strats vs teles as far as feel and playability.....an obsevation

[24 track]

I have owned vintage guitars lots of them, teles i could bond with too hard to play upside down ( Left handed) no balance so I sold my 63' , Jags felt nicer played lefty , always wanted a left handed one never found it so I sold my 63'and 65' about 78' I found my first lefty strat cost me a ton brand new full factory warrentee, took me about 20 years to find a way to like it now I have 2 both great players , then I found a lefty affinity tele it played perfect out of the box, even the pick ups sound just as I wanted a tele to sound , I gutted every thing cuz I'm a snob and replaced the wiring from cheap to quality, replaced the alpha mini pots with CTS and some sort of cheap hybrid 3 way chinese what ever with a proper Fender issue 3 way the chicklet for an orange drop , made zero effect to the sound or playability , but I know whats under the hood and I like it

 

[ReverendRevolver]

Strats never did it for me. Started on one. Played loads. I liked the shape compared to teles at first, but just visually. Because they were closer to offsets. But they're so common and I dislike the sounds, I was driven to offsets and eventually teles. Vs an offset, a strat is not remotely as comfortable a shape standing up or sitting down. The pickups do less, and the trem on a strat isn't as good as what was on Mustangs back then (now, I'm even more convinced that the strat trem is a terrible design compared to everything else Fenders had).
Compared to a tele or LP/SG, it's not as substantial feeling or sounding. The bridge isn't as comfortable in my hand as a teles, and I can get 3 good usable sounds from 3 positions on a tele, barely 3 sounds I like on a 5 position strat selector.

I can go between my old main guitar and pretty much any of my later ones. I've un-bonded in many ways with my original tele (might pop a Bigsby on it?) Because my US tele has a better neck pickup, a just as good bridge pickup, arguably more comfortable bridge saddles, and is just more comfortable. My Toronado still feels more like an extension of my hands than the rest of them. The junior tele and the Mustang are versatile and really comfortable. The jag is only slightly less versatile, but is very comfortable and I can work the full up or down of the tremelo and it stays in tune perfectly. The Duosonic really needs a better bridge to be "done" but everytime I think about getting rid of it, I plug it in and remember it's awesome sounding and the bridge is the only source of discomfort visually or playing it wise.

The strat?
Wouldn't still be around if it weren't for the gold lace sensors I had installed when I was like 15. I probably woulda had a trio of rail pickups if I hadn't found those used at a local shop for $90 installed back in 2004 or whatever. (They costed $65 each piece new then, $90 for all 3 was a steal). They make it sound useable, glassy on the neck, bit darker on the typically quacky 2nd position.


I think everyone evolves as a player exactly how it feels right, and the gear we choose or can afford impacts that alot.

 

[JRapp]

I own and play both---the Strat is more versatile in some ways, maybe. A Tele is a specialty instrument to me; it fits certain situations great but not very well in others.

 

[stratoman1]

I started on a Tele. Wanted a Strat really but a Tele found me first. Had that guitar for a little 15 years but it got stolen. Replaced it with a Strat. Loved it. But as time went on I got an SG, another Tele, 339 and a couple LPs. The LPs and Tele take up 90% of my playing time now. Shoot, I barely touch the Strat

 

[bobio]

I have both and I even have a T-Style partscaster with a Warmoth body that has all the comfort cuts. It feels just like a Strat body.
I don't have any problems going back and forth. Also have a Les Paul, no problems there either. Takes a quick second to adjust going from one to any of the others.

I can only speak for myself, but I would be bored to tears with just one make/model guitar. It is also why I sell off my amps every 5-10 years, partly because of newer technology, also because I like to shake things up.

 

[Controller]

I have many styles of guitars, solid body, thinline, semi-hollow, hollowbody and know that various types of guitars can work for a person. But some guitars just don't work. I had a Gibson SG for many years as my only electric. It sounded glorious but had the dreaded "rubber neck". Wouldn't intonate or stay in tune no matter what and it just never felt comfortable, like an ill-fitting suit.

I finally sold it and bought a Strat. Compared to the SG it was a revelation in terms of tuning stability. It had an S1 and so there were seven different settings, none of which sounded good to me and again, the body was contoured but didn't really fit me.

Then I bought a used MIM Tele online, having no idea of what to expect. I thought it would be a good change-of-pace guitar. Within five minutes of strapping it on I was madly in love. The sounds, the comfort, the hand position, didn't know it could be this good. Never really played the Strat again. I did buy an Ibanez offset S-type guitar after a bit and really like it, great pickups, fits me but a Fender Strat is not for me.

 

[fleezinator]

When I first built my tele, after never owning or playing one, there was an initial muscle memory reset from playing my strat, namely my picking hand. The fact that I didn’t have to tiptoe around a landmine aka volume knob on a tele was pretty liberating. If there’s a flaw to be found in a strat, to me, that’d be it.

 

[jvin248]

.

Strats I block/deck the trem and prefer to move the volume knob to the first tone pot hole then go master tone. That first tone hole is the same distance as Tele controls. Then I have full picking access without hitting the volume.

So I basically walk a Strat back closer to a Tele

.

 

[Papa Che]

 

[Southpaw Tele]

A hard tail Strat with the volume knob moved would be my next build.

 

[pippoman]

I love both for entirely different reasons but I have to admit, a telecaster is all anyone needs. They can do (almost) everything.

I PREFER a Tele over a Strat, but I like having both and I use Strats quite a bit.

