To Support the Channel: Patreon / askzac Tip jar: paypal.me/AskZac Venmo @AskZac Or check out my store for merch - my-store-be0243.creator-sprin... Let's talk all about Strats!
Love Wicked Game. I have to admit for a old Gibson guy, I'm loving my teles and strats. I also have raw vintage springs and saddles on my strats. Also this Eric Johnson mod.
Damn I love them early 50’s strats how the neck color ages to a slight tobaccoish/ amber tint and especially the body how the 2 tone bursts the black fades into a nice dark coco or brown color I LOVE that. The fender CS tries to no avail to mock that up and they get close but not there!
Yep. I've tried to explain it more then a couple of people when they tried to make it out as "Leo had no idea what he was talking about and called it the wrong thing." No, Leo knew *exactly* what he was talking about, which is why he was able to purposely call it the wrong thing.
Wow! So Brad is not only a killer artist and musician but a killer luthier as well!! That is an absolutely beautiful Strat!; I thought it was a real ‘54-‘55! I love Jimmie Vaughan’s tone, playing and approach; mostly the middle pickup.
This was great to listen to while replacing the trem on my Peavey Raptor and stringing it up. I’m always suggesting your channel to fellow guitarists. I even got your Sickness shirt. Thanks for sharing your love of the craft!
The impedance a Strat pickup feels connected to the input of the amp is as important as the pickup winding itself. Try a Twin-City ABY with a Strat plugged in and vary the "drag" control. Humbuckers - not so much.
I have had two of the ‘57 custom champ amplifiers. Both had rattling and buzzing issues. I worked on them and added tube rings. Both times I could lessen the noise but never remove it. I moved both on. And I won’t go back again.
Thanks for the very informative video. Your breadth of guitar knowledge is amazing. And that guitar is soooo cool. I just have my humble Squier 40th Ann. Vintage Series Strat that I picked up last year. Love it! 🎸👏
I play bass... The added weight thing on both Strats and Tele’s by changing the bridge, is something I can relate to: they provide (much) more fundamentals, but everything about the under- and overtones changed, and not for the best IMO. In the early ‘90’s I had a paper round (alongside to my regulard job and school) just to be able to have both of my Fender basses outfitted with Leo Quan ‘Badass II’ bass bridges. They looked so cool! And my favorite bassist back than had one on his (now famous) ‘73 Fender P Bass: U2’s Adam Clayton. (His ‘73 P might have been te first relic Fender bass in the mid to late ‘80’s: he used it for a bunch untill 1985..., than he used a late ‘70’s Jazz for a while, and when the P returned less than a tour later, it lost most of its finish... I really don’t think it was because of shredding and studying at home in between tours. I guess he toughed her a lot in different ways..., 😉) But, the heavier bridges... They provided one thing on both my Fenders (P and a J): better weight balance. But tonewise? No, they got worse, 😉. Who neads ‘sustain’ on a bass...? Ok, John Entwistle... 😄. So, since the early ‘90’s I leave the bridges on any Fender bass I use just as they are. I do have some old ‘Badass I’ bridges on some Gibson basses, though. The Gibsons react much more different. Might be because they’re built so differently to begin with. 🖖
Another good one Zac! - especially for this old Tele player, still new to the Strat. So your “#2 position” is my #4 - I ordered them backwards apparently (the bridge being “#1). I’m getting into the #2 and #4 positions with this Strat.
It's nachos, it's mine! I like Telecasters because they sound natural in all music combinations! I have a Placid Blue Top Loader Squire Strat that I love!
Zac, how about doing an episode on Buck Trent. I know he wasn’t a telecaster or Stratocaster player but the things he did on electric banjo were pretty amazing. Just thought I would ask. Thanks!
I guess I'm lucky. New gear motivates me. Sure. But for daily motivation, all I need is a little Duane Allman, my namesake. Doesn't matter what song nor how many times I've heard it. Just hearing him play inspires me to play & practice every single time. Without fail. That's all I need.
Performer series teles are great. I have 2 of them and they both are light in weight and I even swapped necks on them and they both play fa tactic . No one talks about the performers much on RU-vid but they are really good. Never tried a strat performer but they are probably good as well.
Nice episode! My Stray is a 2012 56 ‘true vintage’ American reissue. It has that thin flash coat of nitro, totally gouged up. I got it used three years ago for cheaper than current Mexican roadworns or Japanese Fenders go for. Heck it’s cheaper than Vintera IIs and about 500 less than the new Pearl Jam signature Mexican strat - which looks great, but heck these prices have gone truly nuts. Must try the twangbanher in the bridge, it does lack oomph. I’ve bought the springs you always recommend but have yet to install them
i just had to revisit straits 78 'footage , it never sounded like it was in-between coils to me, every one plays SoS with that sound,.he uses the MIDDLE COIL! only
@askzac One factor in why a Tele bridge pickup sounds different from a Strat is the angle of the pickup. The Tele pickup has more of an angle than the Strat. Combined with the slightly bigger coil, the Tele is a little fatter, and the grounding plate gives it a bit more twang as well. I have a ‘92 Fender Custom Shop Strat that I had grounding plates installed on all three pickups, and it sounds good (always did!), but it still doesn’t sound like a Tele. Funny you should mention Gibson Nighthawks-I’ve been looking for one since they got discontinued, but I can’t find one for less than $2000! I want a Custom, but I’d take a Standard.
