some guitars are just like that.
As a Strat guy who's after a Suhr Classic S this was an interesting video. As a tip, to stop loosing the little trem springs stick a little bit of greese on the sring when you put it in the trem arm cavity and that should stop the spring from dropping out - That worked on my strats
First, my friend, you could make almost any guitar sound sweet with your gorgeous licks and phrasing, but this was quite interesting to watch (and hear) I would agree that the Suhr is the better overall guitar. It had a really tasteful bluesy grit even with the cleaner tone, which seemed pretty consistent in all positions. But what it did not have is the one thing the Fender brought to the table. With the Fender, every few licks there it would be. Angelic bells from Heaven would ring out in the tone, sometimes with a little Hendrix edge to it. Sorry for the religious reference, but frankly I have no other way to describe it. Just beautiful. You'd have to crank the output up a bit to start getting a nice bluesy edge, but if you are looking for an ultra clean high quality rhythm, the Fender had it hands down. For everything else go with the Suhr. That's my two cents. I appreciate the vid and will probably spend some of the next few days trying to get my licks to sound as nice, as yours did. LOL As for my own instruments, it took me 12 full tweets to describe my collection and recent upgrades and I'm still being surprised by those possibilities. Basically though I'm a Les Paul guy who has added a bunch of single coil guitars (including a P90) to his sound arsenal, very recently. - Jstn
Thank you man, glad you liked the video :) You definitely have a point there regarding the Fender. After rewatching the video during editing I actually started appreciating the Fender tone more than the Suhr, on all pickup positions. I have had a few Strats recently and always went for a maple fingerboard until I got that one and this is by far my favourite. I got it in a swap deal where I let the Gibson ES-339 go the other way, which was a great guitar as well. I played the Suhr live for the first time a few weeks ago and that was like a dream. It sounded so good in a cranked up amp. Hopefully there will be more gigs coming soon so I can try the Fender out on stage. What type of a guitar did you get with a P90?
@@Kbald I had a couple of Squiers, one Strat and one Tele to upgrade. Since I'd already upgraded the hell out of a previous Tele, I decided to experiment with the other one. I put a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound in the single coil neck position (which sounds fat and awesome) but I had a humbucker bridge position left to fill. So instead of my goto Duncan choice, I bought a pair of knock off P90s, which had great specs, but cost only $40 for the pair and used one of them. This has turned out to be one of the biggest surprises, I have ever gotten from a guitar. The P90 knock off has an esp. great tone for classic rock and surf grunge rock and I swear, sustains into next month. Very cool. An added treat was I used the wrong one of the pair and now the middle position is out of phase. Turns out if you add a ton of reverb to that you get the best old surf tone ever. I wish every guitar experiment I ever did turned out half as well as this one. I'm thinking of adding a phase switch to it to turn the phase thing on and off, as needed.
That sounds like a great idea. It’s always a treat when an experiment like that comes up with a nice surprise outcome. I can imagine that the out of phase setting must sound awesome. My Tele is like that, a lot of phasing going on in the middle position (got a hum and single) and I love the effect.
My Suhr Classic S is a much better-built guitar than my Strats. But the Strats have WAY better, more lively tone. The Suhr sounds muddy by comparison. Your review is spot-on!
I own some Suhr guitars and, As you say, they are perfectly built. Nevertheless, in your video I can tell the mojo on the Fender, something really difficult to explain but it is there. I don't know, maybe the pickups. Great demo, thank you.(from Argentina). Is your Suhr equipped with the buzz feign tuning system?
Hey Walter and thanks for your feedback. What type of Suhr guitars have you got? I have only got that strat but I tried one of their thinline Teles in a guitar shop the other day and was very tempted to go for it. My Suhr not equipped with the Buzz Feiten tuning system but it sure stays almost perfectly in tune and intonates very well. Greetings from Iceland.
I have a Suhr Standard pro, fender strat MIA, and Gibson LP Standard. I will go with a Suhr anytime, its quality in the sound, built quality and it is a more versatile guitar than the other two. Unfortunately, the Gibson LP standard is perhaps the worse of the 3.
@@Kbald Currently I have an Injector neck with the flat pole piece option in the neck, a Cruiser Bridge in the middle and a Gravity Storm in the bridge. Thru the years I customized other things like added looking tuners, SS frets, Graph-tech saddles and Callaham steel block. I paid $695 new for it in 1995 and thru 25+ years have put around $1000 or so in changes/customizations along the way. Well worth it. Nothing like an old guitar that has aged with you along the way.
