Strats, why?

[TG]

Welcome to Page 4.
(It's just too good a topic to let this thread die.)

I agree about the thin sound of strats and I can't gig one to save my life. Always feels like there's something missing somehow...frequency-wise.

But I do have a cheapish one at home for noodling on.
I went thru loads of pickups for it (before accepting that I just can't gig a strat...teles only for me) and I've ended up with a cheap set of Mighty Mites, which happen to get me bang-on the tones of Rubber Soul....which the Beatles recorded mainly with their new strats.
That's reason enough alone for me to keep the thing now.

[rand z]

i have been playing strats and teles for over 30 years and my take on strats vs teles (and a lot of other guitars), is that strats when played cleanly have a "sweet" sonic quality to them. more so than a stock tele which is either a little less sweet (neck pup) or a bit more biting (bridge pup).

i play my strat when i want to play sweet blues or country or whatever. i play my tele(s) when i want more bite and twang.

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

[Chris Callahan]

I've given this a lot of thought.

I play surf (and other stuff) so a Strat is a likely suspect. I've owned several.

They always seduce me with their looks and feel (which are awesome) but the placement of the controls is awkward for me. I keep turning down the volume and changing pickups accidentally. Also since I play alot with my palm against the bridge I'm sometimes out of tune. And, when I bend one note in a double stop the other note goes flat.

And then I sell it.

I've done this time and time again.

[CasinoBoogie]

John Frusciante.

caught the end of their Reading set on tele the other night, i literally have no idea how someone can make a guitar sound like that

[Wildhawk]

Thats kinda like asking forks, why?

[OaklandA]

Johnny, I'm with you for the most part. I've never held the attraction for the Strat. But as has previously been mentioned an awful lot of really great players...many my favorites...sure like 'em.

I actually like some of the quackiness, but the overdriven Strat tones are pretty nice. But in my hands they just don't feel right. I guess I prefer old school design elements like the Telecaster and the Les Paul. Whether it's the slippery body shape, the control layout...I dunno...just feels awkward to me. That, and it seems like everyone has one.

I do have to admit to some arousal by the new '62 Hot Rod Stratocaster...that's a really tight guitar.

[DAVID KORNBLATT]

you either like strats or you dont.

where strats kick ass are:
shape
tonal options
durrability
comfort
and clarity

a paul doesnt have the clarity
the tele doesnt have the shimmer

but you can buy a variax
or a vgstrat and gell that and more

or you can bang away on a strat like i do

[DAVID KORNBLATT]

Give Me All Your Excess Strats Free Of Charge ;-)

[sneakyjapan]

Originally Posted by Wildhawk

Thats kinda like asking forks, why?

over here they`d say.....`cause we got chopsticks eh.

[Boogie]

I saw a YouTube video with SRV recently where he was playing a Tele. When he played a guitar, it didn't sound like a Strat or a Tele. It sounded like SRV.

[TG]

Originally Posted by Chris Callahan

They always seduce me with their looks and feel (which are awesome) but the placement of the controls is awkward for me. I keep turning down the volume and changing pickups accidentally. Also since I play alot with my palm against the bridge I'm sometimes out of tune. And, when I bend one note in a double stop the other note goes flat.

And then I sell it.

I've done this time and time again.

Me too.
I now tighten the trem claw screws so it's virtually a hardtail and I remove a tone pot and move the volume down a hole. Wire the remaining tone as a master too. Makes it a bit more tele-ish with regard ergonomics.
I think a strat works better ergonomically for players who pick/strum over the neck and middle pickups. A lot of us tele player play near the bridge and rest our hand on it. That's trickier on a strat.

[bobthecanadian]

I gave this thread five stars... just because of the longevity and the reluctance of our constituency to just let it die. Keep up the posts my friends. Let's get the green light blinking on this one... maybe once we have done that we can resurrect it again after Johnny's first number one hit. It will be the 'I knew him when thread."

[refin]

Teles.........why?

[Mid Life Crisis]

There are a lot of responses about Strats going out of tune when you either bend strings or rest your palm against the bridge. Am I doing something wrong here, as I never have either of these problems on either of mine, yet my trems have not been blocked off or tightened up (okay they're not floating, but they do move pretty freely when I use the trem)?

[chipl]

I know what you mean, Johnny. I had a 75 Strat, boat anchor weight, that had a glassy, plinky plinky, thin sound. I didn't know any better in 75 but over time, got frustrated with its thin, quacky sound.

