As an old guitarist, I have to say every guitar has its tone, feel, it’s sound through pedals and it’s own inspiration for the player. Have you ever picked up a guitar and feel like you’re suddenly playing better? There’s a sound in our head that we all chase, any guitar is just a tool to manifest that tone. Many famous guitarists like Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page had to make or modify a guitar to get that sound in their head. I love every guitar, even the cheap ones that challenge my skills or lack of skills. A Strat with just a little dirt and a little delay, switched on the neck pick up, can keep me entertained for a whole day. Heaven for me would be a giant music store.
Played a MIM strat for 10 years loved it however when I got my first American standard strat that’s exactly what happened all the sudden I felt like I was playing twice as good my fingers just flowed where they were supposed to. I was remembering songs I had forgotten for years all the sudden they just came back to me like I had never forgotten them.
Absolutely why I love a Strat! You can play songs you learned or heard on an acoustic and still make it magical! When you see your wife tearing up, playing a folk song on a Strat or a song that is like a gentle wind that is just flowing out of you… that is what a Strat is.
Regarding your question about picking up a guitar that makes you feel like you're playing better; I've found a very few that have met that with me. But it wasn't a brand or a tone that made that happen, it was the feel of the guitar in my hands that did it. I own more than twenty guitars and there are maybe three that feel that way to me. I would say those are one of my Strat's, one of my Les Pauls, and one of my SG's.
I'm a strat player and my favorite thing about it, tone-wise, is that you can get a great crystal clear clean tone, never gets muddy. If it feels a bit thin, you can always use the tone knob to warm it up. My main strat has a humbucker in the bridge with a 3 way switch hooked up to it (series, coil-split, parallel), like that I can get the most out of 1 guitar. And I keep it tuned Eb Standard.
I am a Les Paul guy, but as a guitar player I just have to own a strat, because, well strat. The approach to a strat is certainly different and I think that helps the creative process. Forcing myself to play something I am less comfortable with makes me think different and that is good thing.
Who is a Strat for? Me. Others too, but definitely for me. A Fat Strat, HSS, specifically. For me, from feel to sound... it just fits my tastes better than anything else. Everything is just... right. I like other guitars, Tele's, Les Pauls... but every other model of guitar is for specialty use. General, grab a guitar and go? I reach for my Strat. Cut a guitar collection from 14 to just 1? HSS Strat will do it. As for the negatives... I don't experience that. I've never had problems hitting the switch on accident or adjusting the knobs... I came up on a Strat, my playing must have altered around it. Neck join doesn't bother me, it's a touchfeedback, I know where on the fretboard I am up high when I feel the neck joint. Bridge pickup? Ok, I agree... but I use a humbucker. So for me, long list of pros, and literally no con. My comparison is so onesided, that I consider a good fat strat the most essential piece of music gear in my life. In fact, a good Strat is one of the most important physical _things_ for me to own. Everyone is different. We all have different tastes and preferences... but for me... the traditional Strat is near perfect, and the HSS Strat _IS_ perfection. All pros, and a lot of them at that. No cons.
I always loved Strats but played Les Pauls for years. I finally switched over to Strats full time 5-6 years ago and never looked back. I absolutely love them… they’re so comfortable to play and every sound I’ve ever loved is there when I need it.
The best thing about strats for me, is comfort. They are so damn comfortable to play. I could sit anywhere for hours, play and not be uncomfortable. I don't know why, but they just sit so well. Tele's, Les Pauls and Strats all have their own unique magic, and should be in every guitar player's arsenal. Strats are for those who really like their comfort and playability.
I wish more "super strats" still had the rounded contours rather than sharp edges (but still belly/elbow cuts of course) because as the boniest man on earth - yeah the actual Strat strat shape is one of the most ergonomic, non-pokey ones there is, all I want is a bridge humbucker and maybe 24 frets and I'm golden
That's jazzmasters for me, I'll do all sorts of pickups and different controls where the rythum circuit normally goes.... but just can't beat the feel for me.
Les Paul guy here, but my Strat is the only guitar I will never sell. Tone is the reason, nothing else does what a Strat can do. The downside for me is in the studio. The LP records so smoothly, so compressed, so consistent - so awesome!!! The Strat is the opposite. Sometimes I have to re-record a good take because of the way the pluck or strum sounded. The transition from the wound D-string to the unwound G-string is sometimes a nightmare. It's quirky in exact opposition to the silky smoothness of the LP.
That's why I find pedals more essential with Strats. An OCD, a big muff, delay, spring reverb, even a compressor can all do huge things and make the Strat sound brilliant. Whereas I find myself not doing much with a Les Paul besides a bit of analog delay. or reverb.
I built a Warmoth Strat 10 years ago with the advice of a prominent local luthier. One-Piece Swamp Ash Body with two-tone tobacco sunburst. One piece maple neck. '59 profile with a 12" straight radius. Lollar Pickups. It's as Strat as a Strat can be. Amazing tone through my '59 bassman clone. Like they were made for each other.
Bumping into the volumes, selector switch, and middle pick-up is something that I had to adjust to when I got my first strat a few years back. Glad to know I'm not alone...
Definitely not alone man. Such a common complaint there's a running joke - "You'd think it was designed by someone who didn't play guitar" 😂 Which Leo Fender didn't but it's one of those jokes that comes from a place of love right? Who knows the degree to which he changed music, especially Rock and Roll guitar but, it's an impossible hypothetical question. He innovated this iconic instrument that so many are still partial to all these decades later. You've got a _ton_ of company. I play a Fender Squier Affinity SSS and it's identical in it's layout and has all of the same pros and cons, and I had to adjust to it but my first guitar was a Headway (nobody has ever heard of it) a Made in China Strat "Style" guitar so I was already kinda used to it as much as you _ever_ get used to it 🤣✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
@@stanphillips7277 Cool, thanks for the thoughts.. My Strat is a MIM "stupid deal of the hour" that I had to have when I saw it. $250.00 off the market price and redeemed MF points to boot. Black body and pickguard, white knobs and pups, it's my only guitar with a "tremolo" arm and maple fret board. They called it a "special edition modified standard" I dig it.. Cheers..🙏🎼💙🎸
@@samstamos427 I've heard nothing but good things about the made in Mexico Strats and black on black w/white knobs sounds like a beautiful instrument. Plus you got a good deal right? I know the trem system probably leaves something to me desired but, you could mod that if you wanted to. I hardly use my trem but, I would if I had a Floyd Rose. I'm not accustomed to using one and I almost got a Jackson with a Floyd but I like to be able to drop the tuning in and out of standard without needing tools and half an hour 😂 Pleasure talking to you bro, I'll talk to you soon Mr Sam, cheers ✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
I'm a metal guy, and my first guitar was a Mexican Strat. 15 years later, it's still my favorite guitar. Yeah, it's been modified dozens of times, but everything from the weight, neck, balance, shape, etc. is just perfect. In particular, I always loved how Strats fit against the body.
My primary guitar is a Mexican Strat. It's starting to have connection issues in the selector switch so it's time to learn to solder as I'll never get rid of it. My secondary guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica PAC112, basically a cheaper Strat and I'm prepping to drop about $400 in mods for it.
@@Recon19D3 Before desoldering and throwing away the old switch, I would put dielectric grease in it. I use Permatex brand: it's a silicone grease with a bit of boric acid in it (which cuts through oxidation). If that does the trick, you're good; and if you swap the switch, it's good to use on the new one right away.
I’ve always enjoyed the way the Strat makes me “WORK” for the sound. It’s basically a blank canvas, it gives you nothing, you have to work hard to hone your tone, then if it feels like you’ve put your time in, and earned it, it’ll release a “reluctant tone.”
yes, thank you! you just answered a question I didn't know I had. I feel like an LP style guitar is ready to go, you just have to steer. Which is a beautiful thing in itself. A strat on the other hand doesn't even give you the wheels.
After playing guitar for 17 years I bought my first strat and the controls were in my way. But as I adapted to them I've come to the conclusion that the layout of the controls is perfect for me.I can make adjustments with great ease compared to other guitars
Y'all forgot to mention - that for players who know how to play pinky finger "swells", the volume knob placement is in the absolute PERFECT position. Good vid!
The volume knob placement is EXACTLY why Strats generally dont work well for most metal players - because you spend so much time with your hand kind of left on/near the bridge, and the volume knob is just always annoyingly in the way.
Yep, the strat is the only guitar I own that I can comfortably volume swell. Either the volume knob is totally unreachable, or it feels like the volume knob is dragging its heels 😅
While I do prefer to have a linear volume pedal to keep my hands free, I do agree--I love using swells in my ambient music, so having that volume knob there just does it for me.
@@maynardburgerthat is a technique issue. The Ibanez RG at one point was the most common metal guitar and it has the same volume knob placement as a fender Strat.
To me, the bottom line on any guitar is its ease of play and how it sounds clean with no over drive or effects. Yes, Strats have a distinct sound clean as do Les Pauls (or many other choices). And they both have their purpose and sound (both of which I love). So it then comes down to playablility and natural tone for the music you're playing and what your ear says yes to.
I absolutely agree. I have a Les Paul Custom that I have played since the 80s but retired it and got a Strat five years ago and it has completely changed the way I play. In a good way.
The Fender Strat was made perfectly for what it was made for and famous for...that's why the Strat will forever be a household name of any guitar player for generations to come!
One could say similar things about the Les Paul featured in your picture rocnroll 🤣 . I like the Les Paul double humbucker tone and scale length but, they are heavy and bulky so I bought a Fender Squier Affinity SSS over an Epiphone after months of consideration. I like how Strats have a more bowed neck radius and the strings are spaced closer together than a Les Paul but, I do love the tones of a Les Paul w/ P90s or other humbuckers. It's easy enough to adjust for my hands and fingers but my back has a problem with the weight and the bulkier body. They're both iconic and will always be the first guitars talked about when generations to come look back at Rock and Roll and any other genres featuring electric guitar. Of course Teles will be a part of the conversation as well. In any case, nice comment roc!✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
@@stanphillips7277 Totally agree...I feel more comfortable playing the Gibson short scale and that warm growl /sizzle that comes from a good Les Paul is iconic just as the bubbly treble tones that come from a good Fender Strat. I haven't had much time with a Telecaster, but i did get to play my father in laws bass players late 50's or early 60's gold metal flake Tele and I loved how easy the neck responded and the clean tones with mild gain break up on the bridge pickup was amazing for blues, but I only got about ten minutes with that Tele, now a old school blues player that used a Tele and really knew how to make that guitar shine was Roy Buchanan!!!!!!
