Strats, why?

[scooteraz]

So, K.E.B, we dusted this gem off from two years ago. We didn't think the simple answer to the OP question "because some people like them, even if you don't" was enough?

Cool

Guess nothing says love like overkill

[Stuco]

This is the thread that just wont go away! I find it hilarious personally.

[toejam]

This one pretty much sums it up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5MVKMl9kHw

And also, there's this dude called Jeff Beck

[Thekillertree]

Meh, i think i have actually come to the sad realization that i just dont like strats either. They look so nice, yet im trying to sell my 62 avri :( Time for something else.

[qblue]

After reading this entire thread, I have to give my two cents' worth of wisdom.

I hated my Strats for two years, after buying a Baja Tele, in 2007. Recently I began picking up the Strat again, and here is what I heard. The Strat is more refined, and great for smooth jazz or Gospel. I really like the position of the volume control for swells. The 2-point tremelo is perfect. My Strat Ultra has Lace sensors, which have blue (neck), gold (middle), and red dually in the bridge. The Red and blue pups are of a higher resistance, and generally have a darker sound. But I have found that I almost get a Tele sound with a single Red (bottom pup, using a cutoff switch for the adjacent red pup) bridge, with lots of twang. But I love the neck pup because it is so jazzy. I still get the Quack in the 2 & 4 positions (thank God).

But on the other hand, the Tele is elemental in sound, more primal than the Strat. I like the twisted tele neck pup sound, which mimics an old Jazzbox P90 thing. I love to play blues and R&B with this guitar, using the Broadcaster bridge pup. What is weird is it has a Strat sound in the second position (pickups in parallel, S1 switch off or on). It also has a humbucker lite sound in Series (position 4, S1 off), which leaves my Gibson in the case.

So to me it may be the type of music you play that gives you a reason to change guitars. Both guitars are versatile. I saw on this website that Reelin' in the Years by Steely Dan was done with Teles. I am glad I didn't sell my Strats. I also have a 1971 Strat whose weaker output pickups don't impress me, and needs a lot of pedals to improve its sound. It's the reason I bought a Strat Ultra in the HSS arrangement, because I always hated the bridge pickup on the 1971 Strat.

Sorry to keep this thread going. I've fallen in and out of love with all my guitars at sometime, so the best bet is not to sell them. Hell, I'm on a Stratocaster thread, so I know I've had a change of heart. Wait patiently and they will all sound better.

[romo]

Originally Posted by Montana_Dawg

Gilmour- Another Brick in the Wall, pt.2

I realize this post was made 4 years ago, but after catching up on the rest of this thread I don't think it was ever corrected. Gilmour recorded this song using a Les Paul gold top with p90's, not a strat.

Of course, Gilmour is pretty much my favorite guitar player and definitely my favorite strat player, but that song is not an example of his strat tone.

[strat a various]

Johnny, your one of the handful of thoughtful, sincere, and fairly knowledgeable posters here. This zombie thread deserves a final answer.
Look at YouTube clips of Hendrix playing Strats, Flying V, SG, Les Paul. I saw him play those guitars back in the day. I hope they're on YouTube. You'll see that he sounds about the same on all those different guitars. It's really not the guitar, it's the player.
If a Strat doesn't feel comfortable to you, or you struggle with the pickups, controls, tremolo ... it won't work for you. If you dig the feel and fall into the tone naturally, you'll find your sound.

[aidB]

I can't believe some of you peeps didn't realise this thread is a wind up.

[Feargal]

Buddy Holly.

As an aside, how is Claptons's tone here?

[frogger]

Agree Strats take alot of tinkering but once the are set up they can be magic to the right player. You can't hide behind a Strat or Tele, it will expose your playing skills either in a very good or very bad way. If NASA launched an electric guitar to the stars for other beings to see it would probably be a...Hello Kitty Strat. :)

[Rob DiStefano]

disregarding the trem, strats are like most any other guitar to setup. passive trems require reasonably careful setup, and even then some of these dumb mechanical things just won't ever work reasonably well.

