@@nigeldaddyo looks like a tele… spec’d like a tele… unless he has a different one that I’m not seeing looking at his channel briefly for the first time…
I have a Strat, but my Telecaster is my desert island guitar. I can coax out every tone for every genre, bang on it like crazy, it never goes out of tune, has sustain for days and it feels just right.
Bang on. Why do you never see a guitar manufacturer using a strat body, tele bridge and pickup, strat middle and neck pickups. That way you have the comfort of a strat, plus the best of a telecaster and strat, tone wise. Instead people like you and I need to buy both. Perhaps thats why they do it, but you would expect someone to have made this holy grail of a guitar by now.
I play both, but prefer the telecaster. The tele is complimentary to the way I play and gives me a more unique tone. It is also more versatile. When I play a strat, it sounds like a strat just like everybody else. Great video!
Telecaster has a more "plucky" textural dynamic to it. And this probably affects it less than switching between the two guitar types, but apparently maple is also more "plucky" and percussive/textured sounding than rosewood. I love my maple strat.
Amazes me each time that you upload at least once everyday and still the playing is never repetitive whatsoever...awesome and interesting and musical every time! Helpful and astute description of the 'feel' that Strats have more give. Thoughts about HSS Strats? I think I prefer them though I only own an SSS. Also been watching the subscriber climb. Past 50k, yess!
I’ve always been a strat fan but recently spent a year with a tele as my main electric guitar and it was great. But in the end I found the strat much more comfortable to play and switched back. A humbucker in the bridge of a strat also adds a little more beef as well so I don’t miss the tele bridge pickup as much. If I had more room I’d probably keep one of each on hand. Great video!
I always come back to a strat. Although my jazzmaster has been my number 1 for a few years. I never go more than a year or so without a strat. Just feels wrong not having one in the stable.
humbucker in the bridge is probably the way to go. I never cared for the strat bridge pickup and that kind of solves it...that being said I've always liked my strats to resemble the instruments my heroes played for mental reasons I guess...
Over the years I have extensively modded my V62 Re-issue Strat which I purchased in 1989. These days, first tone control is a master tone for all PUPs and the second tone control is a Neck PUP blend. I particularly love playing mostly on the Bridge PUP and blending in the neck to taste. Works for me.
Truly great, comprehensive comparison. I’m a lefty and am fortunate to own 3 Telecasters and 2 Strats. There was a period where I had Zero Teles and 6 Strats (cuz I couldn’t bond with any Custom Shop or Production model Tele or Nocaster, no matter how much I wanted too). Now I’m favoring the Tele (finally found a gateway Tele, which led to 3) and they outnumber the Strats. However, this video truly exposes how similar they actually sound: with minor tonal nuances. Thank you for this, as it’s probably a Fender player’s constant question. The answer is. Have both. Play the right one for the right music. Love Em both.
For me a tele (with the classic pickup config) is, similarly to a P90 loaded guitar, is the perfect middle ground between a strat tone and a PAF humbucker tone, it has loads of mids and punch while also having that glassy single coil feel (more than a P90 as well). The neck tele pickup is hard to get right, but if you set its height correctly and optionally disconnect it from the tone pot so it brightens up a bit it's one of the more beautiful, vocal tones for picked cleans and leads one can get
I have both. What I love about the Strat is the middle pickup and the other pickup combinations. So I added a middle pickup and 3-wayX2 for a six-way switch to my Tele to get all the same pickup combinations. What's great about different guitars is how they make you play differently. That's why we love them all.
I like both but if I could only have one I’d pick the Tele. In general, I like the strat better for clean tones (aside from jazz) and the tele better for dirty tones.
I've watched a whole bunch of your videos, and I love the intros with you just playing. I have to say, your playing here is super awesome and inspired; I love all of your decisions, and your timing is unbelievable. It's SO hard to do that with legato like that. Thank you! EDIT: Also, yes, at least personally I've gotten a lot from your legato lessons specifically.
This is so helpful! I have always felt like I need to get a tele. Hearing them side-by-side reaffirms how much I prefer strat and can let go of the tele.
Funny I feel the exact opposite. I have owned several strats and sold them all, but I just ordered a telecaster because I suspect it is the single coil sound I've always wanted.
I could barely tell them apart through YT compression. To my ear, the Tele had a bit more top end in the neck pickup. The bridge pickup was also very similar.
That's why I opted for the Nashville tele, 3 pickups and locking tuners. Next upgrade will allow for the classic neck+bridge combo (which Fender Nashville tele can't do, although it has 5 positions)
Strat V Tele? It's always a difficult decision until you hit that tone on the Tele at 2:11 and 3:25, which honestly completely blew me away. The Tele just shines so hard, and, in my opinion, totally enhances your playing. The strat wins the chord voicings in this, but as it's inspired by Adam Hann's playing in The 1975, it is unsurprising. Thanks, mate. I love your stellar playing and would love to know if it is possible to get an approximation of your tone on my Katana.
12:08 I've read that in the days of the three-way switch, strat players would jam matchsticks into the groove of the switch, so as to force the switch to stay in one of the in-between positions.