It is unfortunate that your options for hardtail strats are pretty much either a 4-5K Fender Custom Shop rig, or a $200 Squire. Would be nice if there were more options in the mid range/MIM range.
I have always loved the bridge pick-up. I just have always flipped it upside down. My favorite thing about the Stratocaster is that it’s just a workhorse guitar. If my PRS falls over I die. If my strat falls because my strap button sucks. I laugh and look at my new character mark. I don’t know why I feel this way, but my strat is just a strat. It’s made to be used.
I think the fact that Strats have those 5 distinct tones is the start, but the main thing that makes them so loved is how the sound responds through effects and pedals. The Strat sound is so responsive to effects, gain, your playing, and even tuning to a degree that no other style really is. This isn't to say that other styles of guitar don't do this, but a strats voice is so sensitive (I guess that's the word...) to what you do to it.
@@NintenDub it's true tho. Headroom is directly associated with output. Why do you think those who only play pedals can't use emgs and humbuckers but those who can afford real amps don't mind emgs
The 5-way switch wasn’t put into factory made Strats until 1977! Fender used 3-way switches, and players had to figure out how to “park” the switch to mix 2 pickups (some would jam toothpicks in the switch). It’s unbelievable just how long it took for Fender to go, “oh, people want 5 tones?”
@@joermnyc meanwhile i got a hss with coil tap and a gilmour nck mod, i can get 20 different switch positions, some are duplicates, i think its 12 different possibilities
Oh thanks, absolutely agree. That's why is nice to have different beasts that you can switch. it's not about one being better than the other, you can use them both ahahah
A strat is for whoever the hell wants to play one. It’s what an individual likes. It’s all subjective and up to preference of the player. I have a Les Paul. It’s my least favorite guitar to play, but I still like and use it at times. I have a ragged out strat that I play every thing with. All types of music. It’s my least expensive, yet most versatile guitar, and it’s comfortable like my favorite broken in pair of boots.
Always been a (super) strat guy, influenced by EVH who wanted Gibson’s thick sound with Fender’s lighter weight, comfort and whammy bar functionality. I set mine up so I can split the bridge bucker and/or combine it with the middle pickup to get the “Strattiness” when I need it, or go full bucker for face melting. And I deck my trems for dive only, use good nuts and locking tuners and they stay in tune really well. The Strat is just the best canvas for creating guitars that meet a wide array of musical needs. Thank you, Leo!
I've been through that Super Strat phase... Having a humbucker in the bridge just does not sound like a Strat. Not saying it's a bad sound, just that it's not a Strat sound. Coil splitting a humbucker doesn't make it sound at all like a single coil. Also, on a separate note, locking tuners do not help with tuning stability at all. They're just quicker to use than normal tuners.
@@CristiNeagu All in personal experience, I guess. All I know is I switched to locking tuners and tuning stability improved exponentially. Never said it was an iron-clad guarantee or the only way to achieve it. And tone is in the ear of the beholder. WhenI switch to position 4 or split the bucker, I get a sound that seems “Stratty” to me and fits the bill for certain applications. To each his own.
@@CristiNeagu If you have more fun with the humbucker in the bridge, it doesn't make sense to buy sss strat, just because it's the real deal. And even then, most of the time i use my hss strat, i'm in the neck single coil position.
@@jomei36 I never said it doesn't make sense to buy an HSS. I never said it's not more fun with a humbucker. I never said buy SSS. All I said is that if you want a genuine Strat sound, a humbucker is not going to give you that.
@@CristiNeagu yes but if you want that sound from time to time, it's probably close enough. I also got Ibanez AZ hss. All the things that bothers me on my fender are gone, but it doesn't sound exactly like my fender what was really disappointing to me at first. But the more i play i think it's close enough. And my Fender is more or less a dust collector now. Well if money is no problem ...
I love this series, please make a similar who is this really for series for Les Paul style, Jackson Soloist/lead, PRS, Krammer, Telecaster, Esquire, Grestch, semi-hollow, Hollow body, etc. -- Also, please make an amp series, like who is the Friedman amps for (strat vs LP) style guitars and how to tweak the knobs to work for each guitar setting, etc, if you are a stray guy, but want some more bite, the fat switch etc… or a Marshall style amp, Randall, SLO, Mesa, etc
How? I have the new Aerodyne model, got it last year, and even with different strings I can't get it to stay in tune. Some strings pitch up and some down!
@@gitaaa7740 no, it's a pull through. Locking tuners. "Babicz® Z-Series FCH-2 Point Tremolo " on it. It's super smooth and sounds great from little warbles to near dive bombs, but
I played a '57 Strat for $$$ for 35 years until sobriety got me out of the bars and cubs. You can set a Strat up to do what you want, with a little effort. Use at least four springs, five if you are running 10-52s. Work on keeping your right hand movement clean. Some guys wired their guitars like a Tele and used the bottom tone knob as a volume pot for the middle pickup. They could blend it with the other two as they wished. I never had any luck with the treble pickup until I bought my current axe in Tokyo, a Japan-only FJ top-line guitar coming out of the Dyna factory. Lacquer finish, American electronics and some very cool pickups. It's a monster.
I love my Eric Clapton custom shop strat. One strength of the strat is how well it plays with effects. I love delay, phaser and leslie effects and I absolutely love wah. I don’t think any other guitar plays so nicely with these effects. Great video my dude!
I just bought my first Strat a few weeks ago, an HSS Player Strat MiM. Volume knob placement: perfect. Middle pickup: perfect. Tone knobs: perfect. The lower tone knob is for the bridge pickup. The other tone knob is for the neck and middle. Vibrato: perfect. Pickup selector: perfect. 2nd position is the middle and one coil of the bridge pickup. Tones: All 5 switch positions: perfect. I lowered the bridge pickup a hair. I've been playing an Alvarez HSH w/ Floyd super strat for closing in on 30 years, but many things are wearing out. This HSS MiM Strat is a great replacement.
I find Strats incredibly 'player friendly'. So ergonomic and efficient. It's like the sports car of guitars. I have been a long time Les Paul fanatic, but Strats always call out to me, they make me play in a very different way than I would play on a Les Paul. Brilliant design, way ahead of its time. Never understood the common complaint about the volume control being in the way, to me me it is in the ideal position.
I find the volume control is in the ideal position when sitting down, playing blues and chilling at home. As soon as I’m on a stage with my rock band i keep turning the volume down unintentionally. The solution for me is a grolsch gasket aka rubber strap lock under the volume knob. Now the friction is adjustable (push down for more friction, up for less).
Other way round for me. Personal preference I guess. Strats are quite uncomfortable for me. Even the widest necks they come with feel too narrow. Maybe my hands are too big as I am a tall guy. I know it is not a valid excuse, because John Mayer does a damn good job with a strat and the dude is massive. The moment I started using a superstrat with a wider nut and a flatter fretboard my hand started flowing across the neck like never before. I started playing much better than I used to.
I love the feel of the body shape and the tone. I have multiple strats most of mine are kit build strats but they all are so different I love them. Can’t get enough of them
What I like about the Strat is that it makes me work. It has that signature Strat sound but it sounds like me playing a Strat, warts and all. If I’m having a bad day, you hear it. If I’m inspired, you hear it. I wire the rear tone control to the bridge pickup and don’t have a tone on my middle pickup. It makes the bridge pickup so much more useful.
I have 3 Strats, 2 Teles, LP, Ibanez models, a 1971 Mustang etc. I love all of my guitars. Strat bridge is my least fav pick up of the bunch. What I do is always wiring the tone knob to the pick up and use the knob at 6 or 7. This way you can limit the harshness of the bridge position. Great tones by the way. Thank you for the quality content. Cheers.
Or get an HSS 'Fat Strat', my weapon of choice ;) (and I still do that tone knob mod on Strats, SSS or HSS... Fender finally includes it some base models... damn... only took ya the better part of 7 decades to hear us on that.... lol)
A Strat is my favorite any more I think. I used to hate the bridge pickup for the same reason everyone else does, but somewhere in time my playing changed, or I learned how to dial in the amp, or something, and now the bridge single coil on my Strat is one of my favorite sounds. I think a lot of the harshness that can come from the bridge single coil can be gotten rid of by using a thick pick and working on right hand technique. I have a tone knob wired to that pickup too but I seldom have to dial it down. I've gotten it to where I can play stuff on that guitar that you normally would hear on a Gibson, and only guitar geeks are going to know I'm using the "wrong guitar" for that song.
My only 2 complaints about a Strat are: 1) the Volume knob is to close to the bridge pickup 2) I wish they offered more hardtail versions. I dont use a tremolo, and always have to block my Strats.
I'm a Strat guy through and through , all my guitars are Strat type guitars , traditional, super strat , SSH strat , custom shop strat . I love the way they sound and feel in the hand . My tone knob is wired to the bridge pickup on all my traditional strats . Good video.
I can't believe no one has mentioned anything about scale length. So many people over the years have told me that I have to fight to make my Strat sound the way I wanted to but it's worth the effort. They're talking about the string tension and also wider spacing and at times I even think even harmonics are affected by the 25.5 vs 24.75. My PRS does a great job of solving this by having a scale length of an even 25".
When I play a 24.75 scale guitar it feels cramped for me, I guess I am most comfortable with the 25.5 scale and I like the rounded radius of the 7.25. It just feels so comfortable to me as opposed to the 24.75 12 . Harmonics come naturally to me with the 25.5. I have just never bonded with a LP style, it feels I am sorry but like a 3/4 length travel guitar in a way, and I don’t mean that as an insult. I have long arms and broad shoulders, I have to buy 18 1/2 neck dress shirts and I still can’t button the top button and roll the sleeves up to my elbows. To keep the shirt from billowing out like a dress . Still tight around the shoulders. But I think that is why a Strat feels more comfortable, and fits me better. I can lay my elbow behind the bridge and have a straight line to the middle pickup. The volume knob doesn’t get in the way. I’m used to it. I can’t explain it. The guitar just fits me and that round warm tone with a little delay just makes a song jump from me, know what I mean? I’m not some freaky giant, just an average 6ft2,175, long arms and I can just sit down with a Strat, and I am home. The Gibsons make me feel cramped for some reason. I can’t bond with them like with even my old $50 Silvertone I put back together and practice on. I had a Sillver Strat back in the 90s with get this, a single Humbucker! And it sounded like a Strat. I could make it sound spooky and sweet. I had a coil splitter and a delay that would space the two halves of the humbucker out in a flanger effect. Great guitar, it was a Strat 7.25 25.5 length, it had a haunting tone. People teased me about that Gibson pickup, but when I played it, the teasing stopped. A Strat will always sound like a Strat. I don’t if it is an intonation or harmonic difference, but the harmonic rang on the same frets . The range of a 25.5 scale. I built a lot of hot rods and tuned headers and exhaust systems for the best performance and different engines wanted different systems. Put them on the dyno and they make the same power at the same points and the only difference was the exhaust system. Could that be pertinent?
