Fallen out of love with my Strat

thebreeze

For goodness sake pull yourself together man.  You'll need to take a good, long, look at yourself in the mirror.  An apology wouldn't go amiss either.

Jetfire

Tbh, ive found my amp needs to be totally redailed in for single coils. My tele cant  have the same sound as my blacktop or my ibanez. Tbh if i could afford it, id have two set ups one for single coils and one for humbuckers. 

rico

I played mine for Brown Sugar (open G) at a gig on Saturday and kept nudging the volume down - a substantial annoyance!

Nikko

Its taken a while, but its good to see that you have finally come to your senses!

ESBlonde

All those tones available and you couldn't find one you liked? It's the versatility that makes it so good. As a live instrument it's still the one to beat. Just sitting in your bedroom you have to work harder as a player to get the best out of it, but then it really responds.

welshboyo

@John_A ;

I have been through the exact thing - played a Strat for years and years and played everything on it and didn't bat an eyelid.

Then LP's came into my life and the Strat seemed to fall out of favour, LP's for rock etc are so much easier, the sustain and less fightback feeling just make them an easier ride..

I still have a few Strats that will never leave me but I find the fight more hassle than what its worth.

The only one that still gives me the shivers is an old JV but I take it out on a gig, play it for 1 song and then think, nah sounds too plinky and back on the stand it goes and old faithful LP comes out for the rest of the gig!!

I think a Strat is a guitar you would have to work at to get back into after LP's.

I'd love to play one exclusively again, all the players/tones I like are Strat based just can't be arsed to do the fight!!!

Try it an Eb, that works for me sometimes - I'm sure they sound and play/respond better in Eb 

OilCityPickups

My recipe is when you buy a Strat ... buy a Tubescreamer (or clone thereof). To me the the TS makes the Strat bloom ... lowish output pickups work beautifully with that 'push over the hill' from a good overdrive pedal. My TS is on my pedalboard purely for my Strats.

Sassafras

Sassafras said:

I don't understand why rock can't be played on a Strat. It's the most versatile guitar known to humanity.

I don't know why I got a couple of LOLs for this.
I'm only stating the truth.
Still, it's you that have to live with your blissful ignorance.

John_A

welshboyo said:

@John_A ;

I have been through the exact thing - played a Strat for years and years and played everything on it and didn't bat an eyelid.

Then LP's came into my life and the Strat seemed to fall out of favour, LP's for rock etc are so much easier, the sustain and less fightback feeling just make them an easier ride..

I still have a few Strats that will never leave me but I find the fight more hassle than what its worth.

The only one that still gives me the shivers is an old JV but I take it out on a gig, play it for 1 song and then think, nah sounds too plinky and back on the stand it goes and old faithful LP comes out for the rest of the gig!!

I think a Strat is a guitar you would have to work at to get back into after LP's.

I'd love to play one exclusively again, all the players/tones I like are Strat based just can't be arsed to do the fight!!!

Try it an Eb, that works for me sometimes - I'm sure they sound and play/respond better in Eb 

Totally agree, I played a Strat for years too but mostly in original bands, the stuff we're covering in my current band just doesn't seem to suit it, or maybe I'm just used to setting everything up for Les Pauls now.  Funnily though a Jag or a tele works well

Strat54

harpdoodle said:

For what it is worth, this is my tuppence........
The Stratocaster comes alive with a Compressor Pedal. 

It is the one effect that makes a Stratocaster come alive. 

Yeah I agree, not sure why I only found this out recently either having played Tele's for 35 years and owned every compressor known to mankind...but its true.

crunchman

rico said:

I played mine for Brown Sugar (open G) at a gig on Saturday and kept nudging the volume down - a substantial annoyance!

I saw something the other day (not sure if it was on here or a G&B article) where someone had replaced the volume pot with a reverse taper pot to avoid this problem.  It might take a bit of getting used to turning it the "wrong" way but it seems like a very good idea.

Blueingreen

My problem is HSS Strats are my favourite sounding guitar but I've a touch of arthritis and  now find Gibson scale guitars much more comfortable.  My Suhr Stratalikes are getting little playing time. I've had my eyes peeled for a high end short-scale Strat for ages but they are hens' teeth.  Meantime the coil splits on my DGT are just about getting me close enough.

(Before someone makes the obvious point, I know purists will argue that a Gibson scale guitar won't sound like a Strat anyway, but I'm confident it will be close enough for me).

photek

welshboyo said:

@John_A ;

I have been through the exact thing - played a Strat for years and years and played everything on it and didn't bat an eyelid.