I've owned both since the 70s and had been primarily a Tele player for most of that time. There is just something about that Tele bridge pup . . . I like to say it "barks." A little bigger bottom, but it especially has this great sharp attack and bite. The Strat bridge has less bottom, but also less attack and bark. For me, the usual humbucker is not the answer, as they tend to have a softer attack. Thick = compressed and smoother; Bark on the other hand is all about sharp dynamic attack - perhaps the bit of added bottom is perceived as thicker, but I think the sharp attack is the bigger difference - maybe all that metal. For years I used a Joe Barden S-Deluxe (not chunky) on my Strat bridge- a humbucker yes, but it really did seem to have a dose of that Tele bite. But I've found the newer JBEs do not. Could be perception - unless you A/B/X listen, this is all subjective. Anyway, as of late, I've really gotten into the trem again, and have become much more a Strat player. With CS 69s and playing with compression attack & EQ, I can get darned close to a Tele "bark" and bottom on my Strat bridge - but I have to kill the EQ when I switch to the other pups or they're muddy. Why not just put a trem on the Tele? I fear that would stop it being, well, a Tele! I should say that unlike a lot of players, I stay on the bridge 90% of the time on both guitars. I live for jangle and big bright sharp early Jimmy Page (Tele) leads. :)
Tele’s got that sweet bridge pickup, but I prefer Strat for everything else, especially with a humbucker at the bridge (Strat bridges suck, even more so when compared to tele)
John's just got hold of my Strat with a Strat sized P90 in the bridge. For me that has made the guitar nicer as i've always struggled with a normal strat bridge single coil
I mostly agree, particular with comfort. But I love a well made tele neck pickup. One of my fav sounds period. I played nothing but one strat for like a decade. Now I’m all over the place but I go back to strat if I want to “come home”.
Great playing on both guitars… 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I do love Telecasters more than Stratocasters (60/49). Probably because I started out with Tele’s 40 plus years ago?. Where I have only been playing Strats a little less than 20 years now. I tend to prefer no belly and arm cuts, in the end it’s more of how the instrument feels on my lap considering I only play sitting because I’m disabled and in a wheelchair. As far as sound and tonal attributes? The Tele is my go too as well . Some of my fave Telecaster players: Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Albert King, Joe Bonamassa and Kenny Vaughn Some of my fav Stratocaster players: Eric Clepton, Buddy Guy, SRV, Jeff Healey and Colin James
For me it's simply when I think of a type of guitar which hero of mine do I think of? My first guitar was a strat because my favorite players mostly played strats. It's really that simple for me. That's part of the reason I've never really cared about Les Paul's also. They have never been the main instrument of my favorite players. That being said, nothing feels better than traveling w/ a tele. It just feels like it would survive a nuclear blast compared to the others. Apart from that...I find that my thoughts on each guitar is greatly influenced by the one I'm playing most at the moment. I remember sometime last year swearing I was a 335 guy and done with strats because I'd been playing my 335 a ton. Now I'm back to being a strat guy again lol
11:03: "and that doesn't really mean anything", lol...this is the kind of comment that makes your channel so entertaining to watch JC! Besides your stellar playing, naturally. Keep up the good work, and thanks for what you do! ✌
Started on a Strat but sold it fairly soon and moved to a Dean V then to Ibanez Jem, which is what I always wanted in the first place. After getting use to the Ibanez, the necks on Fender and Gibson style guitars felt alien with their small radius fretboard and fat necks. For that reason, I have never gone back, but now I want to start moving that direction.
The break over angle from saddles to body determine the stiffness of the strings. Try lowering the saddles as low as it will go without buzzing. It is still tricky because when you lower the saddle the pitch lowers and you have to retune by adding more tension, it’s almost a wash and the gain you get is minimal.
Being a recent believer in teles coming from Japanese made Epiphone casinos I've found that 10 gauge strings thru body with bass saddles is my tone and very versatile. Yes it's a bit stiff but the trade is that your notes ring more clearly and with more sustain. If you want that bouncer feel with less tension then you gotta use a top load bridge like Jimmy page did. Also Jim compelongo, lots of good great players do top load regardless of the stigma of it.
I would tend to agree with you on this subject. I took home both a stratocaster and a telecaster over the weekend. Only one guitar is going to stay.... I have a few other guitars in my stable, and after doing some a / b comparisons, stratocaster is the clear winner. There is something about the neck pickup and some of the middle positions that none of my other guitars can even come close to... Whereas some of my other guitars can cover a lot of the bases that the telecastor did... Both are really great guitars but definitely not close enough to be apple's to apple's comparison.
I have the opposite view on this. I played a Strat for 10 years. When I picked up a decent Tele, I realized I had been playing the wrong guitar during that time. I greatly prefer the bridge pickup on a Tele. Every Strat I have played, the bridge pickup is too bright and piercing, making it almost unusable for me. My old Strat did not have tone control on the bridge pickup (traditional Fender wiring), so the Tele automatically wins there. In a setting with 2 guitar players, the Tele bridge pickup stacks up well next to a Les Paul's humbucker, far better than a Strat. I find the Tele tones far more useable. The 2 and 4 position quack sound is cool, but I never used it. I often spent my days on a Strat sitting on the middle pickup and using it for twangy country playing. I wish I had been listening to the Grateful Dead back then, cause Jerry's Strat tones with the middle pickup are fantastic and more in line with how I wanted to sound with a Strat. Even with that said, I would rather use the middle position on a Tele.
The Strat bridge pickup didn't have a tone control because tone controls load down the output. So it was louder and brighter as a result, perfect for lead lines... and if you plugged it into a tweed amp in a band mix scenario, you would understand why it sounds the way it does. Bedroom players prefer darker pickups and tone settings.
