The PERFECT Stratocaster Sound (And How To Get It...) | Ben Eunson
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Learn to dial in your Strat with an exploration of all the possible tone settings!
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00:00 Introduction
01:46 Pickup Switching
02:13 Pickups & EQ
02:38 Dynamics
04:07 Clean Tones
04:30 Neck Pickup (Clean)
05:23 Neck & Middle Pickups (Clean)
06:24 Middle Pickup (Clean)
07:28 Middle & Bridge Pickups (Clean)
08:29 Bridge Pickup (Clean)
09:36 Neck Pickup (Overdrive)
11:04 Neck & Middle Pickups (Overdrive)
12:00 Middle Pickup (Overdrive)
12:55 Middle & Bridge Pickups (Overdrive)
13:50 Bridge Pickup (Overdrive)
14:45 Final Thoughts
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All of those clean tones are absolute magic, perfect clarity while still not at all sounding thin. Great video!
Thanks so much, Jack!
Lovely. Just lovely. Thanks for sending me here!
Very nice playing and tones! Each note has that certain juicy attack
I really appreciate it! Can't go wrong with a classic strat for juicy attack/tones 😀
100% Chilled after this. Musical therapy courtesy of some beautiful tones and playing. THANK YOU! (and subbed)
Thanks so much for joining me!
Wow what a tone!
Great playing!
Thanks so much for listening!
beautiful m8, this is great. Love the neck + middle
My favorite! 😀
Fantastic playing and tones! Definitely love hearing this guitar on the channel! My favorites were definitely the neck and also the neck and middle positions! Both cleans and with overdrive sounded amazing!
Thanks so much for checking it out! Those are favorites of mine as well 😀
Strat talk. Forever burning topic. Thanks. Beautiful maple tones. Middle with OD is surprisingly interesting.
Thanks again, Michael. You're right - this is a forever burning topic!
I listened to your “Winter Song” this morning on my bike ride. It was the first tune on Spotify’s Jazz Mix. I liked it very much! Just thought I’d let you know; and your picture is on the Jazz Mix.
That's fantastic! Thanks so much for letting me know, and thank you for listening! 😀
Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Beautiful playing, and beautiful guitar. I hope to hear you playing it more again. I probably prefer the Neck & Middle both with clean and overdrive.
Great choices! Thanks for watching
your choice to keep the drive under control so the Strat characteristic could shine through was a good one! That's something I'm going to be thinking about from now on -- thanks!
Thanks so much for checking it out!
Your playing is so good to be true... I wish I could learn fr you 1 day..
Thanks so much for your kind words, and thanks for watching!
That middle pickup with a little bit of drive is fantastic! Enough for lead tones, but doesn't lose any clearity
I agree! Thanks for watching!
Beaultifull!!!! Bravo!!!!!
Thanks so much!
Very nicely done! After considering myself a “Strat guy” since about the mid-eighties, it wasn’t until about five or six years ago that I discovered that the middle pickup by itself is actually a useable sound! I had been a 2 and 4 position player quite heavily. We live. We learn!
Great sounds and advice in this vid! And seriously MONSTER playing!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Middle pickup is a surprisingly great sound, it took me a long time to get used to it! Thanks for sharing your insight 😀
Fantastic sound and language on a Strat. For me the most dangerous guitar in history in terms of personality. It’s difficult to get away from the the classic sounds, Hendrix, Gilmour, Knopfler, SRV just to name a few…
Love your sound
Thanks so much for listening, I really appreciate it! And yes, so many legends have played this guitar!
I recently grabbed a Tech 21 Oxford and have to say, it's probably my best overdrive pedal - so gritty and sparkly...!
That's fantastic, Matthias! So glad you picked one up!
Amzing bro....
Thanks Ricky!
What are your amp settings for clean tones in this vid!? They sound absolutely amazing. Your previous review on this amp has convinced me to purchase it!
All of them, that's why I have three Strats...(and a Tele or two) Nice harmonies there!
Thanks for watching!
I really enjoyed your classic Strat tones here - do you have any video where you talk about pickup heights and balancing them to get those great 2 and 4 sounds?
Sounds amazing
Thanks for watching! I don't have a video discussing pickup height, but that is a great idea! Maybe I'll discuss that in a future video 😀
All great sounds, hard to pick one. It took me about 15 years of Strat playing to figure out on my own this very important tip about strats, which is to remove high end. For a long time I had this really thin, piercing sound. It's essential to tame that high end and push the mids a bit.
I think you can get to some really beautiful sounds when you tame the high end and boost the mids! 😀 Thanks so much for watching
I could play and listen position 2 and 4 day and night, very addictive.
I agree! My favorite sounds from the Strat!
@@beneunson that would be great to see a similar video with a guitar with 2 P90s. Just finished a Squier project with a Fender Noventa design. I love those pups.
