Suhr Classic Antique vs K Line Springfield - Two of the Best Strats for the Money

[@k-lineguitars]

Thanks for this John! Always nice to be compared to such a great guitar in the Suhr. And yes, I can do a 22 fret, SSH, and many other more modern things.

[@208414]

I had an issue with a Suhr modern I purchased. I was getting fret buzz in the middle of the neck, but only on the bass side. Customer support had me ship the guitar to them (at their expense) and John Suhr himself fixed the guitar. The neck had warped so he re-leveled it and did a re-fret. It is now perfect.

[@TCMx3]

The Suhrs are heavier because the SSCII system adds about half a pound. There is physically more stuff in the guitar. Just as an FYI. Also on the employee thing, Suhr has people who only work on guitars and people who only work on amps/effects and they actually don't cross over. I would also say that while John Suhr is a bit harder to get ahold of, it's not impossible, and I've actually talked to him before & I think much like Chris K. he's a great guy to talk to and ofc insanely knowledgeable. BTW the original Soldano order list is going around right now and John Suhr apparently owned one of the first 20 or so SLO-100s. The Classic S Antique/Pro is bit lower of a value proposition than it used to be though. The specific reason I went for the Mateus Asato one was to get a roasted neck without having to put in a custom order. That is something that used to come standard on Suhrs. The stainless steel frets on my K-Line are superb but my Suhr's are breathtaking. That's about the only thing I would say is actually "better", other than that it's all horses for courses. Pricewise my K-Line Springfield with a roasted neck and stainless frets was 2589 total, and my Asato was 3350, so that's not exactly _nothing_ in terms of price. Granted I got my K-Line order in before all the recent price craziness so they're probably a bit closer now.

[@kevinp_25]

Knowing how much you love the K-Line this says a LOT about how good the Suhr is.

[@BobbyCulpepper.srv3fender]

I recently sold my 2019 classic s hss, it weighed 8lbs 4 oz, I sold it because I found a 2010 classic s sss with a blend control that weighs 7lb 6oz, and the neck is a little thinner and the frets are a little taller and it plays like a dream. But the biggest reason I was looking for a replacement was because I order the 2019 site unseen in sonic blue, well they changed their sonic blue I think in 2016 to a more faded almost surf green color and I hated it, the 2010 is the correct sonic blue, I will be keeping this one! Thanks for the shout out John

[@john808welk]

Honestly can't go wrong with either. I always wanted a suhr before I got my K-line, now I have absolutely zero desire.

[@89ji76]

If you’re looking at Suhr and/or Ibanez AZ, I think Fujigen is something else to look at. Made at the same factory in Matsumoto as the AZ Prestige but closer to the Suhr design, if not right in the middle of the two

[@synonyx]

The Suhr classic S was the best S style guitar I’ve played. I sold mine and I regret it. I’m going to get another one though! No going back to fender now! They are custom shop models without the custom shop price tag.

[@jakollee]

Nice comparison; I would love to get to play either one! Great outro, amazing editing during the soloing!

[@chrisfunkmagic]

Great breakdown! I have the Suhr Ian Thornley signature strat, and out of the 13 guitars I have… the Suhr is the only one I play these days. Love that guitar so much!

[@marcfryer5043]

How's the neck on that guitar?

[@michael_caz_nyc]

He is so good, that he can play thru a TunaFish-can with a string attached . . . and still sound incredible. I have the Suhr in Tobacco-Burst with the Lollars. My tone-search ended . . . right there!!! It a phenomenal guitar.

[@blakeburns8688]

What lollars do you use?

[@fabianorodas]

Just acquired a suhr after playing lot of middle and high end guitars and I have to say suhr blew my mind probably the best guitar I’ve ever played

[@lukather1]

Played K line own a Suhr best strat ever played was a Nash - truly unbelievable feel and sound ❤️

[@sboy1955]

Tough decision, I really like both equally! As for the Suhr… I think of Pete Thorn every time I see or hear one. After these recent videos of JNC’s.. that might change?!

[@Nismo398]

That suhr is a nice guitar... :D

[@gregs8685]

Great review. I have Suhr, Grosh and Xotic S guitars and find them all great, but each slightly different. The Suhrs do tend to be on the heavier side, most of the Classics S models are 8 lbs. plus or minus. I’d love to try a K-Line, which is a straight vintage strat copy similar to the Grosh NOS Retro and Fender Custom Shop 56 and 60 models.

[@southpaw335]

Most of the way through i was thinking. - gee happy with either of those… cleans were both nice (different but both good) but the outro jam, as soon as you hit the drive, it was the K-line all day for me. Suspect it is mostly down to Lollars vs MLs at that point and you could probably tweak the preset to cater for it, but yeh K-line wins this round for me.

[@61jojo61]

Suhr Classic Antique☝️

[@robbies9130]

it's interesting to hear your thoughts on the ML pickups. I've been playing the same Suhr Standard for over a decade and still haven't decided if I like the pickups or not. Some days I appreciate how versatile they are, and others, I think they're a bit spiky and harsh. Guess I need to go out and play some other strats

[@JS-nf1sn]

Both! Have never heard anything bad about Suhr, I think their reputation is excellent. I want a K Line....