Strat bridge pickup is underrated. I modded it so I can controle it with tone, take off some of that sharpness.. It sounds very Gilmourish when soloing, its great
A string through hard tail bridge strat with a beefy 50s Tele neck, swimming pool route, Tele bridge pickup, custom spec Tele neck pickup (or a strat neck pickup), strat middle with nickel alloy cover to match the neck and control panel with universal bass cut, tone and volume and 10 way free way switch... These are personal preferences of course. Objectively, Strat ergonomics is more comfy and pickguard mounted controls allows for easy swaps. Now if somebody manufactured a quick release bridge latch (like for flight cases), then pickguard/pickup swaps can be even faster without the really expensive swap systems in fancier designs.... Daydream over lol
My main guitar is a tele with strat neck and middle pickups, 10 way pickup switch, reverse control plate, arm and belly cut, master volume, treble cut and bass cut
The last year I went from Strat man to Tele man. My Strat plays way better and is super versatile thanks to the blender kit that I installed. But got myself a Tele finally and immediately loved the slightly more wooden sound from the neck pickup and the uniquely Tele tone the bridge gives. The Strat is more comfortable, but feels like each time I pick it up the tone is hit and miss. Never consistently what I am after. Whereas the Tele delivers on tone every time. Never had a guitar sound so good. Will be upgrading the Strat pickups soon to give it a chance to fight back… will see where we are by next year
Started on strat, but I'm definitely a Tele fella. Both work great and which one you like depends on who you are. Still own my strat and play it from time to time.
I started out on a tele and it always dug into my ribs sitting down, and left a line. Belly cut of strat was a godsend. Always love 6 saddles too. Shame bending a string on a floating trem moves bridge and changes pitch of other strings but otherwise strat is perfect
Ditched my Danocaster tele when I got my current Les Paul, personally. Favorite tele players; Julian Lage & Margeret Glaspy, Bill Frisell, Ted Greene, Danny Gatton, uh, sometimes Ben McCleod plays one... Not a long list for me, frankly.
Both rule in the in the choice of guitars out there. When it comes to the sound, I prefer a tele. But for comfort strat wins. I have tried lots of different guitars yet I always go back to a tele.
I love both, have owned both and sold both many times over the years. It’s a sickness really. But one of the main issues for me, and I know it’s definitely a me issue, but when/ how I strum I’m constantly hitting the volume knob on a strat and slightly turning it down. That is so annoying to me. More so than even tuning stability. The tele fits my playing style more I think.
I like them both. It's really what am I trying to do at the time. I hate the base tele neck pickup. I much prefer when there's a humbucker there. Both really inspiring instruments that lead me to different places.
I prefer the Tele because it seems a bit fatter. But I think it may just be that the Strat was so much more popular when i was growing up. The tele was sort of an old-man, or country guitar, but i think people have discovered how cool sounding and versatile they are over the last decade or so, so i'm not sure i'm being truly objective. I think the strat may be more expressive but there is something about the tone of a strat i don't love. Especially using mild or medium overdrive. I either like it clean or full on fuzzed/muffed out like hendrix or gilmour. Fun debate and makes me have to think about what it is i truly prefer about the tele tone.
Maybe the Tele is lighter in general because of the lack of a trem and only having 2 pickups vs. 3 on a Strat? My hardtail Strat is lighter than my trem equipped Strats. Of course, every piece of wood is a little different, but I always figured the trem block added weight vs. a fixed bridge design.
I prefer teles personally. There is just a real utilitarian feeling about teles. There is no fluff at all. Every single sound is great, when I am playing them I don't have this sub conscious knowledge that there are specific configurations that wont sound great contextually and that I need to dance around. Or are extraneous. I love the way they play, the stability, the simplicity. They are the perfect guitars. Leo got it right first time I think. Don't get me wrong, I love Strats too but to me they feel a little more diffuse. A little more prone to idiosyncrasies and faff.
If I choose one to play and be creative with at home, Strat all the way. If I have to choose one only to gig with, it would be the Tele for more versatility style wise and a better cut through in a mix especially with that bridge. If I had all the space and $$$ for guitars, I'd probably build a Tele body with Strat neck pickup and some sort of trem unit instead of just the ashtray.
Very interesting to hear your thoughts. Only recently did I get a G&L ASAT Classic as a T-type and a Player Strat, so I'm just learning what tones each have. Thanks also for incredible playing.
Definitly liked more teles than strats. A strat for me looks amazing in the right colors, but it's definitly a guitar that I have to... have. Whereas my acoustic and tele are my tools.
Always had (and still have) Strats, got a cheap Squier CV Tele later as a complete beater-guitar and it blew me away how that thing played, granted I'm weird and I actually love the neck pickup on that thing. Then I finally got (not so easy as a lefty) a proper Jazzmaster which to me would be the best of both worlds if it wasn't for the fact that the guitar seems so huge I have issues playing it for longer periods of time :c
In so much as I love hearing others play on Tele's, I can't do it. Not sure why but the feel, the sound, everything is all wrong when I play them. But not so at all with Strat or Strat type guitars. My choice these days however is the Music Man Cutlass
I agree that the strat sounds better for those delicate sounds like you played at the end of your video. These work great on recordings too, but I found that those in-between sounds do not work so well when you are playing with a live band.
Totally agree with your preference for the Strat . Don’t own a Tele but have played a few and wonder if I bought one and spent some time with it I might enjoy them more . Roy Buchanan and Josh Smith would be my favourite Tele players and I’m surprised how un -Tele like Robben Ford can make his sound . I tried a Tokai Firebird recently as I love the mini humbucker tones but didn’t like the neck much then played a nineties Mexican Strat and immediately felt more comfortable. Jeff Beck and Robin Trower my favourite Strat players -just saying 😀
Tip - you can fit any Electric Guitar to any Genre, how ? get a Good Amp, Eq the Amp, maybe get a EQ Pedal, a Noise Suppressor Pedal or a Drive Pedal .... Plus Stop buying things, and Practice more.
I play both, but I love my maple neck ash body tele more for the aggressive snap and attack for edge of breakup and being, and still beautiful cleans. Since I added the strat middle to my Baja tele it's even less likely I'll grab the rosewood neck strat for pickup position 4 stuff...
Yeh, I love my Catastrasters! But the Telecasters with the old wiring ... which everybody and his brother rewires!!??? ... offers a whole bunch of tones at the flick of a switch. Nobody seems to know that you can ease the switch into position TWO (like a Stratocaster) and get both pickups on, on treble. or it might be wired out-of-phase, which is really cool a-la, James Burton ...
