This is a powerful guitar when it comes to features: first, and perhaps most importantly, it sports some serious power in the pickup department, with a single Sidewinder Humbucker at the neck, and a Black Cobra Humbucker at the bridge. IMHO these are just blistering pickups.

And to make the most of its two powerful pickups, the American Strat HH utilizes Fender’s innovative S-1 switching system, which provides for a hefty 10 different pickup combinations, including coil tapping, via a push-button embedded into the top of the volume knob. That’s a ton of tonal variations right at your fingertips.

The Fender American Series Stratocaster Features—

• Alder Body
• Maple Neck (Modern C-Shaped)
• Rosewood Fretboard With 22 Frets
• Sidewinder™ & Black Cobra™ Humbuckers
• One Volume & Two Tone Controls
• 5-Position Pickup Switch, Plus S-1 Switching
• Original Headstock & Body Shape
• Two-Point Synchronized Tremolo
• Deluxe Staggered Tuners
• Chrome Hardware

A comfortable C-shaped neck, plethora of pickup variations, and of course those hot humbuckers makes the Strat HH an easy guitar to recommend. And Fender provides a standard molded case, making this an even better deal for the sub-$1,000 price range.

I’ve also read that you can catch glimpses of George playing his beloved Tennessee Rose at the beginning of the movie “Help!” though I haven’t had a chance to confirm.

If you can find a guitar shop that has a ‘62 Tennessee Rose in stock, I highly recommend you jump on your chance to play one, as it really does produce an incredible tone.

The guitar sports a pair of punchy HiloTron pickups, authentic Bigsby vibrato tail-piece, and even a period-correct laminated maple top that’s rumored to help reduce feedback (a problem with many electric hollowbodies,) though I question how much effect it can really have.

The Gretsch ‘62 Tennessee Rose Features–

• Laminated Maple Top & Body
• Maple Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard With 22 Frets (+ Zero Fret)
• Thumbnail Inlays
• Dual HiloTron Pickups
• 3-Way Pickup Switching
• Master Volume, Plus Individual Pickup Volume Controls
• 3-Way Master Tone Switch
• Standby Switch
• Bigsby B6C Vibrato Tailpiece
• Fingerboard, Headstock & Body Binding

And it ships with a deluxe hard case, too, to keep your investment well protected on the road. All in all a beautiful guitar at a fairly reasonable price…

Is it a full-on, full-fledged Fender Strat? Of course not, but then you’re only paying a fraction of the cost of the original, and in all honesty Squier makes surprisingly sturdy and playable guitars for this price point. Heck, at around $199 a pop I’m not really sure how Squier can afford to sell these so cheap.

It may be superficial, but one of my favorite things about the Satin Trans Strat is that stylin’ extra-fat headstock…nice touch — I just love those things!

The guitar also sports a rather classy looking satin finish (on a solid basswod body,) a tremolo system, and a trio of Alnico magnet single-coils with 5-way switching.

The Squier Satin Trans Stratocaster Features—

• Basswood Body
• Maple Neck
• Rosewood Fretboard With 22 Frets
• 3 Alnico Magnet Single-Coil Pickups
• Master Volume & Two Tone Controls
• 5-Way Pickup Switching
• Twin-Pivot Tremolo
• Die-Cast Tuning Machines
• Over-Sized ‘60s Style Headstock

This one comes in Amber Satin (shown,) White Blonde Satin, and Wine Transparent finishes. It may not be a masterpiece, but then it’s not priced like one either… the one I played managed to hold its tune quite nicely, had very decent action, and no audible fret-buzz. An easy recommendation for the beginning guitar player.

First unveiled to the world back in 1949, these lovely archtops became a standard of the jazz and rock-a-billy worlds, and it’s no wonder why — that warm tone and high playability are a deadly combination, and I mean that in the nicest way…

My personal favorite model is the classic sunburst; the gorgeous laminated maple top, with liberal amounts of binding (on the top, back, and fingerboard) just scream vintage cool. Throw in a pair of ‘57 Classic humbuckers and a 3 1/2“ deep profile, and you’ve got a hollowbody that just won’t stop when it comes to tone.