I got a lefty strat for my 50th birthday in Oct 2004, a G&L George Fullerton model that looks like the Clapton Blackie guitar. It is a copy of the '57 strat that George helped design when he worked for Fender in the 50's, V neck with the G&L hard tail bridge and 5 way switch. If you want a real strat buy a G&L.
Hey Zac! Always enjoy your presentations .... any experience with Lollars Strat blend wiring? I installed a set of their '64 PU's with the blendmobile wiring and starting to really enjoy dialing in a little bit of another PU when just a single is selected. Oh, and your Brad build is way bitchin'! Nice Strat! Brad!! Nacho!!!
This is the first time I've ever heard of the "10/56" necks as a thing. I actually have one and have always wondered why it is so unique in it's V shape. It has "10/56" penciled in on the heel of the neck. Do you know any more info about them? Who made them and why? I suppose the info is in one of the out of print books I need to find about Stratocasters. This guitar was my father's, he bought it in San Francisco, in November of 1956 while he was stationed there in the Navy. He traded in a black guard Telecaster for it.
Got me a first year oly white Road Worn Strat. Great guitar, just wish the neck was a bit chunkier. Road Worn’s are great bang for your buck guitars imo.
Zac, loved this episode. Quick question: you referred to the number 4 position on the Strat with it playing through the bridge and middle pickups, and then you played the theme at the end after dropping it into the number 2 position with the middle and neck selected. I had always referred to these positions that way, but have seen on some other shows and diagrams the opposite (the 4 being neck and middle and the 2 being bridge and middle). You are one of the premier experts in my mind on Fender knowledge, which is correct? Is the bridge position 1 or is the neck? Thanks!!!
First time that I am aware of the use of the 2nd position would be the 1st Clapton Solo album the song LET IT RAIN, does anyone know of one before that 1970 album??
@@AskZac Do you know what recordings. I know LEO did not like 2 and 4, and you had to back before like 75, just stick the switch between them, to get it. To me it has been so over done now it just, well it was neat when ERIC did it. I think Robert Cray always uses it, he has such a THIN sound for sure.
@@AskZac Yeah that is it. Thanks. Bet that Festival was really Great had Sonny Boy Williamson, my favorite Blues harpist of all time. Just wished he did not have the Lord's name in vain on one of his Songs, it is either at the beginning or the end of one of them.
My bar doesn't wiggle that nicely. I wonder if I've got it too close to the wood. It's not blocked or anything. Think we could get a side view sometime?
Hey Zac! If I had been tuned in live, I would’ve liked to have asked the following question: Have you played a Strat into a Fender Twin Reverb and if so what were your impressions of that rig foundation? I think the Strat paired with a Twin is paradise for the clean tones with the ability to beef up and drive with pedals. Thoughts?
I have a Musikraft Tele I built. I like it quite a bit, but the neck has a hazy grain that’s always bugged me, so I’ve been a little leery of MK. Now I’m building a Tele-Gib and thinking about MK because it would be $100 less than Guitar Mill for the same specs, plus I think Guitar Mill has a little bump on the headstock that would need to be filed off. Thoughts?
Im blessed to have found refin #11639 built May 1956 It has XA on the neck end. Xavier was the guy at Fender I'm told. TOO FUNNY THE FIRE COMMENT! We were evacuated and I grabbed the Strat and Vibroverb first and re tweaked my knee going down the stairs too fast. Then I went back in to grab the rest of the junk. Luckily only one house burnt to ground ..not mine. I knew Ron when he was skrawny Ronnie the hyper 12 yr old in Hayward. Always my fav Ellis. His Mom was sooo sweet! You think your sis is tuff? mine wrote the book! That one sounds like the real deal! My neck is scalloped mainly by my fingers and gosh.. 10,000 hrs since 1994 Cool Chris Isaak Lick. He bought a beach house below Half Moon Bay Ca. from a friend and his Mom. He drove a beater with a dented door in 97. Then a slide took out the water supply and it was um. condemmed by the State I think. yikes... I love GHS Boomers on my old girl 10.5 - 50 gauge.Local shop wants $750 for a Plek fret job. crazy! soooo she sits while I play the $60. cheapo Epiphone SG. Tell Ron Gary Y says hi! his sister in law Lisa Ellis sings amazingly! Texas Playboys? I think Rons Dad played with them on live radio back in the day.
Oh shoot...I missed this one. Maybe Zac will answer my question anyway... I have a 2018 Tele Elite, noiseless, S1 switching. Not a fan of the noiseless Tele pickups. What pickups would you recommend for this axe? I have a custom shop Princeton Reverb with a 12" and a stock Hot Rod DeVille 2x12. No price limit. 😊😊😊
Nacho guitars look fantastic. No prices on their website. Anyone know a ballpark figure?? I know, I know....if I have to ask....its probably not in my price range....but you never know.....
Hey Zac, not a strat question but what about a vintage 30 in a blackface tonemaster deluxe reverb instead of creamback neo. Any thoughts ? I can get a deal on the blackface version.
2:07 Am I having a stroke?! Lol This is why Brad plays Teles instead of building them for a living. He made it look just like a Strat! (I’m just pulling your leg 🦵 ❤)
