To Strat or Not to Strat...

Hey Guys. I recently walked into my local guitar shop, my favorite place to go. A couple of reasons, is because I can ALWAYS find a good deal there, and the feeling I get walking in there is just so relaxing. Dark, quiet, and full of instruments. Plus it is about a 2 min drive, considering the fact that we live on the same road. :D

Anyway, I walked in.. Well the last 2 times I walked in there I made 2 major purchases. First time I walked out with a Peavy Zodiac Bass Kit, for two reasons. 1 it was the day after thanksgiving sale, which was no tax, and it was only 220$. Online its about 299$. So I got a major price cut, and the red paint is just so amazingly clean.

2nd Time I went in, I took advantage of there layaway plan, and put my favorite guitar amp head (Peavy Valve King 100) on layaway. These two purchases were 2 weeks apart. Then about a few days ago, I went in to check on my head, and look at in the layaway section :P , and I stumbled acrossed a used Mexico made, Fender Stratocaster. This guitar was from the first look, about 10 years old. The body's paint has NUMEROUS scratches, swirls, chips, nicks, and blemishes that couldnt even be taken out with a buffer..

Well, just being curious I sat down and plugged into a Roland Cube 60 amp. Within minutes my face was littearlly .. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 8)

The yngwie Malmsteen just POURED out of my finger tips. Blues, metal, I mean it was endless. I have never felt a guitar that played a D major chord more like BUTTER in my life. The maple neck massaged my finger tips, and the INCREDBILY comfortably light body suited my expectations and then some. I experienced with the toggle switch, while playing fast. This got me hooked immediatly. The joy of ever so easily being able to switch to ANY pick-up setting instantly is so nice. Most guitars you have to go out of your way to change it. Being able to access the volume/tone knobs and the toggle within my pinkys reach was flawless. I could not believe my ears. The strats neck pickup was warm and very smooth, not INCREDBILY muddy like my Jackson's. And the bridge didnt get too bright, it stayed dark and loaded with a snapping-bite.

Well, at this point my eyes were being fooled by the looks of this guitar just simply because of how it played. I dont know what it was, but for some reason the mexican strat just made me have a whole new look on strats. I have only played 2-3,000$ strats before at shops. This 400$ msrp strat felt smoother, and sounded as good or better then my 500$ Jackson.

So I showed this to my girlfriend. My girlfriend, is well, lets say cosmetically opinionated. :x She brought me back to reality, and showed me how horribly damaged the paint is. Its not PHYSICALLY corrupt, but there are enough scratches, and chips in the paint to easily tell it has been gigged or poorly cared for, for over 10 years. So this made me take a closer look. After my close inspection, I realized that the High-E tuner was replaced. It is not a Fender brand tuner, it is some no-name. I also noticed that the pickguard will need replaced do to some major scratches. Other then that, the important stuff is near mint. The frets, fretboard, headstock, pickups, and bridge are all in sound shape with no rust. However the back of the neck (where my palm is) has some slight chips in the wood, minimal but they're there. Trust me. This guitar has probably been dropped 20 times. It has probably been gigged 20 Times. And its probably 20 years old. I dont know, but all I know is how it feels and sounds.

I guess im basically asking you guys your opinion on whether I should focus on buying this one, or spend the extra cash on getting one that has the same excellent feel/tone but brand new. My mom just bought me a brand new guitar for christmas, that I cant know about... so I dont know what that is either.. but I know its not a strat.

I know what you guys are thinking... how much is it already??

I talked him down as LOW as I could go..
He says he will do 159.99 + tax out the door. So like $170 for the entire guitar. :?

Would any of you guys pay 170 for a mexican strat, that feels good, and sounds good, but looks cosmetically not good? It is 400$ brand new ANY where else. or do you guys think 230$ more is worth it for one never touched before..

I dont know.. Im thinking here..

Let me know your opinions.

-Josh