Keep Tele or Strat?

Welcome and I am sorry for your Sophie's choice.

Having nothing else to go on, I would say strat. My guess is it will be harder to find an Aztec Gold strat than a butterscotch tele if you wanted one in the future.

 

If you have to ask....

Hehe - couldn't resist.

I say, play them both heaps sitting down as well as standing. See what one fits you better overall, sound, looks, weight, etc... go from there. Don't worry re others' opinions, go with what speaks to you.

 

Not that I've tried, but I'd venture to say it's simpler and cheaper to make a Strat sound Tele-ish, than to make a Tele sound Strat-ish.

 

Do you have a spare kidney or something?

 

Best advice, ultimately. We can give you pointers on what to consider (and go on all day about what we'd each choose), but it's an extremely subjective topic.

 

No brainer - keep the tele.
Now feel free to tell us all the practical stuff like what each is worth to you, how much each will sell for in your area, and most importantly what new tele you're going to buy with the proceeds..

 

You just tryin’ to start an argument here?

It’s been Telecasters my entire life (and I’m a charter member of the grouchy-old-guy cartel here). I finally knuckled and bought a Strat this year (only because it had similar Texas Special pups like my favorite Tele). And while I do like it, I’d let it go… long before I ever/never release my Tele. Of course I intend to keep ‘em both.

So there… “let the wild rumpus begin / continue”!

 

Hard hard choice... They are really different and both have their strengths. I disagree that it’s easier to make a strat sound like a tele than a télé sound like a strat. I have been trying to squeeze those spanky and aggressive tele bridge sounds out of a strat bridge position with very little luck. I got close-ish with a pickup swap, but it doesn’t sound like a strat anymore either. I have had a much easier time getting a strat neck sound out of a Tele. Neither one sounds like the other in the middle position and if Strat Quack is your thing and you love positions 2 and 4 (which I don’t) then you are plain out of luck with a Tele.

You have a dilemma there and my biggest fear is that you’ll regret your decision either way

 

If it was me I'd sell 'em both, use half the money to do whatever you have to do & use the other half to buy a secondhand American Standard Strat -- AND an AS tele. You won't be giving away much if anything in terms of sound or playability, compared to the American Original stuff, and you don't have to make a choice you don't want to make. I would rather have both than a super-shiny example of either. (If you don't like the belly cut and the Strat saddles of the AS tele, the American Special is a terrific guitar too.)

 

Such a choice is entirely personal. You don't plan to choose by popular vote, do you?

Only you can make this decision - by putting your own time and effort into playing and evaluating what each instrument means to you... then make your decision.

 

Are you using the trem? That would be the more practical way to chose.

If you are not using the trem then, despite the five positions switch of the strat, the tele offers a wider spectrum of tones because the two pickups are quite different. And you can't replicate the tele's bridge pickup with a standard strat pickup.

See which one is making the Blues Junior sing!

 

I played that Aztec Gold Strat and it has a really fat neck. I think the AO Tele has a beefy neck as well. I liked them both.

Very tough decision, but not for me. I would go with the lighter guitar.

I just got a used Sonic Red Player Strat in mint condition for <$500. What a great instrument and it’s definitely good to have both a Tele and Strat around.

I like one of the posts that suggested selling both and getting two less expensive but still excellent Fender guitars.

I would seriously look at the new Vintera line if I had to start over and replace two American Originals.

Good luck to you. It’s just guitars and they come and go as life rolls on.

 

Get rid of the woman that is making you make this sacrifice lol

 

Sell both. Buy a Tele and Strat for $1000 each. Use the extra $2000 for your need.

 

Oh and I agree with @KC sell them both buy cheaper variations of them both , I believe they even do a 50s player strat in shoreline gold which are really nice guitars.

 

And her creepy cat too.

 

Keep your Tele .