A while back I swapped out the original pups for some Harmonic Designs and the guitar was transformed, with a thicker, richer, more ringing sound. I also got a 62 RI Strat off a TDPRI-er years ago, with Fralins and that too had
a lot more tonal possibilities than my original 75.

I know Jeff Beck created a lot of his signature Blow by Blow and Wired sounds with a Les Paul, but when I heard him last year, he was playing that
signature Strat and his tone was anything but thin and quacky.

I also loved Lowell George's Strat slide sound. He got a chunkier, darker tone out of his Strats but his slide technique mighta had something to do with that.

Then again, I sometimes paraphrase the line by American humorist Will Rogers who said he never met a man he didn't like. I'm the Will Rogers of guitars...never met one I didn't like.

[JohnnyCrash]

Original posting of this thread:
May 4, 2005.

1. SRV always sounds like he's playing a Strat to me.
2. I hate Jeff Beck.
3. "Les Pauls don't have clarity"??!! Hogwash. Something must be wrong with yours. What a ridiculous thing to say. That would be like saying Teles don't twang and Strats don't quack.

I want this thread to die... or I would like to take its place in the chopping block.

I hate Strats, the end. I even own one now SINCE THE THREE YEARS OF THE STARTING OF THIS THREAD. Still hate em, but I kept that Strat.

THREE YEARS AND COUNTING...

[davidge1]

Hahaha....Johnny, you sound sound kinda cranky.

Well Im not gonna read through all of this thread to see if this has been said yet, but I love Jimi Hendrix's tone...not all the crazy extended lead playing but more the actual parts to the songs...especially on Axis Bold As Love (one of my favorite albums). I really think the Strat played a huge part in the way his talent developed. And I'd bet even Johnny Crash would love the raunchy, garagey tone of Joe Perry on the first Aerosmith album.

As for me, I never liked the volume control (or is it the tone?) right next to the pickup...it's right where my hand goes. Im sure you adjust though. It's a great guitar. Long live the strat!

[refin]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

Original posting of this thread:
May 4, 2005.

1. SRV always sounds like he's playing a Strat to me.
2. I hate Jeff Beck.
3. "Les Pauls don't have clarity"??!! Hogwash. Something must be wrong with yours. What a ridiculous thing to say. That would be like saying Teles don't twang and Strats don't quack.

I want this thread to die... or I would like to take its place in the chopping block.

I hate Strats, the end. I even own one now SINCE THE THREE YEARS OF THE STARTING OF THIS THREAD. Still hate em, but I kept that Strat.

THREE YEARS AND COUNTING...

C'mon Johnny,quit holding back---tell us how you really feel......

[purpletele]

i really never warmed up tp strats but a couple years ago I was recording an album so I picked up a highway one strat just for the vibrato. I hated the way it felt, strats feel cheap to me, and it sounded too thin. I ended up using it on all but two songs because it set so well in the mix.

A couple months after the album was done we were tyring to get the sound live as close to the recorded mix. I would try the strat, but I hated it live. I just couldn't hear it enough through mix. I'd end up playing my telecaster on everthing and fudging vibrato farts. there's something about telecaster bridge pickups that are really, for laxk of a better word, forceful.

I traded that strat for a MIJ 62 RI' tele

now i since do own a couple of strats , a tokai goldstar sound a nd a AMDLX Ash, just because it felt really nice.

but, along came an 86' AV 62 RI . I bought it off a friend of mine who is a strat collector. He hated it because it was too bright. But man, this is what strat tone should be. It's almost Tele like, but not quite, but in no way thin or quaky(it actually has a 3 way). If you had your eyes closed, you certainly wouldn't guess strat. Anyway, I never thought I would play a strat, but this one seems to be the one I'm grabbing of the rack the most.

[bobthecanadian]

Hey Johnny,

I think you are quickly becoming our new Strat hero! Ha ha ha!!!

[Frankie]

So what's the deal? Is this thread in the right spot or not?

[11 Gauge]

Jimi may have given us a glance towards the Strat's potential, but the two guys who have taken it farther (as far as badass tones go) than anyone else would have to be:

-Ritchie Blackmore

-Ulrich Roth

About as muscular of a tone as one can squeeze from a Strat, IMO.

And I'm not a whammy bar fan, but these guys just took it so far over the top.

I think that to really get a good vibe out of a Strat, you have to attack it.