 

[Jakeboy]

Love them both. Vibrato bar Strats fight you the whole way but reward you wonderful with tones you get nowhere else. And so versatile. And as long as I have a tone control wired, I LOVE a Strat bridge pickup. The sound of 70s classic rock. Plus that vibrato bar.

Teles are perfect. Easier to play, hold rock-solid tuning, have that bridge pickup, the perfectly chime of the middle position and a solid neck tone that rivals a Strat though very different. You really need nothing else. The do-anything guitar.
But I love and prefer one of each cause they are just so different..,yin and Yang.

 

[Red Ryder]

There is only one way to go to get

the best of both.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I've always favored the body comfort of my Strat ( the shape & body contour, and weight) over my Teles.
( both have been equally fine-playing, as far as neck shape comfort/frets, as well as picking/strumming and control use)

But I swear my Tele body comfort went up 100% more when in 2020, I sold my 2004 Standard Tele ( great sound but heavy!), and got a Squier '69 Tele Thinline RI.

The lightness of the semi-hollow body, with Tele tone make for a fun funky blues & R&B guitar.
I feel like I should be at Muscle Shoals, 1970

 

[bigbenbob]

I played strats my whole life, and for the vast majority of that time i had just a strat and no other guitars aside form an acoustic. About 10 years ago i tried teles again after having a few along the way for short periods and never bonding. But this time for some reason i was determined to make them work for me. Took a year or 2 to find the right one and get used to it. But still the strat felt so much more. Right. The way it sank into my body and the way my right arm laid across that bevel make picking so much easier. But after a few years i started playing the strat less and less and finally not at all. I sold it and was only using teles and a LP special for years.

fast forward to a month or so ago and i decided to buy another strat because LP specials, teles and strats have always been my 2 favs to i wanted one of each. So it took a few months but i finally found one i wanted and it turned out to be exceptional. So i spent the last month or so getting it right to my specs and once i did i played it a lot. Every day it was all i picked up because after all. it was honeymoon stage....u know how that is. Anyways, the point of this observation is this...the strat that had formerly been my much preferred guitar as far as comfort one most importantly the one that allowed my picking had to perform it's best with total ease had changed to where the tele was better to me in that regard after years of teles. BUT, after a month of the strat that old feeling was back ! Now when i pick up the tele it's the TELE thats a bit akward and feeling and right hand picking that was once so perfect with a strat was back !

I always knew this simple fact....it's what u r used too. But wow, did this ever confirm that lesson once again. Happily after i pickued up the tele the other day for the first time in a month the akwardness i felt melted away after a short time unlike when i first started playing them and it took a few years to get that comfortable with them. I guess now my body adjusts subconsciously and quickly since it's "been there" already. So the lesson is, never assume a guitar is exactly what it first seems till you give your body hands and brain enough time to acclimate. I am really loving playing a strat again and having the ability to switch between them when i want that different sound or just need a grass is greened moment out of boredom or whatever.

There's a fundamental mechanical reason why the picking action on teles and strats differ: Hard tail vs sprung tremolo. And the difference is not small, it's significant. The Tele hard tail has about a half inch of bent length between the saddles adn the thru-hody hole at which point the string is locked to the body. There is zero stretching on the other side of the saddle. The strat is similar, but the entire bridge is held in position by springs (2, 3, 4 5?) which give A LOT. This makes bending a completely different experience and it makes picking noticeably softer. Neither is better, but if you're accustomed to one then the other takes some time to adjust your right hand to the string feel. The strat will feel softer, more forgiving. The tele will feel more reactive, more immediate and harder.

 

[bigbenbob]

There's a fundamental mechanical reason why the picking action on teles and strats differ: Hard tail vs sprung tremolo. And the difference is not small, it's significant. The Tele hard tail has about a half inch of bent length between the saddles adn the thru-hody hole at which point the string is locked to the body. There is zero stretching on the other side of the saddle. The strat is similar, but the entire bridge is held in position by springs (2, 3, 4 5?) which give A LOT. This makes bending a completely different experience and it makes picking noticeably softer. Neither is better, but if you're accustomed to one then the other takes some time to adjust your right hand to the string feel. The strat will feel softer, more forgiving. The tele will feel more reactive, more immediate and harder.

BTE, my latest build is a hybrid: strat shaped body with tele routing and tele pickups. All the comfort of a strat and all the immediate dynamics of a tele.

 

[NoTeleBob]

Get a Tele and put a belly cut and a forearm carve on it. You'll be at home.

 

[fender4life]

There's a fundamental mechanical reason why the picking action on teles and strats differ: Hard tail vs sprung tremolo. And the difference is not small, it's significant. The Tele hard tail has about a half inch of bent length between the saddles adn the thru-hody hole at which point the string is locked to the body. There is zero stretching on the other side of the saddle. The strat is similar, but the entire bridge is held in position by springs (2, 3, 4 5?) which give A LOT. This makes bending a completely different experience and it makes picking noticeably softer. Neither is better, but if you're accustomed to one then the other takes some time to adjust your right hand to the string feel. The strat will feel softer, more forgiving. The tele will feel more reactive, more immediate and harder.

You're preachin' to the choir.

 

[Telecaster Cafe]

BTE, my latest build is a hybrid: strat shaped body with tele routing and tele pickups. All the comfort of a strat and all the immediate dynamics of a tele.

Sir: I would love to see pics/description of your build. To me, this might be an idea whose time has come.

 

[teletail]

I own and play both---the Strat is more versatile in some ways, maybe. A Tele is a specialty instrument to me; it fits certain situations great but not very well in others.

What situation does a tele not fit? I can’t think of any genre other than maybe surf music that a tele isn’t used in.