The Truth About Who a Strat Is (Really) For!
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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 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
I’ve tried so many guitars but I always ALWAYS come back to my telecasters and strats. The perfect guitars
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.
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?
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 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.
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.
The Jeff Beck Fender Custom Shop Strat doesn’t have tremolo tuning issues you can dive bomb and pull way back. Stays in tune!
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!!!!!!
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.
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.
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...
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 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.
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
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.
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 :)
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
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
Yes. Thanks for the update on the contest. 🔥🔥🔥
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).
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 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
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!
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 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 used to be Strat guy. But every time I pick up the one I still have, I start sounding (in terms of tone) like all the famous Strat players I no longer want to sound like. Think I’m gonna sell the damn thing. Thanks for pushing me over the edge of doubt, Robert! 😂
Don't sell it just play it differently
It's not bad, it's just the instrument that inspire you to play that way. It's his own character. It's actually nice when you want to create your own style but the strat blends in together nicely. Think about players like Andy Timmons. Give it a different view! Search for another type of guitar and it will you inspire to play it differently, that's why instrument choice it's important
My first guitar was an unbranded Strat copy from a pawn shop. I played Strat-bodied guitars loaded with humbuckers in 80s rock bands and have owned and modded numerous Squiers over the years. About 10 years ago I fell in love with P90s. I still have a thing for Telecasters though, so I’m not bashing Fender or anything!
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.
Your playing has been on point bro! Great video!
Strat, telecaster and les Paul. Got to have them all🎉❤
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
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.
Very true about the strat being one if the most comfortable designs.
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
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?
Great video. I love playing and tone
Very nice episode man... Great
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 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
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
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!
This is such a great video! I really loved this!!
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.
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
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 ...
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. ❤️👍
Great stuff RB! I think it would be a cool video to find the gap between vintage Strat tones and a super strats ability too get them too. You got amazing stratty sounds here, if a more modern Strat could get them, then maybe a lot of the downsides of the vintage version could be mitigated, eg heel size, vol knob placement, etc.
That's a great idea. I thought about buying something like a Suhr, because the build quality is so high. But I just can't get the same chime from it that I get with a Strat.
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 😕
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
havent seen your stuff before ever but uh, that intro jam made me stay to hear what you said, really awesome musical choices
Its a work of art. Also being a bolt on neck you want every bit of the joint, that's a big part of the sound
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)
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.
Probably your best intro man. Beautiful
One of my Stratocaster modifications I'm SO glad I did, was get rid of the volume knob right next to the pickup. Plugged that hole, then wired the guitar for just 1 volume, & 1 tone for all 3 pickups. 😎👍
Good video!
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 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.
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.
Great Video! Ty!
I've never liked the single coil bridge either. HSS is the best between both worlds.
It definitely increases versatility, and tonal options.
If it's good enough for Jimi and Stevie, it's definitely good enough for me. LOL
I’m just tele guy I get everything I love about the strat and les Paul in one guitar.
Some really good points for and against a strat. All valid. I really loved your playing. And tones!
Last year I was looking to get a strat and tried many. I kind of fell in love with a custom shop hardtail, but that was way over my budget. In the end, on a whim, I tried a PRS Silver Sky (USA) and fell in love with that. The bridge pickup is wired to the tone control. That really helps. I think a lot of modern fender strats have this wiring now. I really dig the SS. But, I also love my Tele for being a Tele. And my hum bucket guitars for what they bring to the table.
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.
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.
My first electric guitar was a yamaha pacifica that emulates a super strat. When I finally got my first real HSS fender strat I felt like I could play any genre. What I like the most about strat is the fact that the neck result shorter because of the top horn it makes the strat a real pleasure to play
I have a pseudo-Strat... a Yamaha Pacifica. HSS. A really great guitar. great Strato tone😅👍🎶
I always loved the action of the 6 point trem over the 2 point. I like more subtle vibrato.
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 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 was an on again off again acoustic player for years. When I decided to try electric, I planned to start with a used tele. Cruising the used ads I came across a pretty clean American strat that was cheaper than a lot of the squire and Mexican teles I was looking at. The comfort and playability was instant from day one. And the neck pickup alone makes it a keeper for life. It’s been my no. 1 since the day I brought it home!