PRS guys will never understand but the rest of us find them very boring. It's like the chain Steakhouse of guitars. You know you're gonna get the same thing every time but it's lame and ironically feels more mass produced and corporate although we know it isn't. The guitar is such an imperfect instrument that it feels weird to have that kind of consistency, I know you will not understand this lol don't worry. If PRS was making intermediate guitars with crazy quality control and value I'd own 3 but when you scale that up to $4k it's just the opposite of rock and roll in every possible way. Without prior knowledge has anyone ever heard a recording and said that sounds like a PRS?
Look. You love the quintessential strat tone or not. Buy one. Or don't. If you do STAY OFF the pickups.Ten years ago, I bought a second hand strat California series in gorgeous fiesta red. Why? For it's sound. Since then ALL of my music (jazz/pop) teachers, most of them Gibson or other brand players, were immediately struck and awed by the sound (straight into the amp) of this gorgeous fiesta red strat. Love it. Buy it. Play.
I love the bridge pickup, I love the volume pot for swells, I love how the tremolo adds a subtle reverb and bite to the sound, but i keep it decked lol :) my point being that drawbacks for one player can be strengths for another :)
As versatile as a strat is, going the extra yard and adding bridge pup tone control and a Gilmour style neck pup toggle completely transforms the available tones.. seven, count 'em, seven tonal options. Love my strat. ❤️👍
I was comparing my PRS with my Strat and one of the things that stood out to me is how optimally placed the switch is on strats. On my PRS I have to reach down to switch pickups, but on strats it's conveniently placed near your hand if you need to switch pickups quickly on the fly. Plus, a Strat is always going to sound like a Strat.
My favorite solution to the tinny bridge tone- a 7K Fralin Blues Special that's got 300 additional turns of wire- that with a No Load tone pot gives it just the right amount of Umph without sacrificing the signature Twang when played clean, totally retaining the classic vibe; I quite prefer this over a Humbucking install
As a fingerstyle player, the middle pickup getting in the way is never a problem. and I do love the sound of that middle pickup. Living in middle position gives a real nice Dead kinda tone that doesn't sound like a steroetypical strat. Dimarzio White Velvet is a great middle pickup that sounds good alone or in positions 2 and 4.
I've never understood how the middle pickup of a Strat even could get in the way. It's below the strings! With a pick you barely scrape the strings anyway so it really shouldn't be a problem.
@@rjohnson1690 for noise cancelling for bridge the fralin split steel pole, and the rest the split blade. for traditional the fralin vintage hot with the steel pole 43 for the bridge. for the john mayer sound the klein jazzy cats.
Im gonna get a lot of shit for saying this, but the most pleasant playing experience was on a Squier affinity strat. The actual fit and finish is one thing, but the neck feel and string tension with 9's was just perfection for me.
Have played LPs , Ibanez and Fender strats . My favourite among them has to be the Strat . The tonal variance and the comfort just suits my taste . If there were only one guitar that I d wish to bring with me to an island , then it would be the Strat for sure
Ive always played Gibsons - lPauls, SGs. I own a 1982 Ibanez 335ish axe. The one thing they all have in common is that right arm naturally rests on the bridge. I tried Strats, but I found my right shoulder getting tired because the bridge is further back. Plus, having the volume knob right below the high E is awkward. Lastly the scale length is longer than a Gibson, which makes the strings more taut. Maybe thats why a lot of Strat players tune down to Eb.
The 'strat' will always be the go to guitar for a lot of players, new and experienced. Whether it's an actual Fender or another brand, the strat is synonymous with guitar playing. It's the perfect guitar in a lot of ways, it has a unique, yet rounded sound that is great for a variety of styles, and design that whilst is somewhat flawed can be picked up and played effortlessly by anyone. Having said that, I've personally never been a fan of the traditional strat. I had a Peavey Raptor Special growing up and that fixed some of the design issues and felt more modernised. Now I play a Telecaster, however, and absolutely love the 'unrefined-ness' of that design.
The most versatile guitar ever made is a Stratocaster Mine has 2 bolt tremolo unlike a standard or vintage The bridge pickup works for me, for my needs
My entire guitar-playing life I have always loved the Strat bridge pickup more than anything else (well along with Tele bridge pickup). I spend 90% of my time on a Strat bridge pickup with or without tone control. All it takes is to dial the amp/pedals to suit your most commonly used setting and the compromises on the other pickups are less of an issue in my opinion.
I've been a Strat man since I first started playing guitar back when I was 12. I first encountered Hendrix around the same time and decided it was just the guitar for me. They are the perfect blend of aesthetics and function - beautiful to look at, but there is nothing superfluous about their looks either. Their shape is guided by playability (neck-joint excepted), and unlike other guitars, look best with a simple, solid paintjob rather than bursts or flame-tops. Personally, I really like the volume-control placement - when I play a Tele or a Les Paul, I miss having the ability to create volume swells and sudden volume-drops while playing. The only other criticism I'll levy at the Strat is the normal, curved-metal saddles are quite uncomfortable if you palm-mute a lot. Fortunately, mine has more solid-block ones so I don't have this problem but it does bother me when I play my brother's one.
Love the feel and playability and look of a Strat. The vol knob, at first was in the way, now I dig it as it’s so easy to adjust while playing. Strat tones, while sounding great in the bedroom, get lost in a regular band mix playing regular rock tunes. Would love to see more hardtail Strats. So many players never use the whammy. Would like a hardtail Strat with a Tele pickup configuration. Not sure how that would end up working out or sounding, but may build one someday.
Strats are for me. I agree with all the positive aspects you list. And oddly, I've never found those negatives to be an issue; once I wired the tone control to the bridge pickup, that is. With pedals, I can make a Strat sound like a Gibson, but never the other way around.
The volume knob, if you use it is right where it needs to be. Strats are for people who play a variety of styles and want a simple rig to cover all the bases…… and look cool doing it!
Look at Jeff Beck at Ronnie's. That's when you realize, that it seems the guitar was made for him,specifically.but was already around and he created whole style with it
I picked up a Squier Cyclone, a blend of Mustang body, Strat whammy bar and pickups (though the original Fender had Jaguar pickups), and Jaguar switches so you can mix all 3 pickups without extra push pull pots.
The strat to me is like the Jeep of the guitar world. A billion after market parts for it, but nobody confuses a jeep (or a strat) for anything else. I've just got a squier strat, but after installing new tuners and a loaded pickguard it feels like a whole different beast. The best part was learning about everything in the process (including fret dressing). Not many other guitar styles are so easily accessible to upgrade and learn on.
I’m 68 years old. Been playing electric guitar over 50 years. Strats never worked for me until I saw the Richard Lloyd Group a few months ago. I was totally blown away and changed my perception of Strats. Opened up a whole new world of guitar playing for me.
I have a couple strats, all modified, one completely rebuilt, colour changed, new pickups and custom wiring. I really love it, but I’m a Tele guy, and I love my MIM Tele I converted with EMG actives, but, my heart belongs to a DG335 I’ve built. Not a real one unfortunately but I’m a lefty and they don’t exist and I don’t have that money to spend on a guitar, but honestly, I’m so proud to own the guitar, and it’s just so beautiful.
I love a strat . My favorite thing is that u have to dig in and really play it . U have to work for it with a strat and it will reveal just what kind of player you are. Ya can't be sloppy or lazy with a strat the single coil detail will make it evident my strats actually made me a more disciplined player
@@stoneysdead689 I feel like fenders are just more articulate, the notes don’t blend as well clean , driven is pretty similar. SRV had reallyyyy good left hand technique, you can see he is always muting the strings he doesn’t want. Jimi is sloppy but that’s part of his style
@@stoneysdead689 and I own 16 gibsons and 10 are les pauls and a bunch of strats .....fact ....fender has a longer scale length that equals more string tension . Single coil pickups don't have the out put that most humbuckers have and don't push amp as hard there fore there is less sustain . A cleaner lower out put guitar WILL reveal every detail of your playing . A strat demands cleaner playing to NOT SOUND SLOPPY . your comment reinforces my point .And I wasn't speaking about hendrix or srv I was commenting on MY experience and I actually don't care if you disagree. Get your self a vintage strat with a 7.25 radius fretboard and vintage style frets and play it clean then talk nonsensence
I play an SG - I own 2 - I also own a Strat… sometimes I turn to the Strat when I’m songwriting - it’s so different from an SG, it helps me come at an idea from a different perspective. I also own a Jazzmaster - when I’m ready to be completely out of my comfort zone
Mad respect for all of the great music that's been made with the Fender Stratocaster over the years, from Buddy Holly on down the line! That said, the SG is my all around go-to geetahr of choice and has been for a few years now. My shoulder getting older gave the Les Paul less appeal. Rock on!
I've only ever owned 2 les pauls , but I have had many strats. I play one , modify it , and some one wants to buy it. I do have 3 strats that are keepers. My strat is my go to all the time. I have an 83 hard tail built in Corona Cal. My solutuon for the neck pup was a single coil Red Rhodes Velvet Hammer. So much tone and very creamy and smooth.
As a teenager, my dream guitar was an American Deluxe HSS strat. I got it when I was 18. And I didn't like it at all, I had so many issues with the volume knob. Nearly 10 years later, I bought an Epiphone Les Paul and that was a game changer. Turns out I'm a Les Paul guy. I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Modern, and the split humbuckers have an incredible tone.
I played a cheap (but quite good ) strat copy most of life. I fiddled with its switching a little and one thing that should be standard on strats is a bridge and neck pickup combo I think. The ultimate would be toggles instead of the blade switch that allowed all combos of pickups both in phase and out of phase.