These two guys had a relentless, clawing-of-the-strings technique.

While I love Ritchie's tones on the old stuff, I think that some of his best tones are on Perfect Strangers.

Interesting to mention Iron Maiden. Dave Murray was a huge Hendrix fan (his first band was named Stone Free). While one would think he would choose a Gibson for the heavy stuff they play, it's almost always been a Strat with him. And he's always been big with the neck pickup noodling - not too much of that with Metal from that era. But now Maiden is comprised of 3 guitarists, and they all play Strats, for the most part. Janick Gers used to be in Deep Purple, I believe. Even though he uses JB Jrs, he gets that very raw, messy Blackmore stacatto thing going. Murray has also switched over to JB Jrs. Not by any means what one considers a standard Strat tone, but I think the tones are pretty meaty, and those guys could be playing PRS's or whatever, now. The most muscular Maiden tones, IMO, are on Piece of Mind and Brave New World. These two albums are almost 20 years apart...

Sorry Johnny - I think some of the members here will go silently into the night before this thread does.

[PrudyMuskethead]

Johnny,

Have you ever listened to Buddy Holly's first recordings??? If not, give them a listen...beautiful bouncy 'rockabilly' type Strat tones abound. I could be mistaken, but, I believe he used a mid 50's strat into a tweed pro.

What about the lead tones on the Television albums? Marquee Moon, for example...or, every note David Byrne ever played on any of the Talking Heads records?

David Gilmore's sound in Pink Floyd?

The electric guitar playing on Bob Dylan's 'Bringin' it all Back Home?' That's a great early sixties Strat sound with some nice flatwound strings.

Pops Staples and the Staple Singers? Every classic Motown & R&B tune from the 60's???

I will NOT let this thread die!!!

Prudy

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Mid Life Crisis

There are a lot of responses about Strats going out of tune when you either bend strings or rest your palm against the bridge. Am I doing something wrong here, as I never have either of these problems on either of mine, yet my trems have not been blocked off or tightened up (okay they're not floating, but they do move pretty freely when I use the trem)?

MLC, do this test. Pluck the high E string while you bend the B string. the high will go flat if the bridge is floating. Your bridge is not floating and the springs may be tight enough to hold the bridge solidly while you do your bends. This test may reveal that your strings do react slightly, or it may reveal that the springs are tight enough to prevent the pitch change.
If one does not take the strings sharp while orienting one's picking hand to a floating vibrato bridge, then one has a good touch....I don't have this problem either and I do float my bridge. IF you do put a bit of pressure on the bridge with your picking hand, the strings will go sharp....if the bridge is floating. Yours isn't floating, so you don't have to worry. There is no way to push the bridge down at the back and thus sharpen the pitch.

[Wally]

Why a Strat? Why indeed? Why a pogo stick? Someone wants to play a strat, and someone wants to jump up and down needlessly. Both items are reactions to a perceived need. The perceived need is no less real because of some questions.
'You can get anything you want,
At Alice's restaurant.'
I do believe that the Strat is the most prolifically produced and copied guitar of all time. IT isn't going to die because someone thinks it is awkward, quacky, lightweight in its sonics, or whatever. I trust that this thread will die long before production of Strats and copies of Strats ceases????

[sneakyjapan]

Originally Posted by Wally

I do believe that the Strat is the most prolifically produced and copied guitar of all time. IT isn't going to die because someone thinks it is awkward, quacky, lightweight in its sonics, or whatever. I trust that this thread will die long before production of Strats and copies of Strats ceases????

not to mention a work of art...`K...that was my last post...no, really.

[maxsmith]

The guy who has been makin' me love the sound of a Strat for 20 years is Robert Cray - both his lead and rhythm playing is the best advertising a Strat could have. I own a Robert Cray Artist Model Strat and it is truly a working player's axe - comfortable body shape, nice beefy neck, and a really sweet set of pickups. It's a little different in tone because it's a fixed bridge (no trem) - to my ear it has a little more of a Tele-like punch - in fact, I installed a steel base plate on the bridge pickup and it is even more Tele-like while still having the two "cluck" tones and the juicy Strat neck tone.

Max S.

[eddiewagner]

i am just becoming good friend with my strat again after a time of cold relationship. it needed a loos neck, a high action, fat strings and different pickups. and most of all a telecaster domeknob for volume-control. i like the wgglestick!

