Why Do You Like Your Strat?

[brookdalebill]

I like mine because it’s a hardtail, has a light one piece body, a large comfortable neck, a flatter radius, and noiseless Kinman pickups.
It doesn’t have the dodgy tremolo system (IMO) and noisy humming pickups.
It’s sustain and attack are more Tele-like.
It has a single master volume/switch.
The switch allows for the two outside pickups when the selector is in position 1 or 5.
I still rarely use it, unless recording or playing with another Tele player.

 

[Telecaster582]

I like the ergonomics, sound, look, I could go on and on. The only thing I don't like is the tapping noise that it makes when I pick on the middle pickup. And you could probably find a used Made In Mexico Fender Strat for around that.

 

[ChicknPickn]

Someone mentioned trying the "right one." So true. I was "meh" on them for a long time. Then a guy who was getting rid of his guitars (frustration) let me play his 50th Anniversary Strat. And it had everything I thought a Strat should have. From the frets down to the pickups. All the tones a switch should give you. Mod-itis has hit me a few times, but I've resisted except for one easily reversible change, a trem locker. I'll make a Strat to my exact specs some day, maybe, but this one will be left alone. Love those body contours.

 

[Manual Slim]

The neck is a good fit for my hand.

 

[Gnometowner]

Buddy of mine built me a Strat with a Mex maple neck, lightweight body. I installed a Fender custom shop Abigail Yberra CS69 loaded pickguard. Her pickups have such sweet tone. I really enjoy how light weight it is.

 

[bgmacaw]

I like them because they're easy to mod with many different switching and pickup configurations.

 

[timbgtr]

I’ll go with versatility, with some mods. First, I have a slightly overwound bridge pickup to give a little treble bite. (Lollar Dirty Blondes)

Second, I transposed the middle and bridge connections to the switch, to give a neck + bridge tone that I find Gretsch-like. (I lose neck + middle, but still have middle + bridge for Knopfler-esque tone.)

That allows me to cover a lot of bases with one guitar, which I like very much.

 

[uriah1]

I disliked strats as a youth and thought they were a one trick pony
When I grew up I was able to create a lot of tones out of them.

 

[HolmfirthNJ]

I love my Telecasters - I know what they’re doing and they’re so direct somehow. I love my Stratocaster for the opposite reason really - it’s kind of soft and bouncy, I can’t whack it like a Telecaster, and with the trem it’s moving all the time. It’s just gorgeous and sounds so sweet. Mind you, I’m talking about a Classic Series 50s Telecaster (mine has a nitro finish) with 57/62 pickups installed and a great set up (wasn’t so good before all that). But I also have a mid ‘80s Japanese Squire Stratocaster with a decked bridge and wild howling pickups - it’s completely different, not sweet at all. If I wasn’t so wedded to vintage specs (e.g. neck radius), I’d be very tempted by the Player series Stratocaster.

 

[schmee]

My Strats have been my #1 and #2 for 20 years. '98 MIM and '99 EC Strat
-Comfortable playing, fits with your body like a glove.
-Volume control location, I can adjust fast, even with the pinky finger.
-Controls; You have a multitude with 5 way switching and two tone controls. I add the Clapton midboost to all mine, it adds another dimention to each of the 5 way settings, giving you hundreds of tone iterations.

Get a MIM Strat and add new pickups. Tex Mex sets are $75-80 for all 3 new.

 

[Cheap Trills]

I'm primarily a death/doom metal guy looking for a guitar that I can play decidedly not death/doom metal things with. I've always loved how Strats look and like some famous Strat players (Robin Trower and Billy Corgan in particular), so the Strat instantly came to mind when I began thinking about what type of guitar to add to my stable. I want to keep things pretty simple, keep the guitar in E standard for some shoegaze/alternative and bluesy stoner rock stuff, a lot of fuzz. Price range is $300-$500ish so I'm probably looking at a Squier or something used. Since all of my guitars have humbuckers I'm probably going to look for an SSS guitar just to switch things up a little bit.

So all of you Strat players out there, I'm asking to know just why you like your Strats. Should this caveman death metal guy join the Stratocaster cult?

no, I don't think it's the guitar for you

 

[Tarkus60]

For me they beautiful and easy to play.

 

[itsGiusto]

The pickups in a strat (or at least my strat) are rather vibrant. I've also heard many strat pickups that are too vibrant, like ice-picky. But if you get the right one, it has some significant top end that's not harsh, it's chimey and vibrant to the point that when you next play a humbucker, you'll be asking yourself "why would I want to play something this muddy?"

 

[rand z]

I've had 3 Strat's, so far.

All, nice guitars that I promptly replaced the stock pickups on 2 of them

(The stock pu's were ok, but I was looking for a bit more power and better frequency response.)

I like them for their sonic "sweetness."

At a clean setting, the 3 pu's are very pure in note definition.

And, you have a wide palette of tones to work with at a quick flip of the switch.

The contour body cuts provide a comfort over most other solid body guitars.

Lastly, I like the maple board Strat's , with C necks, that come on them (my Tele's too).

If I need a guitar to play mostly rhythm, while I'm singing, a Strat is my first choice.

I can quickly flip around between the 3 pu's to find the better "frequency mix/fit" with the other instruments and my voice.

However, if I'm playing mostly leads and fill's, I have other guitars that are probably a bit better suited for the job.

imo.

 

[Chuck Stoat]

Given that a lot of what you are pointing to as things you want to do (esp. shoegazey) are effects laden I will say that I generally prefer my single coil guitars over my humbucker guitars when using a lot of effects and particularly find my stratocaster to work the best. Both a combination of it not getting overwhelmed by lost of delay reverb and possible distortion, the ability it gives me to control the sound, and the wide palette the various pickup configurations provide.

Also though the Jazzmaster is obviously the guitar if you want to do the wang bar glider type thing a la Kevin Shields I find I am able to get pretty close with a strat tremolo bar.

 

[Michael M.]

I love that it has a Gibson scale neck! LOVE it!

 

[VintageSG]

Good looking. Comfortable. Well balanced, both sitting and standing. Sounds pretty good, even at Affinity level. The Classic Vibe models even more so.
Mine has a single P90-inna-humbucker and just a volume control because that's how I wanted it. They're configurable to whatever pickup selection you want, within reason.

 

[8bit]

Man, I've gone through several Strats over the years and just never can bond with them. Yet this thread has me wanting to try again.

 

[blowtorch]

because it's the coolest

 

[Volcanicash01]

I'm primarily a death/doom metal guy looking for a guitar that I can play decidedly not death/doom metal things with. I've always loved how Strats look and like some famous Strat players (Robin Trower and Billy Corgan in particular), so the Strat instantly came to mind when I began thinking about what type of guitar to add to my stable. I want to keep things pretty simple, keep the guitar in E standard for some shoegaze/alternative and bluesy stoner rock stuff, a lot of fuzz. Price range is $300-$500ish so I'm probably looking at a Squier or something used. Since all of my guitars have humbuckers I'm probably going to look for an SSS guitar just to switch things up a little bit.

So all of you Strat players out there, I'm asking to know just why you like your Strats. Should this caveman death metal guy join the Stratocaster cult?

Strats are almost self- playing axes. You have to fight a Tele to get great tones. Much more rewarding than a Strat. Teles Never did Status Quo, Marty Stuart and John 5 et al any harm! Nor me! The list goes on! Just get one!