Then LP's came into my life and the Strat seemed to fall out of favour, LP's for rock etc are so much easier, the sustain and less fightback feeling just make them an easier ride..

I still have a few Strats that will never leave me but I find the fight more hassle than what its worth.

The only one that still gives me the shivers is an old JV but I take it out on a gig, play it for 1 song and then think, nah sounds too plinky and back on the stand it goes and old faithful LP comes out for the rest of the gig!!

I think a Strat is a guitar you would have to work at to get back into after LP's.

I'd love to play one exclusively again, all the players/tones I like are Strat based just can't be arsed to do the fight!!!

Try it an Eb, that works for me sometimes - I'm sure they sound and play/respond better in Eb 

This is scarily the same story for me, strat player born and bred, got into LP's and never looked back, still have my JV Squier and just like you it comes to a gig, sounds plinky and thin so goes back in the case.

Some would say we have seen the light, my old man however calls me a traitor and heathen.

Danielsguitars

I did it the other way round, always loved les paul's and that's what I mostly make 

I never liked traditional strats but I like the weight and comfort so I set about making a set neck style one that I really like, it's a prototype to see if people like it and to cater for the lp player who likes a bigger vintage style neck

It's all limba with a rosewood board
It has a split coil paf in the bridge and 2 singles
I did 2 volumes and a master tone so you can roll the paf vol down to match the singles then roll up for lead or rock tones 

I thought about doing gibbo scale but I already have all of them covered and I've just finished a Lp special style in tv yellow

Voxman

crunchman said:

rico said:

I played mine for Brown Sugar (open G) at a gig on Saturday and kept nudging the volume down - a substantial annoyance!

I saw something the other day (not sure if it was on here or a G&B article) where someone had replaced the volume pot with a reverse taper pot to avoid this problem.  It might take a bit of getting used to turning it the "wrong" way but it seems like a very good idea.

Don't need all that. Simple donut fix stops the vol knob being nudged down.

dindude

See, when I play my Strat, I often wonder why I need anything else. I don't get the plinky plonky thing, I like the slice and focus it gives, and it's a much more dynamic and sweet sounding ride, yes it's slightly harder work, but it encourages less notes, but better formed ones. 

In comparison, pick up a Les Paul and it sounds like a sledghammer to me.

richardhomer

dindude said:

See, when I play my Strat, I often wonder why I need anything else. I don't get the plinky plonky thing, I like the slice and focus it gives, and it's a much more dynamic and sweet sounding ride, yes it's slightly harder work, but it encourages less notes, but better formed ones. 

In comparison, pick up a Les Paul and it sounds like a sledghammer to me.

I agree about LPs. I'd love to get on with them - but I just don't - their whole dynamic response is 'wrong' for me.

Part of the trick with a Strat, is setting the amp to suit the guitar. If you optimise amp settings for an LP - a Strat will sound 'small' and weak if you plug in directly after, without changing anything. Even on clean sounds, you need more gain, less treble and presence and more mids and bass. A Strat can sound huge if it's eq'd properly.

dindude

richardhomer said:

dindude said:

See, when I play my Strat, I often wonder why I need anything else. I don't get the plinky plonky thing, I like the slice and focus it gives, and it's a much more dynamic and sweet sounding ride, yes it's slightly harder work, but it encourages less notes, but better formed ones. 

In comparison, pick up a Les Paul and it sounds like a sledghammer to me.

I agree about LPs. I'd love to get on with them - but I just don't - their whole dynamic response is 'wrong' for me.

Part of the trick with a Strat, is setting the amp to suit the guitar. If you optimise amp settings for an LP - a Strat will sound 'small' and weak if you plug in directly after, without changing anything. Even on clean sounds, you need more gain, less treble and presence and more mids and bass. A Strat can sound huge if it's eq'd properly.

Spot on. Over the years my amp and pedal choice has largely been built up using a Strat as the core tone. Gibsons therefore can sound too thick and muddy into my rig, hence my humbucker guitar of choice is a Schecter PT - when others have tried the PT in their own Rig they comment on how it takes their heads off!

Freebird

Just watch a couple of John Frusciante/RHCP videos 

John_A

Freebird said:

Just watch a couple of John Frusciante/RHCP videos 

Love RHCPs individually, but IMO most of the songs are awful