General Music Chat

Yod

My Fenders have a sound that is anything but thin. Both the strat and the tele have maple necks which I really like - can barely play their normal rosewood fingerboards.

I love the sound of the Les Paul but it reminds me of lugging concrete blocks around with me. And I really don't care for the necks.

The only Gibson neck I really have learned to like is the Firebird.

It truly is a matter of taste - one can make a box and some strings into a guitar that really sounds good just by fiddling with the electronics. (whew- talk about mixing metaphors) To me ultimately, it is about playability which for me is Fender or Firebird.

Merry Christmas

Talbot

I admit, it took me a looooong time to warm up to Fender. I never liked Strats when I started playing and I always viewed their amps as tacky and cheap….

I own a LP Custom too, it is great for certain things and plays like butter.

However, once I really started getting into the blues I looked at my favorite players and they all played Strats. I thought what is it about a Strat??

Now that I'm a good enough player there really is no comparison. I love the thin, airy tone I get when playing open chords and the tonal variations are so much more. Les Paul has great tone on the bridge pup, but that's about it. A Strat with great pups, literally gives you 5 different tone. The notes are so much clearer and articulate. Sure it's fun to plug the LP into the Marshall or Mesa and play some screaming, shreddy lead…but IMO you can't really get that low volume, soulful playing like you can on a Strat.

There is something undeniably recognizable and sweet about a well played Fender Strat through a nice Fender Twin or Deluxe. I own different guitars and some good amps…but my main squeeze is my Strat played through my Twin. Fender amps were made for Fender Strats…they just sing.

I admit, it took me a looooong time to warm up to Fender. I never liked Strats when I started playing and I always viewed their amps as tacky and cheap….

I own a LP Custom too, it is great for certain things and plays like butter.

However, once I really started getting into the blues I looked at my favorite players and they all played Strats. I thought what is it about a Strat??

Now that I'm a good enough player there really is no comparison. I love the thin, airy tone I get when playing open chords and the tonal variations are so much more. Les Paul has great tone on the bridge pup, but that's about it. A Strat with great pups, literally gives you 5 different tone. The notes are so much clearer and articulate. Sure it's fun to plug the LP into the Marshall or Mesa and play some screaming, shreddy lead…but IMO you can't really get that low volume, soulful playing like you can on a Strat.

There is something undeniably recognizable and sweet about a well played Fender Strat through a nice Fender Twin or Deluxe. I own different guitars and some good amps…but my main squeeze is my Strat played through my Twin. Fender amps were made for Fender Strats…they just sing.

A friend once said to me: "Once you play Strat, you never go bat"

I played Pauls, Epiphone big box "F" holes, Gibson slim line "F" holes , Gretch "F" holes, and a myriad of others. I have a 3 pickup Gibson SG, had a Firebird, Had a flying V (Ibanez) and played about everything in between when I did all the repair for the area music stores.

I didn't pick up a Strat until about 25 years after I thought I had quit playing for good. A friend began sending guitars to me to get me to play again. When I set up my first real "Strat" I could never go back.

The sound is far from thin on any of my Strats, in fact it is far punchier on the bottom and top end than my Pauls. Granted the Pauls have a more muddy mid range sound, but I love the "you can hear every little mistake" sound that a Start has. I keep an American Telecaster around but seldom play it. I have two SG's and two Pauls, and two arch tips. They seldom come out of their cases. Although I do take them out occasionally when I feel like slumming.

It is all a matter of personal taste and picking style. You tend to play what makes you sound the best. I'd rather play a great sounding guitar with an "iffy" neck than a guitar with a great playing neck with a crappy sound.

But that's just me.

a great guitar player like you Slacker, can get any guitar to sound great while playing, as long as the intonation is set right.. I love your motto, "I can use a pick if I have to" or something like that.. but you are a natural born finger pick stylist.. and as much as I adore that, believe that "technique" is slowly dying out.. there is a guitarist that plays regularly in Springfield and Ozark, Mo. (will remain un-named) who is a fingerpick stylist too.. will just blow you out of the water good playing, met him at I-44 Swap Meet back in 1999.. he's a member of Nixa Knife Club too, and trained German Sheperds at one time.. when I would honor him with a verbal appreciation of what he was playing before my eyes at my booth, I will never forget him giving a reply saying, "but who wants to hear this style anymore" 14 years ago he knew it was a dying style.. I can't to this day get enough of it.. Earl Klugh, Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Chet, bring them all on.. can't get enough of it.. Slacker you are right there with those guys in quality..

When I said thin I meant in a good way and in the midrange. It allows me to play open triads and jazz chords and still have them sound pretty and musical, whereas a humbucking set up will get much muddier.

I can see how someone might reference the high bridge setting as "thin". I thought that for years, and on strats with cheap electronics, it can.

However, with good pups it's a different story. My top bridge setting as a good, thick, humbuckish quality to it. Not over the top, just right. I have heard many people say they can't even play the bridge setting of a Strat, because of the harsh, tinny, "thin" sound. But I can play mine, cause it's got such a great tone….but again…probably more the pups.
I just love the feel of a nice, maple strat neck and the tone speaks for itself.

