Members gardo Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 The glassy sound is what i like about Strats, What brings it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 And by "glassy" sound you mean what exactly??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 And by "glassy" sound you mean what exactly??? It's indefinable, it's a sound that only a strat makes. "Glassy" defines it as best as anything. I hear it most with the middle/neck engaged on non-noiseless, passive pickups. Must have something to do with the hum-cancelling of single coils while still retaining the their single coil clarity with mild compression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 Glassy might be a surf reference. Chord/reverb/vibrato just like the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stormin1155 Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 I think I know what you mean by glassy. Probably no single thing that produces that sound that is somewhat unique to strats. Probably the biggest contributor is the pickups, a fairly low wind single coil. The bridge/saddles/trem probably contribute some, as wall as the woods used, which give a brighter tone than woods like mahogany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 I'd go with pups first and those subtle things like the angling of the Bridge pup. Despite having it's roots in the precision bass it has a trebly (?) tone leaning more toward the tele which of course emphasized its (also angled) bridge pickup.Leo was not a guitarist but an engineer and the guitar was designed with mass production rather than craftsmanship in mind. I'm not saying quality was not a concern but I suspect the emphasis was on machining precision rather than the materials used. The result was a contrast to the LP. There was this kind of Ford vs Buick thing going on.People like Hank Marvin, brought up on British guitars ran with the ball because it was a cleaner delivery of the sc sound they had learned to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 17, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 17, 2015 All Strat bodies are built with a little chamber filled with....yup, you guessed it, glass. It's how the windscreen replacement companies get rid of old windscreens without having to pay Haz waste costs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 And by "glassy" sound you mean what exactly??? Something like this..... [video=youtube;HEuKbE4MXPE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 I think it's a combination of the bridge, the single coils, and the bolt-on neck. It's not that you would lose that sound if you took away one of those factors, but I think the most traditional Strat tone comes from that since the original Strat design has those three features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 It's indefinable, it's a sound that only a strat makes. "Glassy" defines it as best as anything. I hear it most with the middle/neck engaged on non-noiseless, passive pickups. Must have something to do with the hum-cancelling of single coils while still retaining the their single coil clarity with mild compression. Thanks, I guess I just have never heard it referred to as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 Pickups and their spacing at the nodes has allot to do with it. If you've ever experimented putting strat pups in another, very different guitar with different bridge and hardware it does produce those similar clean tones. The pickup placement is a key item. When you move their positions the voicing changes. The woods used, the hardware all come into play too so you can say the entire guitar just happens to produce a voice of its own and just leave it at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 Pickups and their spacing at the nodes has allot to do with it. If you've ever experimented putting strat pups in another' date=' very different guitar with different bridge and hardware it does produce those similar clean tones. The pickup placement is a key item. When you move their positions the voicing changes. The woods used, the hardware all come into play too so you can say the entire guitar just happens to produce a voice of its own and just leave it at that.[/quote'] True enough ,but I want to enhance the some of the qualities of that voicing . I'll start with the strings. Maybe instead of D'Addario pure nickel I may find that Ernie Ball Slinky's give me that certain sound. . Pickup height is also very important,this is something I always experiment with whenever i make any change to the guitar.,and we haven't even looked at the amp yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 Actually that's not true anymore. It was discovered that the plastic laminate in windscreen glass had a negative effect on the tone. The answer was tempered glass which gives a very transparent yet strong sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 True enough ,but I want to enhance the some of the qualities of that voicing . I'll start with the strings. Maybe instead of D'Addario pure nickel I may find that Ernie Ball Slinky's give me that certain sound. . Pickup height is also very important,this is something I always experiment with whenever i make any change to the guitar.,and we haven't even looked at the amp yet. Try GHS Progressives. They sound killer on a strat and give you that Mark Knopfler Spank to the strings. http://www.juststrings.com/ghselectricguitarprogressives.html Height is going to vary depending on the pickup type. If you have staggered poles its more difficult to get right cause those were designed for a wrapped 3rd string. If the poles are flat then I just use fenders specs. Hold the last fret down and adjust the high side for 2mm and the low side for 3mm. From there you can just adjust them to taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 The middle pickup has a lot to do with it. In fact, you can play a rather convincing version of "Sultans of Swing" on a three pickup Les Paul Custom. The strat was originally advertised as having "wide range high fidelity pickups" and I find them the most anemic of all my guitars. The low output needs a bit of help if you want to get some drive out of older style amplifiers - it seems the pickups were designed for clarity rather than output level. There are other factors but I believe the design and placement of the pickups are the main contributors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steve2112 Posted March 17, 2015 Members Share Posted March 17, 2015 I think it's a combination of the bridge' date=' the single coils, and the bolt-on neck. It's not that you would lose that sound if you took away one of those factors, but I think the most traditional Strat tone comes from that since the original Strat design has those three features.[/quote'] Of all the answers I feel this is the best one because it address bolt-on as well as the other stuff. It frosts me balls quite a bit when someone says "this ain't no bolt-on" as if it's an insult. Yeah my 2,000 dollar Jackson Custom Dinky put a bolt on to make it a cheaper crappier instrument! LOL idiots. Crucial...imho for that signature spank (or glass or whatever). Although it is true The Sultan Of Swing picked up a Les Paul a couple times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted March 18, 2015 Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 Play through a Fender combo a bit of reverb and No higher volume than 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted March 18, 2015 Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 Play through a Fender combo a bit of reverb and No higher volume than 3. Yeah. Absence of graininess, tons of headroom, and vibrato for ripples. I think guitarers distinguish from Pauls and the like because HBs are more likely to overdrive an amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 18, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 18, 2015 If I could award prizes for superb responses, this would certainly get one:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 18, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is a good thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorganB Posted March 18, 2015 Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 The fact is there was Glass in the pickups, it was originally known a the Stratoglasser till Corning threatened a lawsuit.and Fender the took out the glass , then the name change ,Stratocaster, rumor has it there are still some glass particles in there somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted March 18, 2015 Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 And now I can hear Dumble talking about the glass lattices in tube amps again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 Play through a Fender combo a bit of reverb and No higher volume than 3. No doubt. However I don't have a Fender amp. My #1 amp is a '67 Ampeg Gemini I wtih reverb and tremolo. I never had the original speaker,I'm using a new Jensen C12N (which took forever to break in) I don't get that Fender sparkle but I get very good cleans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 Yeah. Absence of graininess, tons of headroom, and vibrato for ripples.. Vibrato in the amp ? That's something I don't use much but maybe I should .Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted March 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2015 Try GHS Progressives. They sound killer on a strat and give you that Mark Knopfler Spank to the strings. http://www.juststrings.com/ghselectr...gressives.html Height is going to vary depending on the pickup type. If you have staggered poles its more difficult to get right cause those were designed for a wrapped 3rd string. If the poles are flat then I just use fenders specs. Hold the last fret down and adjust the high side for 2mm and the low side for 3mm. From there you can just adjust them to taste. I Do have staggered poles. The guitar is an FSR made in Mexico 2013. I'm not going to run out and buy pickups so I'll do what I can with what I have.first. I use one of the tone pots for a variable coil tap on the bridge. I adjust to Fender specs and fine tune by ear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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