[@christopherjbutler]

I have not seen you use the Gotoh 510 Bridge with a bar in any of the videos. I love mine on my strat, the bar is push in in style, but it is also hollow with a thread in the end so you can screw it down to whatever height above the body you would like it to stay at. The delrin collar the bar presses into is just right so that the bar will stay where you want it, and I find I don't even need to screw the hex nut down on the collar to make it tighter. It is a really smooth action bridge, and the posts have a locking mechanism, once you set them at the height you want, there is an internal hex screw inside the post that you can adjust to keep them from moving downward any further, and it kind of increases the connection with the body of the guitar.

[@christopherjbutler]

@@GCKelloch My Strat's NS510T has thick steel / chromed saddles, but mine are now Graphtech String Saver Classics, they look like American Standard large saddles, but they have a small pad of their teflon/graphite right at the contact point where the string lays on the saddle. The bridge looks more like a traditional (not vintage mind you, just traditional) American Standard 2 post than what I used to have which was fully teflon/graphite string savers. That takes a bit of the harshness off,, but retains the mass of the larger saddles, and equates to bascially ZERO string breakage.. There's also a little less friction at the break angle point on the saddle so at least theoretically sustain is a bit better. The combination of the Gotoh Bridge and the String Saver Classics is something I wish I had on the guitar 20 years ago when I was gigging with the stock fender bridge (with black string saver saddles) or the later mismatched string spacing Wilkinson VS100 with String Saver Wilkinson replacement saddles (again, in black graphite) I feel as at home now as I did with the stock fender bridge, but with ZERO of the nitpicks and major complaints

[@nekkon1989]

The way I see it, the Suhr has a bit more mojo to it. its cleans are a bit better, too. The differences in sound are minimal, what's more important is how well each plays

[@desmusik]

its still the k line for me but only just.fantastic playing as always.cheers

[@tonyhoodlass1846]

I have custom shop Strat really love it in sonic blue rosewood board also have Tokai breezy sound thinline i rate it highly too

[@kyran4238]

Good to hear you on Five Watt World again. Hopefully it can take you to 50k 😀

[@winstonsmith8240]

I recently saw the most beautiful guitar ever, which was a Suhr. It was also £3,999.

[@marksystemed4678]

Very nice! Both guitars sound and look beautiful. Sell a few amps and buy the Suhr.

[@dennisweigelt]

They sound both great! Do you still know wich preset you used on this comparison?

[@redcomn]

Now i need the best tele for the money

[@tonystartup3817]

They're kind of different guitars and not really direct competitors. One is your traditional and one is your modern interpretation. The answer is to have both of course and use according to situation

[@kyran4238]

They are just under $6000 here in Australia

[@Johnherold121]

9:47 what is this, Every Breath You Take on amphetamine?

[@domizidor]

What did you use from 9:40 for that clean sound? killer sound :)

[@paoloschiano9900]

Blue strats sound better!

[@happygolukky]

The difference I would say is the K-Line has a more organic feel and sound vs a more clinical and modern play and sound to the suhr - to your point though you can order a K-line for the same or less money to any specific - 22 stainless frets - 9 ½ to 12 radius - HSS… pretty much whatever you want.

[@markknecht9416]

Is it just me or is today's audio strangely distorted and glitchy on many parts?

[@tonefish3825]

Who would have thought that $3000 + would get you a nice guitar?

[@faridzayish]

KLine brighter and plinky sounding. Suhr has slight more push on mids and not as ‘sharp’ as KLine. Suhr for me 👍🏻

[@john808welk]

funny, I heard the exact opposite!

[@twowaymuir]

Ever try one of these? I have the fixed bridge W2 model and I love it. 24 stainless steel frets that play better than my other 29 electrics. No tuning issues. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaCupayjpr6Va8k

[@christopherjbutler]

Guthire Govan bailed to Charvel, Lari Basilio bailed to Ibanez. Who else left?

[@Johnherold121]

My dad went to Harley Benton

[@nigeldaddyo]

Artists jump from brand to brand all the time. I don’t see that as any reflection on what a company is doing, right or wrong.

[@christopherjbutler]

@@Johnherold121 Favorite comment of the week lol

[@christopherjbutler]

@@nigeldaddyo Absolutely. Guthrie left because he wanted some very specific things that could not be accomodated as a customization of the basic body styles and profiles that Suhr offered at the time. Charvel gave him carte blanche to do what he had in his head. As far as I know there is no ill will between Guthrie and Suhr at all. Lari wanted to move beyond those basic parameters as well, and Ibanez was willing to do whatever she dreamed up. It is in NO way an indication of anything negative ab out the beautiful crafted instruments (and amps, for that matter) that Suhr consistently brings to their customers. I was more curious as to whether or not there were other names that have moved on for whatever reasons that I have forgotten. I see that Mateus Asato has his own signature Suhr model and is loving it.

[@josephkung9143]

@@christopherjbutler I have played the Guthrie Charvel and the Suhr -- and I really can't see what additional customizations were SO specific and/or hard to do that Suhr couldn't accommodate. In fact, all these super-strats are not that different. And the big boys all cut their stuff on CNC, so making a different profile isn't that hard. Maybe they just didn't think they could make enough $$ on the signatures if there wasn't enough interest, or the features weren't that desirable. But not being able to accommodate the features -- I really can't see that. Unless some Artist wanted some headless or super weird body style, finish, woods, etc. But that isn't the case on any signature I have ever seen. Nobody ever seems to talk about maybe it's the business side that don't work out?