Members Dr. Scottie C Posted March 26, 2016 Members Share Posted March 26, 2016 I can't get into anything BUT stratocasters..... every other guitar is just background characters to me....always been that way in my world. Tried & owned too many to count....150-175 modestly.... always come back to the strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted March 26, 2016 Members Share Posted March 26, 2016 If there was one model of guitar that was perfect for everybody, there would only need to be one guitar style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted March 26, 2016 Members Share Posted March 26, 2016 I have starts and tele. I'm more of a tele guy, but sometimes you feel like a Strat, sometimes you don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 26, 2016 Members Share Posted March 26, 2016 I have always been very vocal about my hatred of the Strat's design flaws, of which there are many, hence the thousands upon thousands pages of ways to improve it. But my basic grips are: 3 way switch was stupid, so some 20 odd years after making it, made the 5 way standard. Which STILL doesn't give you neck and bridge. vol/tone/tone and no tone for the bridge pickup, and this needs it the most. Really? A nut, that if you use the trem, get's cut up like a cheap piece of plastic. A trem, that IF by some miracle of Leo, actually comes back to tune after the third vibrato, will end up cutting and scaring your picking hand due to the stupid height screws on the sharpen bent pieces of metal called a saddle. A vol knob that you will ALWAYS hit. ALWAYS at the worst possible moment. And these are on NEW UN-MODIFIED guitars! That's what really bothers me the most. All the blasted set up work, to keep them in tune. A Tele, tune, and play. What could be better? A Paul. It makes more sense in historical context. The Telecaster debuted around 1950 and evolved out of the single pickup electric lap steel design that was popular at the time. The addition of a second (and third) pickup came later and the designers were not thinking pickup combinations. In fact, the original tele three way switch did not use the third position to combine the pickups but to engage a tone capacitor. When comparing a strat and a tele it is easy to see the evolution. The three way switch may have been a factor in deciding to add the third pickup. I think the idea behind the tone controls, since they do drop the volume a bit, was to provide the player with three "presets" that were readily available from the selector switch. With the amps that were available at the time, a wide open bridge pickup on a strat probably cut through nicely for solos. We also have to remember that the stratocaster was designed and first built during the pre-Hendrix era of the electric guitar. The strat was so far ahead of it's time that Fender had considered dropping it in favour of the Jazzmaster and Jaguar. The placement of the volume control and innovative (at the time) whammy bar setup were to give the player access to some pedal steel guitar styles. The original strat bridge had different length saddle height adjustment screws so they never came up high enough to cut your hand. Some of the cheap copies (even ones marketed by Fender) use substandard materials for the nut. It's not really that difficult to set the stock trem up to play in tune if you know where the binding is taking place. Remember, this is what people were driving at the time the strat went to market. The cost was a little over $2K which one could easily shell out for a Custom Shop guitar these days... Are you going to tell Jeff Beck that the whammy bar is flawed and the volume control is in the wrong place or are you going to congratulate him on his mastery of the instrument? I get what you are saying - strats aren't for you - but I don't believe it's because of any design flaws in the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr. Scottie C Posted March 27, 2016 Members Share Posted March 27, 2016 All the crybabies whining about the placement of the volume knob or the pickup selector switch on a strat.... are you people playing these guitars or f**king them? Everything about the strat....from the contours, location of selector switch & volume, to the non-tilt back headstock.... all superior in every way to anything that ever said "Gibson" on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted March 27, 2016 Members Share Posted March 27, 2016 Watch Jeff on his Live At Ronnie Scott's DVD - what he does is amazing. I have played saxophone with some very good guitarists, a few of them very famous too. My jaw doesn't drop very easily, but what I saw on that video stunned me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rada Posted March 27, 2016 Members Share Posted March 27, 2016 Considering the fact that most of my guitar heroes are strat players, you'd think that I'd love them... but I don't. Give me a Tele or a 335... or even a Mustang before you give me a strat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 27, 2016 Members Share Posted March 27, 2016 There have been a few quantum leaps in the history of the stratocaster. The invention of the guitar was itself monumental. The next quantum leap was Hendrix showing us what "else" can be done with the guitar. There were/are many great post Hendrix strat players but they essentially built on and refined what Hendrix had started. To me, Jeff Beck is showing us yet another side and level of expression available to us via the Electric Lady. His innovative approach can be considered a quantum leap and I find it most inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 77BlazerK5 Posted March 28, 2016 Members Share Posted March 28, 2016 I love both of mystrats 2004 Highway 1 w/JB humbucker 2014 Deluxe strat w/ fender custom shop neck they play and sound amazing can tackle any style of music. but my Gibson LesPaul is my main guitar for my band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willyguitar Posted March 28, 2016 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2016 I'd just like to point out that I have no problem with the design of the stratocaster. Don't shoot the messenger boys (I am assuming it is all or mostly boys, might not be, but I think it probably is). It just *sounds* like the excrement of a biped mammal (see what I did there?) when I play it. Plinky plinky, cliched, plasticky, lacking guts somehow (unless you pop a HB in there but then it is a cheating strat), and reminding me of men with 1980s sweatbands, who use a bit too much digital delay and Old Spice aftershave. Delete as appropriate: Robert Cray, The Edge, Mark Knopfler, Ingwie Ventyourspleen, Biffy Clyro, Elic Crapton. P.S. How do I get this thread to go beyond the number of 'views' of 'SG Owners Unite'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 29, 2016 Members Share Posted March 29, 2016 . . . Plinky plinky, cliched, plasticky, lacking guts somehow... Have you listened to Headpins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Juicy Elk Man Posted March 30, 2016 Members Share Posted March 30, 2016 Don't have my strat anymore. I'm an SG guy now - love the wider neck/fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted April 14, 2016 Members Share Posted April 14, 2016 There is one tele I semi-like, but it ain't a Fender. Chapman guitars (ML3-RC) has a pretty cool one I'd hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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