Why I STOPPED Playing A Strat... 

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Completely abandoning all strats just because the one you happen to own isn’t any good is very illogical. I’ve owned many strats in my lifetime and some were great and some weren’t. The same with the gibsons, Ibanezes, charvels, etc that I’ve owned. I currently own 1 Strat, 1 les Paul and 1 charvel. These are the ones that were amazing. All the others I got rid of.

At 4:38 you mention sound being the most important thing but I think the feel of a neck is more important then sound when you can switch out any of the electrical factors after the neck and playing the instrument itself. Love your work, love your videos Ben.

I’ve had a Strat for 33 years and it feels like part of my body. It’s not perfect and I do have other electric guitars but I can’t lie, I always come back to the Strat. It’s the one.

"...no other guitar in the universe actually does what the strat can do. I think we all agree on that." Jeff Beck: Esquire Fender Interview.

To me it's the opposite. So much so that I know it's no use buying anything else than a strat... I recently bought my first Les Paul Custom Shop and it's great, I got a Metheny Ibanez, a Semihollow AS2000, Yamaha Revstar, Gibson SG, Ibanez RG, whatever guitar, the strat always end up being the one. Yet it's not the most comfortable or easy to setup (especially with the vintage truss rod in the neck pocket...), but still, it's the most addictive guitar. Second is Telecasters.

I’m in an alternative/punk band and I have an HSS strat with the bridge humbucker. It’s so god damn versatile I love it

Thanks for sharing such a genuine and insightful story, It's your search for sound and melody what makes your music so interesting and expanding. its also cool to hear how you went for what felt right at the time and how you also let it go when it's time. I found it very "valitating" in the ever changing/evolving path of making art.

I think the chimey Strat tone suits your style and adds more character and grit to your lines honestly, compared to your current axe. I mean you're a phenomenal player regardless, so really it just comes down to which degree of badass you want to be.

"The Strat is an odd choice for improvisational playing," said literally only this person

this is silly. you don't have to break up with a guitar. play what u want when u want to.

I still believe the Strat is a masterpiece of guitar design. Then of course there's the characteristic nasal tone, which I love. But I understand the beauty of humbucker pickup sounds too. One thing I know for sure is that I'll never get rid of my Strat, it's really comfortable to play, with its low action and contoured body, and it sounds fantastic. But then again, you may run into Strats (and any other guitars, in fact) that don't feel the same. Every guitar is unique, even those which are (or should be) theoretically identical.

You could also change the neck. Just get a quarter sawn and maybe also heat treated neck with the frets of your choice. One piece maple can be stable. My Eric Johnson signature Strat has a healthy sized one piece maple neck which is the most stable neck I’ve ever had a pleasure to play. It’s just strange how unsensitive it is to the climate changes. The neck wood is ideally quarter sawn and the grain structure is dead straight and dense.

My first video of yours and I’ve come away from it rooting for your Strat. Here’s to you remedying the intonation issues and keeping it in the rotation.

Ben being taken with the Strat is how I felt the first time I heard Ben play (with Pat Bartley). I was immediately taken with the incredible sound of the solo 🎶💖

I never was a big strat fan as a user, I' m more into telecasters and gibson P90 guitars. But some of my favorite players played them, Rory Gallagher and SRV. And the design of the strat is still incredible.

That’s to bad because Fenders are serviceable. You can buy another neck with proper finish. You can get the correct sized frets . You can get after market saddles such as Callaham you can get stacked double coil pickups. There are plenty of ways to keep a strat out on the scene. I of course prefer a Telecaster.

I'm not a big fan of strats, but when I play a good one i can appreciate it. I hate the limiting knobs, the lack of power in the bridge pickup,and the neck joint, but I see why people use them and some good ones do have redeeming qualities. But this seams like odd reasoning for hating a strat.

Everyone embarks on their own journey. A Strat will always accompany me on mine.

The whole point of a bolt on neck is so you can change the neck... so change the neck and move on

The strat was always a workhorse guitar for me through the years gigging in bands, but mainly because they are so comfortable to play....the kicker was I struggled to make them sound good in a live situation. Eventually I got the PRS bug and that replaced the strat for awhile. It's weird but I've done a complete 180 in recent years and I can't put the strat down now. It's like a rekindled love affair. lol It's part of being a musician I guess.

I love Strats, not all of them, but they do have something other guitars are missing, each one of them have their own character, some are fuzzy, some are lovely, some are mad and some are loyal. I love mine!

There’s only two guitars. Stratocaster and Telecaster.

Strats are like a difficult good looking woman, aggravating at times but you just can’t let them go.

