Funny but I thought the general consensus is that the Tele is the unforgiving, gotta get it right guitar. Strata are more forgiving? I’ve come to the same opinion.
Can you get a Tele to sound like a Strat?
- Thread starter StanleyAccrington
- Start date
68tele
Friend of Leo's
No guitar will mask bad playing.
Sure you can. Just listen to any hit song. Just because the guitarist poses with a Strat doesn’t mean that was the session guitar.
hopdybob
Friend of Leo's
if it is true the Bill Lawrence microcoil could be tweak t with caps to come into that ballpark.
but like some said, no in between with the missing third pickup.
i just put some strat pickups in a tele, that is a option to
but like some said, no in between with the missing third pickup.
i just put some strat pickups in a tele, that is a option to
estreet
Tele-Holic
I think part of the Strat sound is the big hole in the middle of the body and the whammy springs. I have a hard-tail Baritone Strat and it's not particularly 'Stratty'. Mainly the difference is noticeable on cleaner sounds.
Bottom line is half the songs you know were recorded with a Strat were recorded with a Tele and half the songs you know were recorded with a Tele were done on a Strat.
The wood opposes the tension in the strings and holds the paint on. The pickups sense magnetic flux.
Just because you can hear something unplugged doesn’t mean it’s electronically captured in the form of flux. Hear with your ears. Look with your eyes.
The wood opposes the tension in the strings and holds the paint on. The pickups sense magnetic flux.
Just because you can hear something unplugged doesn’t mean it’s electronically captured in the form of flux. Hear with your ears. Look with your eyes.
Synchro
Tele-Holic
Much agreed. Strats are their own critter, and the bridge/tailpiece design plays a major role.
Some very good points.
Bruxist
Poster Extraordinaire
There are 8 pages of responses from folks way more knowledgeable than myself, but I would suggest getting the strat.
If you make your tele sound like a strat, it will most likely no longer sound like a tele.
I can see it if you wanted to take one guitar to a gig and be able to do strat and tele sounds without switching guitars. But I doubt anyone in the audience is going to take notice if you play Sultans of Swing on a tele.
Most modern tele neck pickups sound more like strat neck pickups than the old, vintage-style, brass-covered ones to me anyway.
If you make your tele sound like a strat, it will most likely no longer sound like a tele.
I can see it if you wanted to take one guitar to a gig and be able to do strat and tele sounds without switching guitars. But I doubt anyone in the audience is going to take notice if you play Sultans of Swing on a tele.
Most modern tele neck pickups sound more like strat neck pickups than the old, vintage-style, brass-covered ones to me anyway.
Chicken Curry
Tele-Meister
Pickguard mounting the pickup will get you part way there. You can try removing the cover too. What I don't know is if you can stagger the pole pieces and bevel them, if you don't care about resale value.
Burlington Dave
Friend of Leo's
Throw a 3rd pickup in there, make sure it’s a Strat pickup, and voila! you have a Nashville Tele, Strat sounds at a fraction of buying a Strat.
Synchro
Tele-Holic
Perhaps, I’m repeating myself, but I think that the James Burton Tele is a good solution, which is basically a Tele with Strat style pickups, and when the pickup switch is in the center position, the neck and bridge pickups are engaged, without the center pickup. I like this solution.
Then there is the Nashville Tele, which has Tele pickups in the neck and bridge positions, with (usually) a Strat-style pickup in the center. What I would like to try, would be a Nashville Tele, wired like the James Burton Tele. This would give the two “in-between” Strat sounds, or at least a somewhat similar sound, while retaining the ability to have the neck and bridge pickup combined, without the middle pickup being included.
Then there is the Nashville Tele, which has Tele pickups in the neck and bridge positions, with (usually) a Strat-style pickup in the center. What I would like to try, would be a Nashville Tele, wired like the James Burton Tele. This would give the two “in-between” Strat sounds, or at least a somewhat similar sound, while retaining the ability to have the neck and bridge pickup combined, without the middle pickup being included.
2HBStrat
Friend of Leo's
But then why bother? Why not just get a Strat?
That's true. Beck is shown in the video of "People get Ready" playing a Tele but on the recording he played a Jackson.
Buy a Strat and stop torturing yourself
Synchro
Tele-Holic
It has a Tele bridge, for one thing.
2HBStrat
Friend of Leo's
It doesn't have the traditional Tele bridge, just a standard stop tailpiece bridge that is also used on hardtail Strats.
Still, a cool guitar, though.
Synchro
Tele-Holic
And that’s certainly far different from the typical Strat tailpiece. Hardtail Strats are not all that common.
2HBStrat
Friend of Leo's
I have a hardtail Strat. The only difference that I can tell is that Fender started putting two screws on the pickup side of the bridge, but they're doing that on most of their non-reissue style Teles as well, which is an improvement, in my opinion, that should have been there from day one.
TeleBackelaer
Tele-Meister
True. He plays Micawber live all the time. But I'm pretty sure he actually _recorded_ way fewer songs with it. Or a Tele in the first place for that matter.
On the other hand: when he plays a strat, it never sounds like tele. Or vice versa. I remember hearing Thru and Thru for the first time long ago and immediately thinking "What?! I never heard Keith play a Strat before!"
Synchro
Tele-Holic
It probably come down to how someone would define making a Tele sound like a Strat. If the meaning is to capture the “in-between” sound of the middle pickup combined, out-of-phase with the neck or bridge pickup, then I’d say that the Burton Tele, or a Nashville Tele might be the way to go. If you are trying to have a Tele shaped guitar, which sounds just like a Strat, yes, you could use Strat Pickups, a Strat Bridge/Tailpiece, etc. and you’d probably get close, but it would probably be easier just to buy a Strat at that point.
I don’t really have a dog in the fight. I‘ve owned Teles and Strats, for years. I have a high regard for both, and I will state, categorically, that my Tex-Mex Strat and my American Deluxe 50th Anniversary model didn’t sound very similar to one another. Both great instruments, but that Am Dlx could cover a pretty wide range of sounds, while the Tex-Mex Strat had the more traditional sounds.
