Suhr Guitars Classic

As stated in other reviews, the Classic is a traditional Strat-styled body with the exception of a ?contoured heel? for easier access to upper frets. This guitar was built in April ?99 in Southern California. It features a solid alder body with Even C-Slim maple neck with satin finish and an Indian Rosewood board, Sperzel locking tuners, Gotoh 1088?which is a vintage bent saddle bridge with screw in arm, Buzz Feiten tuning system, heavy frets?which aren?t as wide as Tom Anderson heavy frets as a comparison (better IMHO), aged green pickguard, and a ?59 burst finish under a very glossy lacquer. The pickup configuration is a Suhr Noiseless in the neck, Suhr V60 in the mid, and a Suhr Broadcaster in the bridge. Standard 5-way selector with volume and two tone controls?one for the neck and mid, and one for the bridge. The guitar was shipped in a G&G case. With the exception of the heel contour and the cord jack being located on the side of the lower bout, rather than in a face-plate on the front of the body, this guitar is a strat that we all know too well. I rate a 9 here for useful features and the versatile pickup combo.

Most of my playing is in an instrumental jazz/funk/R&B style, and after several strats, other solid-bodies and a couple hollow-bodies I?ve owned, I find this Suhr Classic is the most impressive guitar I?ve played for my application. The alder/rosewood combo give me a nice neutrality and warmth to cover a wide range of tones, and the Noiseless/V60/Broadcaster configuration really extends the versatility. The Suhr Noiseless in the neck was a very pleasant surprise. Beside the obvious benefit of getting rid of any 60 cycle hum which I can no longer tolerate, it covers a lot more ground in jazz than a true vintage single coil. It?s a lot more believable trying to get a 335 tone than a true vintage single. Yet it?s still gets a very snappy, spongy single coil tone with great clarity. Highly recommended. The Suhr V60 is a true vintage single coil, which I prefer to fralins. Great mid-pickup twang tone with punch. It?s a great compliment to the Noiseless in the neck/mid position. I?ve never been a fan of the in-between positions on other strats, but this Suhr has me using them a lot more. The Broacaster pickup in the bridge is essentially a tele bridge pickup and can be best described as a hotter strat bridge pickup which can really get you into a tele type of tone with some serious bite running through a Barber Burn Unit. The Fralin single at the bridge on my Don Grosh is noticably weaker. As an esthetic bonus, the black pickup cover on the Broadcaster gives the whole guitar a more ?modded? look than the standard 3 white pickup look. Both the V60 and the Broadcaster have very little single coil hum. As a general point of comparison, I?ve owned a Tom Anderson Classic, Hollow-T, and the forementioned Don Grosh Retro Classic. I won?t bother with any comparisons to Fender?this is a different league. The Suhr is a brigher, fuller sound than both the Grosh and the Anderson. The Suhr has more balance in the middle tones. The best way to describe the sound is that it?s more ?alive?. I?d read reviews on Suhrs and was a bit skeptical of the praise because the Anderson and Grosh quality is first rate, but I admit, the Suhr definately takes it up a notch in strat-style guitars. I won?t say you can specifically get Stevie, Eric, Knopfler, Jimi sounds that these reviews tend to claim. Last time I checked, Stevie, Eric, Knopfler, and Jimi were the only ones getting those specific sounds. What I am saying is I no longer have the Andersons and the Grosh. After owning many guitars and amps, running the Suhr through my 30 watt, 1x12 Carr Rambler is a rig I?ll be very happy with for quite some time. Nothing?s perfect. The Suhr comes close. Therefore a 9.

