6 Best Super Strat Guitars for Every Budget (Non-Fender)

Upon strapping on the guitar, its lightweight body and ultra-comfortable compound radius neck were immediately apparent. I plugged the guitar in and dialed in a nice clean tone with the neck pickup.

The Seymour Duncan humbucker sparkles and shines beautifully on the clean setting. The series and parallel switching gives the humbucker a bit of coil-splitting texture, thinning it out. 

It did not sound like a clean single-coil Strat, but the sound is more than usable in the live setting. It’s close enough that most guitar players in the audience will raise an eyebrow in appreciation.

However, it’s the Full Shred humbucker in the bridge position with some nice distortion that really makes this guitar a bona fide super strat. I couldn’t resist throwing out some legato Iron Maiden licks, reveling in the smooth, searing high-gain sound that simply jumped out of the guitar.

I strongly prefer the Gotoh tremolo system to the Floyd Rose. I love that it was nice and low profile so the risk of it digging into my picking hand or getting accidentally hit was much lower. The tremolo didn’t force the guitar out of tune despite some pretty heavy whammy playing.

Looks, however, can be deceiving. The Seymour Duncan bridge humbucker offers truly monstrous metal tones. I immediately plugged it into a powerful high-gain amplifier and was stunned by the tones on offer.

Everything from chunky thrash riffage to modern metal sounded spot on with just a few tweaks to technique and gain settings. The single-coil pickup in the neck position, with distortion on, was much less noisy than I feared, and offered a pretty solid Yngwie Malmsteen-style sweet distorted tone.

The middle pickup is nicely “quacky” and Stratty, but I can’t see myself using it too much in the live setting. However, it’s nice to have the tonal versatility offered by the nine-way switching system, allowing you to mix the middle pickup into the other two in varying amounts. 

The neck feels great in your hand. It isn’t exactly supermodel-thin like some Ibanez shred guitar necks, and is closer to the classic C profile, if a little on the thinner side. 

Just to see if the guitar was as versatile as advertised, I tried the neck pickup with the tone rolled down and was able to coax some very convincing jazz tones from this guitar. A switch to the bridge pickup, and a coil tap later, I conjured a slick, shiny Nile Rodgers-esque disco tone.

I’d recommend this guitar to players who like their super strats to closely resemble actual Stratocasters, and play a wide variety of genres.

When you put on the guitar, it’s nice and light around your shoulders. The roasted maple neck feels good in your hand. I could easily see myself grinding away with this guitar in a studio, late at night, for hours on end. It’s just that comfortable.

The HSS pickup configuration definitely feels tremendously versatile. While I probably wouldn’t use this guitar for all-out metal - the bridge pickup doesn’t quite have the power I like for that genre - you could feasibly cover just about any other genre.

Of course, most people will be wondering if it captures that warm-yet-clear ‘70s studio guitar tone. The answer is yes! 

To get the idea, put on Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne.” That snappy, percussive, articulate tone is all Larry Carlton. This guitar, played through a tube amp, captures that sound straight away.

By far the most entertaining thing with this guitar is blending the middle pickup with the neck pickup or the bridge, adding a touch of drive and trying my best to impersonate Carlton’s jazzy, unique phrasing.

I’d strongly recommend this guitar, especially at its competitive price point, to any musician looking for a guitar to cover as many genres as possible, short of extreme high-gain styles.

Unlike many other guitars at this price point, this one boasts a neck-through-body design. As the neck and a major part of the body are one big piece of wood, this is supposed to give the guitar unparalleled sustain and superior resonance.

The gold hardware is a nice touch on this guitar, adding to its luxurious, decadent feel.

Upon picking up the guitar, it’s not nearly as light as one might expect from a super strat. It isn’t heavy like a Les Paul, but it feels similar in weight to a decent sized 335.

The neck is, as expected, razor thin. It’s much easier to play lightning-fast legato runs on this neck than most other guitars I’ve ever played. While I prefer a bit of heft to my guitar necks, I can’t help but appreciate the supreme playability of this shred neck. 

Of course, the real shred test is how the guitar sounds. Fortunately, the Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge position more than handles high-gain tones. Rolling back the volume knob on the guitar reveals a slightly cleaner sound well suited to rhythm playing.

This is a great shred guitar, a worthy successor to the legendary Jackson name.

Unlike many super strats, the Hellraiser has a mahogany body. You definitely notice the difference, as the Hellraiser is much heavier than a typical Stratocaster. The neck, too, is mahogany, with a rosewood fretboard.

The neck isn’t exactly Les Paul sized, but tone-wise, the Hellraiser sounds more like a Gibson than a Fender. The EMG pickups in particular give it some potent grit and roar. I've found EMG's sustainiac neck pickup to hold true to its name. It offers massive levels of sustain that's ideal for absolutely nailing those killer solos!

With the addition of overdrive and chorus through a cranked amp, I was able to conjure some thick, gnarly tones reminiscent of Zakk Wylde’s work with Ozzy Osbourne. Getting the upper-fretboard runs was far easier than on my Les Paul thanks to the carved neck heel.

Playing a few bars of the iconic riff from the Lemmy/Ozzy Osbourne collaboration that gives this guitar its name brought an immediate smile to my face. 

The Hellraiser is probably the least Stratocaster-esque super strat I’ve ever played, and that’s not a bad thing. It has a unique character well suited to heavy metal playing, although the clean tone of this guitar leaves something to be desired. 

The clean sound of its EMG pickups was a little thin and brittle. However, I can’t imagine anyone looking at this guitar and wanting to play classical or jazz. You don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree: likewise, you don’t just the Hellraiser by its ability to play clean, sparkling pop guitar.

Further reading: our comprehensive review of this guitar.

I particularly liked the neck, a similar profile to the classic Stratocaster. It was very comfortable to play and felt excellent in the palm of my hand. 

The Seymour Duncan HSS pickup configuration with coil-tapping was also very welcome. My favorite position on this guitar was the neck pickup with the amp at the edge of breakup.

Surprisingly, the guitar captured the clean-but-threatening-overdrive sound remarkably well. It immediately put me in mind of the Stratocaster tone from John Mayer’s Where the Light is live album. 

The rosewood fretboard needed some oiling, but that’s an easy fix to apply yourself.

The Seymour Duncan humbucker did exactly what I expect Seymour Duncan humbuckers to do. At full tilt, it offered searing lead tones and chunky, powerful riffage. Dialing back the volume knob on the guitar cleaned it up into AC/DC-style rhythm territory.

The clean sound from the humbucker was pleasantly twangy, particularly with the coil tap engaged. I added some compression and coaxed one Nashville-ready country tones from this guitar, a pleasant surprise.

This Pacifica model is priced at intermediate level, so you’d expect it to be a similar quality to the Mexican Stratocaster. However, for the price, it felt like a much better guitar, and I’d probably play it over most Mexican Strats I’ve tried. 

I’d recommend this to an intermediate player looking for a quality upgrade to their beginner gear or a more advanced player who needs a versatile super strat with great bang for buck.