Hey everyone,
I bought a strat a while ago, i played it and was very happy.
The other day i got bored of the single coils and decided to break out the Kramer, the difference going from single coil to humbucker was amazing!the tone was so much richer and it just seemed more fun to play.
The kramer is a 1988 striker 1000st, bought from ebay for 150 quid, built with one single on the neck and a slanted humbucker on the back, one aspect i dont like about it however, is the fact the floyd rose is always going out of tune. Cut the story short... its old, and i love my superstrats so i want to buy a new one.
The skies the limit for how much i want to spend, saving isnt a problem for me.
My first choice...An ESP Horizon FR II

This is one of my dream guitars, beautifully built, through neck, Mahogany body, quilt maple top... Perfection.
The one thing i dont like about esp's is the fact that they seem like there are millions of them, all of them pretty much the same, i had an ibanez Jem 555, and it just didnt feel special, if im spending over a grand... a guitar with a slight uniqueness would be nice.
My Second Choice
Its kind of strange, after ranting about how the esp wasnt unique... that my next choice would be an esp edwards, but i couldnt resist the 27 frets!!
I spotted a forum debate while searching google for more info... They were arguing which had the better quality... LTD or Edwards. Im still not sure, anyone know?
I do love the look of this guitar though im just not sure as to whether the binding is a bit over the top, is this a factory budget guitar trying to look like an upper class, custom guitar?
My Third Choice
The Caparison really looks like a stunning guitar, it only comes in two different finishes, but i hear each one is unique in terms of pattern. It seems perfect, if i wanted to get picky, the only thing that i dont like is the fact that it doesnt have a carved top.
Qualities I would really like-I would prefer no inlays, side dots only, ebony fretboard
-Dyed Quilt maple top, carved
-binding on the body and neck
-reverse headstock
-through neck
Going Custom?These qualities seem hard to come by, going custom could be an option, right now i picture my dream guitar being an ESP Horizon with a reverse Headstock and a blank ebony fretboard. One finish that took my fancy was a red quilt maple top, with white binding, and a clear gloss on a mahogany back. I think i spotted it once on a PRS, it looked mint!!
I decided to contact Warmoth...
The advantages of warmoth are that they are cheap... as far as going custom goes, and the quality, from what i hear, is amazing.
The downsides being that a through-neck is out of the picture, and also im starting to realise from some feeback i recieved... that warmoth are quite limited on what they can do...
From an email i recieved... I think binding is only an option for a few of their guitars, also he said that they couldnt do a carved quilted maple top for the particular guitar i wanted.
What should i do?any ideas on what might take my fancy? Any luthiers, any experience with warmoth that i should know about?
If i do go custom, i want the perfect superstrat, and i would take everything you guys recommend into consideration... If you were designing a through-neck superstrat, what finish would you give it? what wood would you build it out of and why? what hardware, pickups and trem? Design me a superstrat :twisted:
Any feedback would be cool, Cheers.[/b]