As I said, I?ve owned Andersons and grosh so I?m used to the pinnacle of bolt-on neck guitar quality. Still I must say the Suhr is a stunning level of craftsmanship. It took me a couple of weeks to get the set-up worked out. It came set-up way too high (maybe as a result of shipping) and with .009?s, so I sent it back for some rework on the nut to fit .010?s and it came back a hair low on the action. I e-mailed John Suhr for a quick set-up remedy, and using his input I tweaked the truss rod and individual saddles resulting in a guitar set-up better than anything I?ve ever played. The fit and finish is second to none. The ?59 Burst is a very simple black-to-deep amber gradation. The best burst finish I?ve ever seen. The finish makes even alder look like a flashy wood. Not a spec of orange peel to be found. Like a mirror. The satin neck finish feels great as did the Anderson and Grosh necks. fretwork is perfect. The neck feels right in between an Anderson and a Grosh. Not as vintage in feel as a Grosh, and not as Modern as an Anderson. The neck feels more stable than the Grosh which would at times play differently at different times, temps and humidity during any given day. I could go on but what?s the point. This is as good as it gets in a strat. It gets a 9 for near-perfection.

I see no reason to think this guitar won?t hold up to any playing situation of a real musician. Pour beer on it or throw it at the drummer, maybe you?d have a problem. All the hardware is tight, the strap buttons are big, the finish looks extremely durable. heck, maybe you could throw it at the drummer? I used to be one.

I?ve e-mailed John Suhr on a few occassions and have received a reply usually the same day. Sometimes within the hour. I spoke with them on the phone and found them to be curtious and helpful.

I chose a Suhr because I knew the Andersons and the Grosh Retro weren?t exactly what I wanted in sound and playability. I?ve never had a guitar that felt better on my fingers, ears, and eyes than this Suhr. I feel like I no longer need to think about the guitar and just play. I don?t like having a lot of gear lying around, so I anticipate this guitar will be a workhorse. If you can, check these guitars out. If you can?t, buy one sight-unseen. They?re that good. In a few months, I just might order a Suhr tele. That is, if my wife says I can. Nothing?s a 10, but?

Classic strat shape basswood body, Even C Slim neck back shape, 22 medium frets, sperzel locking tuners, 1055 bridge with push in arm and solid steel saddles, bolt-on straight maple neck with 16" radius pau ferro fingerboard, H/S/H with a Duncan '59 in the bridge, Suhr V60 in the middle, and Duncan '59 in the neck, 5 way selector switch with volume and tone controls, push/pull on the tone control to split the neck pickup only,Buzz Feiten Tuning System....
The typical wait period for a custom ordered instrument is 4-5 months, and mine was delivered as promised almost to the day.
Please note that this guitar was custom ordered and built to my exact specifications. All Suhr guitars are hand built in the USA to meet each clients needs, and almost any feature can be included into the design. The possibilities are almost endless.

This guitar plays and sounds like a dream. I play mostly jazz and fusion, but I also do allot of pop/rock sideman gigs and recordings. I use this guitar (and a 2nd Shur) for 95% of the work I do, the other 5% being covered by my semi-hollowbody and acoustic guitars.
I have a few different rigs that I use, and this guitar sounds just perfect with all of them. My main rig is a small rack which includes a CAE 3+ SE Preamp and a VHT Classic Power Amp. I mostly use 4x12 cabinets with Celestion 25w Greenbacks, or 4x10 cabinets with Jensen P10R's.
I like a dirty sound that is a cross between Scott Henderson, Allan Holdsworth & old Van Halen.... and this guitar delivers the goods in spades! The bridge humbucker is sweet, but can also get nasty in the best way (think about the first VH album). The neck humbucker is warm, but not too much so; it still has great definiton even with medium to high gain settings.
The combo and split positions do a great job with strat type tones. No, not quite authentic vintage Fender here (for that you'd need to get a Suhr equiped with (3) V60 pickups...killer!) but this guitar can more than hold it's own in "strat land" and has versatility to spare. If you're like me, and your style includes aspects of jazz, rock, blues, funk, etc....then this guitar is your dream!
All pickup positions are dead quiet except for when you split the neck; then you get typical single coil 60 cycle hum.
In all honesty, I was speachless when I first played this instrument, and I own/owned other "high end" guitars by Anderson, Tyler, PRS, etc...but this Suhr guitar, well, I just can't seem to put it down. Every note sounds as fat as an Italian opera singer!

