The Truth About Who a Strat Is (Really) For! 

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!

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 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?

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.

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.

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...

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.

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!!!!!!

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.

The song calls the guitar.

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

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).

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

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!

Ok

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.

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 ...

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.

Here , I was thinking, a tele was a jeep and a strat was a jaguar xke

if Flatpole Pickups Change them to your Choice

@@richardbeltran8157 they're original pickups, why would you change them?

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)

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?

I’d build u one

@@oliverchapman51177 got a shop?

@@mkrj2576 in my house and barn and spare bedroom

Which pedals do you use for that? I have the problem that in rock band mix my strat gets lost 😕

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.

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

It definitely increases versatility, and tonal options.

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.

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.

@@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

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.

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.

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.

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 a pseudo-Strat... a Yamaha Pacifica. HSS. A really great guitar. great Strato tone😅👍🎶