The Gibson ES-175 Features—

• Plain Maple Top, With Curly Maple Back & Sides
• Mahogany Neck
• Rosewood Fretboard With 20 Frets
• Pearl Inlays
• ‘57 Classic Humbuckers
• Two Volume & Two Tone Controls
• 3-Way Pickup Switching
• Vintage Tulip Tuners

Downsides? A body this deep can lead to feedback at high volume, but that’s just the nature of the beast, and can’t even begin to negate all of the ES175’s charms––this guitar is just a monster of warm, fat, jazzy tone and style. Highly recommended.

The OBEY Graphic Telecaster however actually looks like a decent little guitar, and for just under $250, well, I suppose you can’t really go wrong. Besides the cool artwork by Shepard Fairey, the guitar’s got so-called “RusticAndWorn” hardware, meaning this baby has a lot more personality than a fresh-out-of-the-box Tele.

The OBEY Graphic Telecaster HS Collage Features-

• Agathis Body
• Maple C-Shaped Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard With 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
• 1 Duncan HB102B Humbucking Pickup
• 1 Alnico Magnet Single-Coil Pickup
• One Volume & One Tone Control
• 3-Way Pickup Switching
• OBEY Collage Graphic On Top
• RusticAndWorn” Hardware

Squier sometimes gets a bad rap for being Fender’s “little brother,” but to be honest with you, they really do make nice guitars for the price range, and they’re actually made by Fender — so while you get a cheaper instrument, they aren’t half bad for what you’re paying.

The Deluxe Ash Strat sports some serious innovations over earlier ash models, perhaps the most important being Fender’s new S-1 switching system, which allows for seemingly endless pickup combinations – pushing your tonal choices way out into uncharted territory.

Add to the mix three Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups, a two-point synchronized tremolo, a C-shaped maple neck, and some lovely abalone fingerboard inlays, and you’ve got one beautiful, and versatile guitar.

The American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster Features–

• Premium Ash Body
• Maple “C” Shaped Neck
• Rosewood or Maple Fingerboard With 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
• Abalone Dot Inlays
• 3 Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Pickups
• Master Volume & Two Tone Controls
• S-1 Switch Pickup Switching
• 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo
• Fender/Schaller Deluxe Locking Tuning Machines
• Chrome Hardware
• Aged Plastic Parts
• Standard Molded Case

The guitar comes in a number of finishes, including what is perhaps my favorite Fender finish to date– Tobacco Sunburst. Other stand-out features for me were the locking tuners (mmmm, I just love these things,) and the S-1 switching system. Not a cheap guitar, but worth every penny.

So if you’re a fan of that Tele twang, like me, but wishing you could bend those strings like a Strat, you might just take a look at the new Fender ’60s Telecaster with Bigsby.

The price range is excellent for a custom Telecaster (it’ll set you back around $850 US) and it sports a solidly built Bigsby “F” vibrato tailpiece, so you can bend to your heart’s content. Otherwise it’s got everything you’d expect from a Tele, including a pair of vintage-styled Tele single-coil pickups, and of course that highly playable neck.

The Fender ’60s Telecaster With Bigsby Features–

• Alder Body
• Maple Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard With 21 Frets
• Dual Tele Single-Coil Pickups
• Master Volume & Tone Controls
• 3-Way Pickup Switching
• Bigsby “F” Vibrato Tail-Piece
• Adjustable 6-Saddle Tele Bridge
• Chrome Hardware
• Bound Top & Back

Oh yeah…and it comes in a 3-color sunburst finish, or the classic candy-apple red.

If you’re a big Tele fan like me, but not such a big fan of the Telecaster’s general lack of versatility (I played one for years, and felt that this was it’s one shortcoming,) you might be interested to know that you do have options, and one of the better ones is the Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster.

