There's just something about a Strat

Neilybob

I love my 3 Strats and they all do their own thang. 

80’ s Fernandes Strat with hot Chris Buck pickups.  Positions 2 and 4 are glorious. 

80’s Fernandes Strat with not so hot pickups. Sounds ace with some fuzz and tweed goodness. 

80’s Tokai Strat HSS, does anything metal as the pickups are very hot. Maiden chugs all day long. 

TTBZ

Love the sound of them when others play them but I've never managed to get it sounding great for me, I'm too used to Gibson style guitars. Feel like I'd need a compressor or boost/EQ for me to enjoy it.

It's a bit of a forum cliche but the best sounding and feeling strat I've played for me is the Silver Sky  the body shape feels a bit different and more compact or something, and the pickups didn't seem as hollow or thin sounding as your typical Fender.

normula1

LionAquaLooper said:

What if you find that "the one" is a Harley Benton or a Squier? Would you ignore it and still opt for a pricey Fender? 

My '85 Squier is one of if not my actual favourite guitar despite it's "lowly" status

Chimpankie

I went on a very long journey to realise a HSS strat is what I want 90% of the time. Had I realised this straight away I could have saved a lot of money not churning through PRS guitars looking for the ‘right one’

bazxkr

Strat just looks and feels right. I struggle with deeper bodied guitars

swiller

In keyboard terms..
I think strats are like playing digital synthesisers. Efficient, cost effective, versatile. The go to...
A telecaster is like the moog/juno/jupiter/303 fat analog synths.
A gibson les paul custom is like the church organ. The royal big bertha to rule them all.

HAL9000

I always thought of myself as a Tele player and have owned a fair few. I never particularly fancied a Strat but bought one on a bit of a whim when we added a couple of Clapton numbers to our set. Only an (upgraded) MIM Std but it’s now become my go-to. I’ve since added a second Strat (Vintera  50s) to the collection. I do try to rotate things so they all get roughly the same amount of playing time. However my preference nowadays seems to be to grab a Strat. Sounds great, is comfortable to play, and covers all the sounds I want. I wouldn’t want to be without one now.

Devil#20

Fingers657 said:

Even though I’ve a few Strats and like them Telecasters and SGs are my favourites.

Prefer a Tele first and foremost but closely followed by a Strat. Never played an SG I don't think. Les Pauls sound great but just don't feel as good to me. PRS somewhere inbetween. 

Yes, Strats are nice. 

Kurtis

slacker said:

The best mod is a tone control on the bridge pickup. Makes a world of difference.

If you like weedy bridge pickups 

ElectricXII

I really dislike strats, the  feel of them, the terrible bridge pickup and the temperamental whammy bar. Over the years I’ve tried to like them but I just can’t. 

I’m mostly a Gibson player which perhaps explain some of my feelings towards strats, but on the other hand, I love my Tele. 

motorhead

I was first drawn to guitar by the sound of a strat. My first electric was a cheapo HSS super strat. And my current is a more deluxe HSS super strat. The original is not perfect in this day and age but all shortcomings are addressable.

Whitecat

My very first electric was an MIJ Squier… that has absolutely imprinted on me. 

Over time I’ve become totally fretboard wood agnostic and tend to gravitate now to maple only because bigger necks are more common on those - but really, I love them all...

The neck sound especially is just sublime. 

Jeremiah

For me it's almost a Strat - I prefer the sleeker/sharper feel of a "super" strat (or a Pacifica for that matter) to an actual Strat.

The position of the volume knob on a Strat is awful.

And recently I've finally come to realise that I'd rather not have a middle pickup.

Kurtis

I like the bridge pickup. It's like kicking on a treble boost coming from the neck/middle. 

p90fool

Kurtis said:

I like the bridge pickup. It's like kicking on a treble boost coming from the neck/middle. 

Yes, exactly. People play Strats quietly through master volume amps and think they sound thin, but they really sing through a loud amp. 

Here's mine through a clean amp running flat out, it's just a phone video unfortunately but in the room it sounded huge. 

Neil

A Strat is definitely my number one.

I'm at five guitars - a Les Paul Standard and four Strats! 

Voxman

p90fool said:

Kurtis said:

I like the bridge pickup. It's like kicking on a treble boost coming from the neck/middle. 

Yes, exactly. People play Strats quietly through master volume amps and think they sound thin, but they really sing through a loud amp. 

Here's mine through a clean amp running flat out, it's just a phone video unfortunately but in the room it sounded huge. 

Loved that - great rendition of Purple Haze, great tone & playing, and your Strat really sung!  I think the girls vocals could have come up in the mix though as I couldn't hear her!   

DrJazzTap

I read "the birth of loud" the story of Leo fender and les paul. Great read if you get chance. 
The stratocaster is such a remarkably well thought out piece of engineering from 1954, that hasn't really changed that much since then. 
I found it amazing that one of the reasons Leo sold to CBS, was because he felt all had been done with the electric guitar. That and he was anxious about solid state amplifiers.

ICBM

A Strat is the closest to my ideal guitar of the classic designs, but it isn’t perfect - I find the bridge pickup especially and the in-between sounds too thin and weak, the volume control is in an annoying place, and the whole guitar is just slightly too big. A humbucker in the bridge and possibly the neck, one tone control and the volume moved down away from the strings, and ideally the switch a little further down as well, and it’s close - my Aria RS ‘Strat’ is like that and also slightly smaller than a Fender. My PRS Swamp Ash Special is also pretty much there.

racefaceec90

my first guitar was a squier hank marvin strat but since then i have never had another as i always preferred a guitar with  humbuckers. that was a few years ago though. nothing wrong with the hank marvin i must add (i wish i still had it tbh).

since then i have a lot of love for single coils, teles,  jazzmasters, jaguar guitars etc.

currently i have 1 guitar a newly bought cort g300 glam hh that i really like.

at some point i would def   like to try another strat (most likely a squier of some sort).