I thought Fullerton came up with the strat. Leo thought the tele was fine as their main guitar. Fullerton wanted something more "curvy". At least that's what I saw somewhere.
I prefer telecaster but i don't really understand why. Yes I prefer the sound, playability, but why not the same for me about strat? I don't know. I play jazz, fusion, pop…
Ergonomically I prefer Strat. In terms of sound and 'fun factor' I like Tele more. I feel like Tele has more bite and is more versatile. You can play anything on it even if it has a single coil in the bridge. Hard rock etc sounds better on a Tele to my ears. I don't really use trems much so I don't miss not having it in Tele. The only downside of Tele to me is that it's usually heavier and body is not as comfortable. It hurts my rib sometimes after longer playing sessions haha. I love my £100 Harley Benton Tele (TE-52 NA). I pick it more often than my expensive guitars. Crazy, right? I still can't believe it myself. It's that good. That said, I tried Fender USA Tele Ultra and I thought it sounded like garbage (very thin, lifeless) even though it played and looked great. I know there must be an upgrade to that HB Tele somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.
I only play jazz and have both- the comparison should be less about the body type (Tele vs Strat) but ALL about the pickup type- my 59 CS Strat has Texas Special pickups and set up to produce a warm tone- it sounds warmer than yours and is better or as good as my Tele for jazz-I only play clean anyways.
i have both. the strat gets more use because i really started using the trem and the 2&4 position on the switch give you tones you just don't get out of every guitar. i do really get annoyed the the middle pickup and the volume knob though.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m really not digging the Strat. I’ve always liked the air around the notes, but now I just don’t. Instead, the power, roundness of a tele has been doing it for me. Now that I think of it, I’ve played dozens of Strats, and aside from my current one, none of really been memorable. However, there are two T-style guitars that haunt me, a Truxton and a CS Tele, that absolutely haunt me. I’ve been listening to a lot of Davy Knowles lately and the ‘66 Telecaster into the D-style amp are just perfection for me … for now. I 100% understand about playing the strat lighter and the tele in anger. Strats are happiest when the notes can bloom.
I prefer my tele to my strat. But I can imagine that there is a strat out there that I'd like better than my tele. Although, to be honest, there might be a tele out there that I like better than anything else. Put me down for tele! Disconnecting the tele's neck pickup from the tone helps it quite a bit. And I hate that all of the electronics on the strat are mounted to the pickguard.
Andy Wood on Tele. I wonder if his Suhr signature model with mods would work for you John. I don’t have a tele .. more of a strat guy myself but have thought about picking one up.
Great comparison vid. Me personally, I am a strat guy HSS as never spent enough time with a single coil bridge strat to know if I prefer it. Also I do love how a tele looks and have always wanted to get one. However every time I try them I can’t get use to the lack of comfort cuts. Perhaps it just needs more time to get use to it. My question is why do you prefer the single coil strat bridge to a humbucker strat? Be great to see your views and how you dial in that single coil.
Probably just more a fan of the traditional strat setup. That's what it is for me, personally. I even like HSS strats because the bridge becomes a usable tone for me. At the same time...I just like the way a traditional strat looks and that includes the bridge pickup. Don't underrate tradition in a lot of this.
Love a strat and a tele but my go to has to be, a semi hollow with p90s !! And I can't play worth shit, so my opinion doesn't matter. Good playing my dude.
I think you're wrong about the Strat not being wildly used in a variety types of music, because of your jazz centric world view. Strats are used in metal, if only in the super Strat form, which predominates that genre, and I'm willing to bet they formed the basis for most guitars used in jazz fusion, if only in modified varieties, although I'm less aware of what they used, but am aware some took to odd guitars.
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I thought we were friends. Then you say something so ridiculous. Teles forever. I don’t even know you now.
If one wanted to nitpick he could point out that your Suhr is not a tele. I said good day sir! 😉
@@nigeldaddyo looks like a tele… spec’d like a tele… unless he has a different one that I’m not seeing looking at his channel briefly for the first time…
@@danielbell4007 I believe he’s half-joking about Andy’s signature Suhr. Well-played SteveO. 😂
@@kevinp_25 exactly. Maybe I should have used 2 winky emojis?
@@nigeldaddyo Maybe 20 or so given it's YT 🙂
I have a Strat, but my Telecaster is my desert island guitar. I can coax out every tone for every genre, bang on it like crazy, it never goes out of tune, has sustain for days and it feels just right.
Bang on. Why do you never see a guitar manufacturer using a strat body, tele bridge and pickup, strat middle and neck pickups. That way you have the comfort of a strat, plus the best of a telecaster and strat, tone wise. Instead people like you and I need to buy both. Perhaps thats why they do it, but you would expect someone to have made this holy grail of a guitar by now.
I play both, but prefer the telecaster. The tele is complimentary to the way I play and gives me a more unique tone. It is also more versatile. When I play a strat, it sounds like a strat just like everybody else. Great video!
Telecaster has a more "plucky" textural dynamic to it. And this probably affects it less than switching between the two guitar types, but apparently maple is also more "plucky" and percussive/textured sounding than rosewood.
I love my maple strat.
HSS Strats rule them all.
Amazes me each time that you upload at least once everyday and still the playing is never repetitive whatsoever...awesome and interesting and musical every time! Helpful and astute description of the 'feel' that Strats have more give. Thoughts about HSS Strats? I think I prefer them though I only own an SSS. Also been watching the subscriber climb. Past 50k, yess!
Have 3 Teles and 4 Strats. All have different pickup types and assorted body woods etc. Love em all.
