Strat...strange situation

[feaker66]

I love the sound of a tele or strat. (don't know which is better)

My PRS is fine, but I am due for something different.

I have not kept up with the stats on what years or where they were made, are the better choice.

I do not care of the the cosmetics. I am only looking for the sound. Price is not a factor.

Can you buy new and get a good sound?

I was looking on ebay and there is a ton going for as high as 50K.

Paul

[mojobone]

Well, there is no better, just different flavors. Teles have slightly wider string spacing at the bridge, so if you finger or hybrid-pick and have large fingers/hands there's a little extra real estate available, so you can dig in a little, for extra "snap". The best sounding Teles have a three saddle bridge (brass saddles) and a thin "ashtray" bridge plate-the thicker chrome-plated bell brass ones are jes' OK-sounding. I like the early-sixties flat, bent, s-shaped stamped steel saddles on a Stratocaster; you won't get that characteristic Strat "ping" without 'em. Strats are more comfortable to play, because of the waist-cut and arm bevel. It doesn't matter where it's made, they make (at least some) good ones everywhere but Taiwan and Indonesia, and even those can be fine if you upgrade the wiring, jacks, tuners, switches and pickups. You should probably buy American or Japanese, if you care about resale value, but some of the best Strats and Teles are mongrels made from the best parts of other Strats and Teles. The newer Fender American Standard Strats have gone back to the old S saddles, so that's probably a good place to start lookin'. I think the ones with the noiseless samarium cobalt pickups sound pretty darn good. G&L also make some great Strat and Tele-style guitars.

[billg1]

Hey Paul, I have a Nasville Tele and it's pretty cool because you can get the "tele" sound or a strat sound with it. best of both worlds
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... D=26040600

[ibanez468guit]

Hey Feak!

Just poppin' in for a moment. Saw your post and thought I'd reply. I don't think either one is necessarily better than the other IMO. Each one seems to have a certain place in specific types of music. For instance, I notice a lot of guitar players in country bands seem to gravitate towards the Tele. I suspect because it has a much "twangier" sound than the Strat. I've seen a few guys in rock bands use it as well. It does have it's own unique sound when plugged into the right amp. I remember Prince even used to play one back in the day. Not sure if it was a Fender or a Hohner though. Can't remember.

On the other hand, I've seen the Strat used for a number of different music genres. From jazz, to blues, to rock, and just about everything else in between. It has it's own unique sound as well, and you can almost tell any time you hear it being used on a song.

Myself, I've always preferred the Strat because of it's incredible versatility & sound. I've always loved hearing the sound of that thing on somebody's tune, be it Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Yngwie Malmsteen & especially, Jimi! It just has a pretty tone to it. But one day I do plan on owning a Tele. But I believe you can buy new and still get that sound. Or you can buy used as well. 50K is a little outrageous for any guitar, IMO.

I would look into buying a brand new one, ya' know for $200 or $300, and see what I can get out of that first, and then if I felt like I wanted to go vintage (and spend more $$$$) later on, that option would still be available.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

ibanez468

[ggalen]

Paul,

I bought this Standard Strat at a Guitar Center for $429, just to see if I like it, figuring I'd buy a better one later if I needed to.

I never bought another.

You probably may have seen this, but this is the Standard Strat through a GT8 with some delay and reverb:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUZhQEKgWPo

[Kolstad]

If money is not an issue, you should get one of each

I have a Mexico tele that Im quite happy with. I upgraded the pup's to SD Nashville Studios, and I love my Tele. I have a Godin strat with synth access, and that's great too. I use both all the time.

Galen captured the trademark strat sound in the vid, but both guitars are very versatile. I tend to prefer the Tele for all kinds of rhythm stuff, and the Strat a bit more for melodic work. For real thick leads I use my Washburn WI66 for the most part, though.

I've tried some of the new Fender strat's and tele's in stores, and they are really good, so don't hesitate to get a new one if you don't want to spend time on Ebay (even though you can find some real gems from time to time - vintage guitars, or just old ones, ROCK!). I really like the 'road worn' models they have out now.

You should consider if you want to get a neck in maple (light) or rosewood (dark). I prefer maple for Tele's, as I think it brings out the best characteristics in that type of guitar, and rosewood for strats. Maple really can bring out that country twang, while rosewood is a tad more darker and rock sounding to my ears. But consider that in context of the compound of your guitar 'park' .

Of course opinions vary, and you can pretty much dial in everything these days with the options available, but if you have several guitars, it can be a good thing to consider woods ect. so that you have a guitar for different sounds/timbers, and can pull that out when you need a certain tone or sound for a piece.

[feaker66]

This forum is amazing.

Moj

Didn't know about the string spacing. I have big hands.

Your hint on the American Standard puts me on the trail. Sixties not important.

Bill

Checked out the one at MF. I have them on speed dial

Sounds like it "does it all" for you. A second consideration for sure.

Iby

More than 2 cnts worth:)

I don't play country (yet). More rock etc. I have this fear of buying a guitar for only $300.

I see you lean towards the strats. I wish there weren't two options. I might beat this to death.

Galen

I had no idea you could play that well. Made me thinK of two things. He is about ten times better than me. Why am I not hearing more of his guitar playing in p2p??????

Great ole soggy reverb. You are all over the place man.

Magne

I would have a doZen guitars if I could hide them from my wife:)

One consideration would be to get a tele and a strat the same color. She really doesn't say anything about what I buy and totally supports my hobby.

Good to know about the rhytm vs lead indicators. And yes I think I will go maple

There is only one American strat about an hour from here to look at.

I am going to Minneapolis in a few weeks. I might wait and look there.

I also have a gibson ES335 that I might sell. Just never play it and have never been happy with the sound.

Thanks so mush for your helpful feedback

Sincerely

PaUL

[jdhogg]

I have an es335 and I love it. Quite amp dependent.

I got 2 strats and 2 teles and they all sound great and different.

I would buy the cheapest usa strat and tele, see how it goes and then budget to replace the pickups to tailor the sound. They both have unique sounds.
I also slightly favour the tele for rhytym and strat for lead but they are both very flexible.

I love the kinman ( http://www.kinman.com/index.php ) pickups in one of my strats and as soon as funds allow I will add 1 pickup to my modded 62 tele. There are lots of great pickups out there. My other strat a usa 70s bullet sounds fantastic with stock pickups.

I dont think you can go too wrong if you buy at a fair price as they hold their value well if looked after.

[orest]

I think the best way to get your "own" guitar is to go to a music dealer and try different guitars.
But, bring along you own amplifier, otherwise it won't sound the same.

I would love to have a stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul.

[feaker66]

JD

Good to know about the ampmaking a difference. I bet my old Fender Twinn would make the difference. The line six is not complementary. Paid 1500 bucks for the ES 335. Doesn't have two hours on it. Sounds like a $200 guitar. Had one in the early seventies. Our trailer let loose on the way to a gig and it snapped in half.

Orest

That is a good point about the amp. The have line 6 amps at the guitar center. I will call and ask if I need to bring mine or if the in house ones will do?

Thanks guys

paul