A typical question for a Fender forum: do you prefer a Strat or a Tele?
A Strat for me.
A typical question for a Fender forum: do you prefer a Strat or a Tele?
A Strat for me.
Both. I have a strat now and have had teles in the past. I will have another. :)
i gotta go with the teles... i have one, and me bandmate has a strat, so i've played them both. i play rhythm and i just like the feel of a tele better, but i think there's times when a strat would be nice for the additional tones.
my choices for my next guitar purchase boil down to an Sg standard or a deluxe strat, and i'm afraid the strat will lose again... maybe some day i'll build one...
"Wait, it's a trap. Get an axe."
I'm mainly a strat man, but I love tele's too. Everytime I hear Gilmour or Hendrix I think strat, and then I hear Richards or Early Zep and I think Tele.....
My final vote is strat though :tw59
i have one of each
just depends on what mood i'm in
I am partial to Stratocasters myself. They are just more comfortable to play and they have a fuller tone to me.
Tim C.
Strats are way more comfortable to play than Teles are also can make more tones with the 3 pickups but there is something about the pure simple design of the Tele that makes it a killer for certain stuff.
My problem when playing a Tele is I keep reaching for the whammy bar and its not there.
Gotta have at least one of each.
Yeah, I've done that before.Originally posted by Marcondo
My problem when playing a Tele is I keep reaching for the whammy bar and its not there.
I have both, and use both as well. Sometimes I'm in a Stevie Ray or David Gilmour kind o' mood; other times, a Roy Buchanan or Keith Richards kind. I love 'em both.
But, to top it all off, I have a Les Paul Custom too. Ya know, for those Gary Moore or Allman Bros. moods as well. Best of all three worlds!
Last edited by Wisertime; 09-04-2002 at 05:08 AM.
You need both... :)
It's funny, but after many years of searching for the Strat and Tele for me, I was happy with a MiM Deluxe Powerhouse Strat, but had to go to the 52 RI Tele to get one I was really happy with - the Tele's the simpler guitar, but I just couldn't find a low-priced one with the weight and tone I was looking for; my Muddy Waters came close tone-wise, but at 9 lbs. it was just too damned heavy... my 52 RI's about 6.5 lbs, sings and screams, and as near the perfect Tele as I'll ever find for me!
And Wisertime's right: an LP rounds it all out! :)
He's hot! He's hip! and he's hairy!
Got 2 Strats, a Tele, and 2 Les Pauls, and wouldn't part with any of them. I think you need at least one of each to cover all of the different tones.
I'm a committed Tele man. I've owned several Strats, over the years. Several of those were excellent guitars, but I just don't get as much thrill out of playing a Strat as I get with a Tele. Because of that, I haven't owned a Strat for a while.
I've just gotta agree with you there, Jim; been playing my tele much more as of lately myself.Originally posted by Jim Collins
I'm a committed Tele man. I've owned several Strats, over the years. Several of those were excellent guitars, but I just don't get as much thrill out of playing a Strat as I get with a Tele. Because of that, I haven't owned a Strat for a while.
TELE! I pretty much use only Tele's live, but use my strat in the studio for most rhythm parts. Then I'll use my Tele for leads.
I have both but rarely play the Strat. Strats are so pretty to look at and some comfy but I'm just sick of that Strat tone. So what if they have three pickups? All five positions still sound like a Strat. That nasal, plinky, quacky tone. Maybe cuz so many people have played Strats over the years it's become a cliched tone to my ears. I'm sick of it.
Teles, on the other hand, have a much purer tone. Which makes them more versatile than Strats. But maybe that's just me.
Ashcaster, I think you hit the nail on the head there. Although I no longer own a strat for that same reason. I do have a les paul but its the tele I prefer 80% of the time (the other 20% is when i need the ol Neil Young grunge tone). The paul, although versatile in its own right can become quite complex because of the relationship between the 2 vol and 2 tone controls. I find myself constantly playing with the knobs instead of playing the guitar. I can get great tones out of a tele without the work. The volume and tone control work wonders and the ax is very responsive to both right and left hand technique. It is just an instrument that amazes me in its simplicity. And, although I wipe the strings fairly vigorously, the next time I get it out to play it the critter is in tune.