[brentmasonfan]

I used to like humbuckers much more than single coils. I still own many humbucker equipped guitars but for the past several years Strats and Teles are my favorite. I love the Glassy sound of the neck pickup of the Strat and the 2 and 4 positions. There was a time that I hated the 2 and 4 position tones. Also love chicken pickin' a Tele bridge pickup and the neck bridge tones too.

I've learned that a fat sound ain't everything. Besides you can plug a Strat or Tele into an EQ and tailor a Tele or Strat to sound fat and full while retaining its pure clean tone.

I now own bunches of Strats and Teles and couldn't be happier.

If you decide on buying a Strat the current American Standards are really great guitars. If you want to spend a little less a Made in Mexico Classic 50's Strat has lots of vintage vibe. A Deluxe Player's Strat is also a great buy. They have Vintage Noiseless pickups which tame the noise. If you can find a used Powerhouse Strat they are great guitars too. Great tones and a boost control repalcing one of its tone controls for extra punch. They have been discontinued for about a year now.

[jmaul]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

WHAT MODEL STRAT WOULD YOU GUYS SUGGEST? The pickup selection stock from Fender is if-y and the quality is confusing (American have better fretwork etc).

what is the budget?

Anyway, I'll speak for myself.

My #1 is a strat. I love love love my strat and would not sell it at ten times what I paid for it, which still was not cheap. It's a early 90's fender MIJ shop order. There are probably less than 100 in the world, less than 10 in the usa. I've played many many starts that do not get me going the way it does. here is the formula:

-'62 reissue contours.
-maple/rosewood neck 7.4 radius, medium+ thickness C contour
-3piece hard ash body, SSS / 6 screw classic trem routed
-pickups are alnico staggered GRECO EXCELL grey bobbin, circa 1979. middle pickup IS NOT RWRP.
-finish over body and neck is a matte trans burgundy poly, billed as "thinner than nitro" - it does not have fullerplast (I know this from dings exposing bare wood, and yes, its THIN).
-6 screw classic trem with pot metal block. Thinking about upgrade to ss but dont really want to change anything in the formula
-low action, 9's, kluson tuners

Now, my advice to you:

Get a 62 RI Fender mij from the 80's or early 90's WITHOUT a basswood body and with the kluson style tuners.
I'd go for Serials in this order: A,C,E,N
Immediately swap the pups for Fralin REAL 54's with a non rwrp middle and quality electronics.

Determine if you want a callaham block or not.

Since this is a studio guitar, you will probably want the Suhr hum cancelling backplate. A straty strat needs to be SSS/ non rwrp, but this is inherently noisy. It's the price of the good strat tone, and it typically shows on recordings.

Lastly, have a serious guitar tech set up the intonation and have them set the bridge as floating 1/16" to 1/8".

Pickup height and bridge setup are huge parts of the strats sound and playability so do not skimp on getting those right.

All in, you should be under a grand. I can't imagine you not liking the tone, but then I hate vintage 30's and you do not. My strat pairs especially well with the brown deluxe, DRII, and 18watt tmb.

[chezdeluxe]

If the sound of Hank Marvin of the Shadows (Strat through Vox) in the early 60s with unsupassed use of the tremolo arm doesn't get you then I cant explain.

[Stuco]

I saw the "digging up old threads" thread and just couldn't resist digging up the most dug up thread in history. LOL! I think people just respond to this thread without reading the posts or realizing how old it is. Let's see if we can ge some more responses.

[jrich99]

This:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?...06868262653399

[bokeh]

i love strats, but that headstock....blehhhh!

