Why stratocaster?

[StratRat]

What attracts you to the sound of the Fender stratocaster? Are you a strat only player or is the strat only one of many guitars in your arsenal?

[BlueFrogs]

I love the clarity of the sound. The definition of the notes. Also, the comfort of the body style. I do have other guitars also that I dig for different reasons. :)

[MIKEH]

I like the Srat for the neck pickup and the in-between settings. Strats are just part of my collection of guitars. I really favor P-90 equipped guitars for most of what I play.

[dez]

They're just cool. And they don't break easy.

[cooltone]

I have 4 strats, a couple teles, a LP goldtop standard and I have owned Dano's, a flying V, etc.
The strat is the workhorse of the bunch. It's light weight (relatively speaking), comfortable to hold, versatile tone's and you can beat them fuckers silly and they won't break or go out of tune. That's it in a nutshell.

The tele makes you work a bit harder and the LP is kinda fragile, weighs a ton and has too much bite for me to use all the time.

[Marcondo]

Hendrix songs just sound "right" on a Strat. Of course you can play Voodoo Chile or Little WIng on other guitars but it doesnt have THAT sound.

[photoweborama]

For me, they are more comfortable, and I like the tremolo, which I use quite a bit lately, and the pickup combinations. It has a very mellow sound, or real punchy if you use the bridge with some gain. The new Kent Armstrong pickups I put in my #2 Strat, the FMT, The sound good all around, but they are really smooth when you play them with gain.

My AmSer Tele I just sold could not do the distortion thing quite as smooth, though my new AmSer Strat seems to do distortion very well also.

I just find them very versatile and comfortable.

[Froggy]

To my ears the sound is unique.Even guitars that are "supposed" to sound like a Strat fall short.I'm addicted to Position four.

A definate must have in any players stable imo.

Strats rock.Its that simple.

[moonpie]

I like my blue one because it is blue.
Though my red one is red, I like that one, too.
And the white ones are fine
one maple, one rosewood
Then there's the hardtail
Geez it sounds good.
And one that's a burst, and a custom built too
I guess I like Strats cause I own a few.

[curtisstetka]

When I was a kid and starting to get into the rock and roll music, the cover of EC's Slowhand album hypnotized me. THAT was what a guitar was and I had to have one.

My first 'lectric guitar was this no-name lump of monkey dung with strings that my mom bought for me at the local music store. But my second one was purchased with money from my first summer job (14 y.o.) and it was a black strat copy.

[jimi1957]

I have 2 strats...one is a bastardized USA with an 89 body, a 97 neck, Texas specials and graph-tech saddles...the other a 2001 MIM Tex-Mex strat completely stock...I love both of them because of the clarity and "feel"...I also have a Hamer Standard...just because I need that humbucker sound from time to time...but I consider myself a strat only player.


p.s. I only keep guitars I use...all others are destined for other locales :ahem

[pbradt]

p.s. I only keep guitars I use...all others are destined for other locales :ahem

I like Strats for slide guitar. I've used Teles for slide, and I MUCH prefer a Tele for any fretted stuff, but for slide, it all works best with a Strat.

OTOH, I find a Strat terribly uncomfortable for playing fretted stuff.

I also only keep what I use. See below

[photoweborama]

I was talking Chaingun / Bonoglation on this and he says a Strat is very uncomfortable for him also. But I prefer the feel of a Strat. The conclusion we came to, though sort of loosely based, as a conclusion is that Strats feel more comfortable to smaller people....

There is no research or technical basis for this, but I've heard others that are larger in stature than I am say the same thing.

Its possible Strats were designed for smaller people in a sub-conscious manner.

[pbradt]

The weird thing is that for slide it's the best. It's perfect. But for fretted stuff, it actually causes pain. The Tele is WAY easier for me to play well on fretted stuff.

[zenland]

I like the way they feel,
look,
play,
And,
That's all I gotta say.

Not! :hee :hee

I guess I love the clarity of the tones. I have owned a '59 and stock '60 Strat some asshole stole from me.
Now, I have a 57 RI and a CS Champagne Sparkle that are great guitars.
I also have a Gibby 335 and PRS HB Spruce top that kicks ass.
But,
The 57RI is like going home to me. There and ROCK effing SOLID!
mho

[tonemonkey]

I love them for their 5 special tones, the clarity and bite, the feel (I'm a big guy PWR!) just about everything about them. I don't like the tremolo for wangage, but I don't go on hardtails for tone personally, I do the blocked thing (a la Clapton) as I miss the springs when they are gone. My strat is the light, my lester the shade.

