The ShadowMusic Web Community

Hi new member here glad to make your aqaintance!

I recently bought a red Ryder Strat (now discontinued). I'm totally impressed by this guitar, for what I paid, the quality is really very good. It has a solid body and a very nice neck. The stock pickups aren't bad at all and give a nice tone, the neck is very nice and has a skunk stripe with tiger maple and a maple fretboard. I've owed many lower end guitars, Squires etc but this is certainly a very good contender.

Ok as with many guitars, the pickups and hardware could possibly be replaced , but for what it is, I really am thoroughly impressed! I'd definitely buy another if I saw one. It will need a set up as it's been stored away for a few years, I believe they were only in production from 2009-2011. So it's no surprise it will need a little tic, but that's easily done.

Shadows bassist Mark Griffiths used a Ryder Precision style bass guitar on the Reunion tour in 2009.
When I asked him about it he said it was as good as his Fender to play. Alan Jones used a £59 Squier Precision bass when he was on tour with the Shads and he recorded Riders In The Sky and all the other stuff at that time with that bass.
Alan is bassist with our band Past Masters and every time I bring another budget guitar that I’ve discovered, he reminds me about that Squier bass. It doesn’t matter what make it is, as long as it tunes up and stays there, as well as having a decent sound and is comfortable to play. I’ve learned the hard way, ask my poor wallet .

Yes I agree, after years of buying and playing many guitars I've come to the conclusion there are a few gems I've come across equally as good as some higher end guitars. This Ryder Strat is proof of such a thing, I'm very impressed.

The main contributor to getting a great sound is always the player, rather than a top of the range instrument.
When we were on holiday in the USA, my missus and I were on Beale Street watching three old guys over the road playing in a shop doorway. Guitar, bass & drums, they were in there sixties at least, all with grey hair and ZZ Top type beards, the drum kit was a 26” bass drum, snare drum and one cymbal, no name on the kit.
The bass guitar was what looked like a very battered old Fender Precision, the guitar appeared to be a black Gibson Les Paul. They were playing through a couple of small Peavey combos and sounded amazing. People put money in a bucket, placed in front of the kit.
I had enthused to Joy about the fabulous earthy sound that the band produced, real Delta Blues with that touch of ‘distress’ in the guitar sound - not overdrive, just natural distress. I was convinced that this old black Les Paul was one of the really sought after ones that fetch thousands of pounds over here, creamy and soulful is the best description I can give it, so I went over to put some money in the bucket, smiling and nodding my approval to the guys as they played on. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the name on the headstock of his Les Paul - it read ‘Crate’. The bass headstock said ‘Fenix’.
That evening I learned a massive lesson, the soul I was admiring came from them alone, not some expensive equipment.
It’s something within us that cannot be bought and dedication and practice and more practice is the only thing you can do to get anywhere near what these guys were producing out of that modest gear. In reality they were very poor people who couldn’t afford name gear, but they made budget guitars sound amazing.
This was the beginning of my quest for similar results with our music and I wish I’d known these things before I spent a fortune trying to buy the sound.

dave robinson wrote:The main contributor to getting a great sound is always the player, rather than a top of the range instrument.

Hear hear! I have learned this over the years by listening to club players as well as pros. It doesn't matter what the gear is, if the player handles the instrument well the playing shines through. Thanks to everyone on this site, Dave in particular, for confirming this over the years.

Many moons ago when I played on stage regularly, sometimes people came to the stage in the brake.
They asked me "Is that a real old pre cbs Fender?" Sometimes my answer was "Thanks for the help I was wondering how to pronounce that sticker on the guitar head". The face they get... doesn't you know what this guitars is worth? My statement "bought it at a garage sale for 80 Guilders"
Floored them almost every time
Or " Is that guitar what I think what is is" My answer "I don't have a clue what you think, but it's just a old damaged guitar I got that out of a skip"
Priceless their reactions!!
Nowadays using a pre-CBS or even a 70's strat isn't that save in public here...guitars get stolen often at gigs.
Many times I reed adverts with requests for info if somebody seen the instruments..
So when I go out to play I use one of my lower priced guitars, with good build quality,sound, playability and also good looking'!
Punters aren't giving a toss what you use on stage, if the sound is ok and it resembled the sound they remember or recognize...they are happy as Larry!!
The last 15 years low budget guitars are becoming better and better, make you wish we started with these way back when, instead of the longbow's we could afford.

Cheers Rob

Interestingly, a couple of years ago I bought a Vox Duotone identical to my first electric guitar, along with a 1960 Watkins Dominator amplifier. Back in the day we hadn’t a clue at fourteen years old how to set up a guitar and you played what you had without complaint. Fast forward to 2017 with vast knowledge and experience in all things guitars, then a tweak here and there with a screwdriver, some shims and a couple of files and I got the guitar nicely playable, much better than back in 1962. The Duotone still had the original Monopole tape wound strings in place - and they still tuned up and played, with quite a lot of effort. The guy bought the guitar in 1960 and couldn’t play it, though it spent time just laying around his home, getting knocked about, dings all over it, but not a bit of fret wear. I tuned it and made a video of me playing some of his favourite tunes and sent it to him, before pulling off those 13/56 strings and saving them in a box, re-stringing with some 10/46 Ernie Ball Slinkys. The neck doesn’t have a truss rod and had bowed considerably, but over time has straightened out with the lighter load and it is playable. I hooked up the Hall & Collins echo to the Dominator and it sounds great, proving that it was my playing that was sub standard back in 1962 and not my gear. The Straocaster and AC 30 that replaced those instruments made me feel better, but didn’t make me a better player. At home I regularly have a blast with the Duotone and Dominator with one of my echo boxes and it’s a most enjoyable experience.

When Sue Ryder discontinued their guitar line a few years ago, the remaining stock was sold off at half price. When Noel Ford wrote a glowing review on this site of the Ryder Tele copy, I took a punt on one for the princely sum of £60. What a bargain. I think Noel upgraded the pickups, but mine has stayed stock. Emboldened, I went for the Strat copy as well, only available in a Daphne Blue-ish finish. Beautiful looking guitar, though I found the neck a bit heftier than I was used to. Still a bargain though.

Unfortunately, the basses were sold out - one of the bass sites had carried some really positive reviews so they were being snapped up. Luckily, someone who had literally bought one in every colour had had second thoughts and decided to offload a red one as it has a lacquer crack on the back. £40 changed hands and I had a red bass. It is the equal of my Squier and completed my patriotic trio - re bass, white Tele and blue Strat. All for around £160!

George

The only thing I'm going to change on this guitar, is the bridge as the block is quite slim and I prefer a bigger block. Apart from that there's nothing I will change as it's great sounding and has a comfortable neck. I play it through a 1982 fender harvard and it sounds superb.

I agree with many of the comments above, guitars made today can be incredible quality for there price point, compared to guitars made years ago.

For a cheap guitar Steve, a Wilkinson bridge is a good buy. I've got one one my Classic Vibe and it's great. It's got a push in arm too, no more wibbly wobbly.

Len