The action was just as I specified; 1/16" measured from the bottom of the string to the top of the 22nd fret. The action is also very even all over the neck, giving the guitar an incredibly consistent feel. No string choke when bending, and absolutely no fret buzz.
The neck arrived perfectly straight with little relief, just as I like it. The guitar was shipped with D'Addario strings gauges 10-46, again, just as I asked. The funny thing is, this guitar plays so effortlessly that I almost thought the instrument was shipped with .009 or .008 gauge strings!
The combination of the 1055 bridge with Sperzel Locking Tuners works great. I use the bar allot, but in a subtle way; no divebomb stuff here. True, for more extreme vibrato work, the guitar will slip out a bit, especially on the low E and G strings. But for my needs and playing style, the guitar stays perfectly in tune, more so than any other guitar I've owned. Super feel and tone, without the hassle of a Floyd.
I'd also like to comment on the Buzz Feiten Tuning System. This basically helps the guitar intonate more perfectly over a greater range when compared to a typical instrument. Simply put, things (especially chords) sound more in tune in all keys; not perfect, but much better than any other instrument I've played, and comparable to a well tuned piano. This is a standard feature on all Suhr guitars.
The insturment arrived in flawless conditon. It was obviously built with great care and to very tight specifications.

I've been playing Suhr guitars exclusively for about a year now, and I've had no problems. When I gig, I bring just one of them. No need for a backup. The worst that might happen is I'd break a string. I don't ever anticipate having a problem with this or any other Suhr guitar I own. They are that good.
Remember, we are talking about what is IMHO the best custom built bolt-on style instrument currently available, and they don't get more reliable or durable than this.

I've corresponded with John Suhr on numerous occasions regarding the design of my instruments, and I've never found him to be less than wonderful. And no one knows guitars and wood tone like he does. John Suhr is a super talented individual, and a warm, sincere human being. He a guitar player too, so he understands the needs of guitar players like no one else can. In fact, everyone at the company is first class. They've always responded to my questons with great knowledge and enthusiasm, and have shown me time and again that they have a real passion for what they do. IMHO, you will not find better customer support at ANY other custom guitar company.

I've been making a living as a musician for about 15 years, and I've been playing for over 24! As I've said, I've owned Andersons, PRS, Tylers,etc....and they are all very good instruments. But the Suhr is a GREAT instrument, in every way that an instrument can be great.
This guitar has a magic that can not be described with words. You have to play one to understand what I mean. There is nothing about this guitar that I do not love, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better value in a custom made instrument.
Provided that the potential buyer takes the time to become familiar with the features they might like or need (body wood, neck shape, fretboard radius, etc...) I can't imagine a person not being thrilled with a Suhr. This instrument is as close to a "Robert Koebler Model" as I'll probably ever get. Obviously, if my Suhr guitars were stolen, I'd cry...then I'd not walk, but RUN to the phone and order another one ASAP!
Oh yeah, make sure you check out their very cool website at www.suhrguitars.com ;there you can learn more about John Suhr (whose clients have included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Scott Henderson, Mike Landau, etc..)and his wonderful company.
And please excuse any typos; I just got home from a gig and felt compelled to share my thoughts about these wonderful instruments. Good night!

Suhr Guitars are made in Elsinore, California by former Pensa-Suhr and Fender Custom Shop Master Builder John Suhr. The Classic is a solid-body Strat-style guitar. Mine has 3 Suhr V-60 single coils, light Alder body, maple neck rosewood fretboard, volume tone and blend controls, five way selector switch, Suhr's vintage style neck, a 12 inch radius, Gotoh 1099 bridge, Sperzel locking tuners big strap buttons, super nice G&G case (no fretboard protector?) and heavy frets. Not every feature possible on an electric guitar, but extremely well chosen and high quality features for this style of guitar. Hence, the high rating.