What sets the Nashville apart is that you get all of the built-like-a-brick backbone that you’ve come to expect from a Tele, but with a spicy little Tex-Mex Strat pickup between the two traditional Tex-Mex Tele pickups — that’s right, a 3-pickup Tele.

Add in 5-way pickup switching (Fender calls it “Strat-o-Tone” switching,) and you’ve got a truly versatile Telecaster that packs a whole lot of punch.

The Fender Deluxe Series Nashville Telecaster Features-

• Alder Body
• One-Piece Maple Neck
• Maple or Rosewood Fingerboard
• 21 Medium-Jumbo Frets
• 2 Tex Mex Tele Pickups, 1 Tex Mex Strat Pickup
• 5-way “Strat-O-Tone” Pickup Switching
• U.S. Vintage String-Thru-Body Bridge
• Brown Shell Pickguard
• Master Volume and Tone Controls
• Vintage Style Tuning Heads

With a modern “C” shaped neck that’s great for quick and tight picking, and of course the extra versatility of a Strat pickup thrown into the mix, the Deluxe Nashville Tele is an easy guitar to recommend. Great looking, and very reasonably priced to boot.

While the SG was originally developed as a sort of new-fangled Les Paul, legend has it that Les himself wasn’t too fond of the thin body and devilish horns that give the SG so much of it’s rock-n-roll charm…ironic, since it may well have been those very same horns that drew the SG’s most famous player to the guitar – AC/DC’s Angus Young.

However, in an attempt to keep up with today’s players, Gibson has updated their old SG and created what is known as the SG Supreme 57’. This new beast is a little more in line with modern style, sporting an AA flamed maple top, a new color palate, and an upscale new ebony fingerboard. They also got smart and tossed the pickguard entirely, allowing the beauty of the new maple top to really shine through.

Of course, what really raises the new Gibson SG Supreme ‘57 above the rest of the pack are a pair of ‘57 Classic Humbucker pickups, providing the kind of warm, punchy midrange that you can only get from a dual humbucker set-up.

The Gibson SG Supreme ‘57 Features–

• Color: Midnight burst
• AA flame maple top
• Solid mahogany body
• Mahogany neck
• Ebony fingerboard with 22 frets & trapezoid inlays
• Two ‘57 Classic Humbucker pickups with chrome covers
• Two tone, and two volume controls, with three-way pickup selector switch
• Chrome plated hardware
• Black reptile pattern hardshell case

If you’re looking for speed the SG Supreme’s definitely a guitar to consider. I don’t think you can really go wrong with one of these bad boys.

Fender’s American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS sports all of the features that make its sibling––the ever popular American Deluxe Stratocaster––so incredibly versatile, but with a more muscular tone, owing to the Fender DH-1 humbucker pickup that’s been added at the bridge position.

A pair of Samarium Cobalt Noiseless singlecoils are wound-up chilipepper-hot to help balance out the humbucker, and the guitar also sports Fender’s cool S-1 switching system––adding a seemingly endless array of tonal varieties to what’s already one of the most versatile guitars on the market.

An LSR Roller Nut, not to mention a nice set of Fender/Schaller’s druel-inducing locking machine heads round out the package.

The American American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Features–

• Alder Body
• Maple Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard With 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
• 25.5-inch Scale Length
• Fender DH-1 Humbucker Pickup
• Dual “Hot” Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Strat Pickups
• Master Volume Control (with S-1 Switch), Tone 1, Tone 2
• 5-Position Pickup Switch and 2-Position Push/Push S-1
• Fender Deluxe 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo
• Fender/Schaller Locking Tuning Machines.
• Chrome Hardware

If you’re looking for a truly versatile guitar, and you don’t want to stray away from Fender (who could blame you,) you might want to give the American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS a test drive – with S1-Switching and a fat humbucker onboard you’re bound to find a sound for every occasion.