Dane,

One of these days I'll be gone. But guys like you who are younger will keep it going. And when someone hears you, just as when I heard a guy in the park finger picking for a birthday party so many years ago, you will inspire others to try it just like he inspired me. I never said a word to him, and I never got any closer than 50ft away, but his picking completely changed my whole perception of what you can do with a guitar when you are playing all by yourself... and he never even knew it.

I'm sure not a natural. I spent over 72 hours with the thumb working before I actually hit two other notes in proper succession without dropping the bass line. . Then I immediately lost it again for quite some time but I knew it was within my grasp because I did it once, even if just for a moment, and I knew that if I worked hard enough I could do it again.

There's always someone out there who will hear you or another finger picker and be inspired to try it. They will fool around with it and they will succeed in getting those first few notes down properly, and that will inspire them to keep going. Once you catch the bug it doesn't turn you loose, right?

I buy/ bought a few strat copys /altereds which felt better 9ala Kramer,Charvel-ESP,Epiphone,etc....) I don't like the large nub,rounded end of the headstock on a Fender Strat....throws the feel rigt down the toilet,they need to make a sleeker design ala Charver/Kramer /Aria &PLZ NOT JUST A BANDSAW APPROACH NOR A TELECASTER HEADSTOCK....sheeeesh...{ Leo Fender must be raging in his grave....}

BTW, ANYONE--SOUTH-OF--Boston know wuzzzup with the Drummer lounge or any places/rehrsl sites still open....let me,us know,shoot a msge thru our bandmix site or- email at Ledrokker2020 at Yahoo.com

THNX, PEACE, HAPPY NEW YERAR ALL ! ROCK IT !

Not all Strat's sound the same or feel the same. My favorite Strat is my 84 Japanese Strat with SRV pickups. The same thing goes for Les Pauls. A lot of people don't like the fat necks but not all models have the same neck profile either. My Les Paul Traditional Pro has the classic 60's style slim profile neck. It's all a matter of taste anyway. I work at a large music store so I get to at least have a lot of fun and try them all.

Yeah man, Mike has the good tools at his disposal.

84 MIJ strat = yummmm, yummmm.

(7.25" radius slim V better than 9.25 C profile, but that depends on who is playing it. Some like the C better, but not I.)

And a Les Paul with the 60's slim profile neck? Wow..that's like good pizza and beer by the pitcher.. It'll be hard for you to get sick of that good stuff. lol

You have to go through many Fenders to get one that plays and sounds right.
I own a a great 25th Anniversary Strat from 1979, that is unbelievably great for that time period. Then again, I modded out an 2007 Epi Les Paul Custom with Dragon Fire Gold Vintage Buckers, that kills my 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom with S.D. Screamin' in the neck and a Dimarzio Evolution in the bridge.
These days, I'd rather order the bodies, necks, pickups, Floyd Roses and electronics from places like Guitar Parts On Line or GFS. After all these years, I could assemble guitars that stack up to my 1980's Kramers and Jacksons.

AJ is right about that.

The anniversary strats are better made.

Any year, squire or reg strat, the anni's feel better and sound better for you $.

I have a '94 - 40th Anniversary model ....
Neck went bad and I replaced it with a 62 re-issue
Swapped the bridge out for a Pearly Gates ....
Used it when I did original stuff mainly

It feels cheap compared to my uncles late 80's model .... mine is lighter and doesn't play as good as his ....

Dead

That looks pretty sweet - something about a decent strat that certainly is appealing.

I was playing mine last night - Pearly Gates at the bridge, two Fender SRV pickups on middle and neck. It has a very good sound. And it has one of the best necks (playability) I remember playing on.

But I'm almost ashamed to say this about my erstwhile favorite guitar - as I played it seemed like one of the 'layers' of sound was missing. It was a 'layer' I had been unaware until I got my Firebird.

I plugged in the Firebird and it was all there - the closest sound to perfection I've found so far in a guitar - and it's wound so tight - both literally and figuratively - excellent tuners, plus the treble knobs and pickup selection are all very clean. What I really like though - is the outstanding sustain.

I'd add that the Firebird has a wonderful neck (all the way through the body) and plays like a dream - although it did take me a couple weeks to wrap myself around it. It is truly in a class of its own, construction wise, so wielding it requires some adjustment. While it works for me, it doesn't for many - a Fender Strat works for darn near everyone.

Firebirds will never be the mass consumption sort of instrument that Fender puts out in the case of Strat and Tele. It is truly that unique an instrument that you will probably love it (like me!) or not like it at all.

When you get a Fender you research it first since there are a maddening amount of variations of Strat and Tele, and then you buy the one you select with the balance between what you can afford and what you actually want.
In most cases it will meet your expectations. Fenders are also (I think) the most copied designs at the lower end market. (has anyone noticed the decline in quality of Epiphones?)

Talbot

If you can find a 70's strat that was altered for the 80's-90's with a floyd and lock nut, but has been returned to stock, they won't cost a lot and they are great guitars if you can find them.

I play a '73 that is the best guitar I've ever owned...I paid 2G's for it, but it's been the best strat hands down I've ever owned/played.

The reason I say look for one that's been moded is because the stock ones are going for at least what I paid and more, but the altered ones are in a reasonable range and if they are not back to stock, they are even less.

Best of luck,
SJL

Fenders are just like any other brand. You'll find 10% of them crappy, 80% of them ok, and %10 perfect and amazing.

Just like people lol!