It's a very diverse guitar. I feel like it's actually one of the best for prog.
I have a Strat and a Super Strat, just for good measure.
Great to have two choices of Strat!
Such beautiful playing and tone. Would you mind sharing what backing track you're playing along to?
Thanks so much for watching! The backing track is just a track I created for the video 😀
It’s always refreshing to hear an accomplished player get the most out of a strat, and utilize all 5 pickup selector settings. I’ve gotten so tired of hearing strat players trying to sound only like SRV or John Mayer. (That big, swaggering Texas blues Stratocaster tone is, by now, such a cliche and is totally played out; I swear - probably 50% of strat players would never even notice if their pickup selector became permanently stuck on positions #1 & #2.). The strat is WAY more versatile than that!
I agree, it is way more versatile! Thanks for watching!
I was waiting when you explain about tone knobs and how are you using them
Tone and volume knobs are all open, set to 10. All EQ-ing is done on my amp.
I love the Stratocaster. I love the beautiful sound of the Stratocaster. The Stratocaster is for me the Perfect Guitar Ben Eunson. I'm a fan of the Stratocaster and a fan of its sound, even more so of the beautiful Stratocaster sound you get. Thank you very much for this video. I just like hearing a Stratocaster sound with a little more gain. Perhaps a more classic distortion like the Sonic Distortion SD-9 or the RAT II by Pro Co. Sounds more based on Scott Henderson or Michael Landau. Thanks again for this beautiful video.
I think you like the strats
thanks so much for watching! I really appreciate it! 😀
Great tones and wonderful playing!
1. Your strat is totally gorgeous. What is it? I've just bought a fender MIM 50s roadworn in same color as yours. Love that look.
2. Have you removed the volume knob purpously? To avoid adjusting it unintentionally?
First video I've watched of yours, subscribing and looking forward to diving in to your archive.
Thank you so much for watching and subscribing! I really appreciate it. This strat is a 57 reissue from 1982 and saw a few owners before me. Volume knob just needed to be replaced here, I've since replaced it. Thanks again!
2:01 Absolute liquid... this is my favorite!
So glad you like it, Andreas!
Thanks for this video. Beautiful sounds. One question, are we hearing a stereo sound or a mono? And what about the effects you're using? Reverb? Delay? Chorus? Many thanks? Naturally, if we connect a Strato directly to an amp the sound we get is much different from this one. Thanks
Thanks so much! Mono guitar signal with stereo delay 😀
Are you using a pedal for the shimmering sound, or is that a keyboard sound that you play on top of?
I use such a different setup I think it's worth mentioning. Back in the day a lot of people were using the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups (Gilmour, Knopfler etc.) Every time I would comment on someone's strat sound they would say "Oh, that's the pickups, they're DiMarzios." Even Joey Ramone used a FS-1 in the lead position of his Mosrite surf guitar(sacrilege.) And very often they used a trick Gilmour is famous for which is to have the middle pickup on it's own volume knob to bring it in wherever you want (or a switch to just turn it on) With the blend knob and just a three way switch you can get every combination of sounds and any balance of that middle pickup with the others. I also have this on a Nashville Telecaster so you have that Tele bridge but the middle strat FS-1 can be blended in as well. Strat's go out of tune faster than Tele's but unless you're good with a Bigsby (not cheap) or some stomp box tuning bender you won't have the whammy bar on the Tele. All this being said and I prefer my Rickenbacker to any other guitar. They are from outer space. With an Vox AC30 (or simulator) of course. They also have stock 3 pickup models. I pick a guitar sound based on the needs of the song. Nothing more. In the case of The Smiths the Strat and Tele sound good. The Rickenbacker sounds spectacular, but all will get the job done.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I love Rickenbackers as well, they are beautiful guitars. Very interesting to know about the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups too. Thanks for watching! 🎸
@@beneunson No problem. The FS-1 is a 70's designed pickup with more mids and gain than a typical stock strat pickup. No idea how they would sound next to a modern Seymour Duncan. For example if I was going for a Hendrix type sound I would not use the FS-1's. That being said I use an active EQ and I can pull some tricks with that.
Curious…are you missing a volume knob? How are you doing the volume swells? Great playing and tone!!
Yes, volume knob is not on here - any volume swells are coming from my volume pedal. Thanks so much for watching!
Strat is the only guitar I find tones I absolutely hate but then can love with a few turned nobs .