I have one inexpensive basic Mexi-Strat from the mind-nineties. Maple neck and 9 gauge strings with the action set just right. I love it. And to mellow it out, sweeten and thicken it up, I have a decent "humbucker" feature on my effects processor that is quite convincing.

For me it’s what’s in my head. Which guitar has the tone that will serve the song I’m trying to write. Every guitar is always available.

You being able to hold a light smile while talking is both creepy and comforting.

Love my strat. To each his own.

Love all sorts of guitars but the best neck pickup is a single coil. Humbuckers do nothing for me in the neck position. That said I am not a massive fan of the 2nd and 4th positions on most stats so that probably aligns with why our tastes are almost opposites.

My G&L Legacy makes me happy.

I'll be burried with my favourite black strat in my arms! :)

So? I just started. And it’s the bomb. Almost perfect guitar. Whatever works for you, go for it. We are all different.

dude thank you for sharing. thats quite sentimental and i enjoyed the way you did the story telling. quite insightful also.

each to his own, thank god

I have to mention that for someone who is completely new to this channel the title is clickbate. It should really be, "The end of MY strat?" and not "The end of THE strat?" Yes, that one small word makes a big difference.

Won’t be giving up mine anytime soon California series in red plays and sounds like the best Guitar in the world find another one they’re all different🎸

I sometimes convince myself that whichever Gibson I own that I'm playing, be it a Les Paul, Firebird or SG, sounds as great as my strats. Then I pick up my Strat and the Gibson sounds dead in comparison. I only own these Gibson's because I know il forget that they are pretty one dimensional compared to a strat and start looking to buy one again. I don't know why but that's pretty much the only use I have for owning anything other than a strat

I wonder how many cool solos have been played on that guitar? I bet George Bellas would like that guitar too.

i stopped playing the strat a thousand times 😂

A friend of mine has a highway 1 strat he modded with the EMG single coil set and a red tortoise pickguard. That was a real nice guitar. As for frets I've grown to like medium jumbos, not too fat but still a bit higher off the fretboard.

I only play a Stratocaster when it comes to electric guitars, one has two humbuckers, and the other has three rails (cool rail neck, lil 59' middle and hot rail bridge), I had to alter the guitars to make the sound perfect for me, but I don't think I'd choose another style of guitar

I'm a huge strat fan, love using it more than any other electric. My main strat is a Squier with Custom Shop '54s and hand wired American everything else. Also has the 50s Gibson tone mod. Glassy neck tone, full bodied middle pickup (the one I use the most) and a spanky bridge. I've never owned a guitar with jumbo frets and don't plan on it, and have hardly had truss rod issues. Fender electrics are so modular that you can make it exactly how you want unless you don't want a solid body electric.

Try a 24 inch strat so much fun and a thicker dirtier sound!

I do not like jumbo frets. I love playing 80's shred. But never liked the jumbo thing. 😝

Once you go Strat you never go back...I used to detest them...Now they are all I use...along with a Tele.

Man, I can really relate to this... I've been a Gibson purist since 2002 (so 20 years) and while I absolutely love the neck and feel of Les Pauls, I've had the same issue with constant adjustments and intonation and neck warping due to weather. I live in Chicago and we have extreme hot and cold -- extreme humidity and then very, very dry winters. It's obviously not good on guitars. I'm more and more tempted to get something like an Ibanez Prestige with a reinforced neck where it won't be so fickle in change in temps and humidity. But there's something very special about the heritage, look, and feel of a Les Paul.

The strat is a very distinctive sounding instrument and is truly versatile... unlike the Les Paul, could never get a clean tone out of it that I liked.

You don’t have to play one, it’s not mandatory.

I too dont like jumbo frets. But you can get strats with any kind of frets you want. I have a jaguar with vintage tall frets. You should try a jazz master

The Strat is the best you'll be back!

I’ve had a few. Don’t currently have any. My problem with the strat was always where the volume knob is. Always grabbing it with heel of my hand and losing volume all of a sudden. Additionally, I have to lower the middle pickup or I’m catching it with my pick.

looks like you have played the shit out of it. congrats man. time to get a new guitar!

The vintage style strats have horribly brittle bridge pickups imo. Always preferred a warm humbucker in that position

Ben, Maybe I am biased, but I always loved your semi acoustic sound more than the strat. Have you ever thought about trying boutique guitars such as Moffa, Schottmuller etc?

Double denim jazz cat with a battered Strat. The perfect cocktail. ✅

I’m used to play strat , but i got my hands on telecaster , i rarely play my strat now LOL

Gosh I have vintage Strats, 80 and 90s Strats. Once set up, they play great and don't need too much work at all. how do you store you guitar? Love Les Pauls and 335s too. Seems like you had small issues.