I play blues and jazz. In an attempt to consolidate my gear to just what I need, and thereby increase the stability of my domestic finances, I decided to cut back to just the right guitar for each of these styles, and then use one as the other's back up, in the case of broken strings or weirdness on a gig. I have played Strats and Strat-styled guitars for over 16 years, and I've owned all varieties, including custom shop stuff and boutique stuff. It seems that only the boutique shops produce instruments of consistently high quality. No offenseto bigger manufacturer's custom shops, it seems you still end up having to have a nut re-cut, or a few frets re-dressed. Such is the price of high volume manufacturing. I heard so much about how Suhr was of an even higher quality than my previous optimum selection, a great Anderson tele-style with 3 singles and no pickguard, I decided to buy a Suhr(I wanted to return to a Strat-style body, more classic styling, and a better 60's vibe on the neck and pickups). This guitar sounds ten times better than the Anderson. Suhr's V 60's are the most wonderfully full and warm single coil pickups I have ever heard. They have crazy, crazy vintage sound, but the magnets haven't gone all weak! There's the nice "glassiness" of a good single coil, but with plenty of warmth, and "throatiness". They are prety damn quiet, and sound great clean or overdriven. This single coil cannot be beat! All of the variety available with a single coil is here, plus two goodies. There's only one tone control (fine by me), and the other is a blend control that allows you to blend neck pickup in with bridge, or bridge pickup in with neck. This is useful, especially for the bridge pickup, which many blues players I know consider so brittle on most guitars that it's almost useless.

The alder body is light, and super resonant. The pickups seem to be adjusted perfectly. The hardware is attached well, the neck pocket is tight, comparable only to Anderson, and the finish is pefectly apllied and gorgeous (Cactus Green Metallic is beautiful in person). Here's my problem with this guitar: When set up to Fender factory specs (which seem to entail higher action and more relief than Suhr's specs), the string buzz on the "E" "A" and "D" strings is as great or greater than on any guitar I've owned. And I've not owned a guitar that buzzed over so much fretboard on all three strings. The buzz occurs over a wide (10 frets or so) expanse of the fretboard on each of these strings. To reduce it somewhat, you have to go with a bit more relief and string height, and the guitar starts to get on the high end of what I think most people would consider medium action. This sort of a guitar is so well-designed and crafted (and expensive), you should be able to get lower action than that, and minimal buzz. Reading other reviews in this database, this seems to be an anomaly for Suhr guitars(almost everybody seems to specifically mention "no buzz"), so I got in touch with Suhr. This man is dedicated to customer service. He personally responded to my e-mails, and talked with me on the phone. He even offered to have me send it back, and said he would try and do whatever it took to make it right. That is the man you want making the guitars you buy, and that's all there is to it. However, after following his suggestions, the buzz still isn't rectified. I'd send it to Suhr, but I liquidated my Anderson, intending to use this as my only solidbody, and really can't afford to be without it right now. Hopefully, tweaking and time will help reduce it. Still, one should remember that sometimes there are problems with even high end boutique guitars. The frets are big and well crowned and polished. I wish I could give this category higher numbers, believe me.

This guitar is used with my medium-full depth Guild arched top as a backup, but it seems very reliable and durable. The finish seems of a very high quality. Strap button are huge, and seem to be high quality. All in all, I'm going to speculate that this guitar is going to be dependable. It seems much more solid than anything else I've owned.

The warranty is lifetime to original owner. John Suhr couldn't be more friendly (he must be a zen master to be so calm and pleasant while running his company and helping you with your problems). I can't say enough good things about the customer support.