[tazzboy]

Poor Johnny I don't he realize how much this thread is going to be a thorn in his side

[Al Watsky]

Strats are interesting.
I find them to have less string tension than Tele's
I think thats part of the appeal
They sit in the mix well.
I don't think they sound as good as a Telecaster
The low E on many strats lacks focus, I think because of the waist cut
and forearm contour. That and factors of resonance interaction with the trem and springs.
Blocking the trem makes them more normal sounding.
I love the trem though, so I leave the 1 strat I own unblocked.
Going 4 or 5 spring helps, but 3 spring feels good. Decisions decisions.
I think a American Standard or a Vintage Reissue is a good start for a Strat.
The Standards are so different from a VR they are almost a different instrument.
Mine is essentially a 63 reissue parts guitar. People used to say the Strat was a guitar you need to learn in order to play. Lots of elements to attend to.
You can do wonderful things with harmonics and distortion with a strat.
They feel as though they sing more in some ranges, which may be a function of high frequency content, again the trem block. (Just intuition) That and a different balance of tone, they have a different EQ so to speak.
Telecasters are a better all around guitar I think.
Strats rock though. I like having mine and am thinking of adding a shredder to my collection.

[Mumphrey]

In a word: Hendrix

I do NOT own or play strats, but thank Dog Jimi did. I feel this way EVERYTIME
I listen him play "Machine Gun" on that Band of Gypsies recording. Same for "Little Wing", and many versions of "Hear My Train A'Comin'" and "Like a Rolling Stone" at Monterey Pop.

But I myself am a die-hard Tele True Believer, when it comes to the guitar that I use.

[Zillinois]

A little late to this thread, and I'm sure that someone mentioned Robert Cray for a definitive strat tone. I've been lucky enough to see him a few times, and I love the fact that it sounds like he just using the guitar and amp. I could be wrong about his setup though. To me, Jimi didn't really embody the strat tone, though obviously he had his own tone. SRV's strat was so modded that I also don't really consider that "strat" tone.

Do I prefer a strat tone to a tele tone? Not right now, as I'm currently really into hardtail strats...

[Maxwell Street]

Zzzzzz....

[redstringuitar]

Beautiful shape, great playability, 3 pickups for versatility and a whammy bar...what's not to like??

[Good Iron]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Uh-oh. Does this mean I might own a PRS 2 years from now?
And will that mean I got tired of watching people wince when I flubbed a phrase on a Tele or Strat? Better go back and practice some more.


Bubbanov

Hey Bubbanov... well??? Is there a PRS at the ready?

Okay, I have not gone over everything but I have been entertained buy A LOT of the posts... really good. Great actually.

You know Johnny, I feel for you bro... sucks doesn't it??? the thread that will not die. Hey, it's the Internet... not much goes away really; it only gets bigger and bigger. No worries I got the same deal happening at other forums, got to laugh it off...

So my .02 on Stratocasters...

I have a stock '96 Eric Clapton signature with blocked tremolo - AWESOME!!!
Sounds and plays great period, and a Nashguitars S-63 (soon to own) not a Fender Stratocaster but comes the closest (IMO) to a pre-CBS Fender Stratocaster for any price. And yes I have played the early ones so I know what is what.
Fender is making really good stuff, but you have to pick them out of the bunch IMO. The '96 EC sig is an exceptional guitar in every way and the new Nashguitars S-63 is INSANE!!!
The relic work is great and cool looking, but over and above anything else, the Nashguitars S-63 guitar is just a really great guitar. I am really happy he is putting his logo on the headstock now... it just makes sense.
I love my guitars all of them, including the aforementioned.

A special shout out to Johnny.... Hang in there... it aint over yet!

Michael

[Jakeboy]

JC,

Like you I have one of everything at least to cover the bases tonally.

Early Aerosmith was all about 2 things: Brad Whitford's Les Paul and Joe Perry's Strat.

Early on Perry played loads of Strat.

Walk this Way, Sweet Emotion, SIght For SOre Eyes, Milk Cow Blues, al his solo albums in the 80s.....Strats.

If you like his early cranked tone maybe that willmotivate you to try the Strat again...

[musicalmartin]

It takes about 5 minutes ,probably a lot less ,to change the whole pickguard ,so you go from 3 pickup stock to P90 via humbucker all in an average gig with only one guitar,plus of course the pickguard colour change too .Its just so versatile

[Donnie55]

Ritchie Blackmore , he got some pretty fat tones from a strat. Tommy Bolin did too.

[PixMix]

In my opinion strats are super comfortable guitars. The body design and the tonal versatility (5 pup combinations) make strats the the most inviting guitars to me.