I have a Standard Am Strat (1994) that I (or, really, my dad) bought new back then. I also have a Suhr Modern, which I won't compare since it's a different guitar. I did some changes to my Strat, though, and replaced all the pickups with Suhr V60LP and installed locking tuners and some other more minor changes and it sounds great, too. Not that the Strat didn't sound great with its stock pickups but especially on the bridge I wanted something different, less ear-piercing and not as common.
Interesting, I haven't tried those Suhr Modern but I've heard good things. Is that Fender Am Standard a SSS? I'm very happy with the stock pickups in my Fender but would be curious to try it out with the V60LP's.
@@Kbald You can see my Fender in this video and few later Pink Floyd covers on my channel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QhcVi13gY6Q.html
That’s funny most Suhr pickup comparison videos I see, the Suhr’s always have a more brittle top end and sound a little anemic to me when compared to other Strat Pickups.
More clarity on the Fender on the first 3 positions, more of that strat vintage tone, the Suhr could be more suited for modern tones and music but if you are after tones like Hendrix, Clapton, Knopfler, The Edge or SRV the Fender is better.
I think it’s the pickups but also the body. The Fender body is way lighter and the guitar also sounds more jangly unplugged. What I also like about the Fender is the subtle amount of fret buzz, that really adds some ‘dirt’ to the sound.
I play a 'parts-caster' fender telecaster olympic white with an American Rosewood Neck and MIM body with Seymour Duncan Hotrails. I picked all the other parts myself. Along w/ my Orange Rocker 15. But, I'm only a bedroom player.
I like the Charvels they are also a fine instrument easy playing can't say anything about Suhr as I don't own one YET so I can't say anything on them but they sound and look nice !
I'm sorry. I Love Fender. Leo Fender is a Legend. I own 2 Fender Amps. They are incredible. I had a Vintage Stratocaster (Sold It) immediately after purchasing my Suhr. There was No comparison. Improvements in every way. It's on another-level. I have Lollar Blonde's in mine. oNe LovE from NYC
Glad to hear you're happy with you're Suhr. I go through phases, sometimes I play the Fender more and sometimes the Suhr. At the moment it's all Suhr, I just love it, especially when playing live through a cranked up amp (Kemper actually).
@@Kbald Thanks. Once I got my Suhr, my vintage Strat stayed-in-the-case for 9 months Untouched = Sold-it. The Stainless steel Frets, Lollar Pickups, Gotoh 510 Trem, Locking tuners - it is like a Dream Stratocaster.
I love both of those guitars. If I had to choose, I think I would go with the fender. Some of the out of the box issues (except for the tremolo spring) can be tinkered with if you know a good tech. I Like the Suhr neck, but don't know if I can justify the heavy price tag. I'm sure I could be happy with both, but give me the fender and I'll put the other $2k towards a good amp and call it a day.
Bought a Custom shop earlier this year and was trilled to get it thinking it was going to blow away my fender elite it didnt. Now i just bought a new 2021 Suhr like yours but 2 tone color and rosewood neck for a Ridiculous price that I couldn't pass up at $2000 CS was $3600 n elite was $1600
That´s a good point, the sound is definitely the most important thing. This Fender sounds great and I actually changed things a bit last week and put 11´s in it and tuned it into Eb standard and it sounds awesome! Will post a video on it soon.
It definitely makes a big difference. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't like playing the 11's (11-48) as I play with 10-46 most of the time but they are just working perfectly in that Eb tuning. Think I'll stick to it. What string gauges are you using?
They both sound amazing, but I think that is because you have great skills :) Very nice comparison, thank you for this, may I know what you think about the balance of the Suhr compared to the fender? Which one has "better" balance when wearing the guitar with a strap? I'm just curious because the Fender Strat is famous for its great balance (which is perfect for me) while wearing it, but with a smaller headstock from the Suhr, the balance might change. I just wanna know how much difference (if there's any) do you feel about their balance. Thank You.
Thank you for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I have to say that I prefer playing the Fender with a strap. They are both very well balanced but the Suhr is slightly heavier and perhaps a bit more "body heavy" than the Fender. I actually got a new guitar last week which was custom built for me by Marceau Guitars in France and I have to say that one is the best balanced guitar I've ever had. I will try to post a video where I talk about it in the next few days. That one is even lighter than the Fender.