[bobthecanadian]

I once tried to play a pogo stick, but I had trouble keeping in tune due to the oversize trem spring. However, it had a wonderful natural reverb to it.

[wilkat1]

"I just love the shape of the strat. I love the three pickups, the shape of the head, the neck. Even if it wasn't a guitar, if it was a door stop or something, it would still be a great piece of design" -GEORGE HARRISON

[Razzamatazz]

Why strat for me: it's comfortable and it has a wiggle stick

Why tele for me: it sounds great and it doesn't have a wiggle stick


This is my condensed and abridged opinion on the subject procured by intense meditation in a secluded cell of a Tibetan monastery of which I cannot pronounce the name without losing my mortal form. I do not think much further about it.

[Rob DiStefano]

For me ...

Strats - ergonomic, 3 pups for a larger tone palette, no interest in the trem.

Tele - simplicity in it's most elegant form.

Epilogue - I've gotta have both, YMMV.

[Rich Rice]

I generally hate strats. I try to like 'em, and have owned at least 20 of them over the years- but they never sound good to me in my hands. They sound great when other folks play them, but I can't get along with them for whatever reason.

We recently did one that I like, but it sounds/feels closer to a tele to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hWFJKIv1U

[tazzboy]

Not bad Rich

[Rich Rice]

Originally Posted by tazzboy

Not bad Rich

The playing isn't that great, but the best sounding s style I've played in a long while. Harmonic Design pickups with a CAE preamp. I think I'll do another one for myself, using this circuit. Maybe I can get past my biases. I think the Callaham SS saddles help it, too. Hardtail definitely helps me along.

[petebradt]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

I hope this doesn't start a war...

I love Telecasters, and just about any Gibson model... I want to make sure I'm covering all of my bases tonally for the studio, so from time to time I have bought a Strat, only to sell it after being very disatisfied (gone through 4 or 5).

The music by guys who played Teles or Gibsons I enjoy, while those who play strats, even the great players, I never have enjoyed (OK except Jimi). I even dislike SRV's *tone* (I know it's almost blasphemy)... Clapton's tone of the Bluesbreakers album was awesome (Les Paul), but on the Layla sessions it was terrible (to me, again, no wars here).

Duck-clucky tones and whimpy "springy" sounds seem to be the Strat's only forte - something I do not like, want, or need.

Personal taste notwithstanding... there HAS TO BE SOME EXAMPLES OF A GREAT CLASSIC STRAT SOUND I HAVE MISSED. The guitar is legendary and a best-seller...

CAN ANYONE CONVICE ME OF THE STRAT'S USEFULLNESS AND GREATNESS?

I love guitars (catalogs are almost porn, I'm sure you ALL understand that), so I'm almost *looking* for an excuse to buy a Strat!

It may simply be an issue of taste, but I'm sure some of you guys could sway me... perhaps a *specific model* (I may have been buying the wrong Strats over the years).

You've been playing them wrong. Try one for slide. Listen to the solo. Can't get that with a Tele. I've played slide with a Tele, and I know. Strats are FAT slide guitars.

[tazzboy]

That's what Bill Carson wanted to do with the Stratocaster. He also wanted Leo Fender to put 4 pickups on it, but Leo talk him into 3 pickups uses instead.

This I got out the book called The Story of the Fender Stratocaster.

[rand z]

interestingly enough, i just played my strat through an entire gig on sunday (i usually play a tele), and really had to adjust my playing quite a bit...

i just cant get the snap and pop and twang. the strat is simply much sweeter sounding. i had to simplify some country runs and bends to play them cleanly and clearly. i deliberately played bluesier, slower and simpler stuff and it sounded much better. on the tele i could just bend and pop and pull and snap... imho, much different.

i generally play with very clean settings except for leads on certain songs where i punch in more compression (theres always a little coming from a processor) from an mxr dyna comp, and if i need even more grit and drive i use a simple tube screamer at a fairly clean setting, too.

the strat, to me is really not a "country " guitar... in my minds eye its a more blues rock, pop, surf type of thing.

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

[picker61]

Think of Reggie Young..on Merle Haggard's "I think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink"

[PrudyMuskethead]

"the strat, to me is really not a "country " guitar... in my minds eye its a more blues rock, pop, surf type of thing."

I would mostly agree with that, but have you ever heard Chris Issac's "Wicked Game?" That's some lonely country sounding guitar played on a strat and a Deluxe Reverb!

Prudy