the fender stratocaster is perfect.

  • Thread starter Thread starter faderbug
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perfect strat?

  • i agree

    Votes: 119 41.5%

  • i disagree

    Votes: 168 58.5%
  • Total voters
    287
I just saw something I'd never seen before; something called a "Sub-Sonic" Strat. Hard tail bridge and two humbuckers, in the model of the Gibson camp.

I'd say that that's the Strat I'd buy but I really prefer the smaller bodies on some of the import beginner Strats (Affinities, etc.)

H

PS My #1 is the Jazzmaster, despite its quirks. I love it.
 
c7sus said:
I've yet to play a Strat I would lay down $$$ for.

Gibson necks MUCH FASTER IMHO.
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Gibson necks are fast but fender single coil pickups blow humbuckers away on clean tones. Humbuckers blow single coils away on crunch tones.
I have been playing a les paul on most gigs lately....it's alot fun to play.

Bottomline is that strats work the best on some things and gibsons work the best on others.
 
I can't afford a real Strat so I use a Squire Standard. For me, the neck feels and plays better than anything I ever owned and played in the old days -- which included Gibson MM, LP, LP jr and SG. The set necks were too finicky, the the bridge pins to flimsy for the beating i gave them. So if I had to choose between my Strat and any of them, I'd have to take the Strat. However no Strat with single coil pups can even come close to duplicating the sound of the two humbucks on that LP and SG, and that sound is missed sometimes. e.g. no guitar is perfect.

Tom
 
jimistone said:
...single coil pickups blow humbuckers away on clean tones. Humbuckers blow single coils away on crunch tones...
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that's technically true, but single-coil crunch and HB cleans have all been done. Some people just like 'em that way better.

For instance, I like a [good] HB clean tone. Yes, it's NOT like the Fender clean. But I like it.

If there was a "perfect" guitar, GAS wouldn't exist and players wouldn't collect tons of guitars.

On the other hand, Brian May successfully did play his own guitar for decades. I'm sure he has other guitar types, but looks like his own works best for him.

Anyway, I am now in my life, where I have to find 1 all-around guitar and I think I'm gonna stop on a LP copy I picked up. I have at least 2 friends I can borrow Strats from if I want and maybe someday I'll have a Strat, but maybe not! If I do, it'll be a 24-fret, SSH set neck version, not a Fender.

BTW, I am not a Brian May fan, just respect him for his playing and his guitar :)
 
I was a long-time Gibson and Epiphone player, biut secretly lusted for Strat-tone. My complaint about the Strat was that the quality control was so sh*tty compared to a Gibson. I owned three vintage Strats, and although I loved the tone, they were built so crappily that they were almost unplayable. Eventually I gave up and went back to a Les paul.

Then, one day, a friend let me play a Carvin Bolt.
I ordered my own the next day, and I have owned nothing but Carvins ever since. They are finer machining quality than anything, with your choice of Gibson or Strat or anything in between for tones.

back in the 70's, they were even cheap, but word has gotten out and now carvin has a big following, so a Bolt starts at about $700. Even the cheapest ones have the same quality though. You only pay more for fancy finishes and custom add-ons. My current Bolt is the cheapest they make.
 
strats ARE perfect

But the only thing better, in my book, is a G&L.

Suckas betta realize.

:eek:
 
I love my Strat.

I love my Tele.

I love my SG.

I love my Ric.


They're all different tools for different jobs.
 
I hate Strats, Les Pauls, SG's, Tele's, and Rics.

Some other people make them sound really good though.
 
Strats are yummy. They sound good too. They also play easily. Nuff said.
 
I like strats and les pauls so I built this:
Picture013.jpg
[/IMG]

I used a 12" radius ebony fretboard and figured maple to make the neck. I reversed the headstock and mirrored the Fender logo so folks would know it was different. I used mahogony for the body. I used nitrocellulose for the finish (my brother is a painter). The single coils are texas specials. The humbucker is a gibson 500t like the one in my les paul. I wired it to auto coil tap in the mid-neck position. The bridge is a fishman powerbridge with the powerchip in the input jack. I hand made the inlay from abalone and mother of pearl for my "Across The Universe" theme.

Incidently I made the amp in the photo also. It's an 18 watt Marshall clone.


I hope the photo isn't to big lol,
Violent5
 
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gvarko said:
I like all but the pickguard. Did you make that neck, sweet inlays!
Click to expand...

Thanks qvarko, yeah I made the neck. I duplicated the contour of my American Standard's neck but went with a 12" radius ebony fingerboard rather than the rosewood 9-1/2. I probably have as much time in the inlay as I do in actually making the neck.
 
Violent5 said:
Thanks qvarko, yeah I made the neck. I duplicated the contour of my American Standard's neck but went with a 12" radius ebony fingerboard rather than the rosewood 9-1/2. I probably have as much time in the inlay as I do in actually making the neck.
Click to expand...

Wow, very impressed! Nice work....
 
BTW, regarding perfection: the white strat/tele pickguards with all the screws always looked to me like some prototype guitar from a garage (not to diminish the value of prototypes, though). same also goes for the original Tele bridge (ugh, them things are ugly).

so strat itself is a very interesting shape (and one of the most enduring). I love the 6-inline tuners. but perfection? it's more of a guitar with perfect-yourself potential, but so are all others, really.

And didn't you hear that Gibson is suing to make sure nobody else can apply the word "perfect" to their guitars :D
 
A Strat has some major flaws in design for me:

1. The pickup selector switch (as someone earlier said): It's far too easy to hit that thing, especially when it's in the neck position.

2. Volume knob: Although it's nice for doing volume swells, it does get in the way when picking on the higher strings.

3. The middle pickup: I don't know where the hell else it could go, but it's always in my way, so much that I have to keep my pickups lower than I'd like to.

Of course, Les Pauls have huge flaws too:

1. FRET ACCESS!! You can't reach the upper frets without bringing your thumb around the neck!!!! That's just a stupid design there. I know people rarely played on them in the early days, but if they're there, you should be able to get to them!

2. Contourless: Strats are much more comfortable because of this feature, IMO.

3. Limited sounds: It is pretty much a one-trick pony. Of course, it does do that sound very well.

My two cents.
 
now you guys got me started :)

in spite of what i have said above, the strat and its inventor should be credited with inspiring other guitar makers, which improved and perfected the electric guitar. i would actually criticize Fender (the company) for going from innovators to fat lazy "call it a classic, paste a 'made in US' label and rake in cash" producer. I really dunno if any of the people who made Fender instruments popular (no, it's not the other way around) would buy any of their stuff now. But the same can be applied to Gibson :D

The Strat is the "perfect imperfect" guitar - it's easy enough to tinker with and leaves plenty to improve upon.

FB, good call on LP fret access! But at least Gibson had their Flying V's and Explorers for that extra access :)

DISCLAIMER: i am making all these "rants" from the comfortable chair of never actually being able to afford any of the american fender/gibson stuff :)
I am sure that if you have one of their old instruments with "the" sound all these discussions are really drowned out by "the" sound :)
whether it be strat or les paul or whatever.
 
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