I agree with "you gotta have both." Or, all three, if you include the Paul, especially if you do recording work at all. I cheat a bit on the Paul aspect, using instead a Godin LGX-SA, but hey.
My take is this. The band I'm currently with is mostly Funk, R&B, Soul, Blues, and a touch of Classic Rock. My main gig axe is my 'Fat' Texas Special Strat (Ash/Maple/Sienna Sunburst) for it's sheer versatility of tone.
But, for practicing at home each day, it's Tele Tele Tele. It's purity of tone and brutal honesty are the best practice tools money can buy.
BTW, if I'm instead playing with a band that does mostly Classic Rock, or the Fusion/Jazz band I occasionally play with, it's the Tele all the way. AmSe Natural Ash, Maple board with KINMAN AVN-60s.
Tele all the way, all the time. Don't even have any strats anymore. I switch the neck PU for a miniHB, and use a flipped control plate punched for a Switchcraft toggle, 3 brass barrel of course, coupla other small tweaks. Riding the controls and changing up my picking technique and vocabulary and plugged into a BF I can comfortably go from jazz to bluze to rootsabilly to rock...
The sound is so pure, cast iron bottom end, ethereal highs, spank and chime. The tele is so simple and sensitive, it lets me control the outcome, almost like editing it, one can subtract from a great whole but not add (besides there's no need to, everything is there). What can I say? I saw the light!
I have 2 Strats and one Tele.
I need a Strat, but can't imagine not having a Tele.
If I've been playing my Les Paul a lot the Strat sounds a little thin.
The Tele fills a void between the two.
Originally posted by Phil Jacoby
Tele all the way, all the time. Don't even have any strats anymore. I switch the neck PU for a miniHB, and use a flipped control plate punched for a Switchcraft toggle, 3 brass barrel of course, coupla other small tweaks. Riding the controls and changing up my picking technique and vocabulary and plugged into a BF I can comfortably go from jazz to bluze to rootsabilly to rock...
The sound is so pure, cast iron bottom end, ethereal highs, spank and chime. The tele is so simple and sensitive, it lets me control the outcome, almost like editing it, one can subtract from a great whole but not add (besides there's no need to, everything is there). What can I say? I saw the light!
Well, you can't say it much better than that.
I have shifted from being a Strat player to a Tele player in the last few years. Best thing I ever did for my playing. Oh, and the Kinman '60's Tele pickups are a very compelling reason to dedicate onself to the Tele. Everything I need is in there.
'My art and profession is to live.' Michel de Montaigne
Yeah Mountain Blues!
The Tele is freedom!
Sometimes I get the impression that there is a stereotype of the Tele being a country guitar. But to me it is just incredibly versatile, there's nothing I can't venture into with my tweaked Teles. And I get very expressive jazz tones from it, even better IMO than an archtop, which can lack sustain, sound plunky and have hot and dead spots...(hope I don't get hanged for saying that!). With my Teles, I feel like the only limit is me (not enough practice time, unimaginative, sloppy) and not the guitar. Whenever I play a LP, PRS, and even a Strat, I feel like I'm missing something, that the guitar won't invite me to explore certain things...
Even though all those other guitars have their own charm, the Tele is most definately it, like a pair of broken in boots or better yet the beat up leather jacket that you wear everywhere, swanky joints and hole in the walls. And you know, I suffered from GAS pretty bad before Teles. Hell, I repair guitars fulltime so I get to check everything out, know how they all feel and work, and I gotta say there are a lot of killer guitars out there, but the Tele is my friend..!
Okay, off my soapbox. Thanks for reading!
Well my 'handle' says it all, but I do own a Strat, LP, ES345 plus a few Rickenbackers. As I'm fond of saying 'When I die I want to be buried with a Tele in one hand and a Ric 360/12 in the other;) '
I think I just like 2 PUP guitars better than 3. I was raised on Gibsons - my dad bought me a used ES335 for my first guitar and the first new one I bought with my own money was a Reverse Firebird III. I sold that one to buy my first Ric 360/12(still have that one).
I got my first Tele during the "Urban Cowboy" era and fell in love with that bridge PUP sound - nothing else sounds like it.
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