Faux Strats: SX vs Xaviere ??? Then again, the Carvin Bolt?

I have a couple SX Strats. They are good, very good for what they cost. I'm sure the bolt is a nicer guitar but I have never played one. I modded my SX with a Guitar Fetish pickup (railed humbucker that fits a single coil slot) and upgraded the bridge and trem block as well as the electronics. All said and done I put $75 into a $99 guitar and I am very happy. I have it here with me now in Florida. Check the specs on the SX. Mine has a 3 piece alder body. (and when I had the red one apart ... no bath tub route, it was routed for 2 singles and a humbucker. Should have checked first, could have bought a full sized humbucker and a new pick guard. Although my ash one does have a bath tub route)I do see they have changed the peg head though. Mine is very similar to a Fender and the new ones not so much. The real Strat I have is a MIM. I think I like the SX better.

Thanks. I read a lot more about SX than I do Xaviere.

And the price is right. I suspected that I'd have to change the pups on a cheap guitar.

I played that noisy room this weekend. My LTD Faux Les-Paul was in the humbucker position all night, and my partner couldn't use her Parker in the single coil mode (she has coil taps).

I don't know what is wrong with that stage. We play there twice a year, and it's the only place where I've ever played where the single coil noise is unbearable. The first time I played that room, I took my Casino (what a disaster that was). I switched guitars with my partner, and she played rhythm on the Casino unplugged with a mic and I played lead on her Parker in the humbucking mode.

If I went with the SX, I'd have to change the pups anyway so the center pup could be RPRW.

I have Carvin PA speakers, and they blow away the Mackies, EONs, and Peaveys that I tried. If their guitars are that good, the Bolt with a coil tapping humbucker in the bridge position might be a good choice. But it is a lot more expensive.

My first instrument is saxophone, and I just bought a new, expensive sax, so money is an issue.

Notes

I've played a SX Fat Strat, a Xavier XV650, and own a Carvin ST300 super strat style guitar

Carvin quality would definitely beat everything in my opinion. I prefer my ST300 to my Fender Highway One HSS strat (not that they're really comparable, Carvin: Mahogany, HH, 25" scale length; Strat: Alder, HSS, 25.5" scale length)

but the quality of carvin is exceptional

Between the SX Strat and the Xavier I played, i would take the SX Strat. It's less expensive and has a better feel to it. The Xavier inline headstocks look lousy to me as well...not that it should matter. On the fretboard, the Xavier had a much flatter feel which wasn't quite as comfortable for chords. I think the SX had more of a c shape as well as jumbo frets.

What I did love about the Xavier was that it had Dream 180 pickups in it. They definitely have a distinct sweet sound. I guess you're going for a strat though so it won't have that pickup.

my opinion is Carvin > SX > Xavier

Recently I picked up a clean fake strat for around $80 US at a local antique (read "junk") store. I didn't expect much from it -- but after careful setup it has proved to be a pleasant surprise. This guitar was originally sold as part of a blister-pack guitar-amp-DVD deal at some big-box store where I would never be caught dead, but it's a nice little guitar nonetheless. So, while I have no first-hand experience with Xaviere or SX, I feel confident that almost any lower-end brand has potential -- even the ones in your nearest mom-and-pop guitar shop.

Thanks.

It's great to hear from someone who has played all of them.

I'm liking the Carvin even more since it can come with a 14" radius fretboard.

My Gibson ES-330, Epiphone Casino and LTD Faux LP, all have fretboards in the neighborhood of 14"

I don't have any trouble with chording on a flatter fretboard (lucky shaped hands I guess) and I really like the ease of bending the strings.

I had a Kramer/Focus/Faux Strat once, and the curvature of strings really confused my picking hand. I'm sure it's something I could get used to (others do) but the difficulty and limit of bending the strings on that neck made me trade the guitar in.

I think a minimum of 12" fretboard is what I prefer.

Notes ♫

You might also want to have a look at the Godin guitars particularly if your budget is stretching up to the Carvin price range. The quality on their lower end models is very good and should be within that Carvin bolt price range. These seem to be 12" or 16" radius fretboards depending on the model. The neck on mine is a bit too thin IMO (approaching Wizard thin) but the post 2002 models have a bit more heft to them but not anywhere into the 50's Gibson range. Still a bit under-appreciated and you can often get a good deal on them used.

Also, another option to think about for noisy environments is the stacked single coil style humbuckers such as the Duncan Duckbuckers.

I played that noisy room this weekend. My LTD Faux Les-Paul was in the humbucker position all night, and my partner couldn't use her Parker in the single coil mode (she has coil taps).

I don't know what is wrong with that stage.

It's often hard to track down, but I'm sure you know the usual culprits:
-neon signs
-cheap/faulty lighting dimmers
-computer gear (cash register, drink dispensing system..)
-big transformers (sometimes hidden in the ceiling or in a closet behind the stage?)
-electric motors (ventilation, dishwasher...)
-generally crappy wiring (bad grounds, mis-wired circuits, loose connections that might arc)

There was one stage at a venue I used to mix at that had one spot on the stage (about 3 square feet) that would make any single coil guitar sound like the world was ending. Cheap passive DIs and poorly shielded cables also hated being in this area.

Turns out the power transformer that supplied all the refrigeration for the bar/restaurant/hotel was in the basement right under that spot in on the stage.

I played that noisy room this weekend. My LTD Faux Les-Paul was in the humbucker position all night, and my partner couldn't use her Parker in the single coil mode (she has coil taps).

I don't know what is wrong with that stage.

It's often hard to track down, but I'm sure you know the usual culprits:<...>

I suspect it is a night light. It looks to me like it's a halogen bulb, it's in the storage room stage right, and it emits an audible buzzing sound. Nobody knows how to turn it off so I can't confirm that, it's just a guess.

The usual dimmer switches, neon lights, and other causes may introduce a slight buzz, but this is nothing like that. I can ignore a little hum. The ambient room noise covers that up, and once the music starts, the signal to noise ratio makes the hum a non-issue.

But this is a loud buzz with a very metallic edge to it, and it is so loud, it cannot be ignored.

Since I only play there twice a year, I simply put my RPRW P90s in the "giant humbucker" mode and leave it there all night. Sure, I don't get the variety of sounds I can get otherwise, but the audience doesn't seem to know the difference.

But for those extremely rare occasions, it is nice to have a humbucker. For the rest of the time, I like single coils better. The highs are cleaner, the dynamic response better, and the pick noise burst more audible when picking hard. In other words, a greater range of expressiveness for the way I play guitar.

So I'm thinking I like the price of the SX, but perhaps I should be Gassing for the Carvin with the coil-tap HB in the bridge position.

Perhaps I should play the state lotto this week <grin>

Or if everyone here would buy just one of my software disks (whether you have Band-in-a-Box or not), I could afford it <even bigger grin>

Insights and incites by Notes ♫