I’ve always been a strat fan but recently spent a year with a tele as my main electric guitar and it was great. But in the end I found the strat much more comfortable to play and switched back. A humbucker in the bridge of a strat also adds a little more beef as well so I don’t miss the tele bridge pickup as much. If I had more room I’d probably keep one of each on hand. Great video!
I always come back to a strat. Although my jazzmaster has been my number 1 for a few years. I never go more than a year or so without a strat. Just feels wrong not having one in the stable.
humbucker in the bridge is probably the way to go. I never cared for the strat bridge pickup and that kind of solves it...that being said I've always liked my strats to resemble the instruments my heroes played for mental reasons I guess...
Over the years I have extensively modded my V62 Re-issue Strat which I purchased in 1989. These days, first tone control is a master tone for all PUPs and the second tone control is a Neck PUP blend. I particularly love playing mostly on the Bridge PUP and blending in the neck to taste. Works for me.
Truly great, comprehensive comparison. I’m a lefty and am fortunate to own 3 Telecasters and 2 Strats. There was a period where I had Zero Teles and 6 Strats (cuz I couldn’t bond with any Custom Shop or Production model Tele or Nocaster, no matter how much I wanted too). Now I’m favoring the Tele (finally found a gateway Tele, which led to 3) and they outnumber the Strats. However, this video truly exposes how similar they actually sound: with minor tonal nuances. Thank you for this, as it’s probably a Fender player’s constant question. The answer is. Have both. Play the right one for the right music. Love Em both.
For me a tele (with the classic pickup config) is, similarly to a P90 loaded guitar, is the perfect middle ground between a strat tone and a PAF humbucker tone, it has loads of mids and punch while also having that glassy single coil feel (more than a P90 as well). The neck tele pickup is hard to get right, but if you set its height correctly and optionally disconnect it from the tone pot so it brightens up a bit it's one of the more beautiful, vocal tones for picked cleans and leads one can get
I have both. What I love about the Strat is the middle pickup and the other pickup combinations. So I added a middle pickup and 3-wayX2 for a six-way switch to my Tele to get all the same pickup combinations. What's great about different guitars is how they make you play differently. That's why we love them all.
Your lessons are amazing, don't stop those
I like both but if I could only have one I’d pick the Tele. In general, I like the strat better for clean tones (aside from jazz) and the tele better for dirty tones.
I've watched a whole bunch of your videos, and I love the intros with you just playing. I have to say, your playing here is super awesome and inspired; I love all of your decisions, and your timing is unbelievable. It's SO hard to do that with legato like that. Thank you!
EDIT: Also, yes, at least personally I've gotten a lot from your legato lessons specifically.
Lessons, yes please! but not too frequently. Us mere mortals can’t keep up
I like the tone of both. I bought a PRS Silver Sky last year…it’s now my favorite “strat” over my 82’ American Deluxe.
This is so helpful! I have always felt like I need to get a tele. Hearing them side-by-side reaffirms how much I prefer strat and can let go of the tele.
Funny I feel the exact opposite. I have owned several strats and sold them all, but I just ordered a telecaster because I suspect it is the single coil sound I've always wanted.
Variety being the Spice of Life, it's pretty awesome to have a matching pair.
I could barely tell them apart through YT compression. To my ear, the Tele had a bit more top end in the neck pickup. The bridge pickup was also very similar.
That's why I opted for the Nashville tele, 3 pickups and locking tuners. Next upgrade will allow for the classic neck+bridge combo (which Fender Nashville tele can't do, although it has 5 positions)
I have the player plus nashville tele which does exactly that. It's awesome
Strat V Tele?
It's always a difficult decision until you hit that tone on the Tele at 2:11 and 3:25, which honestly completely blew me away.
The Tele just shines so hard, and, in my opinion, totally enhances your playing.
The strat wins the chord voicings in this, but as it's inspired by Adam Hann's playing in The 1975, it is unsurprising.
Thanks, mate. I love your stellar playing and would love to know if it is possible to get an approximation of your tone on my Katana.
12:08 I've read that in the days of the three-way switch, strat players would jam matchsticks into the groove of the switch, so as to force the switch to stay in one of the in-between positions.
I've owned both since the 70s and had been primarily a Tele player for most of that time. There is just something about that Tele bridge pup . . . I like to say it "barks." A little bigger bottom, but it especially has this great sharp attack and bite. The Strat bridge has less bottom, but also less attack and bark. For me, the usual humbucker is not the answer, as they tend to have a softer attack. Thick = compressed and smoother; Bark on the other hand is all about sharp dynamic attack - perhaps the bit of added bottom is perceived as thicker, but I think the sharp attack is the bigger difference - maybe all that metal. For years I used a Joe Barden S-Deluxe (not chunky) on my Strat bridge- a humbucker yes, but it really did seem to have a dose of that Tele bite. But I've found the newer JBEs do not. Could be perception - unless you A/B/X listen, this is all subjective. Anyway, as of late, I've really gotten into the trem again, and have become much more a Strat player. With CS 69s and playing with compression attack & EQ, I can get darned close to a Tele "bark" and bottom on my Strat bridge - but I have to kill the EQ when I switch to the other pups or they're muddy. Why not just put a trem on the Tele? I fear that would stop it being, well, a Tele! I should say that unlike a lot of players, I stay on the bridge 90% of the time on both guitars. I live for jangle and big bright sharp early Jimmy Page (Tele) leads. :)
Tele’s got that sweet bridge pickup, but I prefer Strat for everything else, especially with a humbucker at the bridge (Strat bridges suck, even more so when compared to tele)
yeah. if fender took a tele bridge pu and stuck it into a strat i think we'd get a thing that would beat both
John's just got hold of my Strat with a Strat sized P90 in the bridge. For me that has made the guitar nicer as i've always struggled with a normal strat bridge single coil
I mostly agree, particular with comfort. But I love a well made tele neck pickup. One of my fav sounds period. I played nothing but one strat for like a decade. Now I’m all over the place but I go back to strat if I want to “come home”.