I've been playing nearly eighteen years, and play a lot of blues in the modern electric tradition. B.B., Freddie and Albert King, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Clapton, Hendrix, Vaughan and Cray were all influences, and I tend to play a lot of clean toned stuff, with jazz and soul influences. As far as jazz goes, I really dig the Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell type style, something with some obvious swing and blues influence. I play a Guild Manhattan for jazz, and I bought it because it stood up so well to so many Gibsons, and was much less expensive to boot. I use a Rivera 20th Anniversary combo, and it's super-versatile and gets great clean and dirty sounds. It's also really portable, and looks sharp. I bought this guitar because of its great reputation, even compared to Anderson, which I've owned and found extremely impressive. I wanted to get down to one solidbody that incorporated exactly the features I wanted and was built to the highest standards of quality, and Suhr really seemed like the ticket. I love the tone of the pickups, and the "vintage" style neck has a perfect size and feel, IMO. I also love the body size and the color. I ordered it from Suhr's fine dealer PGD at www.premiumguitars.com, because the local dealer of Suhrs was newly a Suhr dealer had nothing in yet, and in browsing Suhr's Dealer Page I found that PGD had a new Suhr that was exactly the thing I was looking for, down to the smallest detail. My only disappointment with this guitar is that it takes higher action that I've had on my other Strats to lower that string buzz to an almost tolerable level. I really think this is unusual for Suhrs, but at the same time, it's a bummer to pay significantly more than one would for an off-the-rack Custom Shop Strat, and have more buzz at higher action than a Custom Chop Strat. I would probably replace this guitar with another Suhr if I could find one that had the exact same features, and I could try it in advance. Otherwise, I'd find an Anderson and put Suhr V-60's in it.

Completed in 1999. Cherryburst.
This was an "in-stock" Suhr (pre-made) that Indoor Storm had in stock. I was not completely happy with the two Fender Strats I owned (AmdStd w/Fralins, and a Custom Shop '54 RI), and figured the thing to do was get one superior Strat and be done with it. I looked at the Suhr site, found a jpeg of a guitar I liked, and contacted the dealer to see if it was still in stock.
S/S/H, prototype JS noiseless S and a JS humbucker. Blend control, tone, 1099 bridge, 1.65" nut, cut for .010-046 strings. Ash body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. Large frets. Bridge HB splits in 2nd position (from bottom); push-push pot on tone splits the neck and middle noiseless single coil for times when I miss single-coil hum (and extra pickup clarity). It's got the features I want, but not every feature you can put on an electric guitar.

The sound is the thing I like best about this guitar--provided you use it for what it is made for: sounding like one of the best Strats you've ever heard. I've read some comments about how you can get a jazz sound out of it, though, and I disagree. I personally have never been able to get any realistic jazz sound out of any Strat, and this one is no exception. I do get *killer* Eric Johnson/Allan Holdsworth sounds out of the bridge humbucker when overdriven--but that isn't jazz in the sense someone usually means. You won't sound like Wes or Pat Martino with this guitar.

Here's where I've got a (personal) problem with the guitar. I sent it back for rework (changed the pickguard, added coil split to the two noiseless pickups) but didn't spend enough time with the guitar prior to sending it back to figure out that the .010-.046 setup was way too light. As a result, the guitar is great for shredding, but not all that playable with respect to jazz or blues. I'm sure JS would cut a new nut, but I've lost the opportunity to have it out of hand for the few weeks of turnaround this would take.
Otherwise, all the glowing reviews about fretwork, finish, attention to detail, etc., are completely and fully earned. What great work JS does.

This is the best-made guitar I've ever owned. I can't say I've owned dozens of guitars, or anything, but I've owned some damned nice ones (Fender and Gibson Custom Shop, etc.).
Absolutely dependable.

The devotion to customer service from JS Technologies is unparalleled. I'll leave it at that.

I've recently rekindled my fire for music, after ending my dead-end, run-of-the-mill pro career in 1980. I've been playing 30+ years, about 15 of it pretty seriously. I compared the guitar to various Tom Andersons--they were very close, but the Suhr just gives you more for your money IMO. Plus there's that fantastic JS customer service! The only two things I wish it had were (1) a splitable humbucker at the neck, for more authentic jazz tones and (2) a nut cut for .011-.050. Otherwise, it's really and truly a perfect electric guitar.