Guitar choice is such a personal choice. I picked up a like new 2004 Stratocaster from a friend that had a picky son. An ash Stratocaster was just to boring for the kid, he wanted something that screamed metal. It had a tendency to break strings so I put new saddles, string trees and a roller nut on it. The single coil pickups were way too noisy so I put some nice Seymour Duncan single space humbuckers in it. Still had some tuning issues so I put locking tuners on it. The neck angle wasn't right so I put a maple shim in. So, hundreds of dollars later I had a Stratocaster that was acceptable to play. I essentially rebuild the guitar. Then one day I was browsing the local used guitar shop and noticed a 2005 Les Paul Studio Faded T. As soon as I grabbed it I knew that it was coming home with me. Like my Stratocaster, it was a one owner guitar. It looked as if someone bought it for their kid and it never got played. The combination lock on the case was still set to all zeros. It came stock with Burstbucker Pro pickups. It plays and sounds as good as any Les Paul Standard without the fancy finish. The Stratocaster comes out of the case once in a blue moon and the Les Paul has become my main guitar. The only thing I've ever done to the Les Paul is change the strings.

You play very well! But surely you know that no matter what kind of electric guitar you take on a world tour, you are going to be entering into so many different weather and humidity and altitude zones that there is no way to avoid strut rod adjustments and intonation setups. It is par for the course from everyone I know who has been a touring musician. Even just going from coast to coast in Canada you are going to have to make numerous setups on your guitar. 🤷‍♂🤔🎸🎸🎸😎 Some people have told me that PRS guitars need fewer of these adjustments and hold their setup longer. But you will pay 3 or 4 times the amount for a really good PRS compared to a decent Strat. If you learn to do the setup of your Strat from a pro guitar tech, it will be an excellent investment and the tools required are a pittance. There are _many_ extensive tutorials here on RU-vid. 🤔🎸

you’re still young… tastes can change…

Just bought another, now have 5…. Leo’s instrument is still perfect… everything else is just a bad copy….

With all due respect, this is confusing. You never made a case for you stopping to "play a Strat". You merely told us why you stopped playing that one particular Strat that YOU own.

I stopped playing a strat about 3 milliseconds after I found the strings were too close together for my fingers. Salvation came in the form of a Warmoth superwide neck and acoustics of various forms.

sounds Scofield - like - in tone. Check out The Red One with him and P Metheny. I get the maple neck issue with climate. Top E string on certain Fender strat models have been annoyingly a buzzing challenge for me. But don't get rid of it - just modify your use of it.

Dude! Find one that that fits your groove and trade in your current Strat!

It sounds as if you bought an old, beat-up Strat because you liked the tone even though it had numerous characteristics you didn't like. You didn't play others to determine if one in better condition, with features you preferred, might have had the same sound. Then you abandoned Strat's altogether because this old, broken guitar didn't play well. That doesn't sound like a very reasonable purchase. It seems that you just prefer arch-tops with humbuckers. Buying the Strat because you liked the tone then trying to force it to sound like a jazz guitar seems like a hopeless endeavor.

If you were to find a Strat which was in better condition and maybe modified with some humbuckers, do you think you'd buy it and use it?

Those idiosyncrasies like the jumbo frets, neck, etc. are for that one specific Strat. I have four Strats (one Squier) and they all play differently, from sustain, tone, intonation, playability. To dismiss a whole design because of one guitar is cheating yourself, especially for how well you play it and the tones you get with it. To me, it's part of the holy four: Tele, Strat, 335 and Les Paul.

Most guitarists I know are not comfortable playing a 9 1/2 or lower radius neck,it’s harder for them to play , so they gravitate to a 12 radius or higher neck because it’s easier to play, playing a strat tuned down half a step is the way to go.

I used to play a broom handle till I discovered hickory shovel handles Never looked back.

Hello… I just love the way you sound. Really amazing.

What is your point?

We grow and change as Artist... perfect

I sold an American standard and a double fat strat. I kept both my prestige Ibanez guitars. Strats play like crap because of the low radius fretboards.

Now, first of all, you say, " I am retiring the Strat, but I will always keep it"....So, I say, don't you think the Strat would be happier in a proper 'Retirement home?....I offer my home to it...it will be loved, cared for, kept clean, and offered daily, fun activities...instead of living some lonely existence, watching all the other guitars being appreciated, while it languishes, immoraly, I might add, unplayed. Contact me, and let's make this happen...for the good of that instrument, for the good of humanity. Thank you.

Had 2 strats (62/63) sold them after a couple years, the buyer sold them again to another guy after less than a year. Sold several Les Pauls and kept a Héritage 80 élite and a 335 es 1969. These are the best i prooved in 40 years

Hey Ben, I enjoyed watching this video! So is your Ibanez AZ your main guitar now, if so now you'll need to post a followup video with all the in's & out's of why? Cheers!