Great playing on both guitars… 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I do love Telecasters more than Stratocasters (60/49). Probably because I started out with Tele’s 40 plus years ago?. Where I have only been playing Strats a little less than 20 years now. I tend to prefer no belly and arm cuts, in the end it’s more of how the instrument feels on my lap considering I only play sitting because I’m disabled and in a wheelchair. As far as sound and tonal attributes? The Tele is my go too as well .
Some of my fave Telecaster players: Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Albert King, Joe Bonamassa and Kenny Vaughn
Some of my fav Stratocaster players: Eric Clepton, Buddy Guy, SRV, Jeff Healey and Colin James
Tele presses a nerve on my right arm when picking or strumming. Makes half my hand go numb. So while I love a tele, Strat's ergonomics are a winner!
Love them both for different reasons. Always going to have one of each.
For me it's simply when I think of a type of guitar which hero of mine do I think of? My first guitar was a strat because my favorite players mostly played strats. It's really that simple for me. That's part of the reason I've never really cared about Les Paul's also. They have never been the main instrument of my favorite players.
That being said, nothing feels better than traveling w/ a tele. It just feels like it would survive a nuclear blast compared to the others. Apart from that...I find that my thoughts on each guitar is greatly influenced by the one I'm playing most at the moment. I remember sometime last year swearing I was a 335 guy and done with strats because I'd been playing my 335 a ton. Now I'm back to being a strat guy again lol
11:03: "and that doesn't really mean anything", lol...this is the kind of comment that makes your channel so entertaining to watch JC! Besides your stellar playing, naturally. Keep up the good work, and thanks for what you do! ✌
Man, your playing is so inspiring. Both are beautiful guitars by the way, and both sound amazing when YOU play them.
You've been on fire with these recent back to back videos.
Started on a Strat but sold it fairly soon and moved to a Dean V then to Ibanez Jem, which is what I always wanted in the first place. After getting use to the Ibanez, the necks on Fender and Gibson style guitars felt alien with their small radius fretboard and fat necks. For that reason, I have never gone back, but now I want to start moving that direction.
The break over angle from saddles to body determine the stiffness of the strings. Try lowering the saddles as low as it will go without buzzing. It is still tricky because when you lower the saddle the pitch lowers and you have to retune by adding more tension, it’s almost a wash and the gain you get is minimal.
Being a recent believer in teles coming from Japanese made Epiphone casinos I've found that 10 gauge strings thru body with bass saddles is my tone and very versatile. Yes it's a bit stiff but the trade is that your notes ring more clearly and with more sustain. If you want that bouncer feel with less tension then you gotta use a top load bridge like Jimmy page did. Also Jim compelongo, lots of good great players do top load regardless of the stigma of it.
Hard choice. Strat gives u more tones but the tele is such a good middle of the road sound that is so nice live.
I would tend to agree with you on this subject. I took home both a stratocaster and a telecaster over the weekend. Only one guitar is going to stay.... I have a few other guitars in my stable, and after doing some a / b comparisons, stratocaster is the clear winner. There is something about the neck pickup and some of the middle positions that none of my other guitars can even come close to... Whereas some of my other guitars can cover a lot of the bases that the telecastor did... Both are really great guitars but definitely not close enough to be apple's to apple's comparison.
I have the opposite view on this. I played a Strat for 10 years. When I picked up a decent Tele, I realized I had been playing the wrong guitar during that time.
I greatly prefer the bridge pickup on a Tele. Every Strat I have played, the bridge pickup is too bright and piercing, making it almost unusable for me. My old Strat did not have tone control on the bridge pickup (traditional Fender wiring), so the Tele automatically wins there. In a setting with 2 guitar players, the Tele bridge pickup stacks up well next to a Les Paul's humbucker, far better than a Strat.
I find the Tele tones far more useable. The 2 and 4 position quack sound is cool, but I never used it. I often spent my days on a Strat sitting on the middle pickup and using it for twangy country playing. I wish I had been listening to the Grateful Dead back then, cause Jerry's Strat tones with the middle pickup are fantastic and more in line with how I wanted to sound with a Strat. Even with that said, I would rather use the middle position on a Tele.
The Strat bridge pickup didn't have a tone control because tone controls load down the output. So it was louder and brighter as a result, perfect for lead lines... and if you plugged it into a tweed amp in a band mix scenario, you would understand why it sounds the way it does.
Bedroom players prefer darker pickups and tone settings.
Strat bridge pickup is underrated. I modded it so I can controle it with tone, take off some of that sharpness.. It sounds very Gilmourish when soloing, its great
Tele body with arm relief and tummy cut and Dimarzio Area T Pickups With a Locke Custom Van Halen 78 Neck, Locking staggered Tuners is my go to
A string through hard tail bridge strat with a beefy 50s Tele neck, swimming pool route, Tele bridge pickup, custom spec Tele neck pickup (or a strat neck pickup), strat middle with nickel alloy cover to match the neck and control panel with universal bass cut, tone and volume and 10 way free way switch... These are personal preferences of course.
Objectively, Strat ergonomics is more comfy and pickguard mounted controls allows for easy swaps. Now if somebody manufactured a quick release bridge latch (like for flight cases), then pickguard/pickup swaps can be even faster without the really expensive swap systems in fancier designs.... Daydream over lol
My main guitar is a tele with strat neck and middle pickups, 10 way pickup switch, reverse control plate, arm and belly cut, master volume, treble cut and bass cut
The last year I went from Strat man to Tele man. My Strat plays way better and is super versatile thanks to the blender kit that I installed. But got myself a Tele finally and immediately loved the slightly more wooden sound from the neck pickup and the uniquely Tele tone the bridge gives. The Strat is more comfortable, but feels like each time I pick it up the tone is hit and miss. Never consistently what I am after. Whereas the Tele delivers on tone every time. Never had a guitar sound so good. Will be upgrading the Strat pickups soon to give it a chance to fight back… will see where we are by next year
Started on strat, but I'm definitely a Tele fella. Both work great and which one you like depends on who you are. Still own my strat and play it from time to time.