[Kap'n]

I like the clear sound mine has, and it plays nice.

I like teles too. I actually like the control layout of the tele better, since I always hit the switch by accident on my strat, but I like the contours of the strat. Maybe I need to build a hybrid.

[Doug H]

1st off, I've always liked their tone. I got my 1st Strat scant months after my 1st LP back in '87. I'm on my 3rd Strat, an Am. Dlx (see avatar). This one, like my 2nd (an Am. Std. which I kinda wish I kept around- 'twas a winner, that one), is set up hard tail style. I'm primarily a Gibson guy, but I like to go to the Strat for some strange now and zen. ;)

[sabby]

It's the total package, near as it can be anyway. Every guitar involves compromises. To me, Les Pauls are powerful and singing, but heavy, fragile, rather dark, and poorly laid-out as far as the pots are concerned. Teles are fab -- my second choice -- but they're tonally limited (duck), noisy, and somewhat uncomfortable. Strats have low output and are noisy, but they’re also very comfortable, about perfectly laid-out, tonally versatile, light, and not only durable but modular.

Kinmans are on the way, so that pesky noise issue may be gone soon, too. If I like the Kinmans as much as my Fralins, Ill probably load mine with an Alembic Strat-o-Blaster. I always shied away from the boosters with noisy single coils, but if this works out I might have the perfect guitar.

[Stratguy]

I have two Strats — a '97 Strat Plus and a '01 Am Se Double Fat — a '93 American Tele and an incredibly cheap Ibanez acoustic. The Tele and the acoustic, unfortunately, don't see much daylight.

I play Strats for the usual reasons: They feel right and they sound right. No other guitar is as expressive and as easy to use — for me, anyway. They just sound ... perfect.

Others guitars are louder. Other guitars are heavier. Certainly, other guitars are (much) more expensive.

But no other guitar lets me have my voice the way a Strat does.

Tom

[CocoTone]

Tried `em all, and the Strat is just me. Its my tone, and has my feel.

CT.

[grito]

Constsistent tone, playablility, comfort, and I don't feel like I'm pure evil when I customize it....

[FenderBoy]

I like Strats because everybody that matters uses one.
:lol

[bluespckr]

A Strat by any other name, is just not a Strat. The sound, feel, versatility and esepcially the playability.

I also have a Nashville Deluxe Telecaster (three pups, 5-way switch) and I like it for its "chunk". A nice guitar made better by mods.

The Strat, however, is an American Series with the Delta Tone System thing in it and all stock. It sounds so sweet and clear. I, too, don't use the trem, so I've blocked the assembly and screwed the trem plate into the body. It certainly gives this guitar a tad more sustain that way. :blbros

[hudpucker]

most versatile electric guitar ever.

[MasterChief]

its the only guitar that have owned. I've got a Squire Affinity Strat and an American Deluxe Fat Strat. The Squire is a very good guitar for beginners and the American Deluxe is the guitar that I'll be using the rest of my life. I don't think that I'll need any other guitar. It's very versatile and comfortable to play. It also feels perfect when you sit with it, unlinke 90% of all other guitars which are off balance in some way or another.

In short, its a damn good guitar. Don't know if it's the best of all the other guitars out there, but its perfect for me and my playing style.

[Algernon]

For me Strat's have a lot of versatility in their sound. I mod the hell out of mine with aftermarket pups and controls though so I take it way further than the factory does with versatility. I use flat wounds too. Built my own Strat even, a Warmoth walnut hollowbody. Only weighs 5 pounds total. Picture in my photo gallery, the brown natural finished one:

www.nickkepics.com

Other than that, I have other guitars besides Strat's though.

[Dangerine49]

I've got three Strats, one Tele, and one Mustang. I guess I'm just a Fender guy at heart since all of my electrics are Fenders. I had a Hamer Flying V for a while, but I sold it 'cause I just didn't play it very much. The Strat is the perfect guitar for me: versatile, comfortable, durable and beautiful.

Here's my favorite:

[AXE752]

I have to like 'em because if I didn't . . . . . . well. . . I'd have to sell the '58, the Dan Smith, the '57 reissue, the. . . . . . . .