Just a few things: 1. Most new Strats come with the rear tone pot connected to the bridge PU as well as to the middle PU. Even my new Squire CV 50 Stratocaster has that. Also the Fender pre-wired fat 50s Pickguard. It's a must imo. 2. If you have a fuzz face you can clean it up by rolling back the volume knob. This works best with a Stratocaster. 3. The Strat has not as much mids as a Les Paul or a Tele or something like that. Therefore to me you definitely should get a Tube Screamer pedal. Personally I like the TS9 best. Thank you for this video!
Volume knob. You cn cut a circle of foam and fit it under the volume knob. The volume knob will be less loose if you inadvertently touch it. Same for all the other knobs.
I love the comfort and the clear, clean tone. I mostly play jazz, but on the Strat i can hear so much better what notes I am actually playing, and how they ring together, without any muddiness. And even the low notes are usable, not booming. And then there's the character. The stratiness, I guess.
I'm 50 next year and started playing guitar when I was 8, in 1982. I went through the whole super Strat thing as a teenager in the 80s and I carried on playing Floyd Rose equipped hotrod strat style guitars for decades. I always stayed away from Stratocasters because in the 80s, everyone wanted the most up-to-date specs and innovative features etc. I've got a bunch of Stratocasters now and I haven't really played anything else for the last few years. I didn't actually like the fretboard radius at first but now, after getting so used to the Strat radius, my Charvels actually feel uncomfortably flat now and it takes a bit of adjusting. I was always trying to get a good "Strat tone" with humbucker guitars with coil split pickups, when really, nothing sounds quite like a Stratocaster.
I'm liking that surf green strat, looks great! I play all three - Les Paul, Strat and Tele depending on the song. My first guitar was a Korean strat copy so I started with the strat and branched out. The only sound I don't have a use for is the bridge pickup on its own, it's too thin to be usable.
What love the most about strats is just how the respond to your playing. It sounds weird but it's the only guitar in which I feel the sound comes "100%" from your fingers.
The things that bug me most about a Strat -- the bridge is right there on the body, and my picking hand wrist feels awkward when trying to mute, compared to Gibson style bridges; and the scale length makes everything feel stiff and low fret stretches hurt... the curse of not having massive hands, I guess.
Great breakdown and amazing playing as always! One of my gripes with my Strat is the bridge height; I'm more of a Gibson style guitar player and find it difficult to find a comfortable hand position with my picking hand. Subsequently it also makes it difficult for me to dig in and play faster passages cleanly because the bridge sits much lower on the body which changes the angle of my picking hand and wrist. It always takes me a bit to get comfortable with it. Cheers!
What in the hell was that chord at 0:17 and why is blowing my mind?! For real though if you could explain the theory behind it I would really appreciate it. Amazing video!
Well, blues was never really associated with a strat in the early days. Even Clapton switched to the strat later. Then Jimi came. But before it was Gibson or Tele territory only.
Rory Gallagher really knew how to get the best sound. He switched between Strat and Tele with ease, depending on the song. First saw him with Taste at the IOW festival 1970.
@@MrRizoable obviously those early blues players whose career started before 1954 could not have chosen a Strat. I think the first Strat-playing bluesman was probably Pee Wee Crayton, who famously owned a 1954 red Strat, and Ike Turner of course, even if the latter didn't always stick to blues exactly. Also, some country guitar players started using Strats early. Then Buddy Holly of course. Among classic-era Chicago blues players, Buddy Guy comes to mind as one of the first and more consistent Strat wielders. But there were others. Then of course Hendrix, and all the rest. Probably Stevie Ray Vaughan did for the Strat in the 80s what Hendrix had done in the 60s. Both were great popularizers of this beautiful, charismatic instrument.
That control placement is such a good spot though for quick adjustments, it stays there on strats and teles because that's the most easily accessible place it could be.
My first guitar was a Squire Bullet Strat. My second guitar was an American Strat. Now, it’s one of my least used guitars, but I think because I started out on nothing but strats, I have an ear that loves the neck pickup on pretty much every guitar. I always gravitate towards the neck pickup while playing and I choose guitars based more on that pickup than any other.
I have been playing Strats since 1963. I have adapted my playing to facilitate knob placement usage and I do not have a problem with accidental knob and/or switch activation. I only have a problem with my Telecasters...
Love my strats, and superstrats. I have a Tele an H150 and a Reverend double agent, everything else is a strat style. My main guitar is a flip of the coin between a 92 American standard and a 50th anniversary. Yes I'm a left-handed guitar player but hendrix was not a primary influence.
Pro tip: combine the tone pots to the lower tone pot hole (you hardly ever need two separate tone pots) and put the volume pot in the upper tone pot hole. The rest of the issues (pickup switch placement, neck heel and middle pickup) you'll just have to kinda live with, unless you want to start routing the wood and pickguard for a different switch placement. I lowered the middle pickup just slightly, so it's not in the way (that much) while still sounding ok. I'm planning on throwing a dummy coil in there somewhere to eliminate the humming, but I havent bothered yet.
Nailed it at 8:02 - A strat always sounds like a strat. You can do anything you want to it but it still sounds like a strat. That's either your thing or it's not.
What you point as cons: volume and selector position, for me and for others are advantages. The volume knob can be easily rolled with the little finger to create volume sells while playing (Ritchie Blackmore, Van Halen or Yngwie have been doing that), and the 5-pos selector is very quick and easy to reach. Do not ever change them on my Strats and Super-Strats!!!
Yes, even with humbuckers strats are still stratty. This was a big part of the old EVH tone, that jangly snap with a humbucker cranked through a Marshall.
Fender "had" a solution for the pickup switch on the '83 Elite Strat but, for whatever reason abandoned it. It was 3 on/off push buttons. I think it was each pickup had it's own on/off switch.
My very first guitar was a strat. When I thought of what a guitar was supposed to look like there was a strat that came to my mind. So I went and bought one. Now I own two of them! There is no better guitar for playing blues! You can play blues on my other guitars , and it sounds great but my favorite players used Stratocaster’s. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jeff, Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, on occasion I could keep going, but I think you understand!
One thing that wasn't mentioned is scale length. I'm a Gibson guy. I only played Les Pauls for the first 14 years of playing so when I played a Strat, it felt wrong but I never knew why until I learnt about scale length and how it affects feel. A Strat has a 25 and half inch scale length (distance between nut and bridge) while a Les Paul is 24 and three quarter inch. Now, that's only three quarters of an inch difference but the longer scale of a Strat means that it requires more tension in the strings to bring it up to pitch. For the player, that's a tighter feel under the fingers than a Les Paul. 9 gauge strings on a Strat will feel like 10s do on a Les Paul. This is the reason a lot of people played Strats tuned down half a step, especially when using higher String gauges. Also, the different scale length means the distance between the frets isn't the same, so this can also throw you off if you're not used to it. I think it's easier to go from a Strat to a Les Paul but if you're a Les Paul guy, it's harder to go the other way. Don't get me wrong, I love Strats but usually in someone else's hands. I'm ok noodling at home on one but in the heat of battle at a gig with sweaty hands, mistakes creep in and it's just not home base for me. Shame cause they're awesome in their own way.
Lower the bridge pickup. It’ll warm it up. In fact, I lower all 3 on mine to just above the surface of the pickguard. Also takes care of the middle pickup being in the way.
For me, a strat is the most dynamic. The clean tones have so much clarity and chime. They have such an open and airy tone. A 5-way selector switch gives you a lot of versatility as each position is very unique in its own way. Add some dirt, and the clear tones just pop out of the amp. And even though it's over driven, it will still clean up well by using a lighter touch or by rolling back the volume. Then you have some guitarists that push the distortion over the edge (Malmsteen, Lincoln Brewster, ETC), and yet it'll distinctly sound like a strat. It still has those bell like tones, and the bridge has that unmistakable bite. Then add to that the comfortable neck, the perfect weight and balance, the two tone knobs, and the massive amounts of modifications that you can make to it, and it really is the perfect instrument.
Nashville Tele all the way. 5 way single coils. Somehow the middle doesn’t get in the way. No weird volume knob in the way. No silly third knob (who needs two tone pots?). The bridge doesn’t detune when I rest my hand on it. Done.
Had a good chuckle with all those "Bruh! Why you in my way?" moments. Love my strat but one of my cons are the selector switch when your really rocking out and then all of a sudden the bridge comes in. haha!
As an old guitarist, I have to say every guitar has its tone, feel, it’s sound through pedals and it’s own inspiration for the player. Have you ever picked up a guitar and feel like you’re suddenly playing better? There’s a sound in our head that we all chase, any guitar is just a tool to manifest that tone. Many famous guitarists like Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page had to make or modify a guitar to get that sound in their head. I love every guitar, even the cheap ones that challenge my skills or lack of skills. A Strat with just a little dirt and a little delay, switched on the neck pick up, can keep me entertained for a whole day. Heaven for me would be a giant music store.
Played a MIM strat for 10 years loved it however when I got my first American standard strat that’s exactly what happened all the sudden I felt like I was playing twice as good my fingers just flowed where they were supposed to. I was remembering songs I had forgotten for years all the sudden they just came back to me like I had never forgotten them.
@@dcguitar357 I'm right there with you.
Absolutely why I love a Strat! You can play songs you learned or heard on an acoustic and still make it magical! When you see your wife tearing up, playing a folk song on a Strat or a song that is like a gentle wind that is just flowing out of you… that is what a Strat is.
Regarding your question about picking up a guitar that makes you feel like you're playing better; I've found a very few that have met that with me. But it wasn't a brand or a tone that made that happen, it was the feel of the guitar in my hands that did it. I own more than twenty guitars and there are maybe three that feel that way to me. I would say those are one of my Strat's, one of my Les Pauls, and one of my SG's.
Dito!
I'm a strat player and my favorite thing about it, tone-wise, is that you can get a great crystal clear clean tone, never gets muddy. If it feels a bit thin, you can always use the tone knob to warm it up. My main strat has a humbucker in the bridge with a 3 way switch hooked up to it (series, coil-split, parallel), like that I can get the most out of 1 guitar. And I keep it tuned Eb Standard.
I am a Les Paul guy, but as a guitar player I just have to own a strat, because, well strat. The approach to a strat is certainly different and I think that helps the creative process. Forcing myself to play something I am less comfortable with makes me think different and that is good thing.
Well said, been there done that too.
