Phil O'Keefe Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 The differences that matter... I thought this article on Reverb was pretty interesting. https://reverb.com/news/stratocaster-vs-telecaster-the-differences-that-matter So, what's your choice? Do you prefer one over the other? What aspects of your preferred model are most important to you, and do you think they got the main differences and iconic player lists right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 I have both a Strat and a Tele but the Tele is my number one go to guitar. I like the simplicity but most of all I love the sound of that neck pickup.It's all about the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted November 8, 2016 Moderators Share Posted November 8, 2016 Ouch, most if not all 54 Strats were ash, they are not technically string thru, they just happened to be anchored by the vibrato block, and not adding Ritchie Blackmore, Hank Marvin and Buddy Holly to the list of players is criminal. Adding Jimmy Page is stretching it a bit for the Tele, and mainly there so they can let people know that Pagey played a Tele on the majority of I and II, but is mainly a Gibson player, and leaving out Wilko Johnson as a Tele player is a tad harsh too. Apart from that it's a rather cut n pastey piece, but I'm glad they didn't liken the Tele to a polygraph...that's one tired old cliche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 I love Teles, but never owned an American one. I do prefer my Mustang, which gets me the twang and spank I like. As far as Strats, I prefer HSS to SSS because the humbucker gives me the quack without the icepick bridge. Between a Tele and a Strat, I'd pick the Strat for leads and Tele for rhythm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Midlife Rocker Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 So, what's your choice? Depends on what I'm playing. That's the beauty of playing guitar and not piano. I can have multiple choices.Do you prefer one over the other? I tend to lean toward my Strat for surf and the Tele for blues.What aspects of your preferred model are most important to you, and do you think they got the main differences and iconic player lists right? List is off, as previous posts documented. The strat has the 3 pups for different combinations of tone. Plus the "wang" bar! Tele is bare bones no nonsense pickup and play. Look, Clapton and Hendrix picked the Strat for a reason, as Keith and Springsteen chose the tele... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 I like them both for what they are. I like a lot of the features of a strat but find them somewhat anaemic (compared to a Gibson) but that's what gives them the clarity I like so much. Teles sound a bit more robust and can keep up with a Les Paul so I don't have to adjust the amplifier when switching guitars mid-set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 Ed Bickert played jazz on a telecaser and coaxed big fat Super 400 like sounds out of it. I'd like to see Guthrie Trapp included in any future list of tele players - check him out on YT and you'll quickly understand why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 8, 2016 Members Share Posted November 8, 2016 I love Strats and dislike Teles generally. Too brash and spikey for my style except for the HB ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Ouch' date=' most if not all 54 Strats were ash, they are not technically string thru, they just happened to be anchored by the vibrato block, and not adding Ritchie Blackmore, Hank Marvin and Buddy Holly to the list of players is criminal.[/quote'] As was leaving Roy Buchanan and Ray Flacke off the Tele list. I've owned both ash and alder Strats, as well as ash and alder Telecasters. ATM my main Strat and Tele are both alder bodied models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted November 9, 2016 Members Share Posted November 9, 2016 I prefer the tele since I truly hate the strat and it's flaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 9, 2016 Members Share Posted November 9, 2016 Steve Cropper, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wasgtrjones Posted November 10, 2016 Members Share Posted November 10, 2016 I am unabashedly a tele person. I have a strat, and have had others. I much prefer my 3-pickup tele when on rare occasions I want that 'in-between' sound. I just prefer the telecaster tones (all 3 of 'em) to strat tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 10, 2016 Members Share Posted November 10, 2016 I'm more of a tele guy, but I own a few of each. Loved this comment John • 4 days ago Bottom line: The strat is like the girl you would bring home to meet your mom.The tele is like the girl you wouldn't.The tele would be more likely to help you out in a bar fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UlfHansson Posted November 10, 2016 Members Share Posted November 10, 2016 Tele. The sound (of course) but maybe mostly due to the looks. It's an awesome design! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted November 11, 2016 Members Share Posted November 11, 2016 Strat lover all the way. Tele's just don't feel right to me. I've owned good examples of each and both can sound superb, but I've never heard a Tele that could do the quack thing and I do love that sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 12, 2016 Members Share Posted November 12, 2016 Tele. The sound (of course) but maybe mostly due to the looks. It's an awesome design! Looks are exactly why I don't like Teles in general. I find them to be butt ugly. Part is that ghawd awful control plate and part is the general shape. I dig the FMT Tele and I've seen a few Thinlines that I thought were cool looking but, at the end of the day, I'd want a hardtail Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted November 14, 2016 Members Share Posted November 14, 2016 I did think that's a good read. I own several examples of each and enjoy both, but the Strat is my top choice of all guitars. Yeah, I love the neck pickup tone. I was initially drawn to them by the in-between "quack" tones, but their selection of the word "glassy" reminded me "that's it". Plus I also like the ergonomic feel compared to a Tele. A couple issues that bugged me slightly is that Mark K seems to favor ash Strats over alder, so in that respect I wasn't as sure of him as a reference for the Strat Standard ingredients. But yet I do love his tone and have never found his tone to be overly bright, so you know he's got a good ash. I love his quack tones. But I was also slightly bugged that after they mention the vibrato bar that they didn't list the master, Hank Marvin. He was indeed a pioneer of making that guitar catch on in the U.K. and inspiring many others, including Mark K, to seek out that instrument. But yeah, nice little read. Oh, and I have a '52 RI Tele, great sounding guitar, but it was made to old specs (except the weird finish combo of nitro on top of poly finish) and it also did not have a p'up selector position for Neck + Bridge. The top position is for tone rolled off to simulate a bass tone, middle is for the neck p'up and bottom position is for the bridge p'up. I've yet to get that modded, have the kit for it, but just never gotten around to it. But I'm guessing they missed that bit of history in their write up, but I'm not sure how long that feature prevailed with Teles too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 When I was coming up Tele's were either for players who couldn't afford a real guitar or the endless parade of wanna-be drugstore-cowboy bands. I was rock and roll leaning so we tended to shun the cowboys. I tried getting over it. I owned an Aerodyne Tele for a while which, to me, fixed everything I didn't like about Tele's. It was a great Telecaster - probably the best Tele ever made, but I just didn't play it all that much and sold it. I love my Strat. It's a real mutt put together from bits here and bobs there, but it plays great and sounds killer. It's not even pretty, but I still prefer it over a Tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 When I was coming up Tele's were either for players who couldn't afford a real guitar or the endless parade of wanna-be drugstore-cowboy bands. I was rock and roll leaning so we tended to shun the cowboys. I tried getting over it. I owned an Aerodyne Tele for a while which, to me, fixed everything I didn't like about Tele's. It was a great Telecaster - probably the best Tele ever made, but I just didn't play it all that much and sold it. I love my Strat. It's a real mutt put together from bits here and bobs there, but it plays great and sounds killer. It's not even pretty, but I still prefer it over a Tele. In the end, that's what counts. [video=youtube;vrCvLOpLKQ8] [video=youtube;5HTVMh7fur4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emory Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 Like Mikeo's quote about strat v tele, but one I sorta remember from years ago here went something like "Strat is the homecoming queen, but tele like the hood girl you want to take in back seat and make out with at high school dance"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 Curious. You could tell it was a BS article when it talked about the simplicity of the tele requiring you to be a better player. I like both, though I have strats because that's what's been available when I've needed a versatile guitar. We have 3 strats here, and they all sound different, although none sound like a tele I'm tempted to amend that. TBH it doesn't have to be one or the other: one isn't Trump and the other Clinton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 I think the simplicity of the Tele does the opposite, actually. That's why so many rhythm players favor it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted November 15, 2016 Author Share Posted November 15, 2016 Buck, that was a really common perception among kids when I was in high school - Strats are for lead, Teles are for rhythm. And given the number of lead players who favored a Tele (even back then), I'm not exactly sure where that came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 Early gig today, so please excuse not reading previous posts. I prefer the Strat. Why? 1) More comfortable contoured body. 2) I love the 1+2 and 2+3 pup sounds 3) Better high fret access 4) More accessible volume knob 5) Whammy I do like the Tele Twang though, but for me the above is more important. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted November 15, 2016 Members Share Posted November 15, 2016 Buck, that was a really common perception among kids when I was in high school - Strats are for lead, Teles are for rhythm. And given the number of lead players who favored a Tele (even back then), I'm not exactly sure where that came from. Unlike the Strat, I think the Tele compliments all styles, however basic or complex. Strumming E-A-D doesn't sound as good to me on a Strat as it does a Tele, though. Of course, I haven't kept any of the Teles I owned. I prefer my Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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