I have and like both but for me my tele gets played more. It just tends to work better for whatever I'm doing and feels better in my hands overall.
With effects pedals, you can get any sound you want from either
I started out on a tele and it always dug into my ribs sitting down, and left a line. Belly cut of strat was a godsend. Always love 6 saddles too. Shame bending a string on a floating trem moves bridge and changes pitch of other strings but otherwise strat is perfect
Ditched my Danocaster tele when I got my current Les Paul, personally. Favorite tele players; Julian Lage & Margeret Glaspy, Bill Frisell, Ted Greene, Danny Gatton, uh, sometimes Ben McCleod plays one... Not a long list for me, frankly.
Both rule in the in the choice of guitars out there. When it comes to the sound, I prefer a tele. But for comfort strat wins. I have tried lots of different guitars yet I always go back to a tele.
I love both, have owned both and sold both many times over the years. It’s a sickness really. But one of the main issues for me, and I know it’s definitely a me issue, but when/ how I strum I’m constantly hitting the volume knob on a strat and slightly turning it down. That is so annoying to me. More so than even tuning stability. The tele fits my playing style more I think.
Nashville Telecaster for the win. Go up a string gauge on that tele you have there and it won’t feel so tight.
I like them both. It's really what am I trying to do at the time. I hate the base tele neck pickup. I much prefer when there's a humbucker there. Both really inspiring instruments that lead me to different places.
What color are these guitars? They are lovely
Strat for me. Sexier design, comfortable as melted butter, 5 useful sounds, trem…
I prefer the Tele because it seems a bit fatter. But I think it may just be that the Strat was so much more popular when i was growing up. The tele was sort of an old-man, or country guitar, but i think people have discovered how cool sounding and versatile they are over the last decade or so, so i'm not sure i'm being truly objective. I think the strat may be more expressive but there is something about the tone of a strat i don't love. Especially using mild or medium overdrive. I either like it clean or full on fuzzed/muffed out like hendrix or gilmour. Fun debate and makes me have to think about what it is i truly prefer about the tele tone.
Strat for me - any time of day and night
3:51, what a nice waterfall (like Eric Johnson style)
Maybe the Tele is lighter in general because of the lack of a trem and only having 2 pickups vs. 3 on a Strat? My hardtail Strat is lighter than my trem equipped Strats. Of course, every piece of wood is a little different, but I always figured the trem block added weight vs. a fixed bridge design.
I prefer teles personally. There is just a real utilitarian feeling about teles. There is no fluff at all.
Every single sound is great, when I am playing them I don't have this sub conscious knowledge that there are specific configurations that wont sound great contextually and that I need to dance around. Or are extraneous.
I love the way they play, the stability, the simplicity. They are the perfect guitars. Leo got it right first time I think.
Don't get me wrong, I love Strats too but to me they feel a little more diffuse. A little more prone to idiosyncrasies and faff.
perfect summary, best I’ve read
If I choose one to play and be creative with at home, Strat all the way. If I have to choose one only to gig with, it would be the Tele for more versatility style wise and a better cut through in a mix especially with that bridge.
If I had all the space and $$$ for guitars, I'd probably build a Tele body with Strat neck pickup and some sort of trem unit instead of just the ashtray.
I just know that this color looks great. I'd buy anything with that and be happy
Very interesting to hear your thoughts. Only recently did I get a G&L ASAT Classic as a T-type and a Player Strat, so I'm just learning what tones each have. Thanks also for incredible playing.
Definitly liked more teles than strats. A strat for me looks amazing in the right colors, but it's definitly a guitar that I have to... have. Whereas my acoustic and tele are my tools.
Always had (and still have) Strats, got a cheap Squier CV Tele later as a complete beater-guitar and it blew me away how that thing played, granted I'm weird and I actually love the neck pickup on that thing. Then I finally got (not so easy as a lefty) a proper Jazzmaster which to me would be the best of both worlds if it wasn't for the fact that the guitar seems so huge I have issues playing it for longer periods of time :c
Strat has wider range of tone. But doesn't mean the Tele platform is bad, just different. There are great places in music for the Tele tone.
In so much as I love hearing others play on Tele's, I can't do it. Not sure why but the feel, the sound, everything is all wrong when I play them. But not so at all with Strat or Strat type guitars. My choice these days however is the Music Man Cutlass
I agree that the strat sounds better for those delicate sounds like you played at the end of your video. These work great on recordings too, but I found that those in-between sounds do not work so well when you are playing with a live band.
Tell that to Mark Knopfler
Totally agree with your preference for the Strat . Don’t own a Tele but have played a few and wonder if I bought one and spent some time with it I might enjoy them more . Roy Buchanan and Josh Smith would be my favourite Tele players and I’m surprised how un -Tele like Robben Ford can make his sound . I tried a Tokai Firebird recently as I love the mini humbucker tones but didn’t like the neck much then played a nineties Mexican Strat and immediately felt more comfortable. Jeff Beck and Robin Trower my favourite Strat players -just saying 😀
Tip - you can fit any Electric Guitar to any Genre, how ? get a Good Amp, Eq the Amp, maybe get a EQ Pedal, a Noise Suppressor Pedal or a Drive Pedal .... Plus Stop buying things, and Practice more.
K Line Tele is my guitar for life. Roasted pine….just amazing.