I have fender strat deluxe that I have changed with stainless steel fret then only I realised where suhr tones come from..and why fender will never change their fret to stainless steel.. problem with nickel fret is for a person who performing almost every night it only can last within 6 month before it dented everywhere..and in term of playability and finishing Suhr win it all.. supposedly fair comparison is with custom shop fender
it would have been fair to have made a comparison with two guitars with the same characteristics, type of fingerboard, type of nut, type of magnet on the pickups, these components in themselves change the sound characteristics of each instrument, with which to compare a fingerboard of maple against one of palorosa for me it will already lead to differences in sound. For me it is a partially valid comparison only, as far as sound is concerned, another thing can be comfort or ergonomics, things that I could talk about in any case
As you can see in the title of this video I was comparing my own two strats. At the time I filmed this video I only had those two strats and decided to compare those, for fun. This is not a scientific study.
just sold the house, put the kids in a half way house, sent the wife to live with her mom. bought 3 suhrs, 4 andersons, now im living in a barn stall and happy
How many springs were in the back on each of them and how far was the claw thing screwed into the body? That might be a cause of the difference of why the B string went flat when you bent the G string on the Suhr. If the Suhr had 5 screws, or even just 2 really, but it was screwed in well, I don't think it would go out of tune.
The Suhr pickups sound more overwound and have higher output. I don’t see how you can compare a humbucker in the bridge of the Suhr to the Fender single coil.
May I also suggest you get or at least try out a G&L Fullerton Deluxe Legacy HSS from 2018 onwards? Excellent alternative and they have their own mojo.
Hey Tom! It is easier to play faster on the Suhr but I believe that is also due to the fact that the radius gets flatter the further up the neck you go. I think it is a 12" radius at the 12th fret. The Suhr has more string tension than the Fender though which makes it a little bit more difficult to shred on. I'm experimenting with 9´s on it at the moment (I usually play with 10-46) but I'm not sure that is working for me to be honest.
As for strats, I play a Hamer Slammer strat, this guitar isn't popular but for those of us who do know that buying a name is lame. Go with quality over a name, you'll be better off.
This is ridiculous. A fair comparison is A Fender Ultra Luxe vs Suhr Classic S or even Fender American Deluxe. 🤦 Have all of them and all sound and play great.
Fender is better in the sounds ......yo tengo fender y si mantiene la afinación que raro lo que dices ...... suhr es muy sobrevalorado demasiado caro prefiero lo clásico fender donde grabaron los grandes como Hendrix , clapton , Davidgilmour , jeff beck , steve ray vaughan alguno de ellos grabo con suhr mmmm esa marca muy sobrevalorada y esa guitarra que tocas no me gusta el sonido de la suhr
People charging that much money have no respect for people who are not rich. I mean let's face it to pay 2 to $5000 for a guitar u would have to be well off
Hi Mandy, those guitars are not cheap, that is for sure but luckily there are decent guitars out there in all price ranges. Those high end instruments are just always more expensive and I am happy to pay that amount for a great guitar tbh. I am certainly not well off and I rather choose to drive an old car and live in a rented flat to be able to afford nice guitars.
Should they cease to exist as a company? Stop building and sourcing parts from within the US? Or maybe they should pay their employees minimum wage? Would any of those make you happy?
Yeah they shouldn't make their products because YOU can't afford them. Get real. You don't need to be rich to afford these. Buying used can save a ton.
The Suhr is superior in every way ! I’ve had fenders , but the Suhr body’s are two pieces as opposed to fenders which are 3 pieces sometimes more ! Inconsistent always finish way more quality on a Suhr ! The pickups all made of American made ! The tremolo is so much more superior ! Mojo is a myth and the fenders are Alder not ash
Hey Jeff and thanks for your input. I agree with a lot of what you're saying, the Suhr is in every way a better built instrument but then again it's just a matter of taste which guitar people prefer tone wise. I thought the Fender had alder body until I started researching the 2013 American Standard model for this video and found out that some of them were made with ash, mine included.
I haven't played a Suhr but I've checked them out in music stores and the quality control seems top notch. However, I've listened to/watched as many 'Suhr vs Fender' You-Tube videos that I can find, and the Fender really has a special 'chime' that the Suhr can't match.
Hey Paul! That is also true and that is the real reason for why I like to keep both of them. Those are two very different guitars with different qualities. Thanks for watching!
@@Kbald Bring well acquainted with the Suhr, could you tell me some of its strengths? I'm being more and more drawn towards it. What does it excel in over the Strat? Two years ago I saw Scott Henderson in Shanghai and he blew me away. He just had a Suhr and a few pedals. Since then I've been trying to buy every CD he's made.
Just look at the title of the video. Those are my two Strats and that is the only reason for the comparison. If you think it’s pointless you can watch something else.