Yes I know what you mean 😂
I have a Strat and am just starting with overdrive. Using delay, I can get beautiful clean tones out of my Blackstar 15W amp. I'd like to get a nice smooth singing overdrive tone, as you do. Since I want to keep the volume down, I bought a Boss Blues Driver, hoping this would work. It gives distortion similar to what is already built into my amp. This sounds harsh and ugly to me, a heavy metal sound that I hate. Can you recommend a magic pedal that works with a small amp like mine that gives a smooth, singing tone at low volume? Is this possible? Or do I need a big amp like in your video with a fair amount of volume? (I will add some delay too.) Thanks
Great question! I actually have my amp head on very low volume (volume knob between 3 and 4). At this volume, it starts to break a up a little and I'm also running the Tech 21 Oxford pedal, a pre-amp pedal with a smooth overdrive - you can hear this pedal on the "Overdrive" examples. I hope that's helpful! 😀
Thanks.This helps a lot. I'll try to get the Tech 31 Oxford pedal. It might be hard in the USA. You didn't mention the model of the pre-amp, but I'll choose what seems like a good one, unless you feel like telling me that too!.@@beneunson
@@orion777ben No worries! The amp head is the Laney LA-Studio (I talk about it more here: ua-cam.com/video/52sL9Z6z-Xs/v-deo.html) and the Tech 21 Oxford was made by Tech 21 in NYC, but I suspect they no longer make this pedal...it shows up on Reverb.com every now and again. They have some similar preamp-type pedals in their "SansAmp" range which might work as well.
Thanks Ben. You've been more than helpful!@@beneunson
What effect pedal are you using for the background pad sound ? (not delay)
It's a synth string pad I programmed 😀
1. You can play that guitar really well.
2. That neck has been played a zillion times.
3. I wish I could play like that.
Thanks so much for watching!
Amp settings colour the first tones so as I don't have the same amp zand we don't know what the settings are I found this frustrating.
I’m a Gibson guy with a Telecaster. I need a strat it the volume nob always gets in the way of my right hand on a strat. I don’t like picking up that high towards the neck. I feel like the strings are more floppy there and more stiff by the bridge. Maybe I just need to play one more.
Strat can be a little different to get used to coming from a Gibson, both are great choices, but the Strat has some sounds that are fantastic to have at your disposal. Thanks for watching!
Dear Ben, how do you generate your Background Sounds for your Improvisation?
Thank you so much - I play it on keyboards
The first thing I do when I try a strat is to go straight to the neck pickup. It's such a satisfying sound.
I agree Mats, you can't go wrong with the Neck Pickup.
I thought your Strat was out of service for a bit... is it fully back in use?
Still a bit out of service... but I really felt like playing it again!
Still a bit of Strat spank, nice. I wish it would cut through like a Tele in a combo situation.
strat neck and mid pickup is very difficult to get from humbuckers specially in clean tone.. so its imperative for anyone to own strats.. its the only reason i have a strat. otherwise i always preferred humbuckers..
Great point! Thanks for watching!
Hi! What strings gauge use on stratocaster? Thanks
9-42 here! thanks for watching!
Sounds like the Alnico II pro pickups?
Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Pickups 🎸
How do you get the background sound?
It's a synth sound I programmed
What gauge are your strings ?
9-46 in this instance
What effects are you using ?
Your guitar is well tuned
Thanks for listening!
Must admit when I overdrive a strat i prefer to dial out those spikey highs and get it singing. The strat is capable of anything of course!
Absolutely, I know what you mean!
This time it´s the middle pickup for clean solo. The between sounds are too Knopfler-like, not my fav. The drivesounds between neck and middle are so scratching, also middle, nearly hurting. Middle and bridge is biting nicely, and the bridge only is mostly singin´.
Thanks so much for checking it out!
what fender is that??mexican or US?
US Strat from 1982
How low have you set your action? Sound really low....
Yes, fairly low. Thanks for watching!
10:46 stretch out of nowhere.
Haha yes indeed 😎
Sounds more like a banjo than an electric guitar. Chicken pickin sounds or ice pick sounds.. I really hate that bridge pick up setting. However, each to his own. It's a great platform for pedals. Also, might be better to play it through a Fender amp, like the little twin reverbs, always tube amps......better decay on the notes.
S.R.V
Please put the volume knob back on, how can you adjust on the fly and it looks annoying.
It looks like he is doing just fine without it - he has monster chops and is still getting really classic tones that would cut through an actual mix.
No VOLUME control....? Obviously you have a volume pedal .
Volume control works just fine, knob was not on at this time. And yes, you're right - I'm using a volume pedal here.
I have more respect for a professional who can use his tool/ instrument in a diverse manner vs buying a ton of guitars. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Love Strats, but way too noisy…
They can definitely be noisy! But that's part of the fun, isn't it? 😂
You didn't adjust your volume or tone knobs once and your saying all of the big terms like dynamic ect. ect. Not saying anything about how to integrate even more "range"from use of differing settings w/ volume and tone knobs not to mention no talk of pickup height was really upsetting. Put a f'n volume knob back on.