I play both, but I love my maple neck ash body tele more for the aggressive snap and attack for edge of breakup and being, and still beautiful cleans. Since I added the strat middle to my Baja tele it's even less likely I'll grab the rosewood neck strat for pickup position 4 stuff...
I grew up with a strat. Tried Les Paul and Ibanez but came back to strat. Wanted to go for a tele but felt guilty 😂 still faithful to my strat.
Incredible playing
I agree with everyone here… you really need both 🎉
love the back ground music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what is that ,,,,,,, tele I love..... strat still sweet
Yeh, I love my Catastrasters! But the Telecasters with the old wiring ... which everybody and his brother rewires!!??? ... offers a whole bunch of tones at the flick of a switch. Nobody seems to know that you can ease the switch into position TWO (like a Stratocaster) and get both pickups on, on treble. or it might be wired out-of-phase, which is really cool a-la, James Burton ...
I thought Fullerton came up with the strat. Leo thought the tele was fine as their main guitar. Fullerton wanted something more "curvy". At least that's what I saw somewhere.
I prefer telecaster but i don't really understand why. Yes I prefer the sound, playability, but why not the same for me about strat? I don't know. I play jazz, fusion, pop…
I think a bigsby tele is the tele for a strat player.
Ergonomically I prefer Strat. In terms of sound and 'fun factor' I like Tele more. I feel like Tele has more bite and is more versatile. You can play anything on it even if it has a single coil in the bridge. Hard rock etc sounds better on a Tele to my ears. I don't really use trems much so I don't miss not having it in Tele. The only downside of Tele to me is that it's usually heavier and body is not as comfortable. It hurts my rib sometimes after longer playing sessions haha. I love my £100 Harley Benton Tele (TE-52 NA). I pick it more often than my expensive guitars. Crazy, right? I still can't believe it myself. It's that good. That said, I tried Fender USA Tele Ultra and I thought it sounded like garbage (very thin, lifeless) even though it played and looked great. I know there must be an upgrade to that HB Tele somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.
Team strat! I've only ever played a Mexican strat..but prefer the snappy sound.
If I could pick only one or the other THAT would be difficult, but since I can use both it's a no-brainer!
Love the intro jam! Totally sounds like "This Must Be My Dream" by The 1975.
1975 - Settle Down
I only play jazz and have both- the comparison should be less about the body type (Tele vs Strat) but ALL about the pickup type- my 59 CS Strat has Texas Special pickups and set up to produce a warm tone- it sounds warmer than yours and is better or as good as my Tele for jazz-I only play clean anyways.
I have a hard tail Stratocaster with a JB Jr in the bridge - best of both worlds :)
i have both. the strat gets more use because i really started using the trem and the 2&4 position on the switch give you tones you just don't get out of every guitar. i do really get annoyed the the middle pickup and the volume knob though.
The ideal Fender guitar is the Tele body and headstock (bc it's cooler) with Strat (and Tele) electronics.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m really not digging the Strat. I’ve always liked the air around the notes, but now I just don’t. Instead, the power, roundness of a tele has been doing it for me. Now that I think of it, I’ve played dozens of Strats, and aside from my current one, none of really been memorable. However, there are two T-style guitars that haunt me, a Truxton and a CS Tele, that absolutely haunt me. I’ve been listening to a lot of Davy Knowles lately and the ‘66 Telecaster into the D-style amp are just perfection for me … for now. I 100% understand about playing the strat lighter and the tele in anger. Strats are happiest when the notes can bloom.
I have always felt like the Strat is more comfortable for lead stuff...
I prefer my tele to my strat. But I can imagine that there is a strat out there that I'd like better than my tele. Although, to be honest, there might be a tele out there that I like better than anything else. Put me down for tele! Disconnecting the tele's neck pickup from the tone helps it quite a bit. And I hate that all of the electronics on the strat are mounted to the pickguard.
Andy Wood on Tele. I wonder if his Suhr signature model with mods would work for you John. I don’t have a tele .. more of a strat guy myself but have thought about picking one up.
Great comparison vid.
Me personally, I am a strat guy HSS as never spent enough time with a single coil bridge strat to know if I prefer it.
Also I do love how a tele looks and have always wanted to get one. However every time I try them I can’t get use to the lack of comfort cuts. Perhaps it just needs more time to get use to it.
My question is why do you prefer the single coil strat bridge to a humbucker strat?
Be great to see your views and how you dial in that single coil.
Probably just more a fan of the traditional strat setup. That's what it is for me, personally. I even like HSS strats because the bridge becomes a usable tone for me. At the same time...I just like the way a traditional strat looks and that includes the bridge pickup. Don't underrate tradition in a lot of this.
Love a strat and a tele but my go to has to be, a semi hollow with p90s !! And I can't play worth shit, so my opinion doesn't matter. Good playing my dude.
I’m a rock guy I need more grit and sustain that’s why I love the tele.
I have both and really enjoy both, but to be fair, my Tele is an Elite with a belly cut and a six saddle bridge, so-
Ergonomic yes, but damn those noisless pickups just don't sit well with me. Just my opinion.
How do you get that tone from the beginning is it chorus with compression or something? I can never get that clean chorus that’s like that.
That's my 80s/1975 preset I think there's a preset build on the channel if you search!
Does the Strat volume knob get in your way?
Never
I'm a Les Paul man. Got my first Tele today. Always hated playing strats.
I think you're wrong about the Strat not being wildly used in a variety types of music, because of your jazz centric world view.
Strats are used in metal, if only in the super Strat form, which predominates that genre, and I'm willing to bet they formed the basis for most guitars used in jazz fusion, if only in modified varieties, although I'm less aware of what they used, but am aware some took to odd guitars.
John, what do you think about Jazzmasters?