I also have a G& L legacy great guitar
LPS are great as well
I recommend playing an acoustic as well
This is me but opposite
Who is a Strat for? Me. Others too, but definitely for me. A Fat Strat, HSS, specifically. For me, from feel to sound... it just fits my tastes better than anything else. Everything is just... right. I like other guitars, Tele's, Les Pauls... but every other model of guitar is for specialty use. General, grab a guitar and go? I reach for my Strat. Cut a guitar collection from 14 to just 1? HSS Strat will do it. As for the negatives... I don't experience that. I've never had problems hitting the switch on accident or adjusting the knobs... I came up on a Strat, my playing must have altered around it. Neck join doesn't bother me, it's a touchfeedback, I know where on the fretboard I am up high when I feel the neck joint. Bridge pickup? Ok, I agree... but I use a humbucker. So for me, long list of pros, and literally no con. My comparison is so onesided, that I consider a good fat strat the most essential piece of music gear in my life. In fact, a good Strat is one of the most important physical _things_ for me to own. Everyone is different. We all have different tastes and preferences... but for me... the traditional Strat is near perfect, and the HSS Strat _IS_ perfection. All pros, and a lot of them at that. No cons.
I always loved Strats but played Les Pauls for years. I finally switched over to Strats full time 5-6 years ago and never looked back. I absolutely love them… they’re so comfortable to play and every sound I’ve ever loved is there when I need it.
The best thing about strats for me, is comfort. They are so damn comfortable to play. I could sit anywhere for hours, play and not be uncomfortable. I don't know why, but they just sit so well. Tele's, Les Pauls and Strats all have their own unique magic, and should be in every guitar player's arsenal. Strats are for those who really like their comfort and playability.
I wish more "super strats" still had the rounded contours rather than sharp edges (but still belly/elbow cuts of course) because as the boniest man on earth - yeah the actual Strat strat shape is one of the most ergonomic, non-pokey ones there is, all I want is a bridge humbucker and maybe 24 frets and I'm golden
That's jazzmasters for me, I'll do all sorts of pickups and different controls where the rythum circuit normally goes.... but just can't beat the feel for me.
@@lostintheinternet2814 Does that bother you?
@@benjaminnielsen4288 I'm 21 and I find strats uncomfortable to play I'm more of a hollow body guy
@@patrickmcpartland1398 I love Jazz masters!
Les Paul guy here, but my Strat is the only guitar I will never sell. Tone is the reason, nothing else does what a Strat can do. The downside for me is in the studio. The LP records so smoothly, so compressed, so consistent - so awesome!!! The Strat is the opposite. Sometimes I have to re-record a good take because of the way the pluck or strum sounded. The transition from the wound D-string to the unwound G-string is sometimes a nightmare. It's quirky in exact opposition to the silky smoothness of the LP.
That's why I find pedals more essential with Strats. An OCD, a big muff, delay, spring reverb, even a compressor can all do huge things and make the Strat sound brilliant. Whereas I find myself not doing much with a Les Paul besides a bit of analog delay. or reverb.
Maybe that is the reason why most people use tele for recording.
I built a Warmoth Strat 10 years ago with the advice of a prominent local luthier. One-Piece Swamp Ash Body with two-tone tobacco sunburst. One piece maple neck. '59 profile with a 12" straight radius. Lollar Pickups. It's as Strat as a Strat can be. Amazing tone through my '59
bassman clone. Like they were made for each other.
Bumping into the volumes, selector switch, and middle pick-up is something that I had to adjust to when I got my first strat a few years back. Glad to know I'm not alone...
Definitely not alone man. Such a common complaint there's a running joke - "You'd think it was designed by someone who didn't play guitar" 😂 Which Leo Fender didn't but it's one of those jokes that comes from a place of love right?
Who knows the degree to which he changed music, especially Rock and Roll guitar but, it's an impossible hypothetical question. He innovated this iconic instrument that so many are still partial to all these decades later.
You've got a _ton_ of company.
I play a Fender Squier Affinity SSS and it's identical in it's layout and has all of the same pros and cons, and I had to adjust to it but my first guitar was a Headway (nobody has ever heard of it) a Made in China Strat "Style" guitar so I was already kinda used to it as much as you _ever_ get used to it 🤣✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
@@stanphillips7277 Cool, thanks for the thoughts.. My Strat is a MIM "stupid deal of the hour" that I had to have when I saw it. $250.00 off the market price and redeemed MF points to boot. Black body and pickguard, white knobs and pups, it's my only guitar with a "tremolo" arm and maple fret board. They called it a "special edition modified standard" I dig it.. Cheers..🙏🎼💙🎸
@@samstamos427 I've heard nothing but good things about the made in Mexico Strats and black on black w/white knobs sounds like a beautiful instrument. Plus you got a good deal right? I know the trem system probably leaves something to me desired but, you could mod that if you wanted to. I hardly use my trem but, I would if I had a Floyd Rose. I'm not accustomed to using one and I almost got a Jackson with a Floyd but I like to be able to drop the tuning in and out of standard without needing tools and half an hour 😂
Pleasure talking to you bro, I'll talk to you soon Mr Sam, cheers ✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
I started playing on a strat, so they all feel perfect for me! Mine even have the contoured neck heel so that problem isn't there, either.
Yeah it's the volume knob placement...
I'm a metal guy, and my first guitar was a Mexican Strat. 15 years later, it's still my favorite guitar. Yeah, it's been modified dozens of times, but everything from the weight, neck, balance, shape, etc. is just perfect. In particular, I always loved how Strats fit against the body.
Loved my mexi strat
My primary guitar is a Mexican Strat. It's starting to have connection issues in the selector switch so it's time to learn to solder as I'll never get rid of it. My secondary guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica PAC112, basically a cheaper Strat and I'm prepping to drop about $400 in mods for it.
@@Recon19D3 Before desoldering and throwing away the old switch, I would put dielectric grease in it. I use Permatex brand: it's a silicone grease with a bit of boric acid in it (which cuts through oxidation). If that does the trick, you're good; and if you swap the switch, it's good to use on the new one right away.
I’ve always enjoyed the way the Strat makes me “WORK” for the sound. It’s basically a blank canvas, it gives you nothing, you have to work hard to hone your tone, then if it feels like you’ve put your time in, and earned it, it’ll release a “reluctant tone.”
yes, thank you! you just answered a question I didn't know I had. I feel like an LP style guitar is ready to go, you just have to steer. Which is a beautiful thing in itself. A strat on the other hand doesn't even give you the wheels.
After playing guitar for 17 years I bought my first strat and the controls were in my way. But as I adapted to them I've come to the conclusion that the layout of the controls is perfect for me.I can make adjustments with great ease compared to other guitars
Y'all forgot to mention - that for players who know how to play pinky finger "swells", the volume knob placement is in the absolute PERFECT position.
Good vid!
The volume knob placement is EXACTLY why Strats generally dont work well for most metal players - because you spend so much time with your hand kind of left on/near the bridge, and the volume knob is just always annoyingly in the way.
Yep, the strat is the only guitar I own that I can comfortably volume swell. Either the volume knob is totally unreachable, or it feels like the volume knob is dragging its heels 😅
While I do prefer to have a linear volume pedal to keep my hands free, I do agree--I love using swells in my ambient music, so having that volume knob there just does it for me.
@@maynardburgerthat is a technique issue. The Ibanez RG at one point was the most common metal guitar and it has the same volume knob placement as a fender Strat.
Volume swells are a pretty worn guitar cliche.
To me, the bottom line on any guitar is its ease of play and how it sounds clean with no over drive or effects. Yes, Strats have a distinct sound clean as do Les Pauls (or many other choices). And they both have their purpose and sound (both of which I love). So it then comes down to playablility and natural tone for the music you're playing and what your ear says yes to.
The song calls the guitar.
I absolutely agree. I have a Les Paul Custom that I have played since the 80s but retired it and got a Strat five years ago and it has completely changed the way I play. In a good way.
The Fender Strat was made perfectly for what it was made for and famous for...that's why the Strat will forever be a household name of any guitar player for generations to come!
One could say similar things about the Les Paul featured in your picture rocnroll 🤣 . I like the Les Paul double humbucker tone and scale length but, they are heavy and bulky so I bought a Fender Squier Affinity SSS over an Epiphone after months of consideration.
I like how Strats have a more bowed neck radius and the strings are spaced closer together than a Les Paul but, I do love the tones of a Les Paul w/ P90s or other humbuckers.
It's easy enough to adjust for my hands and fingers but my back has a problem with the weight and the bulkier body.
They're both iconic and will always be the first guitars talked about when generations to come look back at Rock and Roll and any other genres featuring electric guitar. Of course Teles will be a part of the conversation as well.
In any case, nice comment roc!✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
@@stanphillips7277 Totally agree...I feel more comfortable playing the Gibson short scale and that warm growl /sizzle that comes from a good Les Paul is iconic just as the bubbly treble tones that come from a good Fender Strat. I haven't had much time with a Telecaster, but i did get to play my father in laws bass players late 50's or early 60's gold metal flake Tele and I loved how easy the neck responded and the clean tones with mild gain break up on the bridge pickup was amazing for blues, but I only got about ten minutes with that Tele, now a old school blues player that used a Tele and really knew how to make that guitar shine was Roy Buchanan!!!!!!
It is unfortunate that your options for hardtail strats are pretty much either a 4-5K Fender Custom Shop rig, or a $200 Squire. Would be nice if there were more options in the mid range/MIM range.
Exactly. From what I see, 80% of players don't use the trem.
I have always loved the bridge pick-up. I just have always flipped it upside down. My favorite thing about the Stratocaster is that it’s just a workhorse guitar. If my PRS falls over I die. If my strat falls because my strap button sucks. I laugh and look at my new character mark. I don’t know why I feel this way, but my strat is just a strat. It’s made to be used.
I think the fact that Strats have those 5 distinct tones is the start, but the main thing that makes them so loved is how the sound responds through effects and pedals. The Strat sound is so responsive to effects, gain, your playing, and even tuning to a degree that no other style really is.
This isn't to say that other styles of guitar don't do this, but a strats voice is so sensitive (I guess that's the word...) to what you do to it.
Lower output pickups work better with pedals due to pedals having weak headroom vs amps. Humbuckers need tubes to really shine
@@0megalul309 that's like saying lipstick pickups work best with a bass amp. Total hogwash
@@NintenDub it's true tho. Headroom is directly associated with output. Why do you think those who only play pedals can't use emgs and humbuckers but those who can afford real amps don't mind emgs
The 5-way switch wasn’t put into factory made Strats until 1977! Fender used 3-way switches, and players had to figure out how to “park” the switch to mix 2 pickups (some would jam toothpicks in the switch). It’s unbelievable just how long it took for Fender to go, “oh, people want 5 tones?”