This will be a quick review of my Suhr Classic. John Suhr operates a very small custom shop in Lake Elsinore CA. This is #325 made is 1998. Here are the specifics. It is a swamp ash body, finish in 6120 trans orange. The neck is between the even C slim and the even C medium with a Madagascar Rosewood Fret Board. Frets are heavy. Neck size is about the same as a mid-90's Strat Plus, maybe a little thinner. The guitar is a S/S/H configuration with the blend control that mixes the front single coil and the rear humbucker. The guitar uses a traditional strat 5 way switch which also splits the HB in the 4 position, so you still get the nice quack of a strat in that position. The single coil pickups are John's version of the DiMarzio Virtual vintages. The humbucker is also a custom made for John by DiMarzio. Tuners are Sperzal locking units. Gotoh floating trem bridge. I ordered this guitar through Eddie Berman at Indoor Storm in Raliegh, NC. Eddie already had guitars in work and this guitar took about 10 weeks for delivery. John shipped it directly to me which cut down delivery time by a week. I should note that John uses some of the best cases I've ever seen. As I ordered this guitar, it is exactly what I requested and wanted. John was very helpful in sorting through the neck and wood options. The neck size was especially difficult as I had two references for him to compare to. One was a little too thick, one a little too thick. Once I described this John told to "write down these numbers and tell Eddie", I did and the neck is exactly what I wanted. John offered to send me the neck before the guitar was built, but I did not want to slow down the process any more, feeling like it would be very close. The finish is tremendous. Trans Orange might not be the color for everyone, but everyone that sees this guitar comments on it. It is unique, and if I may so so, stunning.

I play mostly classic rock covers and blues through a Rivera M100. I expected this guitar to be bright, being swamp ash and madagascar rose wood. It is, but not overly so. It will stand up to a lot of distortion and still have great sounds. Using the VV style pickups, it is noise free. The humbucker let's it cover a lot more sonic ground than a standard strat. It is hard for me to complain about any sonic aspect of this guitar. It might sound better with John's V60's in it, but I use it to play live and don't want to put up with the single coil noise. It might be too bright with old strat pickups. It sounds a lot better than my other strats (Fender Am. Std and Strat Plus).

The action was set up exactly as I had specified (I spec'd the string height and relief so John would know what I wanted). Came in with the strings I had requested set up perfectly. It has the Buzz Feiten system, so it was a little difficult for me to check intonation (don't have a programmable offset tuner), but sonically, it seems right on the money. The neck pocket is perfect, the finish is mirror-like. No complaints on any aspect of this. I will say that this is some of the best fret work I have seen.

I've been playing this guitar live since it arrived. So far so good and no reason to anticipate any problems. The finish seems very hard. No noticable wear on the back yet. It uses the huge PRS style strap buttons. I regularly gig with this as my only strat. I'll give this a 8 for now because it really to soon to judge.

As I said, John is really nice guy. He spend way more time on the phone with me than I expected. He plays each guitar and called me when it shipped telling me how it sounded (as if I needed something to make me more anxious). Eddie at Indoor Storm is a great guy. There pricing on these guitars is very aggresive. There are a limited number of Suhr dealers. This was not the first time I've dealt with Indoor Storm, and their service has always been first rate.

Overall, I give this a 10. I told myself when I ordered this that it would be the last strat (really didn't believe myself), however now that it is here, it may be the last strat - at least for a while. I've been playing for over 30 years and this guitar is in the top two or three in my I'd certainly replace it with an identical unit if it was stolen, it is precicely what I wanted. As a point of reference, I played several Anderson's and Grosh's before settling on this. Those are both great guitars, the Suhr just fit me better.

I ordered this guitar in March of 1998 from Jeff Olson at the Music Box in Lodi, CA and it arrived in early June '98. I have been playing it regularly for almost a year weekend gigs and it has become my main guitar. The guitar is a lightweight (7 lbs.1oz.) Strat style solid swamp ash body with a super thin Mary Kaye transparent white finish and a white pearl pickguard. The neck shape is called a "60's Vintage taper .810-.930". The Strat scale length flat-sawn maple neck has a Madagascar rosewood fingerboard and 21 heavy frets with a 10" radius. The back of the neck has a very comfortable satin finish that feels like wood. I am very happy with the chrome hardware including Sperzel locking tuners and a Gotoh 1099 bridge (similar to an American Standard with two pivots) with a push in arm and solid saddles. The 3 passive pickups are John's in-house 50's style single coil pickups with a tall "D" string pole piece stagger. The guitar is wired to look like a stock Strat but the controls are as follows: master volume, master tone, and pickup blend which allows various combinations of neck or bridge pickup to be blended in. The guitar has a 5 way switch and a side mounted output jack which is convenient as it does not interfere with the vibrato arm. The guitar is built with the Buzz Feiten Tuning System which allows more accurate intonation across the fingerboard than traditional tempering methods. It is still easy to tune the guitar and the improvement in intonation is very noticeable.
John has included a "hand cut" to accommodate upper fingerboard access. It is very comfortable to play in all positions on the neck. The guitar comes equipped with large strap buttons that work, a nice touch.
A well thought out Stratocaster design that improves on ergonomics and playability.

