I know, I know... Clapton and Gilmour didn't have a problem...
My Strat is super comfortable, has nice pickups and plays like butter, but is a bit bland compared to my Tele.
It's alright if I get a nice delay, a bit of drive and some reverb, but with the Tele I can just drive the amp and I'm happy. Play the Strat maybe 20% of the time (Tele 80%).
I've mild GAS for a Les Paul type after playing a mates Gibson LP Studio, but if it had as much character as my Tele I'd never pick up the Strat again.
How do you get the best out of your Strat?
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Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Or maybe the pickups are't all that
Tele pickups are inherently sharper sounding, humbuckers have more output.
I find a nice clean boost/Klon style pedal gives some beef.
Beyond that it is down to the player and the amp.
Such as:
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
eg: some people just get on really well with strats for their style,
some people get on really well with strats, but some strats just don't work for them
same with any guitar, for some reason I struggle with Jaguars and Jazz masters despite liking how they sound, I have to fight and work hard on them. They never sound good in my hands and I never feel comfortable playing them.
I've been through numerous strats in a quest to find 'the one'. The nearest I have got is an 80's Squier with the ceramic pickups most people detest.
I play the strats unplugged and they are ok but I'm usually underwhelmed when I plug in.
I recently acquired an American Std tele which I believe is routed for a middle pickup, so I've bought a superswitch and a Nashville scratchplate. Instead of trying to get a half decent bridge pickup sound out of a strat, I'm starting with a tele and adding the facility to get the 2 nice stratty in-between sounds. The plan is a 5 way 1- Neck. 2- Neck & Middle. 3- Neck & Bridge. 4-Middle & Bridge. 5- Bridge.
Rift Amplification
Brackley, Northamptonshire
www.riftamps.co.uk
I’m something of the other way around. Love a LP but they just don’t float my goat the way a Strat does.
Like @CountryDave I’ve been going in the other direction and trying to get Strat sounds out of a Tele. (Yes, I know that the trem springs affect the sound, but I’m a fixed bridge player.) The closest I’ve got so far is a tapped Tele bridge pickup, which gives 1. Neck, 2. Tapped Bridge and Neck in parallel, 3. Tapped Bridge, 4. Untapped Bridge, 5. Both pickups in series.
The tapped Bridge is similar to a Strat Neck, and position 2 is like the two outer Strat pickups. It’s not quite there, and needs a third pickup. I’ve got a Strat middle pickup in my workshop ready to install, but the number of switching permutations is so large. Maybe it should be Brent Mason’s system, with the middle pickup blended in on its own volume pot.
They are also easy to setup and maintain as well as repair - far easier for an intermediate-level tech to get it right than a Les Paul.
Teles are awesome too but the lack of a trem is the main reason I play them and desire them less. Still a must-have in the quiver but just less “my thing.”
They do Tele style pickups in Strat size and Strat style pickups in Tele form, and loads of P90 style in either.
I have 3 sets of their pickups in various guitars and love the tone.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com