@@joermnyc meanwhile i got a hss with coil tap and a gilmour nck mod, i can get 20 different switch positions, some are duplicates, i think its 12 different possibilities
Strats are absolutely for me. 5 way, use all five positions. Love me the middle and the neck pickup.
I’m both Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster and to me both pickups have their own distinctive sound which are special and I love them.
Oh thanks, absolutely agree. That's why is nice to have different beasts that you can switch. it's not about one being better than the other, you can use them both ahahah
A strat is for whoever the hell wants to play one. It’s what an individual likes. It’s all subjective and up to preference of the player. I have a Les Paul. It’s my least favorite guitar to play, but I still like and use it at times. I have a ragged out strat that I play every thing with. All types of music. It’s my least expensive, yet most versatile guitar, and it’s comfortable like my favorite broken in pair of boots.
Always been a (super) strat guy, influenced by EVH who wanted Gibson’s thick sound with Fender’s lighter weight, comfort and whammy bar functionality. I set mine up so I can split the bridge bucker and/or combine it with the middle pickup to get the “Strattiness” when I need it, or go full bucker for face melting. And I deck my trems for dive only, use good nuts and locking tuners and they stay in tune really well. The Strat is just the best canvas for creating guitars that meet a wide array of musical needs. Thank you, Leo!
I've been through that Super Strat phase... Having a humbucker in the bridge just does not sound like a Strat. Not saying it's a bad sound, just that it's not a Strat sound. Coil splitting a humbucker doesn't make it sound at all like a single coil.
Also, on a separate note, locking tuners do not help with tuning stability at all. They're just quicker to use than normal tuners.
@@CristiNeagu All in personal experience, I guess. All I know is I switched to locking tuners and tuning stability improved exponentially. Never said it was an iron-clad guarantee or the only way to achieve it. And tone is in the ear of the beholder. WhenI switch to position 4 or split the bucker, I get a sound that seems “Stratty” to me and fits the bill for certain applications. To each his own.
@@CristiNeagu If you have more fun with the humbucker in the bridge, it doesn't make sense to buy sss strat, just because it's the real deal. And even then, most of the time i use my hss strat, i'm in the neck single coil position.
@@jomei36 I never said it doesn't make sense to buy an HSS. I never said it's not more fun with a humbucker. I never said buy SSS. All I said is that if you want a genuine Strat sound, a humbucker is not going to give you that.
@@CristiNeagu yes but if you want that sound from time to time, it's probably close enough. I also got Ibanez AZ hss. All the things that bothers me on my fender are gone, but it doesn't sound exactly like my fender what was really disappointing to me at first. But the more i play i think it's close enough. And my Fender is more or less a dust collector now. Well if money is no problem ...
I love this series, please make a similar who is this really for series for Les Paul style, Jackson Soloist/lead, PRS, Krammer, Telecaster, Esquire, Grestch, semi-hollow, Hollow body, etc. -- Also, please make an amp series, like who is the Friedman amps for (strat vs LP) style guitars and how to tweak the knobs to work for each guitar setting, etc, if you are a stray guy, but want some more bite, the fat switch etc… or a Marshall style amp, Randall, SLO, Mesa, etc
The Jeff Beck Fender Custom Shop Strat doesn’t have tremolo tuning issues you can dive bomb and pull way back. Stays in tune!
How? I have the new Aerodyne model, got it last year, and even with different strings I can't get it to stay in tune. Some strings pitch up and some down!
@@jeremyt4292 is the nut locking?
@@gitaaa7740 no, it's a pull through.
Locking tuners.
"Babicz® Z-Series FCH-2 Point Tremolo " on it.
It's super smooth and sounds great from little warbles to near dive bombs, but
I played a '57 Strat for $$$ for 35 years until sobriety got me out of the bars and cubs. You can set a Strat up to do what you want, with a little effort. Use at least four springs, five if you are running 10-52s. Work on keeping your right hand movement clean. Some guys wired their guitars like a Tele and used the bottom tone knob as a volume pot for the middle pickup. They could blend it with the other two as they wished. I never had any luck with the treble pickup until I bought my current axe in Tokyo, a Japan-only FJ top-line guitar coming out of the Dyna factory. Lacquer finish, American electronics and some very cool pickups. It's a monster.
I love my Eric Clapton custom shop strat. One strength of the strat is how well it plays with effects. I love delay, phaser and leslie effects and I absolutely love wah. I don’t think any other guitar plays so nicely with these effects. Great video my dude!
I just bought my first Strat a few weeks ago, an HSS Player Strat MiM.
Volume knob placement: perfect.
Middle pickup: perfect.
Tone knobs: perfect. The lower tone knob is for the bridge pickup. The other tone knob is for the neck and middle.
Vibrato: perfect.
Pickup selector: perfect. 2nd position is the middle and one coil of the bridge pickup.
Tones: All 5 switch positions: perfect. I lowered the bridge pickup a hair.
I've been playing an Alvarez HSH w/ Floyd super strat for closing in on 30 years, but many things are wearing out. This HSS MiM Strat is a great replacement.
I find Strats incredibly 'player friendly'. So ergonomic and efficient. It's like the sports car of guitars. I have been a long time Les Paul fanatic, but Strats always call out to me, they make me play in a very different way than I would play on a Les Paul. Brilliant design, way ahead of its time. Never understood the common complaint about the volume control being in the way, to me me it is in the ideal position.
I find the volume control is in the ideal position when sitting down, playing blues and chilling at home. As soon as I’m on a stage with my rock band i keep turning the volume down unintentionally. The solution for me is a grolsch gasket aka rubber strap lock under the volume knob. Now the friction is adjustable (push down for more friction, up for less).
Other way round for me. Personal preference I guess.
Strats are quite uncomfortable for me. Even the widest necks they come with feel too narrow. Maybe my hands are too big as I am a tall guy. I know it is not a valid excuse, because John Mayer does a damn good job with a strat and the dude is massive.
The moment I started using a superstrat with a wider nut and a flatter fretboard my hand started flowing across the neck like never before. I started playing much better than I used to.
I love the feel of the body shape and the tone. I have multiple strats most of mine are kit build strats but they all are so different I love them. Can’t get enough of them
I have a 1986 MIJ strat that I LOVE...always loved that strat tone before I even knew the guitars being used were in fact strats
What I like about the Strat is that it makes me work. It has that signature Strat sound but it sounds like me playing a Strat, warts and all. If I’m having a bad day, you hear it. If I’m inspired, you hear it.
I wire the rear tone control to the bridge pickup and don’t have a tone on my middle pickup. It makes the bridge pickup so much more useful.
I have 3 Strats, 2 Teles, LP, Ibanez models, a 1971 Mustang etc. I love all of my guitars. Strat bridge is my least fav pick up of the bunch. What I do is always wiring the tone knob to the pick up and use the knob at 6 or 7. This way you can limit the harshness of the bridge position. Great tones by the way. Thank you for the quality content. Cheers.
Or get an HSS 'Fat Strat', my weapon of choice ;)
(and I still do that tone knob mod on Strats, SSS or HSS... Fender finally includes it some base models... damn... only took ya the better part of 7 decades to hear us on that.... lol)
A Strat is my favorite any more I think. I used to hate the bridge pickup for the same reason everyone else does, but somewhere in time my playing changed, or I learned how to dial in the amp, or something, and now the bridge single coil on my Strat is one of my favorite sounds. I think a lot of the harshness that can come from the bridge single coil can be gotten rid of by using a thick pick and working on right hand technique. I have a tone knob wired to that pickup too but I seldom have to dial it down. I've gotten it to where I can play stuff on that guitar that you normally would hear on a Gibson, and only guitar geeks are going to know I'm using the "wrong guitar" for that song.
I'm about to buy a 74 strat, it's my first vintage guitar, and I am blown away... i love the strat sound and I just felt the need to say this
if Flatpole Pickups Change them to your Choice
@@richardbeltran8157 they're original pickups, why would you change them?
My only 2 complaints about a Strat are:
1) the Volume knob is to close to the bridge pickup
2) I wish they offered more hardtail versions. I dont use a tremolo, and always have to block my Strats.
I'm a Strat guy through and through , all my guitars are Strat type guitars , traditional, super strat , SSH strat , custom shop strat . I love the way they sound and feel in the hand . My tone knob is wired to the bridge pickup on all my traditional strats . Good video.
Ok
Probably your best intro man. Beautiful
I can't believe no one has mentioned anything about scale length. So many people over the years have told me that I have to fight to make my Strat sound the way I wanted to but it's worth the effort. They're talking about the string tension and also wider spacing and at times I even think even harmonics are affected by the 25.5 vs 24.75.
My PRS does a great job of solving this by having a scale length of an even 25".
When I play a 24.75 scale guitar it feels cramped for me, I guess I am most comfortable with the 25.5 scale and I like the rounded radius of the 7.25. It just feels so comfortable to me as opposed to the 24.75 12 . Harmonics come naturally to me with the 25.5. I have just never bonded with a LP style, it feels I am sorry but like a 3/4 length travel guitar in a way, and I don’t mean that as an insult. I have long arms and broad shoulders, I have to buy 18 1/2 neck dress shirts and I still can’t button the top button and roll the sleeves up to my elbows. To keep the shirt from billowing out like a dress . Still tight around the shoulders. But I think that is why a Strat feels more comfortable, and fits me better. I can lay my elbow behind the bridge and have a straight line to the middle pickup. The volume knob doesn’t get in the way. I’m used to it. I can’t explain it. The guitar just fits me and that round warm tone with a little delay just makes a song jump from me, know what I mean? I’m not some freaky giant, just an average 6ft2,175, long arms and I can just sit down with a Strat, and I am home. The Gibsons make me feel cramped for some reason. I can’t bond with them like with even my old $50 Silvertone I put back together and practice on. I had a Sillver Strat back in the 90s with get this, a single Humbucker! And it sounded like a Strat. I could make it sound spooky and sweet. I had a coil splitter and a delay that would space the two halves of the humbucker out in a flanger effect. Great guitar, it was a Strat 7.25 25.5 length, it had a haunting tone. People teased me about that Gibson pickup, but when I played it, the teasing stopped. A Strat will always sound like a Strat. I don’t if it is an intonation or harmonic difference, but the harmonic rang on the same frets . The range of a 25.5 scale. I built a lot of hot rods and tuned headers and exhaust systems for the best performance and different engines wanted different systems. Put them on the dyno and they make the same power at the same points and the only difference was the exhaust system. Could that be pertinent?