I play in a country/rock/blues bar band and the guitar does a great job of covering these bases. I like being able to roll some of the highs off the bridge pickup. It gives a beautiful tone that is not harsh. By rolling on the blend knob I can blend in the neck pickup for a fuller tone. I play through a Matchless SC-30, Victoria 45410-T Bassman replica or a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe depending on the weather and location of the gig. The guitar sounds great through all the amps. Pedals include a Fulldrive II, Demeter Tremulator and Boss DD-5 and RV-3.
The guitar is very resonant and acoustically loud even with the trem floating. I use Teflon lube sparingly on the nut and saddles and can really use the bar hard and stay in tune. I change strings weekly and have yet to break a string on this guitar (I break many on my Fenders!).
The guitar is bright,sweet and ringy yet not harsh. I believe the Madagascar rosewood fingerboard compliments the ash body's tone. The pups are well balanced in volume and give a broad spectrum of Strat tones. The guitar sounds great clean and still has punch and definition at high gain settings. It is very flexible.

John Suhr's work is of the highest quality. There is no aspect of the guitar's construction or set up that has dissappointed me. The fit and finish are flawless. The action is quite low and buzz free and even along the length of the fingerboard.

I always bring two guitars to jobs but frequently play my Suhr all night. I've had the guitar for about a year and it looks great even though I don't pamper it. I expect it to hold up as well or better than any high quality bolt on neck guitar. It has been reliable at hot dusty outdoor gigs at the San Joaquin County Fair and under hot stage lights and cold rainy winter barn dances as well. The guitar really stays in tune, and the satin finish on the neck is comfortable. I plan to hand this guitar down to my 20 month old son some day.

I have spoken to John Suhr several times on the phone and he has been extremely friendly, helpful and patient with me. Tbe guitar has not needed any repairs. I am not aware of the warranty status but I trust that John stands behind his guitars.

I have been playing for about 30 years and enjoy playing great guitars and amps. I have really bonded with this guitar and feel a little guilty that it has taken my attention away from some other guitars at home. I like my Suhr Classic so much that I just ordered another one in lightweight alder with a V neck and John's V-60 pickups.

Suhr Guitars are built by John Suhr of Pensa-Suhr fame, in California. He was also the master builder at the Fender Custom Shop for a time. The Suhr Classic I purchased is a strat-style body made of alder. The neck is John's Even C Medium size satin finish maple with a Madagascar Rosewood fretboard featuring 22 heavy frets. The bridge is a Gotoh 1099T with push in vibrato arm. The guitar has Sperzel Locking tuning gears. My model has three of John's custom-wound JST V60's single coils, passive electronics, and a 5-way switch. Controls are volume, tone, and blend, which allows the user to blend tones from the bridge and neck pickups. A very nice plush black hardshell case was shipped with the guitar. All Suhr Guitars feature the Buzz Feiten Tuning System.