[dadawads]

I also don't like strats. Teles to my ears are more powerful, more distinctive, more magical. In local live events I am always disappointed by the weak sound of a strat. Yes, Stevie Ray and Mark Knopfler get great sounds. But when I attended the Monterrey Blues Festival this Summer, all the strat players sounded thin and weak. The teles, whether G&L or Fender, and the big Gibsons sounded excellent!

[Roli]

Originally Posted by musicalmartin

It takes about 5 minutes ,probably a lot less ,to change the whole pickguard...

Sure, but if you want to play it, you need to put strings on it too.

[sonserve]

I dunno. Somehow a few years ago I lost interest in my wonderful Strat and started playing the Tele ALL the time. My buddies were suprised. All I could say is so am I...
It is what it is. It might reverse someday.

[tdu]

Latecomer to the thread.

For me, I think I'll go by what sounds I would like to personally have in my arsenal. There are only 3 Strat tones I personally ever would want to emulate. I am more of a "Rocker" so it's just my tastes by the way. I think Richie Blackmore and Dick Dale both have amazing Strat tones. I am going to ad Ronnie Wood tones with the Faces as well, although from what I have seen in live videos he seems to have the same tone no matter what guitar he plays. I never would have even guessed he played Strats till I saw videos.

I do love a lot of the other players mentioned and their, but I would never personally want their tones for my own playing.

[fadingcaptain]

I've tried to get away from strats for years. They keep coming back into my hands. Versatile guitars. With the right pedal and amp you can play any style - rock, country, blues...yes, even jazz with the neck pup and tone rolled off.
I am still obsessed with having a trem bar, mostly b/c of my amazement with Jeff Beck's trem work, and my desire to emulate that. Love Les Pauls. But it seems that all LP players sound mostly the same, IMO. List all the strat players you know....amazing diversity....Knopfler to Hendrix to Dick Dale.

[kmcmichael]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

'jes my humble 2 cents....
i believe one of the secrets to GREAT Strat tone is in the bridge set up....mine are set up thus:
remove strings and springs, and laying the guitar flat on the bench, loosen the 6 screws at front of bridge plate, so the plate lays flat on the body....
one at a time, tighten the 6 bridge screws so they just BARELY begin to lift the rear (bottom) of the plate up off the body, then back off of the screw JUST until the plate again lays flat....continue for all screws.
restring and respring, i personally use a "fair" amount of tension with 4 springs, so the plate stays tight to the body for maximum tone transfer and tuning stability in case of a broken string.

The springy "sproing" sound some Strats have is due to string energy being robbed....Strats do not necessarily "quack" when tone transfer to the body is maximized...sustain is enhanced too !

i rarely if ever use the # 2 or 4 position on my 5way equipped Strats, preferring either the neck or bridge Pups all by their lonesome !

one BIG secret to good tone with any guitar is: it's voice, how it sounds acoustically, unplugged in a quiet room.....
if it doesn't sound good without an amp, it'll NEVER sound great with one ....i choose my guitars for their "voice", and do not buy sight unseen.....

Hope this helps ya Johnny !
as always, 'jes my humble 2 cents

I gotta comment, not necessaraly a disagreement. I like the bridge to float. I seem to get some kind of reverb thing out of it. It is very subtle but I like it. I use four springs.

I have two strats. One is a 60 that sounds MUCH better unplugged. The other is an amalgamation of stuff. Callaham hardware and pickups etc. I like the sound of it much more than the 60 when plugged in.

[guitarman823]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

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...

If ya don't like Stevie or Clapton's Layla tone, thereis no convincing you. You're just not a strat man. No biggie, to each his own. But as to why is simple. The sound. I own a strat and always have, it was my first love. But, I mainly play teles because you can't get that twang from a strat. You also can't get that strat sound from a tele, not even a Nashville, no matter how hard you try.

[neocaster]

This thread's been going fo a while now. I think it's time somebody put a bullet in it.

[cmcoram]

I like Strats. I like Teles. I like Les Pauls. The songs that molded my musical vocabulary were played on these three guitars.