PRS guys will never understand but the rest of us find them very boring. It's like the chain Steakhouse of guitars. You know you're gonna get the same thing every time but it's lame and ironically feels more mass produced and corporate although we know it isn't. The guitar is such an imperfect instrument that it feels weird to have that kind of consistency, I know you will not understand this lol don't worry. If PRS was making intermediate guitars with crazy quality control and value I'd own 3 but when you scale that up to $4k it's just the opposite of rock and roll in every possible way. Without prior knowledge has anyone ever heard a recording and said that sounds like a PRS?
Look. You love the quintessential strat tone or not. Buy one. Or don't. If you do STAY OFF the pickups.Ten years ago, I bought a second hand strat California series in gorgeous fiesta red. Why? For it's sound. Since then ALL of my music (jazz/pop) teachers, most of them Gibson or other brand players, were immediately struck and awed by the sound (straight into the amp) of this gorgeous fiesta red strat. Love it. Buy it. Play.
I love the bridge pickup, I love the volume pot for swells, I love how the tremolo adds a subtle reverb and bite to the sound, but i keep it decked lol :)
my point being that drawbacks for one player can be strengths for another :)
As versatile as a strat is, going the extra yard and adding bridge pup tone control and a Gilmour style neck pup toggle completely transforms the available tones.. seven, count 'em, seven tonal options. Love my strat. ❤️👍
I was comparing my PRS with my Strat and one of the things that stood out to me is how optimally placed the switch is on strats. On my PRS I have to reach down to switch pickups, but on strats it's conveniently placed near your hand if you need to switch pickups quickly on the fly. Plus, a Strat is always going to sound like a Strat.
Leo got it right from the get go. 😁
Other then the middle pickup it’s perfect. I just lower it.
@@CG-rf6nu just get used to it ez
@@CG-rf6nu remove the tip of the switch or even cut it short
@@CG-rf6nu You should hone your picking technique if the middle pu is your way.
My favorite solution to the tinny bridge tone- a 7K Fralin Blues Special that's got 300 additional turns of wire- that with a No Load tone pot gives it just the right amount of Umph without sacrificing the signature Twang when played clean, totally retaining the classic vibe; I quite prefer this over a Humbucking install
As a fingerstyle player, the middle pickup getting in the way is never a problem. and I do love the sound of that middle pickup. Living in middle position gives a real nice Dead kinda tone that doesn't sound like a steroetypical strat. Dimarzio White Velvet is a great middle pickup that sounds good alone or in positions 2 and 4.
I've never understood how the middle pickup of a Strat even could get in the way. It's below the strings! With a pick you barely scrape the strings anyway so it really shouldn't be a problem.
Nice to hear someone giving the middle pickup some love.
have you ever tried some real higher end pickups or just the low end dimarzios.
@@louiscyfer6944 what are your favored pickups for strats?
@@rjohnson1690 for noise cancelling for bridge the fralin split steel pole, and the rest the split blade. for traditional the fralin vintage hot with the steel pole 43 for the bridge. for the john mayer sound the klein jazzy cats.
Very true about the strat being one if the most comfortable designs.
Im gonna get a lot of shit for saying this, but the most pleasant playing experience was on a Squier affinity strat. The actual fit and finish is one thing, but the neck feel and string tension with 9's was just perfection for me.
Have played LPs , Ibanez and Fender strats . My favourite among them has to be the Strat . The tonal variance and the comfort just suits my taste . If there were only one guitar that I d wish to bring with me to an island , then it would be the Strat for sure
Ive always played Gibsons - lPauls, SGs. I own a 1982 Ibanez 335ish axe. The one thing they all have in common is that right arm naturally rests on the bridge. I tried Strats, but I found my right shoulder getting tired because the bridge is further back. Plus, having the volume knob right below the high E is awkward. Lastly the scale length is longer than a Gibson, which makes the strings more taut. Maybe thats why a lot of Strat players tune down to Eb.
Strat, telecaster and les Paul. Got to have them all🎉❤
The 'strat' will always be the go to guitar for a lot of players, new and experienced. Whether it's an actual Fender or another brand, the strat is synonymous with guitar playing.
It's the perfect guitar in a lot of ways, it has a unique, yet rounded sound that is great for a variety of styles, and design that whilst is somewhat flawed can be picked up and played effortlessly by anyone.
Having said that, I've personally never been a fan of the traditional strat. I had a Peavey Raptor Special growing up and that fixed some of the design issues and felt more modernised.
Now I play a Telecaster, however, and absolutely love the 'unrefined-ness' of that design.
The most versatile guitar ever made is a Stratocaster
Mine has 2 bolt tremolo unlike a standard or vintage
The bridge pickup works for me, for my needs
My entire guitar-playing life I have always loved the Strat bridge pickup more than anything else (well along with Tele bridge pickup). I spend 90% of my time on a Strat bridge pickup with or without tone control. All it takes is to dial the amp/pedals to suit your most commonly used setting and the compromises on the other pickups are less of an issue in my opinion.
I've been a Strat man since I first started playing guitar back when I was 12. I first encountered Hendrix around the same time and decided it was just the guitar for me. They are the perfect blend of aesthetics and function - beautiful to look at, but there is nothing superfluous about their looks either. Their shape is guided by playability (neck-joint excepted), and unlike other guitars, look best with a simple, solid paintjob rather than bursts or flame-tops.
Personally, I really like the volume-control placement - when I play a Tele or a Les Paul, I miss having the ability to create volume swells and sudden volume-drops while playing.
The only other criticism I'll levy at the Strat is the normal, curved-metal saddles are quite uncomfortable if you palm-mute a lot. Fortunately, mine has more solid-block ones so I don't have this problem but it does bother me when I play my brother's one.
I palm mute a lot and I hate those curved metal saddles. So much so I routed and put a Floyd in the only strat I had with a traditional bridge.
Love the feel and playability and look of a Strat. The vol knob, at first was in the way, now I dig it as it’s so easy to adjust while playing. Strat tones, while sounding great in the bedroom, get lost in a regular band mix playing regular rock tunes. Would love to see more hardtail Strats. So many players never use the whammy. Would like a hardtail Strat with a Tele pickup configuration. Not sure how that would end up working out or sounding, but may build one someday.
I’d build u one
@@oliverchapman51177 got a shop?
@@mkrj2576 in my house and barn and spare bedroom
My 3 single coil Strats are THE most expressive instruments in the stable...
However...always need a bridge tone pot wired in😉😎👍
Strats are for me. I agree with all the positive aspects you list. And oddly, I've never found those negatives to be an issue; once I wired the tone control to the bridge pickup, that is. With pedals, I can make a Strat sound like a Gibson, but never the other way around.
Which pedals do you use for that? I have the problem that in rock band mix my strat gets lost 😕
Love the comfort and look; just never loved the sound. So, I’m a super Strat guy now. Has to have a HB in the bridge.
The volume knob, if you use it is right where it needs to be. Strats are for people who play a variety of styles and want a simple rig to cover all the bases…… and look cool doing it!
Look at Jeff Beck at Ronnie's. That's when you realize, that it seems the guitar was made for him,specifically.but was already around and he created whole style with it
I picked up a Squier Cyclone, a blend of Mustang body, Strat whammy bar and pickups (though the original Fender had Jaguar pickups), and Jaguar switches so you can mix all 3 pickups without extra push pull pots.
The strat to me is like the Jeep of the guitar world. A billion after market parts for it, but nobody confuses a jeep (or a strat) for anything else.
I've just got a squier strat, but after installing new tuners and a loaded pickguard it feels like a whole different beast. The best part was learning about everything in the process (including fret dressing). Not many other guitar styles are so easily accessible to upgrade and learn on.
Here , I was thinking, a tele was a jeep and a strat was a jaguar xke
I’m just tele guy I get everything I love about the strat and les Paul in one guitar.
If it's good enough for Jimi and Stevie, it's definitely good enough for me. LOL
I’m 68 years old. Been playing electric guitar over 50 years. Strats never worked for me until I saw the Richard Lloyd Group a few months ago. I was totally blown away and changed my perception of Strats. Opened up a whole new world of guitar playing for me.
Watch Scott Henderson play a Suhr Strat he is GOAT
I've never liked the single coil bridge either. HSS is the best between both worlds.
It definitely increases versatility, and tonal options.
I have a couple strats, all modified, one completely rebuilt, colour changed, new pickups and custom wiring. I really love it, but I’m a Tele guy, and I love my MIM Tele I converted with EMG actives, but, my heart belongs to a DG335 I’ve built. Not a real one unfortunately but I’m a lefty and they don’t exist and I don’t have that money to spend on a guitar, but honestly, I’m so proud to own the guitar, and it’s just so beautiful.
I love a strat . My favorite thing is that u have to dig in and really play it . U have to work for it with a strat and it will reveal just what kind of player you are. Ya can't be sloppy or lazy with a strat the single coil detail will make it evident my strats actually made me a more disciplined player
@@stoneysdead689 I feel like fenders are just more articulate, the notes don’t blend as well clean , driven is pretty similar. SRV had reallyyyy good left hand technique, you can see he is always muting the strings he doesn’t want. Jimi is sloppy but that’s part of his style
@@stoneysdead689 and I own 16 gibsons and 10 are les pauls and a bunch of strats .....fact ....fender has a longer scale length that equals more string tension . Single coil pickups don't have the out put that most humbuckers have and don't push amp as hard there fore there is less sustain . A cleaner lower out put guitar WILL reveal every detail of your playing . A strat demands cleaner playing to NOT SOUND SLOPPY . your comment reinforces my point .And I wasn't speaking about hendrix or srv I was commenting on MY experience and I actually don't care if you disagree. Get your self a vintage strat with a 7.25 radius fretboard and vintage style frets and play it clean then talk nonsensence
I play an SG - I own 2 - I also own a Strat… sometimes I turn to the Strat when I’m songwriting - it’s so different from an SG, it helps me come at an idea from a different perspective.