Seriously, to me it is a straightforward, simple, incredibly innovative, utilitarian, affordable (to the average musician,) comfortable, beautifully designed instrument which can produce a vast number of tonal variations (I am still finding new ones.) It still amazes me that the design has changed relatively little since '54. What a piece of genius.

Of course this does not mean I love my Les Paul/335/Tele/etc. any less.

[Tim Earll]

Because Les Pauls give me a rash on my forearm.

[mmcquain]

I like the "snap" and "clarity" of the sound (some call it a "quack" or "twang")... just imagine the intro of "Little Wing" or "Sweet Home Alabama" played on a "fat" humbucker sounding Les Paul.

Of course, I also play a Paul when I want that "growl" (think anything by Gary Rossington or Dickey Betts)! :)

[pc]

Wow, old thread.

A Strat was my first electric. At that time I was 13 years old and had been playing/learning on an acoustic for 5 years, and still a small guy, the Strat had the right combo of comfortable neck shape, body shape, and range of tones. I think most of my electric guitar heros of that time were probably playing Les Pauls or similar dual-bucker guitars, but none of those I tried felt right--most were way too heavy or thick-necked.

The real irony is that the only "sound" I was looking for was Roy Buchanan's on "Fly Night Bird." For some reason at that time, no stores I was shopping at had any Teles to show me, so I missed that boat by freak chance.

Still, I got really close tones from the neck & bridge pickups on "The Strat" model I fell in love with, and the series/parallel switch on that guitar could change the '2' and '4' positions to something very humbucker like. Very versatile.

Why am I back to a Strat right now after years of nothing but Teles? I don't know. Feels nice, and the throaty growl of the neck pickup seems to explode through a DRRI.

[stratcat62]

First electric a Guild fat hollow body which was nice (wish I still had that one) but couldn't do rock-n-roll. For economic reasons went to an Epiphone Crestline. In 1970, i swapped an EH LPB-1 (largely hard to find) even up for a 62 strat (called used then and I still possess it). While everyone was busy going to LP's and Marshalls, I had the strat and a black faced bassman. Made me stand out nicely. While I've owned/own many guitars, I keep coming back to the strat. Most comfortable for me to play and, IMHO has better clarity and tone. Never have been able to bond with an LP and just not crazy about most humbuckers.

I did bond well with tele's for several years but eventually went right back to strats. Allows clean, defined rhythms and growling, screaming leads. Still haven't found anything more satisfying and doubt that I will.

[MMP]

I like my blue one because it is blue.
Though my red one is red, I like that one, too.
And the white ones are fine
one maple, one rosewood
Then there's the hardtail
Geez it sounds good.
And one that's a burst, and a custom built too
I guess I like Strats cause I own a few.

Me too
2 tone SB
3 tone SB
CA Red
Fiesta Red
Olympic White
Natural Ash
Aqua Marine (teal)
some maple, some rosewood, some different pups, some different wiring configurations and because, like ice cream, when you get tired of vanilla you switch to chocolate to .........

[lure555]

I like Strats for slide guitar. I've used Teles for slide, and I MUCH prefer a Tele for any fretted stuff, but for slide, it all works best with a Strat.

OTOH, I find a Strat terribly uncomfortable for playing fretted stuff.

I also only keep what I use. See below

I know I'm not the only one afraid to ask:
"What does he use the cat for?"


To answer the question, I kinda fell into Strats and played them exclusively for many years. I love the wide variety of sounds on tap and the many hotrodding options.
Nowadays, I mostly play my Les Paul.

[Aaron]

Pretty much all Strats here, got one 335 Dot but don't play it much,.

[curtisstetka]

"What does he use the cat for?"

That's not a real cat!!!


(inside joke for those of us who were around when Pete made himself the grand arbiter of what was and what wasn't a Tele.)

[Don L]

Great Strats let my soul come through...

[Tele00]

I dont think there is a better voiced ,and more responsive guitar to put through a wah then a Strat....with the correct settings and in the half cocked position it has a great " trumpet tone " that blows through the mix. Cancel the wah and go to the neck pickup into a good tube amp and hit notes with a raked attack for an unbeatable Texas blues tone....throw it on the bridge /mid and roll back the tone knob for that Clapton strat honk......They are just so versatile....

[Bluestar]

The look, the sound, the feel - I simply cannot conceive of music made which includes an electric guitar without thinking of the Stratocaster.