Great Video Robert, I have been a big fan of Strats since i first got a Silver series Squier back in the early 90s now currently have a Malmsteen Strat that's fun to play.. Quick fix on the Volume control is to put a rubber washer over the spindle and then put the knob over that so the washer is in between the scratchplate and the knob and then it doesn't turn itself down.. Have a great day 😀
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.
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.
Beautiful playing
Good points!!!(I watched this to slag it off and you made your case very well)
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.
I feel like I have no more sense of interest in my Gibson LP, I just play it because I love Jimmy Page and Slash but aside of those 2 Rock legends there's nothing else more that makes me rock with the LP. It's so frustrating because I invested majority of my money to my Gibson les Paul but I still spend much more time on my Mexican strat, what should I do with my LP? I mean I don't want to sell it because those 2 guitars served differently purpose but in your take what should be my move?
Ummm... play it more? 😆
@@AmericanNationalist852 🤣🤣🤣
For me it’s a super strat with a better trem system and more versatile wiring options.
I only own a strat because of SRV and David Gilmore. Once i finally got a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose, i was done looking for my perfect guitar. With my Marshall, that took me years to get, i can't imagine a better sound...
SG is the answer, I know the feeling with the LP. I have both now but I mostly play my CS 61 SG.
Great playing Mr. Baker.
I play a Buddy Guy signature strat.
Just put the 5 strongest springs into the tremolo, never used the arm.
10 gauge strings, fingerstyle, neck pickup ONLY, clean AC30 amp sim in my daw.
This is pure happiness for me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Finally got myself a strat just over a year ago or maybe two ..... A Roadhouse Deluxe. Had always been a Les Paul / double humbucker kind of person before that. It's become a comfort guitar - and I play it a lot. In fact with all the trick it has (pre-amp - humbuckerish-to-single coil switch + regular strat mode) I could probably take it anywhere and do anything with it. I work at home now and it's the one guitar I can pick up while I'm at my desk and noodle during a boring meeting, so it's done the job of helping me play more over the last two year. Too scare of whacking my Les Pauls on the desk or chair but the strat just slots right in and despite knocks doesn't have a scratch on it. Love it.
I've never understood the volume knob issue. The ones that get me are the heel joint and the selector switch, but a body with a modified heel carve and a slight change in strumming style cures those. By far my favorite guitar.
Love the placement of the controls.
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.
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.
I used to hate the bridge pup too, but once I lowered it to be almost flush with the body it totally sweetened it up and gave a much more rounded sound. Also you can sacrifice a lot more treble than you might think with your EQ before it becomes muffled.
Locking tuners, nut sauce on the saddles and nut and you have an amazing trem. Fender trems feel so good and stay in tune pretty damn well with the above setups.
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!
That tone at the beginning is fabulous! What effects are you using? Beautiful.
Good video Robert, i think you covered all the pros and cons. I love my strat and recently got a telecaster which i think is more intelligently designed. No tremolo on it but i never use that much anyway.. Thanks for the video.
Just beautifull intro,great playin Robert!
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 love strats. The different tones and textures possible, the people who play or played them, the colors, the look. I love the deep C neck. I love the soft V neck. I love the versatility - with necks, pick ups and so forth.
I do not love the noise inherent with single coils. Not all of them come shielded but then I wonder if sometimes that matters, especially when coupled with Fender amps. I love tweed fender amps by the way. I am thinking about getting a Donner noise killer pedal.
I prefer the modern truss rod access necks over the vintage heel access.
I also have not had much luck with good strat set ups. Techs seem to set it up to high where I feel like I am climbing to play or too low and buzzes too much; almost always on the low E string. Some techs seem to think there is an acceptable level of buzz. I do not like that much. I judge all guitars based on how they sound acoustically. Any way I have to bring strats back in over and over again before it gets done right. I don't use the tremolo much. And yes I am aware of neck adjustments being necessary from time to time. I can handle that- but it is often an over used excuse and remedy for bad set ups. And yes- maybe I should learn how to set one up. But if I pay to have it set up- I'd like to have confidence in the person setting it up. That is not the guitar's fault, but - I thought I'd mention that it is an element for my experience owning a strat.
The favorite one I own is the American Professional 2. Not very vintage-y but strat -y for sure and the neck is a Cadillac.
Having said that all, it is my favorite - whether it is American, Japanese or Mexican made.
Thank you -
CM
Well that sounds awesome. What gear are using? I need that.