I also own a Jazzmaster - when I’m ready to be completely out of my comfort zone
Mad respect for all of the great music that's been made with the Fender Stratocaster over the years, from Buddy Holly on down the line! That said, the SG is my all around go-to geetahr of choice and has been for a few years now. My shoulder getting older gave the Les Paul less appeal. Rock on!
I've only ever owned 2 les pauls , but I have had many strats. I play one , modify it , and some one wants to buy it. I do have 3 strats that are keepers. My strat is my go to all the time. I have an 83 hard tail built in Corona Cal. My solutuon for the neck pup was a single coil Red Rhodes Velvet Hammer. So much tone and very creamy and smooth.
As a teenager, my dream guitar was an American Deluxe HSS strat. I got it when I was 18. And I didn't like it at all, I had so many issues with the volume knob. Nearly 10 years later, I bought an Epiphone Les Paul and that was a game changer. Turns out I'm a Les Paul guy. I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Modern, and the split humbuckers have an incredible tone.
I played a cheap (but quite good ) strat copy most of life. I fiddled with its switching a little and one thing that should be standard on strats is a bridge and neck pickup combo I think. The ultimate would be toggles instead of the blade switch that allowed all combos of pickups both in phase and out of phase.
Just a few things:
1. Most new Strats come with the rear tone pot connected to the bridge PU as well as to the middle PU. Even my new Squire CV 50 Stratocaster has that. Also the Fender pre-wired fat 50s Pickguard. It's a must imo.
2. If you have a fuzz face you can clean it up by rolling back the volume knob. This works best with a Stratocaster.
3. The Strat has not as much mids as a Les Paul or a Tele or something like that. Therefore to me you definitely should get a Tube Screamer pedal. Personally I like the TS9 best.
Thank you for this video!
Volume knob. You cn cut a circle of foam and fit it under the volume knob. The volume knob will be less loose if you inadvertently touch it. Same for all the other knobs.
I love the comfort and the clear, clean tone. I mostly play jazz, but on the Strat i can hear so much better what notes I am actually playing, and how they ring together, without any muddiness. And even the low notes are usable, not booming. And then there's the character. The stratiness, I guess.
I'm 50 next year and started playing guitar when I was 8, in 1982. I went through the whole super Strat thing as a teenager in the 80s and I carried on playing Floyd Rose equipped hotrod strat style guitars for decades. I always stayed away from Stratocasters because in the 80s, everyone wanted the most up-to-date specs and innovative features etc. I've got a bunch of Stratocasters now and I haven't really played anything else for the last few years. I didn't actually like the fretboard radius at first but now, after getting so used to the Strat radius, my Charvels actually feel uncomfortably flat now and it takes a bit of adjusting. I was always trying to get a good "Strat tone" with humbucker guitars with coil split pickups, when really, nothing sounds quite like a Stratocaster.
I'm liking that surf green strat, looks great! I play all three - Les Paul, Strat and Tele depending on the song. My first guitar was a Korean strat copy so I started with the strat and branched out. The only sound I don't have a use for is the bridge pickup on its own, it's too thin to be usable.
I've never had any issues with the middle pickup on my japanese squier strat.
What love the most about strats is just how the respond to your playing. It sounds weird but it's the only guitar in which I feel the sound comes "100%" from your fingers.
The things that bug me most about a Strat -- the bridge is right there on the body, and my picking hand wrist feels awkward when trying to mute, compared to Gibson style bridges; and the scale length makes everything feel stiff and low fret stretches hurt... the curse of not having massive hands, I guess.
Great breakdown and amazing playing as always! One of my gripes with my Strat is the bridge height; I'm more of a Gibson style guitar player and find it difficult to find a comfortable hand position with my picking hand. Subsequently it also makes it difficult for me to dig in and play faster passages cleanly because the bridge sits much lower on the body which changes the angle of my picking hand and wrist. It always takes me a bit to get comfortable with it. Cheers!
Can say that playing my Les Paul vs my Tele I agree the bridge difference is there... I find it more difficult to strum on my Les Paul for me.
What in the hell was that chord at 0:17 and why is blowing my mind?! For real though if you could explain the theory behind it I would really appreciate it. Amazing video!
If your a blues player you can’t beat a Strat.
Combined with a clean amp and it’s heavenly. It depends on your genre.
Well, blues was never really associated with a strat in the early days. Even Clapton switched to the strat later. Then Jimi came. But before it was Gibson or Tele territory only.
A Stratocaster can do anything. You just need to know what amp to run it through and how to set the EQ for a particular genre.
Rory Gallagher really knew how to get the best sound. He switched between Strat and Tele with ease, depending on the song. First saw him with Taste at the IOW festival 1970.
@@MrRizoable obviously those early blues players whose career started before 1954 could not have chosen a Strat. I think the first Strat-playing bluesman was probably Pee Wee Crayton, who famously owned a 1954 red Strat, and Ike Turner of course, even if the latter didn't always stick to blues exactly. Also, some country guitar players started using Strats early. Then Buddy Holly of course. Among classic-era Chicago blues players, Buddy Guy comes to mind as one of the first and more consistent Strat wielders. But there were others. Then of course Hendrix, and all the rest. Probably Stevie Ray Vaughan did for the Strat in the 80s what Hendrix had done in the 60s. Both were great popularizers of this beautiful, charismatic instrument.
That control placement is such a good spot though for quick adjustments, it stays there on strats and teles because that's the most easily accessible place it could be.
My first guitar was a Squire Bullet Strat. My second guitar was an American Strat. Now, it’s one of my least used guitars, but I think because I started out on nothing but strats, I have an ear that loves the neck pickup on pretty much every guitar.
I always gravitate towards the neck pickup while playing and I choose guitars based more on that pickup than any other.
That's cool to hear, I'm the exact opposite and always go for the bridge simply because my first (and still most played) guitar is an Epiphone SG.
I have been playing Strats since 1963. I have adapted my playing to facilitate knob placement usage and I do not have a problem with accidental knob and/or switch activation. I only have a problem with my Telecasters...
I feel like they custom made the strat for me. The way it feels in my hands, the sound is amazing and it has to be the best looking guitar ever made.✌
You’re a human. You can say it’s made for you in a sense. People aren’t that different. Kind of like what he said in the video about its ergonomics.
Love my strats, and superstrats. I have a Tele an H150 and a Reverend double agent, everything else is a strat style. My main guitar is a flip of the coin between a 92 American standard and a 50th anniversary. Yes I'm a left-handed guitar player but hendrix was not a primary influence.
Pro tip: combine the tone pots to the lower tone pot hole (you hardly ever need two separate tone pots) and put the volume pot in the upper tone pot hole. The rest of the issues (pickup switch placement, neck heel and middle pickup) you'll just have to kinda live with, unless you want to start routing the wood and pickguard for a different switch placement. I lowered the middle pickup just slightly, so it's not in the way (that much) while still sounding ok. I'm planning on throwing a dummy coil in there somewhere to eliminate the humming, but I havent bothered yet.
Nailed it at 8:02 - A strat always sounds like a strat. You can do anything you want to it but it still sounds like a strat. That's either your thing or it's not.
What you point as cons: volume and selector position, for me and for others are advantages. The volume knob can be easily rolled with the little finger to create volume sells while playing (Ritchie Blackmore, Van Halen or Yngwie have been doing that), and the 5-pos selector is very quick and easy to reach. Do not ever change them on my Strats and Super-Strats!!!
Yes, even with humbuckers strats are still stratty. This was a big part of the old EVH tone, that jangly snap with a humbucker cranked through a Marshall.
I have owned a lot of other nice guitars, and still do. But mt longest nice guitar has been a Strat! It's taken me through a lot of styles of music.
Fender "had" a solution for the pickup switch on the '83 Elite Strat but, for whatever reason abandoned it.
It was 3 on/off push buttons. I think it was each pickup had it's own on/off switch.
My very first guitar was a strat.
When I thought of what a guitar was supposed to look like there was a strat that came to my mind. So I went and bought one. Now I own two of them! There is no better guitar for playing blues! You can play blues on my other guitars , and it sounds great but my favorite players used Stratocaster’s. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jeff, Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, on occasion I could keep going, but I think you understand!
One thing that wasn't mentioned is scale length. I'm a Gibson guy. I only played Les Pauls for the first 14 years of playing so when I played a Strat, it felt wrong but I never knew why until I learnt about scale length and how it affects feel. A Strat has a 25 and half inch scale length (distance between nut and bridge) while a Les Paul is 24 and three quarter inch. Now, that's only three quarters of an inch difference but the longer scale of a Strat means that it requires more tension in the strings to bring it up to pitch. For the player, that's a tighter feel under the fingers than a Les Paul. 9 gauge strings on a Strat will feel like 10s do on a Les Paul. This is the reason a lot of people played Strats tuned down half a step, especially when using higher String gauges. Also, the different scale length means the distance between the frets isn't the same, so this can also throw you off if you're not used to it. I think it's easier to go from a Strat to a Les Paul but if you're a Les Paul guy, it's harder to go the other way. Don't get me wrong, I love Strats but usually in someone else's hands. I'm ok noodling at home on one but in the heat of battle at a gig with sweaty hands, mistakes creep in and it's just not home base for me. Shame cause they're awesome in their own way.
Lower the bridge pickup. It’ll warm it up. In fact, I lower all 3 on mine to just above the surface of the pickguard. Also takes care of the middle pickup being in the way.
For me, a strat is the most dynamic. The clean tones have so much clarity and chime. They have such an open and airy tone. A 5-way selector switch gives you a lot of versatility as each position is very unique in its own way. Add some dirt, and the clear tones just pop out of the amp. And even though it's over driven, it will still clean up well by using a lighter touch or by rolling back the volume. Then you have some guitarists that push the distortion over the edge (Malmsteen, Lincoln Brewster, ETC), and yet it'll distinctly sound like a strat. It still has those bell like tones, and the bridge has that unmistakable bite. Then add to that the comfortable neck, the perfect weight and balance, the two tone knobs, and the massive amounts of modifications that you can make to it, and it really is the perfect instrument.
Nashville Tele all the way. 5 way single coils. Somehow the middle doesn’t get in the way. No weird volume knob in the way. No silly third knob (who needs two tone pots?). The bridge doesn’t detune when I rest my hand on it. Done.
Had a good chuckle with all those "Bruh! Why you in my way?" moments. Love my strat but one of my cons are the selector switch when your really rocking out and then all of a sudden the bridge comes in. haha!