Noticed you took the volume knob off. I've recently done the same. Been playing Charvels for a while & when I picked up my Strat it just felt in the way.

I'm mainly a Gibson Les Paul guy . But I also play strats as well .... But only clean channel..

I love the sound of strats but I never liked them personally. Always found them ugly and my picking always hit the middle pick up. Semi hollow is the way I go.

Nothing can compete with a Strat, nothing

I can get almost any sound out of a strat - with neck profile and pickup options owning two or three covers everything

I played a '96 Fender Strat for 22 years, bought it brand new in New Orleans in 1996. I stopped playing it because it's not with me anymore. I play my 2008 Tele now, just because I can't find a Strat for me yet.

Tele Team is here!

Ha. I couldn’t bail on a strat even if I wanted to. Lol. I love the strat so much there really isn’t another guitar like it and even ones that are made to be “improved” versions aren’t the same.

You told me yours, I'll tell you mine. I'm an American roots player, and work on how the music feels more than playing fast or knowing tons of theory.... I'm a visceral listener and player. I started acoustic flat top, found the old 1920's & 30's Blues, fascinated with fingerstyle. Studied. I got into electric by default. A coworker's friend passed with no warning. His friend had no relatives or significant others. They were roommates, and this guy's old Tele was there. He kept it as a memento, didn't play, at all. He knew I played. He handed me a very beat up case, and said, "put some mojo in this thing." I had a borrowed amp for some reason. I plugged it in, and a while new world emerged. I realized electric and acoustics are completely different instruments. They share a lot in common, but I've seen acoustic players clueless about electric, and vice versa. I still play both, never expecting one to cover for the other. So I hit open mics with this thing. I just learned entry points for the blues scale, and for Country major scale. Humble beginnings. 5 years later he asked for his guitar back. I'd had it refretted, with jumbos, high crown. I hated to give it up since it played so well. I went out and bought a '52 reissue. Oh well, it was a loaner. The guy turned into a best friend. He passed early this year. I was there. Aging sucks. He willed the guitar to me. I did mods to the reissue that I was clueless about, just something I read. I was experimenting, learning the ropes so to say. My band had just broke up. I went back to acoustic, did it full-time from there for the next 15 years.. I got drawn back into band work. Now I'm on electric. I was learning how to make sense of the guitar/amp interface. It took a few more years but things are starting to make sense. That Tele I modded, turned out perfectly, pure dumb luck if ya ask me. I can do anything on it, except high gain Metal... which I don't play. I saw a Strat build on RU-vid. The sounds he got, even going through a phone, had me smitten. So I started gathering parts and pieces. It turned out very well. It plays so well its scary. It just draws you in. Then the sound. I built it for clean playing. It sparkles. We still need to become better friends.... Meanwhile, I'm stuck on my Tele, and my acoustic. I'll be back.

Do what many have done...get a good tele with a neck you love, then get modding...or get a Baja Classic tele...I have two...a real Swiss army knife of a guitar

I hate Strats. LOL But I keep coming back to them. And you never know when you will find a great one, right now I'm playing a Mexican Strat and I swear it's just...me.

Beautiful guitar, I've always had a thing for the daphne blue/sonic blue maple neck combo. Out of interest, do you know what those pickups are? They sound fantastic. I was also wondering are you fading in with a volume pedal on the attack of some of those notes, or is that something to do with the compression? It's a cool variation on timbre.

The strat is the most versatile instrument made. So many configurations and tomes.

I totally get it! I have many Strats but they typically meet the need for a certain job. I tend to love my 335 and Eastman 335 copy much more….plus several dual humbucker Gibson Guitars. I love Strats for things they do well but they’re not where my heart is…..but again some jobs they’re totally the most appropriate and occasionally more consistent. Took me years to find the right Gibsons but they are really my ride or die guitars…..including a 66 ES175 😎 Teles are weird for me too often appropriate but not always exciting to me.

Don't want to belittle this new path you've taken, but what led me to your musical world was the sound of "Growing Pains", both from your record and Alexander Claffy's... Really love the solos and the tone! But I'm sure you will play great music also with the humbuckers, that cant't wait to listen to!

If the jumbo frets are giving you intonation issues it could be that somehone has done a sloppy job at crowning them.

That 57 reissue sounds and looks great!

Did you get a "Custom shop" 335? I was in the same boat, ditched the strat and got a 335 and Telecaster..now I need them both all the time.

The Bob Ross of guitar

How do you keep your home recording studio behind you so neat and tidy?

Since you are not using it.. can i have it? :P

You can use the Eric johnson thinline strat!it works!

The good news is that you make any guitar sound great!😂