My tastes run from classic rock and blues to country and jazz (lots of music with great guitar tones). I prefer playing through Fender-style amps and a few choice pedals (overdrive, chorus, delay). I've played a half-dozen or so of John's guitars and am struck by their consistent tone and workmanship to date. This model is a straight-ahead no b.s. strat. While he offers some great models with almost any combination of pickups and necks (visit www.suhrguitars.com to see what I mean), I felt a standard 3 single coil strat-style fit my tastes better. You have to play this guitar to believe it! While every guitar sounds different in different hands, the balance and clarity in this guitar are inspirational. Suhr touts his V60's as the "ultimate 60's single coil with the greasy, fat, throaty tones you've been looking for [using] the correct Alnico 5 magnet." I compared these pickups to the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups he also offers, and found the V60's to be more "alive" sounding with a very balanced and articulate tone across all frequencies. The bass frequencies are rich and full-bodied yet still "cut" very musically. The highs will give you as much Nashville twang you'd ever want without ever being piercing. These are great pickups and are surprisingly quiet. The DiMarzios sounded nice in the Suhrs I've played (it's hard to screw up a great guitar's tone) and were very quiet, but were more midrangy and "soft" sounding to these ears. I own quite a few guitars and use lots of different ones for different sounds in both studio and live settings. If I needed a classic strat single coil sound, I would use this guitar even before my Fenders. It is the quintessential sound, with a much more complex tone. I think the Buzz Feiten system really makes a difference in the intonation of chords and single notes over the entire range of the guitar neck. It's such a subtle, yet beautiful sound. Think of the classic strat tones that many people use as reference points (Knopfler, Clapton, Eric Johnson, Vaughans, etc...) as well as tele guys (Albert Lee, Danny Gatton, Brent Mason, etc...). While the tones are in their hands, if you have a feel for emulating these styles, this guitar is more than happy to oblige.

This is the area I'm amazed with. The set-ups on all Suhr guitars I've played are phenomenal. While this is an area of personal taste, I've found the action and intonation to be as rattle-free and in tune as can be expected. These guitars almost play themselves yet have enough resistance to make you feel like you're really playing. The pickups seem to be adjusted optimally. The bolt-on neck fits very tightly and the fretwork is impeccable. The quality of Suhr's finishes and the available choices are first class all the way. The only reason I'll refrain from giving this category a perfect 10, is because my guitar was shipped with a couple of very, very small depressions in the body. They are so small that most people might not notice them right away, but they do annoy me somewhat, given the price of this guitar and the fact that I special ordered it. I'm convinced that the dings were in the body before painting because the finish is flawless and smooth even over the areas in question. I know every guitar that gets used will get banged up, but I'd rather do the banging myself (unless it's a Fender Relic). One other interesting note, Suhr doesn't use necks with a high-degree of fancy quilting or birdseye maple because he feels a plain grain wood is more stable. I have numerous guitars with amazing cosmetics and the look of this neck is downright boring comparitively, but that's the way it should be. It feels and sounds so good! The satin finish feels perfect to me.

This guitar seems to be as well-made as you could hope to find. The strap buttons are over-sized and prevent straps from falling off. The attention to detail is so comprehensive that I think it will translate into years of reliability. I will not give this category a rating though, because I've only had the guitar for a few days.

John Suhr has been kind enough to discuss his products with me via e-mail and telephone. He strikes me as very knowlegeable and opinionated. He normally asks customers to allow 3-4 months delivery for special orders. Mine took 2 months and 1 day to receive. This may change as people become aware of his products. The true test of customer service, though, comes when you need help with the product you've already bought. Therefore, the jury is still out.

I am a big Fender fan, but feel that John Suhr's products have surpassed anything coming out of Fender's Custom Shop as of late. I think Fender has become such a big corporation that they don't take the time to pay attention to the important details that John does, such as lightweight and resonant woods with immaculate fretwork. The only reason I use Fender as a comparison here is because the Suhr Classic is patterned after the timeless strat design, with a few functional upgrades. I still love my newer Fender guitars and amps, but feel I have a piece of functional art with the Suhr. The tone and feel of this guitar make perfect sense. It just seems to be common sense that everybody interested in the craft of guitar making would build a guitar like this. I must admit the small dings in the body bother me, but I have been reluctant to pursue the matter because the guitar sounds and plays so nicely, and I guess that is what matters the most. I'm not sure that Suhr would be able to fix them anyway. I do feel that this is the exception rather than the rule because the other examples I've played have been flawless. I don't normally write equipment reviews, but feel that Suhr deserves some attention here. By all means, go to his website at www.suhrguitars.com for a better look at what he offers.